Read Online Knowing You by Maureen Child - Free Book Online Page A

on Stevie’s loyalty and her long-standing affection to save Nick from himself. But it hadn’t worked out that way.
    Stevie couldn’t save him. Nobody could. That would have to come from Nick. Instead, she’d chosen to save herself, by leaving Nick and standing on her own two feet. Mama had said she understood—but Stevie had the feeling that the older woman was still waiting patiently for Stevie and Nick to get back together.
    What would Mama say if she knew that not only was that
not
going to happen … but Stevie was now with Paul? Would Mama think her some kind of tramp for skipping from one brother to the next?
    â€œYes. Of course she would.” God, Mama would give her “the look.” That look that left a burning ache in Stevie’s chest and an emptiness in her heart. The look that said Mama was disappointed in her.
    They’d all hate her. They’d have to. What familywouldn’t? Heck, if she didn’t know herself better,
she’d
hate her, too. This was all so … sleazy somehow. Stevie rolled her shoulders and winced. She’d never thought of herself as sleazy, and yet … if the Scarlet Letter fit …
    Plus, she knew darn well, if it came down to choosing sides and picking either Stevie or Nick and Paul … she’d be on the outside looking in. The Candellanos would close ranks and she’d lose the only family she’d ever known.
    She’d be alone again.
    Every cold, lonely corner of her heart suddenly ached fiercely.
    â€œAre you going to lose it all because of an attack of hormones?” she muttered, and slammed the trunk shut. Metal crashed against metal and she absent-mindedly patted her car in silent apology. “No. No, I’m not.”
    She never should have let that night with Paul get so out of control. Heck, she still wasn’t exactly sure how it had all happened. All she knew for certain was that she’d like to have it happen again.
If
there were no consequences. If no one would be hurt. If beggars could ride. If wishes came true.
    No chance of that.
    So no chance of reliving that sense of magic.
    And knowing that was enough to make her nuts. Especially in the middle of the night, when there was only her heartbeat in her house. When the only sounds of life were the voices coming from the television that she routinely left on for company. When she lay there in her bed, feeling more alone than anyone should haveto be. When the thought of Paul touching her was enough to light backfires in her bloodstream.
    That was her only problem.
    If she could just avoid nighttime, she’d be good.
    Except of course for times like now … when it was broad daylight and all she could think of was Paul.
    â€œDamn it.” Disgusted, she walked to the driver’s-side door, opened it, and climbed in. Firing up the engine of her trusty red Blazer, Stevie pushed thoughts of naked Paul out of her mind and concentrated on getting to the local shelter in one piece.
    *   *   *
    He was doing the right thing.
    That was important.
    It was, in fact, one of the main rules Paul lived by. Do the right thing. Maybe that made him some kind of Boy Scout or something, but it had always seemed like the smart thing to do. Not to mention the easiest.
    When you started lying and creating all kinds of diversions to get you out of whatever you should have been doing in the first place, it became a real time waster.
    â€œSo why,” he asked himself, staring out the second-story window of his office, “isn’t it easier?”
    For two days he’d buried himself in work. Shutting himself up in the office, he’d had his secretary hold all calls and he’d simply dived into the new program design project he’d been working on for months. Work had always been his great escape. His brother Nick had the football field and Paul had computers. Algorithms. Numbers. What bored most people to