Page 5 of Twelve Days of Temptation (Temptation 1)
Brock kept checking his prepaid phone for a text from Kate, but one never came. The employee he’d asked to drop off his gifts each day was pretty sure she hadn’t seen him leaving them. Brock was paying the young man well to be discrete, and had promised to pay him double at the end of the game if she never caught him. The young man had looked on the verge of asking several questions when Brock had approached him about running a few covert errands for some extra cash, but he’d kept them to himself as soon as Brock doubled the offer. Money had a way of silencing questions.
He was closing his office when his sister and her best friend came in. Linda was his twin by birth, his friend by choice. She was exceptionally short and joked that God had given her a personality twice her size to make up for it. She dealt with his vendors, and they loved her. All her sweet talk softened her directness. Vendors paid on time because they didn’t want to be on her bad side, but they sent her baskets of goodies around the holidays because they also loved her smile.
Her friend Dawn, with her dark brown hair and eyes, looked like a taller version of Linda. Most people assumed they were sisters. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with.
Diving right in without the pleasantries of a greeting, Linda said, “Brock, I’m going to hell.”
Brock hugged his sister and laughed. “And this is news?”
Linda smiled broadly and smacked his arm. “Seriously, I discovered today I’m not nice and neither is Dawn.”
Dawn shrugged, but she was also smiling. “I said she was too skinny. You’re the one who called her a bitch.”
“You practically called her ugly,” Linda volleyed.
“I said she was bordering on it.”
Linda dismissed the difference with a wave of her hand. “Whatever, I said she was still pretty, just bitchy. I didn’t know she could hear us.”
With a sinking feeling he knew who they were referring to, Brock asked, “Who did you two offend?”
Linda made a circular motion with a finger. “It was three of us. Kim was there.” Linda shook both hands with comic anger in the air. “Oh, my God, it was so awkward. You know Untouchable Kate?”
“You mean Kate Hale?” Brock asked, feeling the correction was necessary.
“Yes, her. Okay, so she was at the supermarket, and we were picking up supplies for the office holiday party, and she heard us talking about her.”
Dawn’s eyes were wide at the memory. “You should have seen how upset she was. She told us off.”
“Good for her,” Brock said, folding his arms over his chest. “Sounds like you three deserved it.”
Linda scrunched up her face and said, “I know. We did. I feel awful. I never would have said anything if I thought she could hear me.”
Brock raised one eyebrow. “How about, you never should have said anything at all?”
Linda referenced herself and her friend with a waving finger. “Human over here. Not like you, Mr. Perfect.”
Dawn made a pained face. “The thing is—we feel really bad. When she said she’d lost her mother and her husband in the same year, she looked like she was going to cry. Is there a bouquet for when you’ve accidently been a complete ass to someone?”
“I’m sure an apology would suffice,” Brock suggested.
“Like in a text?” Linda asked, looking to Dawn for confirmation.
“Don’t text her,” Brock said quickly, then stopped himself from saying more.
Linda nodded. “Brock is right. We should go see her and take her a plate of cookies or something.”
Dawn looked skeptical. “Is that going to look like we’re trying to fatten her up?”
Shaking her head, Linda said, “No, it’s almost Christmas. Everyone gives out cookies this time of year.” When Dawn still didn’t look convinced, Linda added, “If you feel funny about visiting her, we could leave a note and cookies on her doorstep. You know, like a peace offering.”
“No,” Brock said emphatically.
Linda and Dawn stopped and gave him a strange look. Linda said, “Wow, still bitter over your old crush on her?”
Brock couldn’t meet his sister’s eye when he said, “No, I just think leaving something on her doorstep is not a good way to apologize to someone.”
“Fine, that settles it. Dawn, we’ll bake cookies this week and go see her.”
Battling between wanting his sister to stay the hell away from Kate and wanting Kate to not feel so alone, Brock finally gave in and said, “If you do, ask her to go to lunch with you. I have the feeling she could use some friends right now. Even if they are as crazy as you two.”
“Do you want to come with us, Brock?” Dawn asked.
“No. I don’t want be her friend.”
***
That night, Brock paced the rooms of his one-bedroom apartment. He’d never needed much space and worked too much to care about where he lived. His place was clean. It was conveniently located near work and family. That had always been good enough for him.
Except now it felt small and suffocating.
He picked up the phone he’d purchased to communicate with Kate and decided he was done waiting for her to contact him.
Did you like my package, Kate? As soon as he hit send, he reread his message and groaned at the double entendre. Is it any wonder she hasn’t answered me?
Surprisingly, I did. It wasn’t at all what I expected.
That’s good,isn’t it? You didn’t text me for instructions when you received it.
It really wasn’t that confusing. I’ve taken baths before. I figured it out.
The conversation wasn’t going at all the way he’d imagined it. Did you think of me while you were hot and wet?
I don’t know anything about you, so . . . no. I didn’t want to ruin the moment by imagining an old man or some teenage boy jerking off to the idea of me in a tub.
I’m not either of those.
I don’t know that. Maybe if you told me who you were . . .
Not going to happen. Tell me about the bath. Did you think about anyone while you were soaping yourself? Did it make you so hot you had to stroke yourself until you came?
Honestly? No and no. But it was nice. The candles are my favorite scent.
Brock sank onto his couch and groaned. Nice? Seriously? The phone beside him beeped with an incoming message.
The music was beautiful, too.
So much for the articles that said a romantic bath always put women in the mood for sex. There was no way in hell he was going to blow his one chance with Kate. He tossed the phone onto the other side of the couch and reached for his laptop. As it booted up, he cracked his knuckles and rolled up his sleeves.
He searched for popular female fantasies and studied them with determination. He scoured the Internet for what women were reading. His friends were wrong. It wasn’t one spicy book that women were talking about, it was the whole genre that was
popular. The heat level of some of the romances made his eyebrows meet his hairline a few times. But he downloaded a few of them and read them like he was cramming for a college exam.
Kate Hale, prepare yourself.
This elf is going Alpha.
Chapter Five
Kate lingered around her house the next day waiting for her doorbell to ring. This time she wasn’t even trying to pretend she wasn’t waiting. The day before, the package had arrived early, but today lunchtime came without a delivery.
When Kate returned from making herself lunch in the kitchen, either the doorbell hadn’t rung or she hadn’t heard it because there on her porch was her next gift. It was wrapped as the first two had been and was larger than the day before’s. Kate hurriedly carried it to her kitchen table.
She tore it open without hesitation. Inside were several smaller boxes. She opened the first and found a pair of jeans. She laughed and sent a text.
Jeans?
Is that all you’ve opened so far?
Yes. But why would you send me jeans? I’m totally confused.
I like them. They’ll make your ass look amazing. And you’ll wear them tonight.
I will?
You will. Open the rest of the boxes, Kate.
The next contained a bottle that looked like perfume. She read its label. Pheremones. The description said they enhanced a woman’s attractiveness.
So, you don’t like how I dress, and you think I need help attracting men? Thanks. I’m not feeling naughty; I’m feeling insulted.
The problem, Kate, is you’re overthinking things. It holds you back. The jeans are because I like jeans. The pheromones are because you need confidence. So, tonight, you’ll go to a bar and meet someone.
