Welcome to Temptation: A Romantic Comedy Read Online Free PDF Page B

here to pull that tree off your car. You can take it to a body shop, and they’ll have it looking brand new again. Just be thankful it was your car and not one of us.”
    Michelle couldn’t stop crying no matter how hard she tried. “We could still die,” she said, swiping at the tears miserably. “The back side of the storm is supposed to be as bad as the front, if not worse. If something happens to Grand, I’ll never forgive myself for not putting my foot down and forcing her to leave.”
    “I think she had her mind made up,” he said softly. “It wouldn’t be anybody’s fault.”
    Michelle hiccupped. “Oh, Gator, I’m so scared. I’ve never been this scared in my life. I’m used to seeing unpleasant things. I see them every day as part of my job. But this is different. The whole house could fall down around us. We could—” She paused and shook her head.
    “Don’t think like that, Mic,” he said gently. “We’ve taken every precaution.”
    Nevertheless, tears streamed down her cheeks, fear and exhaustion warring inside her. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the images around her.
    Gator hugged her close, feeling his heart swell with genuine concern. “You’re one of the bravest women I know,” he said at last. “And I’m not going to let this thing hurt you or your grandmother. I’ll do anything to keep you safe. Do you understand?”
    Michelle opened her eyes. For once there was no sign of laughter or amusement on his face. His look was both tender and sincere. It felt wonderful in his arms, she decided. Secure. She felt safe for the first time in hours. As crazy as it sounded, she did trust him, and she knew he would do anything to prevent them from getting hurt.
    “Sometimes, I get tired of being brave all the time,” she confessed. “People come into the emergency room looking so bad, it’s all I can do not to turn and run in the other direction.” She swallowed a lump at the back of her throat. “They look at us as if we’ve got the power to make them live and—” She stopped. “We don’t always. They beg us not to let them die, their families beg us to keep them alive, but sometimes we just can’t.”
    “You can only do so much,” he said, smoothing her hair back from her face with a big hand. Gator couldn’t believe the feeling of tenderness that had welled up in him over her confession. She had always seemed so self-assured, so in control of her feelings. That was one of the reasons he had always enjoyed teasing her. He wanted to see if he could crack that cool exterior, make that wall of reserve come tumbling down around her. He had teased and tormented and tried his damnedest to seduce her even though he knew better, but he’d never stood by and watched her heart seemingly break into a million pieces. It suddenly became of the utmost importance to protect her and Reba.
    Michelle squirmed deeper into his embrace and closed her eyes again, unaware of the effect she was having on him. It had been so long since she’d been held by a man. Everybody needed to be hugged, or simply touched by another human being from time to time, she told herself. She gave so much of herself to her patients; was it wrong to ask for something for herself? She slipped her arms around Gator’s waist, and pressed herself against his solid body, wishing to draw upon his strength.
    She had spent so many years offering strength and nurturing others that it felt wonderful receiving the same back. The storm would return with all its fury before long, and they could very well die, but for now she wanted to bask in the warmth of Gator’s embrace. Nothing else mattered at the moment. She was obviously in shock, she told herself. People did strange things when faced with their own mortality. But she forced the thought away, focusing instead on his scent and the way his lips felt in her hair and against her forehead as he tried to offer comfort.
    “Kiss me, Gator,” she said, her voice a mere