Page 1 of Unexpected Temptation
Chapter One
“Ican’t believe you’reactually going to do it.You and your friends can’t treat people like that.”Amelia watched her sister as she put on a delicate diamond earring while she sat in front of a vanity mirror in her bathroom.
Amelia stood against the door and tried to keep the frustration out of her voice.
“Why aren’t you even going to try?”
Meredith shrugged.“It was a bet, it was fun, and I won, and now it’s done.”
“I can’t believe you’re actually going to just leave him hanging.”
Meredith’s eyes pierced her sister’s.
“Amelia, you’re being an idiot.What woman would ever become a mail-order bride to some man-ape in the middle of nowhere?It was ridiculous for him even to consider it.I actually think I did him a favor.”
Amelia ground her teeth together.“It’s not ridiculous.I think it happens more than you think.I think these men do this because they don’t have a way to meet women.”
“That’s not my problem.”Meredith stood and smoothed the little ice-blue dress over her slim hips, then turned to look at her profile in the full-length mirror.“How do I look?”
Amelia swallowed back her resentment at her sister’s attitude but rolled her eyes.Like she didn’t know she was gorgeous.Her sister had mirrors everywhere so she could admire herself.
“You look beautiful, as always.”
Amelia avoided looking in the mirrors, especially when she was next to her sister.It made her feel even more dumpy and unattractive.
Meredith tapped Amelia’s chin with a long, perfectly manicured fingernail as she walked past her out of the bathroom.
“Don’t be jealous, little sister.You have your own redeemingquality,” Meredith sniped and then snickered.
Amelia rolled her eyes again before turning and following her sister into her bedroom.She had caught the insult but let it slide.She didn’t expect anything else from her sister.
Amelia sometimes wondered how two people could be so different when they came from the same parents.While Meredith was tall, thin, blonde, and gorgeous, Amelia was several inches shorter with curves she had always hated.She had never been successful in losing weight, even after all the diets her mom had put her on over the years.
Her hair, her one beautiful feature, she thought, was a rich brown with a hint of silver.It hung down to the middle of her back and was slightly curly.
She wanted to think she had been adopted, except the blue color and shape of her eyes were exactly like her sister’s and mother’s.
“Meredith, you have to at least get a message to him.He’s expecting you next week, right?”
Meredith rolled her eyes.“I’m not doing a damn thing.If you feel so strongly about it, you get in touch with him.”
Amelia’s eyes widened in disbelief.“What amIsupposed to tell him?”
“I don’t care, Amelia.Make something up,” Meredith snapped.
“But...”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Meredith spat out impatiently.“I have to leave for the benefit.Mom and Dad are probably already waiting for me downstairs.”
Amelia gritted her teeth as frustration and anger swept through her.She lowered her head, so her sister didn’t see it.Not that Meredith cared, but it would give her another reason to torment her.
Meredith stopped at the doorway.“What are you doing tonight?”
Amelia shrugged.“Probably watch a movie or read a book.”She didn’t have a lot of options.She wasn’t invited to these kinds of things with her family, and she only had a few friends, but they were always busy working or with their own families.
She’d gotten used to never being invited to go with them.She knew she was too much of an embarrassment to her mother, father, and sister.They never came out and said it, but she could tell.In the past, every time she had asked to go, they would give her the spiel about her not enjoying these things and not knowing a lot of people.
Amelia knew what the real reason was.Her family members were all close to six feet, beautiful, and blonde perfection.
