In Her Secret Fantasy Read Online Free PDF Page A

uncertainty. “Louise is a friend,” he said at last. “But don’t push Chrissy.”
    “I wouldn’t,” Izzy exclaimed, staring at him. Not for the first time, it struck her that Glenn knew more about Chrissy than he ever let on. Chrissy had a handgun. Or at least she’d had one in October, and had promised to get rid of it. There was more to Chrissy than met the eye.
    Glenn nodded and lifted his jacket from the hall stand. “All right,” he said, and led the way to the fire escape, snatching up a crate of beer and a whisky bottle on the way.
    After his interesting encounter with Christine Lennox from Ardknocken House, Aidan spent the rest of the day with his family, giving Louise space for her traditional New Year clean and helping out where he could. It gave him a glimpse of what her life was like, and he was appalled.
    His father’s memory had already been beginning to go when his mother had survived the horrific car crash five years ago. The doctors thought she’d had a minor stroke, which had caused the accident. Her legs had been mashed and a head injury had left her pretty deaf. The broken bones had healed, but never recovered their pre-accident strength. Although she remained bright as a button and seemed to have accepted her lot, she’d given up the housekeeping and the running of the B & B to Louise. She rarely walked farther than the garden now and needed help to get up and down stairs. She was old before her time.
    “It’s like looking after kids,” Aidan said to Louise once, trying to cover the grief as she must have done every day when he’d never even imagined this growing tragedy in among the huger if less personal ones of his daily life.
    Louise shrugged. “Well, they did it for us.”
    In the evening, his parents dozed in front of the television, and Aidan stared unseeingly at the unrelentingly Scottish programmes that always heralded the new year. At least the comedy was quite good and let him and Louise laugh together for the first time in…years.
    Shit. That was worrying enough. Worse was his realization that he seemed to be regarding his reintegration into his family much like an undercover operation. He bit the inside of his mouth until it bled.
    He didn’t expect a wild New Year. His parents woke up for the bells, and just after midnight, their neighbours Hugh and Myra came round. A little later, Morag appeared and looked flatteringly pleased to see him. He’d been at school with Morag, who’d left the village even before he did. But she’d come back sooner, and now she appeared to be one of Louise’s best friends.
    Just as Hugh and Myra stood to go, the doorbell rang again, and Louise went to answer it.
    “Happy New Year!” came a chorus of unknown voices which Louise greeted with delight.
    “Come in, come in!” she cried, and a moment later, he caught his breath as Christine Lennox walked into the room with another young woman, a small boy and a large, watchful man whom Aidan recognized at once as the murderer Glenn Brody, head honcho at the big house.
    He didn’t even need to gather himself into work mode. He was always working. That was going to change too.
    “Happy New Year,” all the newcomers said, and the kid ran up to his parents to repeat it. The woman Aidan didn’t know followed the child, smiling.
    With a curious sense of anticipation, Aidan turned his gaze on Christine Lennox. God knew it was no hardship. If she’d caught his attention this morning, tonight she was in danger of monopolizing it. Shrugging off her jacket to give it to Louise, she revealed a black lace evening dress, which may have been a bit Goth but on this girl looked stunning.
    Aidan held out his hand. “Hello again. Happy New Year.”
    Smiling with more confidence than she’d shown earlier—well, who felt confident with their sore bum planted on the ice and their legs in a tangle?—she took his hand and returned the greeting. A frisson of purely sexual electricity shot up his arm and