A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman Read Free Book Online Page B

Plan A doesn’t work.”
    Millie nodded and plucked several books off a shelf. She held them up. “Which one? Fairy tale or adventure? Oh, I see. Plan A being the kiss? What’s Plan B?”
    Lizzie puckered her brows and studied the books, then snatched the fairy tale. “Kissing him, instead. But I’m hoping and praying there won’t be a need for a Plan B or C.” The bell over the door jangled and she looked up, smiling at several children and mothers who entered the shop. She glanced at her watch. “Goodness, they’re coming in early today. Could be a crowd.”
    Millie rolled her eyes. “Correction. Will be a crowd. Children and men—you have an uncanny knack for drawing them both, including Tom Weston. All, that is, except John Morrison Brady. I’d hold on to Plan C, Lizzie, if I were you. I think you’re going to need it.”
    Lizzie scowled. “Maybe not.”
    Millie chuckled and headed for the front of the store, shooting a wicked grin over her shoulder. “Fairy tales, my friend. You read them so well. And live them even better.”

3
    Sweet saints in heaven, surely the scores of romantic novels she’d read should have prepared her for this! Lizzie made her way down the stairs with all the confidence of a woman with a wart on her nose. Instead of the happily-ever-after glow of a love-struck heroine, she was stuck with sweaty palms and a tiny belch bubbling in her chest—not attractive features for a woman who hoped to sweep a man off his feet. A man far more adept than she at giving love the brush.
    The belch threatened, and she stifled it with a shaky hand to her mouth. Maybe she couldn’t do this. After all, she was merely Beth O’Connor, the shy and quiet bookworm of the family. Not Charity with her seductive charm or even Faith with her spitfire spunk that seemed to draw Collin like a moth to flame.
    She stopped for a split second at the foot of the stairs and sucked in a deep breath, fully aware of Charity’s hand pressed firmly at the small of her back. No, she could do this! Charity was right. Sweet Beth was gone, and dangerous Lizzie was here to stay, hopefully to threaten John Brady’s emotional health considerably.
    And thanks to Millie and Charity, she did look different, she supposed. And she was starting to feel different too. Apparently years of timid longing had finally erupted into flashing eyes and a backbone of steel. A smile flickered on her lips at the thought of Brady’s face when she had lost her temper at the shop. In all the years she’d known him, she’d barely ever raised her voice above a whisper. She’d been too in awe. But whether Brady knew it or not, he was no longer dealing with that same shy little girl. She was a modern woman now, in love and tired of waiting for him to notice. She hoisted her chin, determined to take on the challenge.
    Lizzie forged through the kitchen door and stopped cold. Warmth braised her cheeks at her family’s response: Mitch gaped. Collin and her brother Sean whistled. Faith and her mother gasped. And Katie’s ecstatic shriek rounded out the reception.
    “Lizzie, you’re gorgeous!” ten-year-old Katie gushed.
    Charity prodded Lizzie from behind. “Thank you, Katie. She does clean up nicely, doesn’t she?”
    Faith bounded up from the table to give Lizzie a squeeze. “Saints alive, Lizzie, look at you!” She pulled away and grinned at Charity. “You did it. Had my doubts that you could make her any prettier than she already is, but obviously I underestimated you. Again! ”
    Mitch leaned back against the counter and chuckled, ginger ale in hand. “A fatal error, I’ve learned.”
    Charity arched a brow in his direction. “Took you long enough.”
    He fixed her with a smoldering gaze while slowly sipping his drink, the passion in his eyes clearly undaunted by a year and a half of marriage. His eyes flicked back to Lizzie. “Katie’s right. You do look gorgeous.”
    “Thanks. I just hope Brady thinks so.”
    Charity sauntered over