Free Be My Temptation (Temptation #2) by Ruth Cardello Page B

would be different if I believed he really loved me. How do I find out the truth?
     
    They say love is a leap of faith. He shook his head in disgust now at the flippant response he’d given her.
     
    People who say that haven’t crashed and burned. Fuck leaping. I want proof.
     
    The answers to his questions were right there, as was the evidence of how deeply she’d been hurt. She’d laid her feelings out for him, fears and all:
     
    Will you help me figure out if he loves me?
     
    And what did I fucking say to her? Did I tell her how I felt? Did I man up? No. I said:
     
    Does this mean our game is on again? Are you looking for a Master?
     
    What the fuck was I thinking? Oh, my God, I am such an asshole. Kate deserves better than this, better than me. I should walk away and let her move on to the next man.
    Yet he didn’t move from his place near her door. I would if I wasn’t so fucking in love with her. He stood out in the cold so long he started to feel foolish. Finally, he pocketed the phone and went home, but only because he had thought of a plan for how to win her back.
    The next morning Brock knocked on her door. When it remained closed, he said, “I love you, Kate. I’m an ass, and you have every right to be angry with me, but that doesn’t change how much I love you. Give me a chance and I’ll prove it to you, Kate. That’s all I need, one chance.” She didn’t open the door, but he guessed she was there. He left his present for her against her door and said, “Take your time. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk.”
     
    ***
     
    Kate waited until Brock was gone before she opened the door. The heart-shaped box he’d left reminded her how they had started. She almost closed the door without picking it up, but decided she had to know what he considered an apology gift.
    She carried the box into the living room and hugged it before opening it. What if it was a vibrator? If so, he’d be sadly disappointed by her reaction to it this time.
    She tore off the cover. There on top of layers of tissue paper was Mr. Elf’s phone, smashed and mangled. There was a handwritten note with it.
     
    Dear Kate,
    No more games. This time it’s just you and me.
    And the me in that equation is sorry.
    I love you,
    Brock
     
    More than anything, Kate wanted to call Brock and tell him she’d forgiven him, but fear had taken root in her heart, and she wasn’t ready to open herself up to being hurt again.
    Words were easy to say, but what did they mean in the end? Her ex-husband had said he loved her, but that hadn’t stopped him from sleeping with all her friends. Wendy had called herself a friend, but in the end she considered fucking Wayne some sick win over Kate.
    Brock said he was sorry. She told herself he probably was sorry—sorry he’d been caught. But could she believe the rest of what he’d said? There was no denying she and Brock were compatible in bed. Was all of this because he didn’t want to lose that?
    Kate tossed the gift box down on the floor beside the couch.
    Too little, too late, Brock.

Chapter Nine
     
    A week later, Kate bounded up the stairs to Angie’s second floor. “Hello. Are you ready yet?”
    “Almost,” Angie called out from the boys’ room. “Get in here and wrangle Tim into his shoes again. I’m in big trouble. They already have their father’s sense of humor. Every time I try to get Tom ready, Tim takes something off. Every time I put Tim’s clothes back on, Tom has wormed out of something else.”
    Kate lifted Tim above her head and made faces that had him laughing. “Tim says Tom’s the troublemaker. He’s innocent of all charges.”
    “Sure, his father says the same thing. Hey, how did your interview go?”
    “Good. You are now looking at a very important, newly employed, radio station receptionist.”
    Angie turned from zipping up Tom’s coat. “That’s great news. And it still has to do with music. Sort of. The most important thing is it gets you out of