Read Online Bound Temptations: Stories of Temptation and Submission by Shiloh Walker - Free Book Online Page A

still
smiling.
    "I moved to Asheville from
Florida when I was in high school," she said, glancing at him out
of the corner of her eye and. "Never got to see snow until then. I
always used to dream about a white Christmas. Every now and then, I
can actually have one. Mom used to complain about it, telling Dad
they should have picked a different spot in North Carolina. She
hated the snow. I don't always mind it, I guess."
    Her smile.
    Damn it, what was it about
that smile of hers? It hit him like a punch, straight to his gut.
It didn't matter if it was the mischievous sort, or the pensive,
thoughtful kind. Every time she smiled and her dark eyes crinkled
up like that, it just got to him.
    Clearing his throat, he
said, "You want me to take you to your car? I'm following you home,
just so you know. So I can either take you home now, or follow you
home, it doesn't matter, but..."
    She reached over and laid a
finger across his lips. "I'm hungry. How about you take me to get
some food, instead?" She glanced around and said, "Assuming the
snow hasn't shut the city down."
    He caught her wrist. "Nah.
This place doesn't shut down that easily."
    He really should take her
home. She was tired—the bruised look under her eyes more than told
him that. And she looked fragile, even though he knew she was
anything but.
    But he wasn't about to pass
up a chance to spend some more time with her.
    "Although, you realize, this
doesn't count as a date. This is just getting food. You still owe
me a date."
    "Typical lawyer," Rocki
sighed. But she was smiling.
     
     
     
    "So what happened with you
and Mara?"
    She had a heaping bowl of
Irish stew in front of her, a glass of Harp, and a fire crackling
not too far away. As far as she was concerned, it was the ideal way
to spend a Friday night—providing she didn't think about
earlier.
    She hadn't expected him to
take her to Molly Flanagan's, but the sight of it had made her
smile. She loved this place. The Irish-style pub was packed, too,
all but bursting at the seams as they made their way
inside.
    Cole had gone for a Guinness
and a burger, and glanced at her now as she snatched a few of his
fries. He scowled at her. Rocki decided then and there that they
really did need to have a second date. It felt too right not
to.
    If everything else went
okay.
    "Mara..." Cole sighed. He
wiped his fingers on his napkin and lifted his Guinness, but didn't
drink. Instead, he studied the half-empty glass, as though it held
the answers to the universe. "Have you ever known somebody who
could go from being one thing to being something
else...completely?"
    Rocki lowered her gaze. Her
heart bumped against her ribs.
    “ Maybe."
    "It wasn't a quick thing.
Quick...well, that probably would have made me leave sooner, and it
wouldn't have been so hard, maybe. Might have gotten ugly at first.
But..." Scowling, he studied his drink. Long moments passed before
he finally shifted his gaze up to meet hers. "She didn't used to be
so miserable—I'm not talking outright mean, because she could
always be a bitch when she wanted. It's just that lately, she just
wanted to be a bitch more often than not. She never used to be that
way. She used to be happy. Or happier, or least. I don't know when
that started to change."
    "It makes you
sad."
    "Yeah." He sat the glass
down and leaned back into his chair, turning his head to stare into
the fire. They were tucked into one of the smaller alcoves and it
was mostly quiet, rather private. They could hear the muffled music
and the roar of other voices, but nothing distinct. "It's not that
I have regrets about ending it, because I don't. Maybe I only
regret not seeing this sooner. But I hate that somebody I used to
love is so unhappy now."
    Then he shoved a hand
through his hair. "Not exactly good dinner conversation,
considering I plan on convincing you to go on another date,
right?"
    "Well, technically, this
isn't a date." She smiled at him as she lifted her glass. "We were
both hungry. So