Petite Madeleine: Drew's Story (Meadows Shore Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

cope. I never blamed you for that.”
    “But you pitied me. I saw it in your eyes, every time I looked at you. But I can’t blame you, I was pitiful.”
    “My heart broke for you, but I never pitied you.”
    The waiter set out a pan of paella between them to share. Drew used a small fork to lift the meat from a hinged shell and brought it to her hungry mouth.
    “ Mmmm . So good. I love littlenecks.”
    “I know.”
    She sat back in her chair. “Drew…”
    “I told you, Cassie, there’s not a thing I don’t remember. The way your eyelashes flutter when you’re dreaming, the briny taste of your skin after you’ve been in the ocean, the soft mewling sounds you make when I kiss your neck where it meets your shoulder. Right here.” With two fingers he brushed the very spot, with a light, feathery sweep that made her shudder.
    He was moving too fast, careening out of control, but he couldn’t rein in his emotional response to her, any more than he could rein in his body’s response. So he forced himself onto flatter terrain, before she ran from the restaurant. “Tell me about the trip from Wall Street to Baltimore.”
    “It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the condensed version. I was working for my father, and the more money I made for the firm, the less happy I became. I was essentially stuck in an office using the part of my brain that didn’t give me any pleasure.”
    His chest rumbled when she said the word pleasure, and he picked up his fork to busy his fingers.
    “I’ve always loved to bake, and feed people sweets that make them happy. One day, when I couldn’t take it for one more second, I went to my father and bared my soul.”
    “How’d he take it?”
    “Like a champ. It wasn’t a surprise to him. He sat on the edge of his desk, listening to every word, giving me his full attention. ‘Cassia,’ he said, ‘I was wondering when you’d come to me. You’ve been so miserable, and all I want is for you to be happy.’
    “I told him I wanted to go to France and study under a pastry chef, and he nodded. ‘But first go to Greece,’ he said, ‘sit by the ocean and let the Mediterranean sun heal you. Let your grandparents dote on their only granddaughter, and ask your grandmother to teach you how to make baklava. Then, when you come back, you’ll make some for your papa.’ And that was the end of it. He loved the business he’d built, and he hoped I would too, but he didn’t expect me to exchange my dreams for his.”
    “I’m not surprised, given how much your parents love you. You were always the center of their universe.”
    She shivered, and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Just a passing chill.” she said when he noticed, and then swiftly changed the subject. “Can you believe Jay’s getting married?” Jay had been his college roommate, and apart from Cassie, his closest friend at Brown.
    He scoffed, and shook his head, smirking. “I never would have pegged her as his type.”
    “What do you mean?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s so different from the girls he hooked up with at Brown. Have you met her?”
    “They were in town a few months ago, and we had dinner. She’s lovely, and they seem very happy together. People grow up, their tastes change.” She shrugged.
    “Not mine,” he said locking his eyes with hers until she looked away. “He’s a great guy. I owe him a call. I sent back the response card from the invitation, but I want to get in touch with him before the wedding.”
    “You’re going to the wedding?”
    He looked at her over his water glass. “You asked that like you somehow knew already that I wasn’t going.”
    “Well…”
    “Well what, Cass?” he asked in a low voice, with a tone that indicated he expected an answer.
    “When I received the invitation, I … I wasn’t going to go. I … I … didn’t want to go if … and Reece called Jay, and he said you wouldn’t … be there,” her voice trailed off.
    The base of his