Free Pride & Pleasure (The KNIGHT Brothers Book 1) by Rhonda Lee Carver Page A

blank gaze. “Oh yes, he loved her, but my mother had the patience of a saint.”
    “Don’t all marriages require a good amount of patience? My mother and father have been married for thirty years and they always had ups and downs.”
    He shrugged. “My father always put his work ahead of anything else.”
    “Are you afraid you’ll do that too? If you found the one?”
    “How about you? Have you ever been in love?”
    “Nice changing the subject.” Her heart kicked up. She wanted to lie, wanted to pretend that she was worldly and mature, instead of feeling like the lamb being led to slaughter. “No, I haven’t, Victor.”
    “It’s interesting that you have such a decisive opinion about something you’ve never experienced.”
    “Isn’t one of your rules…keep an open mind?”
    “Touché, madam. Now, have you traveled? I imagine you’ve been all over the world playing your music.”
    “No. I’ve never even been outside of the country.” Were they back to off-the-cuff conversation?
    “You don’t know what you’re missing,” he said. “Certainly you have a place you’d like to visit.”
    “Paris. Tuscany. Bora Bora. I am a dreamer.” She smiled.
    “Those places are magnificent. However, I see you more as Pula, Croatia. Full of culture for daytime exploring and the nightlife is hot and exotic, insanely magnificent. A place like Pula definitely brings out a person’s true inner self.”
    Her thighs throbbed and she shifted. “My name and hot and exotic have never been used in the same sentence.”
    He cocked his head as his long index finger moved over the edge of the table, then slowly made a figure-eight shape. Her nipples budded, thinking how wonderful his hands would be touching her, exploring her. The temperature rose and sweat beaded between her breasts. Using descriptive words like exotic, hot, and magnificent made her adrenaline pump faster.
    Max stepped into the room, drowning the heated moment like an ice cold shower. “Dessert, sir?”
    “Later, Max. For now, I have something to show Miss Pine.” Victor pushed back his chair and came around to help her up, which she found very considerate from a man who she couldn’t quite figure out if he was a gentleman or not.
    He held out the crook of his arm, which she took and he led her out of the dining room. Her curiosity piqued as they headed for the staircase, tingles shot down her spine, nestling like a massage in her bottom. Where was he taking her? Had she missed something? They’d only been talking, and now here they were, heading upstairs. Being that she’d never been in a situation like this, she had no clue if she’d given him the wrong message. She stopped on the first rung and tugged her hand free from his arm. “Uhh…I…did I give you the wrong impression?” Her cheeks flamed.
    One thick brow lifted. “Wrong impression?”
    “I-I won’t sleep with you,” she muttered. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might break a rib.
    A smile danced at the corner of his mouth. “I understand, and neither am I asking you to.” His eyes lit up. “I’m not taking you to my bedroom, Avary. I’m only taking you to meet my sister. After all, this is why you came.”
    Her mind was reeling. She’d embarrassed herself and wanted to flee back to the safety of her bedroom, but that would only drive the nail in deeper. Straightening her spine, she cleared her throat. “That would be great. Does she want to meet me?”
    “Of course. I told you that she’s a huge fan of your music.” He once again offered his arm and she accepted it as they started up the stairs, side by side.
    “She didn’t wish to eat dinner with us?”
    “I’m sure she would have if at all possible.”
    Her inquisitiveness magnified, but she didn’t ask any more questions. She just concentrated on how much heat radiated off his body, seeping through her thin dress and erupting an avalanche of sensations along her flesh and inside of her bloodstream. She’d