Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) by Claire Adams Read Free Book Online

guy I had dated for
a while in college, but decided to skip that for now.
    "No," I said. "I sort of stayed with
the whole career woman thing. I never dated much."
    "That doesn't surprise me,” he said, taking a
swig of wine.
    "Oh really. And why not?"
    "Well, you never did in high school,” he said.
    "I never got asked out in high school.
There is a difference,” I clarified.
    "I find that hard to imagine,” he said. "You
never did know the effect you had on people."
    I rolled my eyes.
    "What about you?" I said, eager to change
the subject. "Anyone special?"
    "No," he said swirling around the last
contents of his glass.
    "That doesn't surprise me either,” I said.
    "And why is that?" he said.
    "You always had too many girlfriends in high
school,” I chided him.
    "Too many?" he said. "I’m hurt. Hurt,
that you would say so."
    I returned his grin behind his words. "You
know," I said. "Some of us used to say that your reputation lived up
to your name."
    "Oh?"
    "Your name is 'Player' after all,” I said.
"Players gotta play, right?"
    "Touché, my lady,” he said with a nod. "Touché."
    "This meal has been amazing," I said dabbing
my mouth with my napkin. "Thank you for talking me into it."
    "We had to complete our very important business
meeting after all."
    "Right," I said. "Very important."
    We stood and walked outside, heading back towards the
parking lot, neither of us in any particular hurry it seemed. Night had fully
fallen and the city sky line lit up the area with bright lights.
    Despite my misgivings I almost felt like I was on a
date.
    I felt certain that Aiden had wanted me to feel that
way, to put my guard down. This might be a strategic play on his part, a means
of throwing me off. I found myself torn between wanting the night to continue,
wishing almost that we didn’t have the ever present reality hanging over us of
being in competition.
    I couldn’t, would not let my guard down, despite how
much I may have wanted to.
    I had told him the truth about not dating very much in
college. My focus had been singularly driven to find the right career path as
was my passion. If I so chose, I worry about dating once I had secured a long
term secure job. I needed to keep my guard up and not forget my true goals, no
matter how much fun we were having.
    "Do you remember," he said "When we
played that joke on my brother?"
    "Which one?" I asked. There had been many
and just as many returned.
    "The one where we made him eat shaving
cream."
    "Oh, I had almost forgotten that!" I burst
into laughter. "We had made several bowls up to look like ice cream. Yes,
I remember that."
    "He was the only one that fell for it too."
    "Everyone else saw right through it,” I said.
"I remember Logan asking with suspicion why the dessert smelled like
menthol."
    "And then Channing comes in and dives into
it."
    We had laughed for ages over that incident. He had
sputtered for half an hour trying to get the taste out of his mouth. I recalled
some sort of retaliation had come from that.
    Aiden's mother had her hands full with all the boys
that most of the time she just let them hash it out with each other rather than
get involved. She said it was good for their people skills, but I think she
just had her hands full. I looked out over the city, letting the memory
reignite my mind.
    "Blair," Aiden said.
    His tone had changed. I should have noticed, but I
felt so relaxed that it all seemed natural. I turned to answer him, but my
voice caught in my throat by the way he was looking at me.
    He placed his hand on my neck in a gentle but firm
grasp and pulled me to him. I knew what was coming instantly, but the contact
of his lips set me on fire, awakening something that had long been forgotten.
Losing myself in the moment I wrapped my arms around his neck, succumbing to
his seductive kiss.
    All at once I felt like the young girl back in high
school walking down the road to our houses the day before I was to leave for college.
I felt the same