Read Online Temptation (A Temptation Novel) by Karen Ann Hopkins - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Karen Ann Hopkins
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one sees us together or guesses that we’ve become friends. No one in the community can be trusted about this—even Sarah. They wouldn’t understand. Okay?”
When she nodded her head surely, her eyes glinting with serious concentration, I knew she would keep her lips sealed on the matter. I continued, “You’ll see a green metal gate. Just go about sixty feet past it, up the hill, and you’ll find a break in the fence. There’s a worn hoof path in the trees at the opening. Once through it, follow the dirt lane straight. Don’t make any turns, and I’ll meet up with you around seven o’clock.”
“Noah, come on, we’re leaving,” Jacob’s voice called out from near the house. It was just dumb luck that he hadn’t looked back this way and seen me standing close enough to Rose to kiss her. That would not have been good, and I felt the unease of that realization spread through me as I took a step back from her. After a quick search of her eyes, I knew she’d do what I’d asked, so I gave her a smile and a nod, before I turned and leaped into a run toward the work truck.
As we were backing around, I shifted in the seat to look out the window. Rose was leading the frisky horse, which was prancing alongside her, back to the old barn behind the house.
If everything worked out as planned, I’d finally get the chance to be completely alone with Rose. Taking a deep breath, I stared out the window, my heart thumping in my chest as I felt the worry settle over me.
What had I gotten myself into?
5
Rose
Flame
THE DAY TRUDGED on, going nowhere, it seemed. And even though I had a million things to do to occupy my time, I continued to glance at my phone every few minutes, hoping that the magic time of six o’clock would suddenly appear—the time when I felt it would be reasonable to head out to the barn and get Lady ready for the ride.
The ride—just thinking about it stirred shivers of excitement through me. Still, a tingling doubt ran through my mind. Why was it such a secret anyway? We were just going riding together—not a big deal at all. Were Noah’s parents always so strict with him? And why would his community care about it? Maybe I’d get some answers this evening. Right now I would go with my instincts, which were telling me that I had to get to know my handsome neighbor better—even though the whole cloak-and-dagger thing was kind of weird.
After a minute of searching through the clothes in the box, I became impatient that I wasn’t finding what I was looking for and dumped the contents unceremoniously on the floor.
Distracted for a split second, I contemplated turning over a new leaf regarding my clean-room policy, which was basically never having one. But then, surveying the clothes scattered around the floor, I decided I liked having my room like this. It was sort of homey, and it drew attention away from the eighty-year-old peeling wallpaper, with the faded pictures of George Washington look-alikes dancing and playing instruments. That was definitely a good thing.
I thought about just tearing the chaotic paper off the walls the way Justin had in the foyer, but then I’d have to clean it all up, and I didn’t want to deal with that at the moment. Again I looked at my cell, groaning that only a whopping two minutes had passed since I’d last checked.
Leaving the walls as is for the time being, I hopped over the piles of clothes to lean out the window. It was strange not having a screen in it. I was sure birds would be flying around my room in no time, but the alternative was closing the window and dying of heatstroke, which wasn’t really an option. I had to remember to add the window to Dad’s ever-growing list of repairs for Miller’s Construction. That made my mouth spread into a little smile, thinking that the longer the list, the more I’d be seeing Noah, which suited me just fine.
Closing my eyes, I held my face up to the sun, relishing the heat as it absorbed into my skin. The day
When she nodded her head surely, her eyes glinting with serious concentration, I knew she would keep her lips sealed on the matter. I continued, “You’ll see a green metal gate. Just go about sixty feet past it, up the hill, and you’ll find a break in the fence. There’s a worn hoof path in the trees at the opening. Once through it, follow the dirt lane straight. Don’t make any turns, and I’ll meet up with you around seven o’clock.”
“Noah, come on, we’re leaving,” Jacob’s voice called out from near the house. It was just dumb luck that he hadn’t looked back this way and seen me standing close enough to Rose to kiss her. That would not have been good, and I felt the unease of that realization spread through me as I took a step back from her. After a quick search of her eyes, I knew she’d do what I’d asked, so I gave her a smile and a nod, before I turned and leaped into a run toward the work truck.
As we were backing around, I shifted in the seat to look out the window. Rose was leading the frisky horse, which was prancing alongside her, back to the old barn behind the house.
If everything worked out as planned, I’d finally get the chance to be completely alone with Rose. Taking a deep breath, I stared out the window, my heart thumping in my chest as I felt the worry settle over me.
What had I gotten myself into?
5
Rose
Flame
THE DAY TRUDGED on, going nowhere, it seemed. And even though I had a million things to do to occupy my time, I continued to glance at my phone every few minutes, hoping that the magic time of six o’clock would suddenly appear—the time when I felt it would be reasonable to head out to the barn and get Lady ready for the ride.
The ride—just thinking about it stirred shivers of excitement through me. Still, a tingling doubt ran through my mind. Why was it such a secret anyway? We were just going riding together—not a big deal at all. Were Noah’s parents always so strict with him? And why would his community care about it? Maybe I’d get some answers this evening. Right now I would go with my instincts, which were telling me that I had to get to know my handsome neighbor better—even though the whole cloak-and-dagger thing was kind of weird.
After a minute of searching through the clothes in the box, I became impatient that I wasn’t finding what I was looking for and dumped the contents unceremoniously on the floor.
Distracted for a split second, I contemplated turning over a new leaf regarding my clean-room policy, which was basically never having one. But then, surveying the clothes scattered around the floor, I decided I liked having my room like this. It was sort of homey, and it drew attention away from the eighty-year-old peeling wallpaper, with the faded pictures of George Washington look-alikes dancing and playing instruments. That was definitely a good thing.
I thought about just tearing the chaotic paper off the walls the way Justin had in the foyer, but then I’d have to clean it all up, and I didn’t want to deal with that at the moment. Again I looked at my cell, groaning that only a whopping two minutes had passed since I’d last checked.
Leaving the walls as is for the time being, I hopped over the piles of clothes to lean out the window. It was strange not having a screen in it. I was sure birds would be flying around my room in no time, but the alternative was closing the window and dying of heatstroke, which wasn’t really an option. I had to remember to add the window to Dad’s ever-growing list of repairs for Miller’s Construction. That made my mouth spread into a little smile, thinking that the longer the list, the more I’d be seeing Noah, which suited me just fine.
Closing my eyes, I held my face up to the sun, relishing the heat as it absorbed into my skin. The day
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