Temptation by Nora Roberts

by design or good fortune, matched his eyes and was left open at the throat. Slowly and easily he smiled at her, and her lips curved in automatic response.
    â€œI imagined you looking like this.” In truth, he hadn’t been sure she would come, or what he might have done if she had locked herself away in one of the cabins and refused to see him. “I’m glad you didn’t disappoint me.”
    Feeling her resolve weaken, Eden made an effort to draw back. “I made a bargain,” she began, only to fall silent when he handed her a bunch of anemones freshly picked from the side of the road. He wasn’t supposed to be sweet, she reminded herself. She wasn’t supposed to be vulnerable to sweetness. Still, unable to resist, she buried her face in the flowers.
    That was a picture he would carry with him forever, Chase realized. Eden, with wildflowers clutched in both hands; her eyes, touched with both pleasure and confusion, watching him over the petals.
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œYou’re welcome.” Taking one of her hands, he brought it to his lips. She should have pulled away. She knew she should. Yet there was something so simple, so right in the moment—as if she recognized it from some long-ago dream. Bemused, Eden took a step closer, but the sound of giggling brought her out of the spell.
    Immediately she tried to pull her hand away. “The girls.” She glanced around quickly enough to catch the fielder’s cap as it disappeared around the corner of the building.
    â€œWell, then, we wouldn’t want to disappoint them?” Turning her hand over, Chase pressed a kiss to her palm. Eden felt the heat spread.
    â€œYou’re being deliberately difficult.” But she closed her hand as if to capture the sensation and hold it.
    â€œYes.” He smiled, but resisted the impulse to draw her into his arms and enjoy the promise he’d seen so briefly in her eyes.
    â€œIf you’d let me go, I’d like to put the flowers in water.”
    â€œI’ll do it.” Candy left her post by the door and came outside. Even Eden’s glare didn’t wipe the smile from her face. “They’re lovely, aren’t they? Have a good time.”
    â€œWe’ll do that.” Chase linked his fingers with Eden’s and drew her toward his car. She told herself the sun had been in her eyes. Why else would she have missed the low-slung white Lamborghini parked beside the cabin. She settled herself in the passenger’s seat with a warning to herself not to relax.
    The moment the engine sprang to life, there was a chorus of goodbyes. Every girl and counselor had lined up to wave them off. Eden disguised a chuckle with a cough.
    â€œIt seems this is one of the camp’s highlights this summer.”
    Chase lifted a hand out of the open window to wave back. “Let’s see if we can make it one of ours.”
    Something in his tone made her glance over just long enough to catch that devil of a smile. Eden made up her mind then and there. No, she wouldn’t relax, but she’d be damned if she’d be intimidated either. “All right.” She leaned back in her seat, prepared to make the best of a bad deal. “I haven’t had a meal that wasn’t served on a tray in weeks.”
    â€œI’ll cancel the trays.”
    â€œI’d appreciate it.” She laughed, then assured herself that laughing wasn’t really relaxing. “Stop me if I start stacking the silverware.” The breeze blowing in the open window was warm and as fresh as the flowers Chase had brought her. Eden allowed herself the pleasure of lifting her face to it. “This is nice, especially when I was expecting a pickup truck.”
    â€œEven country bumpkins can appreciate a well-made machine.”
    â€œThat’s not what I meant.” Ready with an apology, she turned, but saw he was smiling. “I suppose you wouldn’t care if it