Page 6 of Torrid Passion
“Mum’s the word,” Stella says with a zipping gesture over her lips.
“I’ll never betray your secret,” Hayden promises.
“Thanks, you guys. My life is an open book to her, but not this.”
Harlow Berkshire is my best friend. Five years ago, we left LA at the same time to pursue our education. She crossed the pond to Europe and I crossed the country and landed in New York City to escape the pressure of being an O’Keeffe. I got back to LA a couple of months ago. Harlow is still in Paris. We talk to each other every day and we send each other a flurry of text messages, but it’s not the same.
“But she still doesn’t know about Loki,” Stella notes.
She had to go there.
“Okay, so technically, there are two things I’ve kept secret from my best friend,” I concede. “Let’s keep it in the family.”
Stella flashes me an evil grin.
Honestly, I should’ve never opened up to them.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Harlow,” she says.
“Neither will I. You have my word,” Hayden says.
“Glad we’re all on the same page,” I say.
“And let’s face it, Grant is real. It’s going down tonight... punvery muchintended,” Hayden mocks.
I narrow my eyes at her.
She responds with an angelic smile.
Traitor.
Stella cracks up. “Damn right,he’sgoing down tonight.”
“Thanks for the support, ladies,” I sneer.
“I’m just saying, sexy notorious bad boy Lochlan Berkshire is just a fantasy in your head,” Hayden reminds me. “Funny how you didn’t ask him to help you with yourlittleproblem.”
Thanks for bursting my bubble. Again.
“He doesn’t come with recommendations like Grant does,” I retort.
“Honey, Naughty Loki doesn’t need recommendations,” Hayden says. “You just know he’ll rock your world.”
And if her comment doesn’t irritate the hell out of me.
She’s right, I’m just not willing to let her know. If I was woman enough, I would’ve fessed up to my infatuation instead of settling for Grant, but Loki isn’t a random guy.
Harlow has no idea I’ve harbored an unreasonable fantasy laced with insatiable shades of lust about her older brother... especially after the time I spent with him in Paris. Stella and Hayden are still in the dark on everything that transpired in the City of Love. Let’s keep it that way.
“Moving right along,” I say. My cousins giggle. “No matter how many times I want to back out of this, I can’t shake off the way Seraphina Moreland kept going on, and on, and on about Grant Brantly. I wish I’d taken a video of the expression on her face. I was certain she was exaggerating, but when her older sister Leah jumped in to explain how she thought she was going to pass out after Grant was done with her, I had to find out for myself if this guy lives up to his reputation.”
“Wasn’t it the same for Leah’s best friend, April Conbolt?” Hayden asks.
“Yup! All three women said a few hours with Grant and you’re guaranteed to see God… multiple times,” I confirm.
“I’ve never experienced anything close to that,” Stella says. “Half the time, the guys I’ve been with can’t spell clit, let alone find it. The other half refuses to go down on you. And of course, you never know if it’s about you or your last name.”
“It’s no different for me, which is why I’m meeting Grant later tonight,” I say. “His father has already made a name for himself, so he’s not going to try to mooch off me.”
