“I can’t think of anyone else but you for the job,” he added, taking a step closer to me. “Does Tracina know?” “I haven’t run it past her yet, no. Cassie, we’re not … we’re not partners. Not like it would have been with … you.” We both felt the weight of his words fill the unfinished room. I reached forward, caressing his forearm with my fingers, electrifying us both. I meant it as a thank-you gesture, to punctuate this great opportunity he had just offered me, one that I would still need time to think about. But then my hand started to move, almost of its own accord, traveling up his arm, under the sleeve of his T-shirt where a new muscle had formed, the one that twitched when he punched in numbers at the cash register or rolled a layer of paint on a wall. My hand moved slowly over his chest, lingering above his heart, which sped up beneath my touch, sending a vibration through my arm. He grabbed me by the elbow and tugged me against him, placing a hand under my chin to tilt my face up so I was staring into his eyes. “Do you understand how much I want you?” His voice was strained, hoarse. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but the words were stuck in my throat. And then I felt it, his mouth on the base of my neck, kissing me there. When our lips met, it was like they had missed each other for ages. “Cassie …” He said my name between kisses, biting, nibbling my lips, one arm around my back, holding me against him, his other hand diving under my T-shirt, cupping my breasts lovingly, greedily. I felt him stiffen as I buried my head in his shoulder and shut my eyes. I wanted to freeze this moment with the only man I really wanted, holding me, wanting me … “I won’t stop, unless you tell me to stop,” he whispered, his hand sliding down the back of my jeans, squeezing. I didn’t want him to stop, and if I hadn’t spotted my flushed, guilty face in the mirror over the bar, I wouldn’t have made him stop. “We can’t,” I said, prying myself out of his embrace and taking a step back. He recoiled too, not from me, but from his own actions. “We were friends for years, Will,” I said. “Good friends.” “I don’t want another friend. I want you.” “Believe me. In a few months, you’re gonna need friends,” I said, tucking my T-shirt back into my jeans and straightening my apron. “I’m sorry, Cassie. It’s actually pretty shitty of me to offer you a promotion and then turn around and fall all over you like that.” “I won’t lodge a complaint … if you promise not to do it again.” “I’m not making any more promises I can’t keep. But can I ask you something?” “Shoot.” “Will you think about my job offer?” “I will.” “Will you be here tomorrow?” “First thing.” “And the next day?” “And the day after that.” “I guess that’s gotta be good enough. For now.” I smiled. How could I not? I turned and headed out of the room and down the hall to the stairs. “Cassie, just so you know …”
I turned to face him. “It’s you … it’s always been you.” I braced myself on the balustrade. “Did you hear me?” “I did. I gotta go, Will.” Downstairs I yelled a “see you later” to Dell in the kitchen, who gave me a weird look. Then I snatched my purse from my locker and left, hot tears stinging my eyes. It wasn’t until I hit Chartres that I realized the front of my black T-shirt was covered in white plaster and bits of paint.
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ABOUT THE BOOK An intoxicating, int
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S.E.C.R.E.T SHARED A S.E.C.R.E.T no
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TEN STEPS Step One: Surrender Step
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DAUPHINE I LAUGHED. WHAT else was t
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“Look at you, Ophelia,” he said
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CASSIE THREE THOUGHTS OCCURRED to m
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the salt and pepper shakers. When T
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“Are you hearing that man? Or is
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I could also be a Recruiter like Pa
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emergencies, and having sex with th
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“Right. When I think of Easter, I
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Then, before I knew it, he was sitt
- Page 29 and 30: hold sugar packets, the napkin hold
- Page 31: “Well … thank you for the water
- Page 34 and 35: “Yes. Now go. I’ll be out front
- Page 36 and 37: Something in me knew that Cassie an
- Page 38 and 39: Part of me wanted to stand up, call
- Page 41 and 42: CASSIE WE DIDN’T GET a lot of cus
- Page 43 and 44: I applied some lip-gloss in the mir
- Page 46 and 47: DAUPHINE HOW MANY TIMES had I walke
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- Page 51 and 52: CASSIE AS MUCH AS I was thrilled by
- Page 53 and 54: “So you’re a musician …” He
- Page 55 and 56: Then he slowed to a stop. No! And p
- Page 58 and 59: DAUPHINE EVER SINCE MY first fantas
- Page 60 and 61: “No. I’m a mean police officer.
- Page 62 and 63: chest, the overhead light illuminat
- Page 65 and 66: CASSIE I ASKED MATILDA for a last-m
- Page 67 and 68: accompany the painting and represen
- Page 70 and 71: DAUPHINE ELIZABETH WAS THE first to
- Page 72 and 73: “I guessed.” He had a British a
- Page 74 and 75: “I’ve never been in an airplane
- Page 76: “He does that well,” she said,
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- Page 84 and 85: My bags disappeared through the gol
- Page 86 and 87: “We’re about to begin, Dauphine
- Page 88: As the band struck up a new tempo,
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- Page 96 and 97: DAUPHINE I SHOULD HAVE known someth
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- Page 103 and 104: CASSIE THE LAST TIME I was invited
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- Page 109 and 110: “Nah, he has some little friends
- Page 111 and 112: “More?” “Yesss.” He sat up
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- Page 125 and 126: “Bernice put her name in for Domi
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DAUPHINE WE PROBABLY SHOULD have le
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“S.E.C.R.E.T. has had a marvelous
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on both sides. The baby’s skin co
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She filled me in on all the juicy d
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CASSIE AFTER MY MEETING with Matild
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so-good ones I’d experienced befo
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My hand instinctually reached for h
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CASSIE DESPITE THE FACT that Will a
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“Are you serious?” “Never mor
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man can only deal with so much bull
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So he’s mad and called you sluts
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“Cassie,” she said, gently tugg
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READER’S GUIDE TO S.E.C.R.E.T SHA
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9. “I always went with the most p
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR L. Marie Adeline i
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TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS 61-63 Uxbridg
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