Titolo: Reckless Secrets
Autore: Gina Robinson
Genere: New adult contemporaneo, romance
Trama: Everyone Has a Secret
Trama: Everyone Has a Secret
At nineteen, Ellie Martin is finally happy. Deliriously, delightfully, delectably happy. Her junior year in college, while not without some major issues, is turning out better than she ever dreamed. She’s finally found closure to a question that has bothered her for as long as she can remember. She’s even been able to put some serious distance between herself and her twisted mother. Best of all, she’s in love with the hot, handsome, and mysterious Logan Walker.
If only she could share with Logan the one thing she must keep secret. The one relationship that, if he finds out about it, will blow apart everything that brings her happiness.
Even as Ellie and Logan learn to open up to each other, even as they get closer than they’ve ever gotten to anyone else before, the reckless secrets they’re holding on to may just be the thread that unravels everything.
Gina Robinson loves humor, romance, suspense, and spies. Not necessarily in that order. Her latest toy is a video spy pen. She plans on putting her engineering degree to good use by building a tasar out of a disposable camera using the instructions and schematics from The Evil Genius series. Fair warning--she hasn't held a soldering iron in quite a few years.She writes contemporary romance featuring sexy spies and plenty of adventure and humor. The Spy Who Left Me, the first book in her new Agent Ex series, published by St. Martin's Press, is available now. Diamonds Are Truly Forever, the next book in the series, will be released on May 22, 2012.
Her first two novels are published by Zebra Books, Kensington Publishing.
She's also published a humorous women's fiction novel, Pink Slipper. If you like Sophie Kinsella, you'll enjoy Pink Slipper.
#1
My bitch of a mother has kept a secret for nineteen
years. A secret from me that I should have known from the very beginning, even
before I was conscious of what it meant. A secret from my father.From my
grandparents.From everyone. A secret that had blossomed over the years to such
epic proportions that it now threatened my very happiness. Everything good in
my life was hanging on one delicate silver strand of a web of deception. While
I dangled helplessly at the end of it like a spider in the wind.At the mercy of
fate and the truth.
If I had known the truth, my life would have been
different. Would it have been better? There was no way to know. In any case, I
wouldn't have been here, fighting for the love of my life against increasingly
mounting odds.
I balled my fist and pounded the concrete step I sat on
in front of my dorm, huddling against not just the cold air, but raw, cold,
staggering emotion. My selfish, ultra-competitive mom had kept me from joy and
a happy childhood. And dragged me through her three miserable marriages and
countless other horrid relationships. Through three mostly bastards of stepdads
and no real dad.Certainly no loving dad. I was no one's little princess.
All the while Mom played the evil queen to my Snow
White, always striving to prove she was the fairest of them all. Fairer than I
was, in any case. But then, I hadn't tried. I had never wanted to compete with
her. So I made myself plain and invisible.
But a one-sided competition didn't stop her. She went after
my boyfriend. Slept with him. Destroyed the best of her three marriages when my
latest stepdad and I walked in on Mom and Austin making the sign of the
two-humped whale on Mom's living room sofa. That was a sight I still couldn't
fully get out of my mind.
Her ultimate betrayal sent me running to unravel her
secret—who was my biological father? Why had she refused, all these years, to
tell me, or anyone, who he was?
I had been hoping I had at least one biological parent
who wasn't a complete skank. I just hadn't known tearing apart the deception
would be like unleashing the evils of Pandora's box. Now, like Pandora, all I
had left was a sense of hope, and even that was ebbing.
I wondered—without her lie, would I have ended up in
this same spot, here at the same university? Would I be the person I am? Would
I have met Logan? And fallen in love with him?
#2
I swallowed hard. Amber was the kind of woman who
brought out every one of my insecurities. On top of the conversation with
Jason, nearly being caught and found out by Karen, and being baited by Harlan,
I wasn't sure I could survive the afternoon.
I debated my options, like whether I should sidle up to
the bar and claim my territory. Or was it better to watch and learn? What was
Logan up to? The minute I turned my back, he went after Amber? Something felt
off. Maybe it was me. Maybe I simply didn't belong here.
In desperate need of consoling in cookie form, I headed
to the buffet. A cobblestone bar would have been better. But do you think the
university had sprung for any? A cookie would have to do. Even though I was
thin, almost gaunt, I felt a momentary stab of guilt. A woman like Amber would
never let a cookie cross her lips. Screw her and a society that judges a girl
because she enjoys comfort food.
I grabbed a small plate and a napkin, and was just
about to step around a stocky guy student with his back to me so I could get to
the cookies when he suddenly turned around and faced me.
"Ellie? Is that you? Funny seeing you here."
I froze. My stomach clenched. I could not believe my
bad, stupid luck. This day was going from bad to worse to total disaster.
"Schwartz. Didn't know you had the credentials to get into a party like
this."
"Funny, Ellie. Ha, ha." His breath stank of
beer and garlic. He swayed slightly, like he'd already been pre-gaming a little
too hard. "I'm here with my roommate and his dad who's loaded."
I nodded and reached for the cookie tongs. "Good
to see you." Not. But it was the best I could do to dismiss him.
"Heard you saw my man Austin during
Halloweekend."
I stared at him and gave him a narrow-eyed glare meant
to warn him to back off. "Yeah." I shrugged.
"You gave him shit for too long, Ellie. Don't know
why he took it." His gaze slid over me, appraising me with an insult in
his look, like I was beneath him. Not worth doing.
"Back off, Schwartz. That's my private business. I
don't want to talk about it."
He swayed again and bumped into the table, rattling the
serving dishes.
"Someone should give you a breathalyzer test
before they let you walk home. Bet you blow a two."
"Very funny."
He sneered. Schwartz had held a grudge against me since
I refused to sleep with him when he came onto me at a party shortly before
Austin and I had started dating. "You really think you're hot shit, don't
you?" He raised his voice with every word.
"Stop it, Schwartz. Leave the past alone. Austin
and I are good now. Keep your nose out of it." I turned to go before
things got uglier. When Schwartz was hammered, there was no reasoning with him.
I had never told him my side of the story. I doubted he wanted to hear it
anyway. I certainly didn't want to tell it. And if I knew Austin, he'd told a
tale that made himself look good.
But Schwartz wouldn't let it drop. He grabbed me by the
elbow. "You think you're so high and mighty. Regents' scholar. Dating a
rich boy. You're nothing. Just a little cock tease.
"Austin said your mom was a much better lay than
you. Hotter, too. He should have done your old lady again and forgotten about
you." His voice had risen to a yell, an angry bellow.
The crowd of people around us went silent. My face
flamed. At the bar, which wasn't more than fifteen feet away, Logan turned to stare at us. From his expression, I knew he'd heard
every word. Everyone had. His was jaw set. His eyes were hard.
He stormed over. Without saying a word, he slammed
Schwartz with a right hook that sent him staggering back into the buffet table.
Dishes rattled. He landed on his ass in the plate of cookies, crushing them to
crumbs. The coffeepot at the end of the table tipped over, soaking the white
tablecloth.
I screamed. "Stop! Stop it."
Schwartz let out a roar and hurled profanities at Logan
as he struggled to his feet to fight back, knocking over more dishes. Sending
the pitcher of cream next to the coffeepot tipping over.
The scar on my left cheek pounded as if it were a fresh
wound again. I grabbed Logan's arm as he cocked it to swing again. "Logan,
don't. No! Please."
#3
I'd barely finished refreshing my makeup when my phone
buzzed with a text from Logan. I'm at the
front door.
The dorm was locked at all times. You needed a key to
get in. I texted him back. Coming! Ha ha.
I grabbed my coat, gloves, and tray, slid the tray beneath my coat for stealth,
and dashed to meet Logan. Just before I opened the front door to the dorm it
struck me—maybe we should have stolen three trays. What was Logan going to do
for a tray? Take turns?
My heart caught when I saw him, just like it always
did. He was so incredibly hot, even bundled in a snowboarding jacket and black
and gray beanie, the kind that flopped over the back of his head. I shouldn't
have worried about the tray. Logan was carrying one.
He grabbed me and pulled me against him, kissing me
with that fierce passion I lived for. His tongue was hot and talented in my
mouth, giving me tingles all the way to my toes. When he pulled away, I was
breathless.
He tapped my chest. "New bra? I don't like it. Too
hard and plastic-y. Has a nice, hollow tap, though."
I laughed and pulled the tray out from beneath my coat.
"Smart ass. I was being covert. The university will give you three to five
hard labor if they catch you lifting one of these." I pointed at his.
"Where did you get that?"
He shook his head and laughed. "The dining hall.
Almost four years ago."
"You're supposed to return that after you use
it."
He grinned. "I have every intention—when I
graduate. This is a four-year loaner model."
"I see."
He took my gloved hand in his and led me out from
beneath the covered front porch. "Isn't it gorgeous?" he said, but he
was staring at me. "You look good enough to eat." He nuzzled my neck.
I laughed and pushed him away. "Wolf."
"Yeah," he said, pulling me along.
The streets were full of students playing in the white
stuff.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Only to the best damn traying hill on
campus." He led me to the large grass hill between the architecture
building and the honors hall. It was covered with students sledding down on
trays. The sound of laughter echoed off the buildings.
"If the university ever wises up and actually
wants to catch tray thieves, this would be the place to look," I said.
"Yeah." He nodded. "If you see campus
security coming—run! It's every man for himself." He kissed me again and
pulled me to the top of the hill and tray run. At the top of the run, he pulled
a small piece of snowboard wax and a lighter from his pocket and grinned
evilly. "Give me your tray."
"What are you up to?"
"Take a look at everyone else as they slide down
the hill. These things need a little help." He winked and used the lighter
to melt the wax onto the bottom of my tray. Then he pulled a tri-shaped scraper
from his pocket and scraped the excess off and buffed it. He sat the tray on
the ground in front of me. "You're good to go. Hop on. But be careful.
This thing's going to rocket."
I shook my head. "I'll wait for you."
"I'm ready to go. I waxed my board at home. Now
get on."
He held my tray while I sat and wedged myself on it.
"Hold on to the edge of the tray. These things have a way of scooting out
from under you. Keep your feet up and aim straight for the bottom of the hill.
On my count, push off. Three, two…" He slapped his tray on the hill next
to mine. "One!" He gave me a push, jumped on his tray, and we were
off.
His tray slid right and true down the hill, passing me
almost immediately. He had the technique down. I wobbled and got sideways,
falling off my tray less than halfway down. My tray slid away from me. Logan
was already at the bottom. He ran up and retrieved my tray, then gave me a hand
up, pulling me into his arms.
"I suck."
He shook his head and kissed me lightly as the snow
fell on us. "First time's a bitch. You'll get the hang of it." He
grabbed my hand and pulled me to the top again.
The second time, I got it. And it was like flying—the
best thing ever. Better than sledding. Better than boarding. 'Cause I was with
Logan.And about a thousand other students on the hill. But they hardly seemed
to exist at all, except to add to the joy with their laughter and squeals. I
screamed all the way down.
Logan beat me to the bottom of the hill. I tumbled off
my tray into the snow just as I reached him, laughing. He caught my tray and
grinned at me. "Well?"
"Again!"
We ran back to the top of the hill, hand in hand,
carrying our trays, and went again and again. The seventh or eighth time down,
I tumbled off my tray and rolled flat onto my back at the bottom of the hill,
looking up into the falling snow as it caught in my eyelashes. Laughing, I
opened my mouth to catch snowflakes and waved my arms in the snow, making a
snow angel.
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