How You Remind Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

seduction. By the time she cocooned herself in a bathrobe and settled
in for a sleepless night in a chair by the window, she didn’t feel any less
embarrassed.
    Beyond that one black hole in her memory, Kate had few regrets
about her past. When she’d gone home with a guy for a one-night stand, it had
been a choice. She worked hard during the day, striving to fit her square
psyche into the round holes demanded in the law profession. She’d been good at
her job, even though, as Shaw reminded her, she’d been miserable. She countered
her unhappiness by partying hard and grabbing enough excitement and freedom during
the night to last her during her endless weeks of dry, dull billable hours.
    But even in her wildest party days, she’d never blacked out.
    That event had changed her life. The next morning, she’d
quit her job and found a new one with Erica. From that moment on, unless her
new career demanded it, she stayed out of nightclubs and away from concerts. She’d
forged a new life—one she was proud of, even if she did miss the easy sex.
    Though sex wasn’t supposed to be easy, was it? It certainly
hadn’t been with Shaw… even if it had been pretty wonderful.
    Now she knew that a random blackout from too much partying hadn’t
changed her life. She’d been the victim of a calculated attack. But instead of
enduring rape or worse, she’d been rescued. By a stranger. If he’d stuck around
the next morning to fill in the holes of her foggy memory and insisted nothing
had happened between them, would she have believed him?
    Probably not.
    She’d been at his mercy. He could have invited the whole of
Cell Block Tango to join in on screwing her and she would never have known,
never would have been able to resist.
    But Shaw hadn’t done something so awful. Instead, he’d taken
care of her. He’d listened. That’s how he’d known about her life, her job, her
dreams for the future. That’s how he’d known how much she loved it when a man
took his time going down on her, concentrating exclusively on her pleasure
before he took any for himself.
    That’s not exactly information she shared willy-nilly, even
while under the influence.
    Shaw’s technique had been far too specific to be accidental.
He’d opened her like a flower, peeling away her outer lips and blowing
intensely on her clit before suckling the nub with short, intense bursts of
pressure that had thrown her into sensual nirvana.
    He’d taken his time, giving her everything that she’d ever
dreamed about, as if he could read her mind.
    Only he hadn’t read her mind—she’d told him.
    And he’d listened.
    By the time the sun finally rose, Kate was tired and sore
from sleeping in the chair, but not as angry. She’d dodged a bullet, thanks to
Shaw. She had to give him points for the rescue, but he’d still picked the
world’s worst moment to come clean with the truth.
    Although, really, was there a good moment to tell a girl
that she’d been drugged and over the course of the night, had confessed all her
secrets, personal and professional, to a perfect stranger?
    Unable to process the situation further, Kate took a quick
shower, downed a whole pot of hotel-brand coffee and got dressed. Erica had
asked her to take over the party planning duties for the rest of the reunion
and she intended to do her job. She’d run into Shaw at some point. It was,
after all, his reunion, too. But now that she understood him, she realized he’d
give her a wide berth.
    And somehow, this made her feel worse.
     
    Shaw stayed away as long as he could. After returning to his
hotel room, he raided the mini-bar, downing enough booze to ensure he slept in
late, then ordered up a tomato juice and blood orange smoothie from room
service in the morning and nursed his hangover until noon. Thanks to the
reunion schedule she’d handed him the night before, he knew she’d be busy off
property, running a tour to his old high school for the former graduates who’d
moved out of