Our Little Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

“How much time will you have between dinner and racquetball?”

    “Twenty-two minutes. Why?”

    It might help if she had some experience at this, but you had to start somewhere. “Do you think that’s enough time for phone sex?”

    “What? What’s gotten into you, Lauren?”

    She wondered about that herself. “I don’t know. Do you want to help me find out, or not?”

    “I don’t even know how to do that.”

    “You just describe what you’re doing.” The idea of hearing Jeff whisper suggestive things in her ear intrigued her.

    “Lauren.” She could already hear disapproval in his tone. “Don’t you think that’s a little low class?”

    “No. Lots of people do it, and it has nothing to do with class.”

    “
We’ve
never done it.”

    “There’s a lot of things we’ve never done. That doesn’t mean we can’t try them.” She tried to be patient, reminding herself that she was pushing against the very thing that had drawn her to Jeff, his predictable, conservative nature. He was her anchor, the person who kept her grounded whenever Meg’s lifestyle threatened to throw her calm life into chaos. Years of rescuing Meg from disastrous relationships had made Jeff appealing. She just hoped he could stretch those sensibilities a little.

    “I’ll, um, think about it,” he said.

    “Okay.” It looked like she’d have to settle for that for now.

    “In the meantime, meeting Uncle John and Aunt Betty will be the perfect antidote to spending a couple days in Meg’s world.”

    Back to that again. “Meg’s world isn’t so bad, andI’m concerned about her. Anything could have happened—”

    He cut her off. “Meg is a big girl, Lauren. She’ll come home eventually, no doubt with some sordid explanation of why she disappeared for a day.”

    “Three days, actually.”

    He hadn’t heard her. “Trust me, you’re better off spending your time with my aunt and uncle. Just don’t tell them about Meg. After all, we’re hoping she gets this marriage annulled, right? So there’s no need to mention it. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think of Uncle John’s antique car collection. You can tell me all about it when you call tonight.”

    “At eight fifteen.”

    “Right. Great, I’ll talk to you then. ’Bye.” The phone went dead before she could respond.

    Disgusted, she tossed it aside. No one seemed to be concerned about Meg but her—and Gerald. And he was downstairs with Drew.

    She’d already decided it was best to avoid Drew. When they weren’t arguing, she found herself noticing the devilish appeal of his smile, or the snug fit of his jeans. But by early afternoon, when she’d read the airline’s in-flight magazine cover-to-cover and her stomach was growling, she went downstairs.

    She found Drew and Gerald right where she’d left them.

    Gerald stood at the kitchen island, surrounded by enough food to stock a small deli. He looked up with a smile. “Hey, Lauren. Did you get caught up in your work? We were about to send out a search party, weren’t we, Andrew?”

    Drew twisted the top off a beer and drank before answering. “No.”

    Gerald gave an exaggerated sigh. “It’s an expression, stupid. And it was rhetorical.”

    “But inaccurate.” Drew popped a pretzel in his mouth and smiled sweetly at her. “She wasn’t lost. I’m willing to bet Lauren Sutherland has never been anywhere but where she was supposed to be, and never caused anyone a moment’s concern. Am I right?”

    She didn’t know what she’d done to get under his skin, but he was definitely displeased with her. She lifted her chin, determined not to let him get to her. “That’s right, Creighton. Dependable and predictable, that’s me. You know what else? I’m always on time, too. What horrible qualities.”

    She helped herself to lunch, standing next to Gerald as they passed condiments back and forth. Drew was in constant motion, pacing restlessly from sink, to refrigerator, to