Amanda Stevens - The Tempted

It was true. Tess had gone to great lengths to guard her secret, not the least of which had been changing Emily’s birth certificate. Alan Campbell had been a medical student before he’d gotten too sick to continue his studies, but he’d still had connections at the hospital in Memphis where he’d trained. He’d had one of his friends who worked in medical records change the entry of Emily’s birth from April to August, a full year after Tess had left Eden, as well as the date on all Tess’s medical records.

All she’d had to do then was apply for a corrected birth certificate from the state. And since Emily was small for her age, no one had questioned the four-month discrepancy in her development when Tess had returned to Eden two years later. No one knew Emily’s true birthday except for Tess, Joelle, Melanie and Emily’s pediatrician. And there was no way Royce could get his hands on those records.

“Please, please, think about what you’re doing,” Melanie begged. “You can’t tell Jared the truth. You can’t.” Only one other time had Tess seen the same level of terror in her friend’s eyes. “You can’t take the chance that Royce would find out. He’s still dangerous. He got away with attempted murder back then, and his family helped him. They’d help him now, too, if they had to. For God’s sake, don’t bring those people back into our lives.”

Tess glanced up at her friend. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a choice. They have money and I don’t.”

“Yes,” Melanie said bitterly. “And what if Royce uses his money to make certain Emily stays missing forever? Have you considered that?”

Secrets have a way of coming back to haunt you, Tess’s mother had warned her that summer. As Tess hovered nervously in Jared’s office doorway the next day, she felt almost sick with apprehension. The prospect of what she was about to do terrified her.

Melanie was right. The consequences of Tess’s actions today could be dire. The threat that had driven her from town—and from Jared’s arms—that summer still posed a grave danger. If he refused to help her, she could be risking everything for nothing. She could be putting her daughter in even more jeopardy.

But what choice did she have? What choice had she had six years ago?

Tess swallowed and took a fortifying breath, slowly, deeply, to calm herself, repeating the litany she’d chanted to herself all through the sleepless night. I’m doing this for Emily.

Across the room, Jared stood at the window, oblivious to her presence, and for a moment, the urge to slip away before he noticed her was almost overwhelming. But Tess hesitated, her gaze moving over him, drinking in the familiar lines of his body. The wide shoulders. The narrow waist and slim hips. He was just as tall as she’d remembered, his hair still dark.

In point of fact, Tess had forgotten nothing about Jared Spencer because she still dreamed about him. She still thought about him at night, after Emily had gone to sleep, when the TV was turned off and the house settled into deep silence. Sometimes lying in bed, unable to drift off, Tess would wonder about what might have been, but mostly she thought about what was never meant to be.

She and Jared had come from two very different worlds—his one of wealth and privilege, hers one of hard work and sacrifice. Still, it might have worked, they might have made it work, if it hadn’t been for a series of events that summer that had changed Tess’s life—and Melanie’s—forever. The night Melanie had showed up at Tess’s door had only been a portent.

But Jared had loved her once, Tess thought, her eyes misting. He’d once promised her there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her.

Would he feel that way now when he found out the truth…?

“Promise me,” Tess whispered as she and Jared lay on his boat, watching the stars turn on one by one in an indigo sky. They were alone on the lake, drifting aimlessly, neither of them anxious to return to shore. To reality. “Promise you won’t say anything until I’m ready.”

Jared rolled to his side and propped himself on his elbow, gazing down at her. “They’re going to find out about us sooner or later, Tess. They may even already know.” He trailed a finger down her bare stomach, making her shiver. “Why are you so afraid?”

“You know why. I’m not the sort of girl your parents would want to see you bring home. They won’t approve of me and you know it.”

He hesitated, frowning. “They will in time.”

“But what if they don’t? What if my mother loses her job?”

“You think she’d get fired because of us? I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Maybe you couldn’t stop it. Maybe they’d kick you out, too.”

“I’m not a kid, Tess. I’ve got my own place. I’m not exactly worried about being homeless.”

“But you’re destined to take over the company someday. It’s what you want. Your father could force you out because of me.”

“Stop borrowing trouble. That’s not going to happen, either.”

He was trying to reassure her, but Tess longed to hear him say that he didn’t care if it did happen. He could be happy without the Spencer money, without the prestige and power, so long as he had her.

But he didn’t say it, and Tess was afraid his silence spoke volumes.

She closed her eyes as his fingers whispered along her skin, barely touching her and yet eliciting a response so needy, so primal, she hardly recognized herself. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not to her. She was too levelheaded. And she didn’t even like the Spencers.

But Jared was different. He always had been, and Tess was only now starting to admit to herself that she’d nursed secret feelings for him for years. Maybe that was why she was so reluctant to bring their relationship out into the open. Jared Spencer was a fantasy come true. She didn’t want reality screwing up everything. When his family found out about them…if they made him choose…

Tess shivered, and Jared pulled her even closer.

“I’ve got an idea,” he murmured.

“What?”

“My family’s having a celebration here at the lake next week. It’s my parents’ anniversary. I want you to come as my date. Maybe once you get to know us, you’ll realize we aren’t the monsters you seem to think we are.”

“I can’t,” Tess said in alarm. “My mother has to work that night, and I promised I’d help her.”

Jared rolled to his back and stared at the sky. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Why not?” she challenged. “I’m not ashamed of what my mother does for a living. If it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me.”

“Still wearing that chip on your shoulder, Tess? Still think you’ve got something to prove?”

“It’s not that.” She drew her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “I just want you to see me for who I really am. Don’t expect me to change just because of us.”

“Then why should I have to change?”

“I never said you did.”

“Not in so many words, but there’s always this underlying tension when we’re together,” he said. “I always feel as if I have to make excuses for who I am and for what my family has. You put up defenses that I don’t know how to break through.”

“If I’m so much trouble, why do you even bother?” she asked, stung by his words.

“Because no matter how hard you try to push me away, I can’t stop thinking about you.” He tugged her down beside him, holding her close, discarding her bathing-suit top in one fluid motion. “I can’t stop wanting you,” he whispered.

The night air swept over Tess, cooling her, drawing an inevitable response. But Jared was there to keep her warm. Jared was there to cover her nakedness with his, making her want him so badly Tess could hardly believe that just a few short weeks ago, she’d never been with a man, never experienced the intense pleasure of lovemaking.