Temptation, The Complete Serial Series 1-4 (The Temptation Serial Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

drove the entire day, between rest areas and restaurants, and was hell bent on keeping me from getting behind the wheel. We passed through D.C., whose interstates had almost become a parking lot, and were finally driving into the Virginia countryside. It was beautiful with lush mountains, rivers, and rocks everywhere. Compared to the dry desert, this was Eden.
    Cities became smaller and turned into towns, and towns into villages. When we passed an intricate wooden sign that read, “Welcome to Swift Rapids, Population 328,” I screamed. “Morg, this is it! Stop!” Sin maneuvered the car to the shoulder. Before she came to a full and complete stop, my ass was out of the vehicle—arms and legs included. Safety warnings were overrated.
    Across the road was a wide, shallow river that was full of rocks and tiny, churning whitewater rapids. It was breathtaking. My fingers twitched with the need of a paintbrush.
    Morgan was huffy when she climbed out of the car. “You should really wait for a car to stop before you leap out of it, you know.”
    “Meh.”
    “Seriously. I could have run you over!”
    I flicked a deal-with-it look her way and then looked back at my rapids. She finally smiled and relaxed her resting bitch face. Even she couldn’t help but love the tranquility. Sighing, she turned to me and hooked her arm through mine. “The sun is setting and we need to find a place to crash.”
    “Sounds good.”
    If we had blinked, we would have missed downtown Swift Rapids. It was that small. There was a small resale shop with everything from clothes to lawnmowers, a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, and a small restaurant named Lyra’s, whose sign boasted the best peach cobbler in the county. Situated next to the restaurant was the only hotel we could find, the ‘Inn and Out’.
    Morgan pulled into the parking lot of the hotel and shuddered. Sure, it wasn’t the Ritz, but it was pretty much the only option in these parts. Two floors and what looked like twelve rooms: six on the top floor and six on the bottom.
    Grabbing my purse, I jumped out of the car before she could protest, but Morg was quick. The clerk was a middle-aged woman who looked like an older version of Flo from the Progressive Insurance commercials, and I swear the woman had more wrinkles than one of those hairless cats. They framed her eyes with lids sagging beneath layers of royal blue eye shadow and surrounded her caked-on, ruby red lips. Smacking her gum, she asked if we needed one room or two. Apparently they had a vacancy.
    “One, please,” I answered with a smile. The woman turned to a peg board behind her that held keys—like actual keys on rings. “You’ll be in one-oh-three. And I’ll need a credit card to secure the room. We will charge an extra fifty dollars for any damage caused while you stay.” The woman’s eyes narrowed at the pair of us as if she were staring at hardened criminals.
    You did have that little misdemeanor, remember?
    Shut up, conscience. Everyone hates you.
    Digging into my purse, I found my wallet and then my credit card. Morg’s eyes got all big and she screamed, “No! You can’t use it. Remember?” Her eyes begged me to remember, and through the fog of sleepiness, I remembered Shane saying something about not leaving a paper trail.
    “I have cash. I’ll pre-pay, even the deposit. Then, if the room isn’t damaged, you can give the money back.”
    Flo’s eyes narrowed. “Y’all aren’t into drugs, are you?”
    Morgan stiffened, then planted her hands on her hips. Oh, hell. I spoke up quickly, “Nope. Credit card is maxed out. It wouldn’t work anyway.”
    The woman sized us up but accepted my offering and the greenbacks that I slid across the counter to her. She counted every single bill twice and then slid the key back across the scratched linoleum counter. “ I’ll be the one inspecting the room when you check out, and I’ll be watching you – so no funny business.”
    I made what I hoped was the boy