Read Online Temptation by Nora Roberts - Free Book Online Page A

They gilded the dark water of the lake and silvered the trees. She remembered some old legend about three women, the moonspinners, who spun the moon on spindles. More romance. But even the new, practical Eden couldn’t resist.
    â€œIt’s lovely. The moon seems so close.”
    â€œSome things aren’t as close as they seem; others aren’t so far away.”
    He began to walk. Because he still had her hand, and because he intrigued her, Eden walked with him. “I suppose you’ve always lived here.” Just small talk, she told herself. She didn’t really care.
    â€œFor the most part. This has always been headquarters for the business.” He turned to look down at her. “The house is over a hundred years old. You might find it interesting.”
    She thought of her home and of the generations of Carlboughs who had lived there. And of the strangers who lived there now. “I like old houses.”
    â€œAre things going well at camp?”
    She wouldn’t think of the books. “The girls keep us busy.” Her laugh came again, low and easy. “That’s an understatement. We’ll just say their energy level is amazing.”
    â€œHow’s Roberta?”
    â€œIncorrigible.”
    â€œI’m glad to hear it.”
    â€œLast night she painted one of the girls while the girl was asleep.”
    â€œPainted?”
    Eden’s laugh came again, low and easy. “The little darling must have copped a couple of pots of paint from the art area. When Marcie woke up, she looked like an Indian preparing to attack a wagon train.”
    â€œOur Roberta’s inventive.”
    â€œTo say the least. She told me she thought it might be interesting to be the first woman chief justice.”
    He smiled at that. Imagination and ambition were the qualities he most admired. “She’ll probably do it.”
    â€œI know. It’s terrifying.”
    â€œLet’s sit. You can see the stars better.”
    Stars? She’d nearly forgotten who she was with and why she had wanted to avoid being with him. “I don’t think I—” Before she’d gotten the sentence out, he’d tugged her down on a soft, grassy rise. “One wonders why you bother to ask.”
    â€œManners,” he said easily as he slipped an arm around her shoulders. Even as she stiffened, he relaxed. “Look at the sky. How often do you notice it in the city?”
    Unable to resist, she tilted her face up. The sky was an inky black backdrop for countless pinpoints of lights. They spread, winking, shivering overhead with a glory that made Eden’s throat ache just in the looking. “It isn’t the same sky that’s over the city.”
    â€œSame sky, Eden. It’s people who change.” He stretched out on his back, crossing his legs. “There’s Cassiopeia.”
    â€œWhere?” Curious, Eden searched, but saw only stars without pattern.
    â€œYou can see her better from here.” He pulled her closer to him, and before she could protest, he was pointing. “There she is. Looks like a
W
this time of year.”
    â€œYes!” Delighted, she reached for his wrist and outlined the constellation herself. “I’ve never been able to find anything in the sky.”
    â€œYou have to look first. There’s Pegasus.” Chase shifted his arm. “He has a hundred and sixty-six stars you can view with the naked eye. See? He’s flying straight up.”
    Eyes narrowed, she concentrated on finding the pattern. Moonlight splashed on her face. “Oh yes, I see.” She shifted a bit closer to guide his hand again. “I named my first pony Pegasus. Sometimes I’d imagine he sprouted wings and flew. Show me another.”
    He was looking at her, at the way the stars reflected in her eyes, at the way her mouth softened so generously with a smile. “Orion,” he murmured.
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œHe stands