Secret 1 by Nia Forrester

Author:Nia Forrester [Forrester, Nia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, United States, African American, Romance, Women's Fiction, Contemporary Women, Contemporary Fiction
Amazon: B00ASP8UAO
Published: 2012-12-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

As soon as Trey told her about the charity dinner, Shayla had begun planning. One of the women at the gym gave her the name of a service in New York that rented designer gowns and so she’d gone online and chosen a red Carmen Marc Valvo red chiffon one-shoulder ruffled Grecian gown. It arrived the day before by FedEx and the package had even included a back-up gown, in case she didn’t like how her selection fit. But she hadn’t just liked it, she’d loved it. As soon as Shayla tried it on, she knew she would wear it. It made her look taller, and her neck longer. And with her hair up, she would feel confident and beautiful, a feeling she was growing more accustomed to every single day.

It wasn’t just clothes that were doing it. She had been right about the benefits of an affair. Since she and Trey started sleeping together her sense of herself had skyrocketed. She dressed differently, wore her hair differently, even walked differently (and not just because of the frequent bruising, energetic sex either). The way he wanted her made her feel like the old Shayla, in the best way.

So the charity dinner was going to be a perfect way to break out even further, re-emerge as the funny, witty, laughing Shayla of old. She hadn’t expected, or even wanted to go as Trey’s date since that would only lead to difficult questions later, so he was taking Tessa and she had asked Jackson from House of Ruth.

Jackson was one of the other volunteers who tutored with her on Saturdays. He was tall, and had sandy hair streaked with blonde that always looked tousled, as though he’d just come from an afternoon jet-skiing. Women at the shelter all had crushes on him but he lived with his girlfriend in Bethesda and all he and Shayla shared was friendly banter and a lot of laughs.

They had bonded over their personal stories. Jackson’s was that his sister had been in an abusive relationship and after many, many attempts to escape it, had been murdered by her ex-boyfriend. And Shayla’s story of course, was what it was. After their class was over on Saturdays, Shayla and Jackson had lunch together, sometimes at restaurants near House of Ruth and sometimes at Jackson’s place with his girlfriend, Amber, who was a vegan chef. When Shayla told him the charity dinner was for the benefit of foster children, he’d readily agreed to go, and planned to participate in the silent auction, hoping to win the vacation to Hawaii for him and Amber.

While she was still getting ready, Shayla had run into Trey in the kitchen, fully-dressed and handsome in his tuxedo, about to leave to pick up Tessa at her apartment in town. Shayla stopped and looked at him, standing at the refrigerator, gulping down a bottle of water.

God, he was a sight.

Shayla had taken him in for a few seconds then walked over and got on her toes, inhaling the scent at his neck.

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