Secret Hollows Read Online Free PDF Page B

chest, she shook her head. “You? I just ripped your shirt.”
    She could feel his chuckle vibrate in his chest. “Yes, you did,” he said, “one of my favorite shirts by the way.”
    “Oh, Bradley,” she said apologetically. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
    “Hell, I’m going to have this one framed.”
    She tentatively lifted her head. “Framed?”
    “Do they bronze shirts?”
    “Bradley!”
    Placing his finger under her chin, he held her so she had to meet his eyes. “I was trying to make a point,” he admitted. “But things went… overboard.”
    “I don’t understand,” she said. “What kind of point?”
    He shook his head. “This feeling that you just experienced. The overwhelming feeling?”
    She nodded. “The shirt-ripping, out-of-control feeling?”
    “Yeah, that would be the one,” he agreed with a smile.
    “I am so embarrassed,” she said, pulling away from him. “I don’t know what came over me.”
    He put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. “Love came over you,” he said. “Love mixed with passion. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. But, you… no, we promised to wait until after we are married to satisfy those urges. And every day we are together it’s going to get more difficult. Because the more our love grows, the more we are going to want to be together. It’s natural and it’s beautiful, but it’s also, as you know, very powerful.”
    “I probably could have stopped,” she argued. “It probably wouldn’t have gone much further…”
    Sighing, she shook her head. “Okay, I admit, I was pretty much ready to rip all of your clothes off.”
    He choked. “Mary, you are not helping matters here.”
    “So, waiting a year is a bad idea?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow.
    “Okay, I’m a guy…”
    “I think we’ve established that,” she interrupted.
    “What I meant is that although I care a great deal about marrying you, I really don’t care what colors we have, what we eat or, quite frankly, who comes to the wedding,” he admitted. “As long as you’re there and you’re happy. But, I know these things are really important to you. And if you really want to wait a year, in order to plan your perfect wedding, we’ll have to make some rules, limit our alone time. Just to be sure…”
    She placed her hand on his cheek. “You’d do that?”
    He shook his head, confused. “Of course I would. Mary, I love you.”
    She leaned forward and gently kissed his lips.
    “June,” she said. “I always wanted a June wedding.”
    “Early June?” he asked with a grin, lifting up the ripped collar on his shirt.
    Laughing, she nodded. “We’ll see.”
    “Perfect,” he said, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. “And now, I’d better go.”
    He stood up and took his coat from the closet.
    Mary followed him. “Do you have to go so soon?”
    He slipped his coat on and turned back to her. “Oh, yes, I have to go,” he said, and then he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her with all of the passion still burning inside him.
    Heat spiraled inside her and she felt all of the urges from just moments before rekindle. Before things got out of control, Bradley broke off the kiss and stepped away from her.
    “Good night, Mary,” he breathed heavily.
    She held on to the collar of his jacket, so he couldn’t leave. “Yes?” he asked.
    “Early. Very early June,” she exhaled.

Chapter Five
    The next morning Mary inserted the key into the lock of the front door of her office and hesitated. The last time she stepped foot in her office she had been nearly blown up by a bomb planted on her toilet. The damage had been extensive enough to require her to work from home for several weeks while her space was renovated.
    She took a deep breath, pushed the door open and relaxed when the little bell above the door rang its familiar welcome. She looked around. “Wow, this place looks better than it ever has,” she said. “It should have been blown up years