Courted by Trouble: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 3) by Bree Cariad Read Free Book Online

me?”
    “Yes. His name is Christopher Triton. He’s Jerod Kinsley’s nephew.”
    “Oh.” The butterflies took off again and she felt a small blush cover her cheeks.
    “As you know, these are just simple dinners so you can get to know one another. There is nothing else required. But I wanted you to know early so it wasn’t thrust on you at the last minute.”
    “Thanks, Mr. Covington.”
    Christopher truly wanted to get to know her. It seemed crazy and she knew not to get her hopes up. Maybe he would turn out to be a dork and it wouldn’t go any further. But still… he wanted to get to know her. She smiled for the rest of the night.
    Until the next morning when she realized he knew nothing of her past. Once he found out he wouldn’t want her. Wanting to end things before she could get her hopes up, she dashed over to Jerod’s office. He was just leaving as she ran up and smiled, his expression turning serious at whatever expression was on her face. “Come on in,” he said without preamble, opening the door and letting her inside. “What’s wrong?”
    Breathing hard from her run, Stephanie paced back and forth for a few minutes as she forced herself to calm down. “Christopher asked to have dinner with the Covingtons… well, with me.”
    His nod told her that he already knew.
    “I have to say no.”
    “Why? I got the feeling you were attracted to him.”
    “Well, of course I’m attracted,” she said in a rush, keeping up her pacing. “He’s gorgeous and seems sweet, has a good sense of humor… but once he knows about my past that’ll be gone. I’d rather end things before he found out.”
    “I never thought of you as a coward,” he said calmly, sitting down.
    His words made her freeze even as her head snapped up. “I’m not!”
    “And yet you want to run away, not even giving him the chance to prove that your past may not mean anything at all to him?”
    “I don’t want to see his look of disappointment,” she murmured. “Plus, he’s into discipline. I’m not.”
    “That’s something to consider. My first wife wasn’t either and while I loved her, our relationship was nowhere near as deep as the one I currently share with Cami, which I feel is due to our sharing that particular value.”
    Jerod having been married before was a surprise and one she would need to bring up with Cami at one point. “You were married before?”
    “Yes, until she was killed in an auto-accident four years ago.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry.”
    “Thank you, but I’m extremely happy in my new relationship. As much as I would never have wished for what happened, I feel it was for the best. Even the thought I would never have found Cami is rather painful.”
    A small smile crossed her face. “Cami is amazing.”
    “Yes, she is. But so are you.”
    Pacing again, though much slower, she wrung her hands together. “I spent a year hiding out from the world and now it feels like I’m dived into the deep end. It’s scary,” she admitted.
    “Of course it is. But just because it’s scary doesn’t make it bad. What you have to figure out, Stephanie, is if the risks associated with having a possible suitor are worth the possible gain or fallout.”
    “How can he be your nephew?”
    He chuckled, leaning back. “My elder sister is almost twenty years my senior. If you think about it, Xander and Drake have almost the same age difference. I was only three when Christopher was born. Our parents insisted he call me uncle which we both thought was weird.”
    Plopping down into the other armchair in the room, she looked up at him sheepishly. “I’m freaking out for no reason, aren’t I?”
    A look of such compassion crossed his face that she had a hard time not sobbing. “Stephanie, there are real reasons for your fear, and you’ll overcome them in time. This is not a decision anyone can make except for you. Are you ready to possibly be courted? If so, dinners are the way that happens in Hyacinth. If not? Nobody will