Read Twice Tempted for Free Online

nonchalance. “Guess I’m one of those people who learn the hard way.”
    Marty sighed before giving me another hug, and then he patted my back when he let me go.
    “No one’s died of a broken heart yet, so you’ll survive. Now come inside, you look like you’re going to collapse.”
    I felt like it, too. Then Marty scowled, looking past me.
    “What’s he doing here?”
    “How do you think she got here?” Maximus replied coolly. “Now help me with this luggage.”
    I was about to reiterate that I didn’t want it when someone else appeared in the trailer behind Marty.
    “Who’s here?” a groggy feminine voice asked.
    If the moonlight hadn’t broken through the clouds at that moment, the darkness would’ve made me miss the sheepish look that skipped over Marty’s face. In the next moment, I figured out why. A slender girl with long black hair blinked sleepily at us, and she couldn’t have been more than twenty.
    “Marty, you’re a hundred and thirty-eight!” I exclaimed before realizing the hypocrisy behind that statement.
    “It’s not like that, we work together,” the girl offered, smiling hesitatingly at me. “I’m the new Fantastic Frankie.”

Chapter 6
    M aximus offered to drive me five states away to Gretchen’s. Marty refused and said we’d figure this out. I didn’t know how, but I wasn’t about to involve Maximus any further. I gave him a hug and told him I’d be fine. That was getting a lot easier to say. Maybe soon, I’d even believe it.
    Marty waited until Dawn—the new Fantastic Frankie’s real name—went back to bed in my old room before offering his idea.
    “I’ll tell her she can finish this event, then she has to find another gig. Bill the Beetle Man could use an assistant—”
    “You can’t do that,” I said, exhaustion making my voice sharp. “Being a carnie isn’t most people’s first or second career choices. Dawn’s broke and desperate, isn’t she?”
    He nodded glumly. “Yeah, plus she’s got a warrant on her. Petty theft, multiple counts. People seem to forget that eating isn’t free. She could pull a small stretch if they catch her.”
    How like Marty to come to this girl’s rescue by giving her a job, a place to live, and safety by green-eyeing any suspicious cops that came sniffing around. He’d done the same for me when I was Dawn’s age and only a little more desperate. I couldn’t take a young girl’s best chance away from her, no matter my own crappy circumstances.
    I smiled and hoped it didn’t look like a grimace.
    “See, you can’t fire her. Don’t worry about me. I, ah, have some jewelry I can sell that’ll keep me flush for a year or so.” Good thing Vlad had insisted that I leave with everything he’d given me. “In the meantime, I’ll create my own solo act.”
    He reached across the fold-down table and grasped my hand. “You’ll stay here until you’ve booked some slots for that act.”
    “No, really—”
    “Don’t argue,” he cut me off, squeezing my hand. “You’re not my daughter by blood but I love you as much as Vera, God rest her soul, so shut up and let’s get you a place to sleep.”
    I laughed at that, blinking past tears that were caused by happiness for a change. “I love you, too, Marty, and I’ve always thought the couch was really comfortable.”
    S he’s pretty good , I thought a week later as I watched Dawn perform with Marty. Granted, he had added some of the more complicated flips and tumbles to his part of the routine, but Dawn had a good sense of showmanship that made up for her acrobatic weaknesses. By the time she landed on his shoulders at the end, I could almost pretend I’d been watching myself. We looked alike with our slender builds and long black hair. Aside from wanting to shield her from the law, no wonder Marty hadn’t bothered to change Dawn’s stage name from the one I’d used. I doubted any of the spectators who’d seen our act before realized that I’d been replaced with a