Secret Seduction by Lori Wilde Read Free Book Online Page A

business with, selling designer party drugs on the black market. Elle and Dante, an undercover FBI agent who’d been investigating Mark, had barely escaped with their lives.
    Elle scowled at the memory. “Things were improving. We’d stopped seeing kids come into the E.R. with overdoses, and we thought all the petty vandalism was over, but last night someone sliced all the tires on the cars in the employee parking lot.”
    “Oh, gosh,” Julie said. “The hospital saboteur strikes again?”
    Elle blew out her breath. “Apparently.”
    Besides the issues with Mark, over the past few months several odd incidents had occurred at the hospital. From anonymous leaks to the press about celebrity patients to an arson fire in the laundry room to items stolen from the kitchen and central supply. Taken one by one, the occurrences were nothing more than criminal mischief, but put together they seemed suspicious, especially with all the security cameras in the hospital. It seemed odd that the perpetrator hadn’t been caught on the monitor.
    “Dante told me the hospital board hired a new head of security,” Elle said. “Let’s hope this puts an end to this mess. Confidential Rejuvenations had taken a big financial hit from the fallout over what Mark did. The last thing the hospital needs is more scandal.”
    Vanessa nodded. She knew all too well how scandal could ruin lives.
    “Anyway,” Julie said. “Back to Nessa’s boyfriend.”
    “There is no boyfriend,” Vanessa corrected.
    Elle eyed Vanessa speculatively, running a hand over the beige linen table cloth. “I don’t know, you look different somehow.”
    “Must be the lighting in here,” Vanessa said, embarrassed to think she had that freshly and well-laid look about her. She picked up her menu. “I’m having the curried chicken salad. How about you guys?”
    Elle leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes. “No, it’s not the lighting. Your skin is glowing and you keep glancing off into the distance and smiling as if you have a sweet secret. And when you walked in, your step seemed peppier than usual. You’ve had great sex.”
    A waitress brought over a communal bowl of bread-and-butter pickles, the house specialty, and took their orders, but the momentary distraction offered Vanessa no reprieve.
    As soon as the waitress left, Julie rubbed her palms together. “Oooh, something juicy’s up with Nessa.”
    “Nothing’s up,” Vanessa denied, but her voice was higher than usual, totally giving her away.
    Elle’s eyes widened and she chuckled. “Omigosh, you were with a guy last night.”
    Apparently it wasn’t going to do her any good to deny it. Vanessa took a deep breath. “Yes, okay, I met a guy last night. But it’s not a big deal. Don’t make anything out of it.”
    Julie rested her elbows on the table and propped her chin in her upturned palms. “I want every detail. Since I’m sans boyfriend, I have to live vicariously through you and Elle.”
    “There’s nothing much to tell. I think I’ll have the fruit cup as well as the chicken salad.”
    Julie and Elle exchanged glances and for one brief moment Vanessa thought they were just going to let the topic drop, but no such luck.
    “What’s his name?” Elle asked.
    “What’s he do for a living?” Julie quizzed.
    “You guys,” Vanessa sighed in exasperation. “It’s nothing. Seriously.”
    “Are you going to see him again?”
    Pretending she hadn’t heard the question, Vanessa reached for a bread-and-butter pickle and munched on it.
    “Come on, Nessa, throw me a crumb,” Julie begged. “I need details. My love life is in the toilet.”
    Vanessa chewed the pickle, determined not to make a huge hairy deal of a one-night stand. She didn’t regret it, but neither was she particularly proud of it. She wouldn’t be seeing Tanner again. It had been a glorious, blissful, one-time-only thing. Besides, she didn’t even know the guy’s last name, so that settled it right there.
    “How cute is