Nothing to Hide by Isabel Sharpe

Author:Isabel Sharpe
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

10

“WHAT IS THE appropriate after-dinner drink for revealing secrets?” Erik stood outside his parents’ cabinet, which held more bottles than Sandra’s liquor store. “Ever tried Italian amaro?”

Sandra shook her head, tipsy after one too many Tsingtao beers with dinner. Or maybe two too many. “No, but I’ve heard it’s when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie.”

“‘That’s amore.’ And we are both way too funny.”

“True.”

They’d just finished a meal of takeout Chinese, which Erik had ordered from his favorite place in Glens Falls―not bad, even a city snob like her had to admit. Now they were approaching the second part of the evening, when Sandra’s plan was being put into effect.

She was weirdly anxious, not quite able to get her bearings. Thinking alcohol might relax her, she’d overindulged.

It hadn’t worked. And she was very annoyed, with herself and with the circumstances. This evening should be easy and pure fun. Erik would confess something that mattered to him, she’d hear it, tell him something that didn’t particularly matter to her, and then they’d make out.

Not exactly earthshaking. Not exactly life-changing. So why couldn’t she escape the feeling that she was somehow in up to her neck?

Allie had left that morning for her interview in New York. Jonas had left to go back to Boston soon after. He’d be taking his vacation day another time—when Allie was free to join him. They seemed right together, and she was happy for Jonas. Her jealousy had completely subsided, partly because Erik...well, Erik was fun. Really fun. Jonas had been fun in a more subdued way. She felt safe with him, knowing she could depend on him for anything, that he was a rock-solid kind of guy. Eventually she might have gotten bored.

But Erik was exciting. A bit dangerous. Not because he had a cruel bone in his body from what she could tell, more puppy than pit bull, but because if they made any kind of committed relationship out of this, she’d have to work to keep him. That uncertainty would make some women crazy, but Sandra was pretty sure she needed that excitement to stay interested herself.

Her husband, Edwin, had been controlling, jealous and obsessed with her. Jake, her boyfriend after that, had been the same. Erik seemed to accept her and her sexuality as thrilling, not threatening. They were turning out to have a lot in common.

“This is Amaro CioCiaro, an orange-flavored liqueur, slightly bitter.” He pulled out the cork and poured two generous measures into tiny curving glasses that looked as though they’d shatter if you sneezed on them. “Amaro means ‘bitter’ in Italian. But because it’s a liqueur, the bitterness is balanced by a sweetness.”

“Sounds delicious, Professor Boozy.”

“It is.” He handed her a glass, his eyes warm. “And so are you.”

“Well, thank you.” She knew better than to melt under what was probably reflex charm, but it was a nice compliment. She’d worn a red clingy top that wasn’t particularly revealing, but she knew the shade set off her dark coloring well.

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