Beast Untamed: Beasts of Bodmin Moor, Book 3 by Faye Avalon Read Free Book Online Page B

challenging, two qualities he admired in a female. To a degree. But she wasn’t his type, and he was bloody sure he wasn’t hers.
    “Erin doesn’t want to date. She’s not interested at the moment. Which is why I was going to ask you to use your considerable charm to persuade her to go with you. Will you? Please? For me?”
    She batted those lashes again, and Tynan’s warning growls grew more insistent. At times like these, when his former squeeze used her feminine wiles on him to get what she wanted, Nathan was all too aware that their shared past was still a little raw for his friend. Normally, he milked that for all he was worth. Ragging on his friends was one of life’s pleasures, and Tynan was usually pretty easy to get going where Naomi was concerned.
    But right then he was too busy fighting off his own concerns to worry about Tynan’s. “She doesn’t like me,” he said throwing a piece of board onto the pile. “And why doesn’t she want a date? What’s wrong with her? Apart from the fact her hair’s shorter than mine.”
    “Nothing’s wrong with her. And don’t exaggerate, her hair’s not that short. I think she’s getting over a bad breakup, which is why I thought it would be good for her to spend time with you.”
    Nathan stopped what he was doing and straightened up. “You want me to date her?”
    “God. No.” Naomi didn’t even try to hide her stricken expression. “That’s not what I meant. No offense,” she said quickly, touching his arm. “But she’s vulnerable right now. Your love-’em-and-leave-’em strategy is most definitely not what she needs.”
    “Meaning she’s not in the market for a quick fuck and dump,” Tynan taunted from the sidelines. “Some women like a bit of romance.”
    “Yeah, and you’d know about that, asshole.”
    “Just be her partner for the day, that’s all,” Naomi went on, ignoring the two men’s burgeoning spat. “Dance with her, make sure she’s got a drink, talk to her.”
    “He can manage two out of three,” Tynan said. “The last one’s a stretch. For talk, read screw .”
    “Fuck off.”
    “So, I’ll call her?” Naomi pressed. “Tell her you’ll be her escort?”
    Jeez. Why couldn’t he just say no to the woman?
    “Yeah. Okay. Whatever.”
    Naomi laughed. “You could be a bit more enthusiastic. I’m not asking you to sign away your freedom. And Erin’s good company.”
    Yeah. When she wasn’t shying away from him like he was the devil incarnate, or laying into him because he happened to offend her sensibilities.
    Nathan gathered up the debris and shoved it inside a rubbish bag. What the hell. It was only for a few goddamn hours. And, despite the fact Naomi had manipulated him, it wasn’t as if she was setting him up. In fact, she’d almost gone apoplectic when he’d asked her if she wanted him to date her new friend. Why was that anyway? Okay, he didn’t do the whole dating, have sex, more dates…wash, rinse and repeat, thing. But he didn’t treat women badly.
    More than a little irritated by Naomi’s inference, Nathan decided that not only would he take Erin as agreed, but he’d act the perfect fucking gentleman. If for no other reason than to show his friends that his prime objective when in the company of women was not to screw them, as Tynan had so eloquently put it. Simple.
    * * * * *
    Erin stood outside the civic hall with Talia, her stomach fluttering with nerves. “God. I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” she said, tapping a hand to her stomach. “I wonder if Naomi is?”
    Talia nodded down the short flight of steps to where the limo pulled up. “We’ll soon find out.”
    Seconds later, Naomi emerged in a pretty emerald suit and holding a bunch of spring flowers. She smiled and gave them a wave with not a hint of nerves showing. She held the arm of her grandfather, Enoch, who looked dapper in a smart gray suit. Erin had met him once and liked him immensely.
    Joining them at the top of the steps,