Secret Seduction by Lori Wilde Read Free Book Online

wasn’t letting go. The man was like a snapping turtle and she found herself wishing for thunder.
    “I’m listening.”
    “Last night was great. A lot of fun. We met each other’s needs, and I thank you for being there. It’s just that—”
    “I’m not good enough to be seen with you in the light of day.”
    “No, no.” She shook her head. “That’s not how it is.”
    “How is it?”
    He had a way of looking at her that made her feel both guilty and empowered. It was an odd sensation.
    She cleared her throat. “Look, I don’t normally do things like this. Picking up strangers in a bar.”
    “And you think I do?” He wasn’t letting go.
    “You don’t?”
    He shook his head. “First time.”
    His gaze never left her face. He looked so earnest, she believed him. “Okay, here’s the deal. I don’t have room in my life for a relationship.”
    “You could make room.”
    “Not much.”
    “We could take off one afternoon and go kayaking. Or you could call me on those nights when you’re watching movies all alone. I could bring the popcorn.”
    It was so tempting. Too damned tempting. Panic fluttered, turning in her chest. “I don’t like popcorn.”
    “Sure you do. Everyone likes popcorn. We can even rent Dark Victory.”
    “Look, I’d just rather not, okay?”
    Abruptly, he let go of her wrist. Vanessa, who’d been pulling against his grip, stumbled backward at the sudden release. She breathed a sigh of relief, even though her skin still tingled from his touch. “Thank you for letting go.”
    “Have a nice life,” he said.
    “You’re mad.”
    “No,” he said. “I’m disappointed.”
    “Disappointed?”
    “I thought—” He paused. “Never mind what I thought.”
    He’d thought they had a special connection? It would have been laughable except for the small knot in her stomach that whispered, I thought we had a special connection, too.
    Vanessa had to get out of here before she crawled right back up into bed beside him.
    “Take care of yourself, Tanner,” she said, grabbed up her purse and ran out the door.
    And you claim not to be a coward.

    “SO WHERE WERE YOU last night?”
    It was an innocent enough question. Vanessa was supposed to have called Elle last night to make plans for Julie’s birthday, but she’d forgotten. To Vanessa’s ears, Elle’s question sounded like an accusation. She shrugged, not wanting to lie, but not wanting to admit where she’d been. “I got caught up in something.”
    “A man’s arms perhaps?” Julie Demarco asked with a teasing gleam in her lively blue eyes.
    “You’re such a die-hard romantic,” Vanessa said, effectively dodging her comment.
    All three friends worked at Confidential Rejuvenations. The cloistered hospital had been built fifteen years earlier on the banks of the Colorado River. It was owned by a group of private physicians with high social standing and powerful connections in Hollywood, the Austin music industry and Texas politics. It was the place where anyone who was anyone came to receive the very best in specialized medicine and cutting-edge health care.
    While their jobs held a degree of glamorous cachet, they were also stressful. To deal with the demands of their professions and the secrets the job forced them to keep, Vanessa, Julie and Elle had formed an after-hours club where they could get together and vent. Sharing their hopes, dreams and fantasies with one another. Today, they were meeting for lunch at a cozy tearoom that also served as an antique store in a genteel area of Austin. Vanessa appreciated her two best friends, but sometimes—like now—she wished that they weren’t so perceptive.
    “How are things in the E.R.?” Vanessa asked, hoping to throw Elle off the scent. “Has it calmed down any after what happened with Mark?”
    A few months earlier, Elle’s ex-husband Mark Lawson, who had also been one of the co-owners of Confidential Rejuvenations, had been murdered by the gangster he’d been doing