Temptation by Nora Roberts Page A

else.”
    â€œYou will.” Candy set the clipboard aside. “And next year, we’ll have more girls, a bigger staff and maybe even a profit.”
    â€œNext year, I’m going to know how to make a hurricane lamp out of a tuna can.”
    â€œAnd a pillow out of two washcloths.”
    â€œAnd pot holders.”
    Candy remembered Eden’s one mangled attempt. “Well, maybe you should take it slow.”
    â€œThere’s going to be no stopping me. In the meantime, I’ll contact the camp director over at—what’s the name, Hawk’s Nest?”
    â€œEagle Rock,” Candy corrected her, laughing. “It’ll be fun for us, too, Eden. They have counselors.
Male
counselors.” Sighing, she stretched her arms to the ceiling. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve spoken with a man?”
    â€œYou talked to the electrician just last week.”
    â€œHe was a hundred and two. I’m talking about a man who still has all his hair and teeth.” She touched her tongue to her upper lip. “Not all of us have passed the time holding hands with a man in the stables.”
    Eden plumped up her excuse for a pillow. “I wasn’t holding hands. I explained to you.”
    â€œRoberta Snow, master spy, gave an entirely different story. With her, it appears to be love at first sight.”
    Eden examined the pad of callus on the ridge of her palm. “I’m sure she’ll survive.”
    â€œWell, what about you?”
    â€œI’ll survive, too.”
    â€œNo, I mean, aren’t you interested?” After folding her legs under her, Candy leaned forward. “Remember, darling, I got a good look at the man when I was negotiating for the use of his lake. I don’t think there’s a woman alive who wouldn’t sweat a bit after a look at those spooky green eyes.”
    â€œI never sweat.”
    Chuckling, Candy leaned back. “Eden, you’re talking to the one who loves you best. The man was interested enough to track you down in the stables. Think of the possibilities.”
    â€œIt’s possible that he was returning Roberta’s cap.”
    â€œAnd it’s possible that pigs fly. Haven’t you been tempted to wander over by the orchard, just once?”
    â€œNo.” Only a hundred times. “Seen one apple tree, you’ve seen them all.”
    â€œThe same doesn’t hold true for an apple grower who’s about six-two, with a hundred and ninety well-placed pounds and one of the most fascinating faces this side of the Mississippi.” Concern edged into her voice. She had watched her friend suffer and had been helpless to do more than offer emotional support. “Have fun, Eden. You deserve it.”
    â€œI don’t think Chase Elliot falls into the category of fun.” Danger, she thought. Excitement, sexuality and, oh yes, temptation. Tossing her legs over the bunk, Eden walked to the window. Moths were flapping at the screen.
    â€œYou’re gun-shy.”
    â€œMaybe.”
    â€œHoney, you can’t use Eric as a yardstick.”
    â€œI’m not.” With a sigh, she turned back. “I’m not pining or brooding over him, either.”
    The quick shrug was Candy’s way of dismissing someone she considered a weasel. “That’s because you were never really in love with him.”
    â€œI was going to marry him.”
    â€œBecause it seemed the proper thing to do. I know you, Eden, like no one else. Everything was very simple and easy with Eric. It all fit—click, click, click.”
    Amused, Eden shook her head. “Is something wrong with that?”
    â€œEverything’s wrong with that. Love makes you giddy and foolish and achy. You never felt any of that with Eric.” She spoke from the experience of a woman who’d fallen in love, and out again, a dozen times before she’d hit twenty. “You would have married him, and