The Love Letter Read Online Free PDF Page A

politeness fell away quickly under this direct attack. “I work here,” she retorted indignantly.
    “ Really? And what brought you to Tybee Island? Did Virginia offer too little scope for one with your obvious talents?”
    Forgetting for the moment that she needed assistance from the man standing over her, Sabrina allowed her anger full reign. “I wasn’t stealing exam questions!”
    His eyebrows soared above his blue eyes , but in contrast to her heated reaction, his voice remained calm. “Still sticking to the same story, I see.”
    Sabrina took a moment to remember her surroundings and accordingly lowered her voice. “I’m sticking to the truth. Why would I steal a test for a class I wasn’t in?”
    “ Do I really need to answer that?” he asked irritably, what little patience he possessed beginning to wear thin.
    “ No, because it’s obvious you’re not going to believe me.”
    “With some justification, I would say.”
    “Not if you would take a moment to use some of that banked intelligence you undoubtedly possess.”
    “Facts are hard to argue.”
    Sabrina sighed heavily; she was getting nowhere. “Can we just forget it ever happened?”
    A grim smile played around his lips. “So let me get this straight. You want me to conveniently forget that you entered my office without permission and were actually caught with the evidence in your hands. And furthermore, you want me to conceal this knowledge from your present employer.”
    Sabrina began to look exasperated. “Well, since I can’t convince you what my real purpose was, then yes, I do. If it makes you feel better about it, my sister manages this inn.”
    “ And how should that make me feel better?”
    Sabrina came around the desk. Once again she was staring into his face. If anything, it was even more handsome than she remembered. She wished those stunning features didn’t look so forbidding.
    “Look, I don ’t care what you think about me, but I don’t want something idiotic I did in the past to cause problems for Casey.”
    Meredith looked at her intently for a few moments in silence. As had happened previously in his office, he was unable to ignore the appeal in her eyes.
    Sabrina bore this scrutiny with as much poise as she could manage. The passage of time hadn’t made him any less intimidating. When he finally spoke, she realized she’d been holding her breath.
    “ Your secret is safe – for now. But don’t try my patience too far. By the way, what was so important about this letter you were supposedly trying to retrieve?”
    Sabrina ’s cheeks turned scarlet. She didn’t want to talk about the letter. She had long since convinced herself that he never found it. “It was something silly. My roommate mailed it to you as a joke.” She stopped for a moment and then went on in a more subdued tone. “I never found it – the letter, I mean. You came in before I got very far.”
    “ Something for which I refuse to apologize. It was, after all, my office you were ransacking.”
    “I was n’t ransacking anything,” she quipped through clenched teeth. “I put everything back exactly where I found it.”
    “You were a model thief. If I hadn’t caught you myself, I’d never have known you were there.”
    Sabrina could n’t decide whether he was being sarcastic or teasing her. “You can laugh about it, but you’ll never understand the state I was in. I was desperate to get that letter.”
    “W hy were you so desperate? You claimed it was your roommate’s letter.”
    “I lied,” she admitted in a small voice.
    “Something you appear to do very well. Goodnight.” He turned abruptly and moved toward the door.
    “Professor Copplin?” she started tentatively. She heard his sigh of exasperation. “What time did you want breakfast?”
    “Seven. And , under the circumstances, isn’t it ridiculous to be so formal? Call me Meredith.”
    “ Oh, I could never do that.” At least not to his face – she’d called him Meredith