Aftershock by Laurie Roma Read Free Book Online

my
worst.” Wanting to change the subject badly, she asked her question. “Tell me
something you’re afraid of. What’s your greatest fear?”
    He narrowed his eyes at her. “If
I tell you this, you’ll be the keeper of a secret I’ve never told anyone.”
    Caitlyn smiled and returned his
earlier words back to him. “I promise your secrets are safe with me.”
     “Alright. I don’t like heights.
I’m terrified of them.”
    “Really?”
     “Yeah. It’s not exactly
something I have a reason for either. I’ve just never liked them. Not roller
coasters, not flying. Hell, I once almost puked my guts out on a family
vacation to the Grand Canyon. I could never show it or tell anyone about it,
because my family would have been ruthless. I get all cold and sweaty and it,
well, it freaks me out. So there. High places. I’m afraid of heights.”
    Caitlyn tried to hide the smile
that wanted to break out but she wasn’t very successful. “So, you hate heights,
but you work in one of the tallest buildings in all of San Francisco?”
    “My office is on the seventh
floor.”
    “Of course.”
    She let a little chuckle slip
free and Tag frowned. “Fine, laugh at my pain.”
    “I’m sorry. I guess we aren’t
going on vacation anytime soon.” Caitlyn laughed and hung on to his arm as he tried
to push her away. “I’m kidding! Geez! Tag, you have nothing to be ashamed of,
it’s just that you don’t seem like someone who would be afraid of anything.”
    Tag grumbled for a moment before
he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his side again. “Okay,
you’re forgiven for laughing at me. It’s my turn now. How old are you?”
    “Twenty-five. Well, twenty-six tomorrow.
How ‘bout you?”
    “Thirty-four. And happy birthday
baby. We’ll have to celebrate tonight when we get out of here. What do you want
to do? Dinner? Dancing? Hot monkey sex? I think I can arrange all three.”
    Caitlyn chuckled. “That counts as
your question, you know. Birthday’s have never really been a big thing for me. It’s
no big deal, but dinner would be nice.”
    “Well, we’ll celebrate over
dinner tonight. Birthdays should be special.”
    Caitlyn gave him a placating
smile that had him frowning at her. “So, it’s my turn now. Tell me about your
family.”
    The easy smile returned to his
face. Stretching his legs out, he pulled her onto his lap quickly before she
knew what he was doing. “Settle down, I’m answering your question. I grew up
with a big family, well, a big extended family at least. My parents are still
married. Actually, I think they are more in love everyday. It’s a difficult
relationship to live up to, seeing them together, wanting that kind of love. I
took over the family business when my dad decided to retire. They do a lot of
traveling now.”
    “That sounds nice,” Caitlyn said
with a sigh as she fit her head into the crook of his neck.
     “I have two brothers, but I’m
the middle child. We get along, although we fight. I think fighting with them
is an entertaining hobby that we just seem to do when we’re together rather
than for an actual reason. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, though.
Lucian, my oldest brother, used to work for the government doing…something he
couldn’t tell us. He says he’s in private security now, but I think he still
might be doing some secret spy stuff. Whatever it is, we never really know what
he is up to, he just seems to pop up whenever we need him.”
    “That must be difficult, him
having such a dangerous job.”
    “It is, but trust me, he can
handle himself. Marcus is the baby and still lives in New York. He runs things
for the family business from there. Besides that, I have aunts, uncles, and
cousins scattered all over the place. Growing up, it seemed as if we never really
had any privacy. Someone was always around, sticking their nose in your
business.”
    “They sound wonderful.”
    Tag laughed. “Oh you say that now,
but wait