Temptation by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

opinion hardly mattered. “Thank you. I’m sure you didn’t come to look over the horses.”
    â€œNo.” But he stepped inside the stall. The mare shifted to accommodate him. “Apparently you know your way around them.” He lifted a hand to run it down the mare’s neck. There was a simple gold ring on his right hand. Eden recognized its age and value, as well as the strength of the man who wore it.
    â€œApparently.” There was no way past him, so she linked her fingers together and waited. “Mr. Elliot, you haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”
    Chase’s lips twitched as he continued to stroke the mare. Miss Philadelphia was nervous, he thought. She covered it well enough with frigid manners, but her nerves were jumping. It pleased him to know that she hadn’t been able to brush off that quick, impulsive kiss any more than he had. “No, I haven’t.” Before she could avoid it, he reached down for her hand. An opal gleamed dully in the shadowed light, nestled in a circle of diamond chips that promised to catch heat and fire.
    â€œWrong hand for an engagement ring.” He discovered that the fact pleased him, perhaps more than it should have. “I’d heard you and Eric Keeton were to be married last spring. Apparently it didn’t come off.”
    She would like to have sworn, shouted, yelled. That’s what
he
wanted, Eden told herself, letting her hand be passive in his. “No, it didn’t. Mr. Elliot, for a, let’s say, country squire, you have boundless curiosity about Philadelphia gossip. Don’t your apples keep you busy enough?”
    He had to admire anyone who could shoot straight and smile. “I manage to eke out a bit of free time. Actually, I was interested because Keeton’s a family connection.”
    â€œHe is not.”
    There, he’d ruffled her. For the first time since her initial surprise, she was really looking at him. Take a good look, Chase thought. You won’t see any resemblance. “Distant, certainly.” Capturing her other hand, he turned the palms up. “My grandmother was a Winthrop, and a cousin of his grandmother. Your Philadelphia hands have a couple of blisters. You should take care.”
    â€œA Winthrop?” Eden was surprised enough at the name to forget her hands.
    â€œWe’ve thinned the blood a bit in the last few generations.” She should be wearing gloves, he thought, as he touched a blister with his thumb. “Still, I’d expected an invitation and was curious why you dumped him.”
    â€œI didn’t dump him.” The words came out like poisoned honey. “But to satisfy your curiosity, and to use your own crude phrase, he dumped me. Now if you’d give me back my hands, I could finish for the day.”
    Chase obliged, but continued to block her way out of the stall. “I’d never considered Eric bright, but I’d never thought him stupid.”
    â€œWhat a delightful compliment. Please excuse me, Mr. Elliot.”
    â€œNot a compliment.” Chase brushed at the bangs over her forehead. “Just an observation.”
    â€œStop touching me.”
    â€œTouching’s a habit of mine. I like your hair, Eden. It’s soft, but it goes its own way.”
    â€œA veritable bouquet of compliments.” She managed one small step backward. He had her pulse thudding again. She didn’t want to be touched, not physically, not emotionally, not by anyone. Instinct warned her how easily he could do both. “Mr. Elliot—”
    â€œChase.”
    â€œChase.” She acknowledged this with a regal nod. “The morning bell goes off at six. I still have several things to do tonight, so if there’s a purpose in your being here, could we get to it?”
    â€œI came to bring you back your hat.” Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out the Phillies cap.
    â€œI see.” One more black