She Who Dares Read Online Free PDF Page B

down. Years of practice helped. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to pay for it later. ‘Yup,’ she said, pulling the jug out of the machine and splashing coffee into a mug that needed a wash.
    ‘Got your coffee?’
    ‘I’m working on it.’
    ‘Work faster,’ Ella replied. ‘Has Sebastian turned up yet?’
    Nic sank the contents of the mug and refilled it, ignoring how just his name made her stomach clench. ‘Yesterday.’
    ‘Excellent. How is he fitting in?’
    Like a jet engine in a Mini Cooper. ‘Perfectly.’
    Ella laughed. ‘I thought he might.’
    Nic dug her nails into her palm, fought to keep a lid on her temper. ‘When are you coming home, Ella?’
    ‘When I’ve finished having fun. And there’s a lot of fun to be had out here. Could take a while.’
    ‘You can’t have fun here?’
    Ella sighed. ‘No. You’ll just have to have it on my behalf. Look, I’ve got to run. Take care of yourself, Nic. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Especially not with Sebastian.’ And with that, she hung up, and all the questions that Nic had wanted to ask, should have asked, came flooding into her head. Like, why did you run off and ditch your responsibilities? Why on earth did you sell the garage to Sebastian Prince, when you know damn well he’s still interested in you?
    Why did I kiss him?
    Nic slammed her phone down on the worktop and dumped her mug in the sink. Ella had everything, was everything Nic could never be. Pretty. Popular. Perfect. While Nic hadbeen given a through education in the workings of the internal combustion engine with Ella’s dad, Ella had had shopping trips and manicures and learned how to be a girl with Nic’s mum. It wasn’t that Nic hadn’t been interested in engines, or had wanted manicures. But she’d wanted to fit in, and how could she, when she was more boy than girl?
    It doesn’t matter, she reminded herself fiercely. Bottom line is she’s gone. For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t living in Ella’s shadow, and she had more important things to worry about than how bright the light might be.
    Like shopping trips, manicures, the workings of the internal combustion engine and the man she should never have kissed.
    Propping his feet up on the sweeping glass topped desk, Sebastian held the phone to his ear and listened to it ring. Upstairs, the cleaners were still shovelling away the dust, testimony to how long this place had been unoccupied. They’d started early, but he hadn’t been asleep when they arrived. Ever since the accident his body clock had been shot to pieces, and he’d spent most of the previous night watching bad TV and trying not to think about persuading Nic Sinclair to kiss him again.
    Maybe he’d throw a party, something rowdy and uncivilised that went on through the night and well into the next day, stop himself from thinking so much. He’d thrown plenty of those when he’d been a teenager and his parents had been predictably absent, hopping round the world and persuading senior executives to swap their high stress, high pay jobs for other high stress, high pay jobs. He had to give credit where it was due — as head-hunters his parents had been extremely successful. As parents, they’d been extremely absent. Still, he’d turned out pretty well.
    ‘Hello,’ said a voice in his ear. Crisp, educated, snappingly female.
    ‘Hey Doctor Morgan,’ Sebastian replied, settling back in his chair. ‘What’s up?’
    ‘The point of therapy, Sebastian, is that I ask the questions.’
    ‘I’ve never understood why that is.’
    ‘Because you’re the one who needs answers. So how are you, big brother?’
    Yesterday he’d have had a clear answer to that question. Now, one small kiss from Nic Sinclair later, he wasn’t entirely sure. ‘Confused,’ he decided. ‘It’s a new experience for me.’
    A soft, tinkling laugh came through the phone. ‘Interesting.’
    Hmm. That wasn’t the word Sebastian would use. ‘I want back on the