Forbidden Pleasures Read Online Free PDF Page A

chessboard. If I’m going to check the bitch queen, I have to pull this off. J. P. Woods doesn’t give a shit for me. She just wants Martin to make her Stratford’s new CEO so she can get back at Mick Devlin.”
    “Do you think you can work with him?” Rina asked. “I mean, without trying to jump his bones. He really is outrageously attractive. I’m glad he’s not gay. That would really be a waste. Still, if he were gay we could all be friends, and cause gossip in town.”
    “He seems very nice,” Emily said. Nice wasn’t quite the word she wanted, but it would have to do. How could she tell Rina that this man she had just met had her thinking about being on a beach naked with him?
    “Nice? Nice? The guy is gorgeous, sweetie,” Rina exclaimed. The Lexus swerved just slightly. “Hell, I wish I were your age.”
    Emily laughed. “You haven’t looked at another man since you met Sam,” she said. “Why, you’ve even made him your hero when you watch the Channel.”
    “Now, who told you that?” Rina demanded to know.
    “You did, when you first introduced me to the Channel,” Emily answered her. “You said you thought of the two of you in your younger days.”
    “I talk too much,” Rina muttered. “So what have you been using the Channel for, sweetie? Isn’t it fun?” She chuckled.
    “I’m just an observer,” Emily said. “I imagine my books, and have the characters act it all out. It gives me a chance to see if it’s realistic and not just silly.”
    “You don’t put yourself in the heroine’s role?” Rina was surprised.
    “Good grief, no!” Emily exclaimed. “Why would I do that?”
    “Well, I thought you might, since you don’t have a boyfriend,” Rina replied. “Did you ever have a boyfriend, Emily? I didn’t think Katya and Emily O were that strict.”
    Emily thought a long moment, and then she said, “You know, Rina, I don’t think I ever have had a real boyfriend. I mean, I like guys, and I was social in college, but no one ever really touched me emotionally. There was never any time, and the story of my parents’ little misstep never really went away. I got the feeling the second I hit high school here that everyone was watching to see if I’d screw up like Katy and Joe. You know, some of my teachers taught them. That’s why I took all those AP courses, so I could graduate early and get the hell out of Egret Pointe. But then I came back.”
    “But you were very popular at Egret Pointe High,” Rina said. “And you were the class president for four years running.”
    “No one else wanted the job.” Emily laughed. “Katy and Joe were king and queen popular. I was the likable nerd. Oh, I went to pep rallies, and games, and even a couple of dances. But I never let a boy get too close. And then I did college in three years too. Wellesley, like my mother. No boys at Wellesley.” She chuckled. “And then just before I graduated Aaron sold my first book to Stratford, and the rest is history. I was a writer. I had a career, and no time for men. Actually, when I see some of the girls I went to school with I don’t think I’ve missed a whole lot.”
    “You can’t miss what you don’t know, sweetie,” Rina said as she swung off the parkway onto the Egret Pointe exit. “Or maybe you do know?” she probed.
    Emily laughed. “I’ll take the Fifth,” she said. “Besides it makes me more mysterious to guard my privacy. People wonder just what I am guarding. And I don’t want you selling my story to the Star.”
    “As if,” Rina answered her. “Want to eat supper with Sam and me?”
    “Thanks, but I’ll take a rain check,” Emily said. “I always get so keyed up when I have to make these city trips, and today was a shocker. I’ve got to sit quietly with some wine, and think about what happened. And my new editor is coming up this weekend, but don’t you dare tell a soul, Rina!”
    “What’s he coming for?” the older woman wanted to know.
    “He wants to work