Read Secrets and Lies 7 (The Ferro Family) (Secrets & Lies) for Free Online

bit me on the ass. I’m so turned around and strung out I just want it to stop and settle down. I want to see who I am and what I want out of life, out of a man.
    Josh watches me carefully and then lowers his eyes. “We have the same problem, don’t we?”
    I’m mute for a moment, then swallow hard, trying to suppress everything that just flashed across my face. I fold my arms across my chest and inhale deeply, releasing the air in a slow, steady stream. “What’s that?”
    “Neither one of us trusts ourselves anymore. You can’t tell how you feel, and I can’t promise I’ll stop.” He presses his lips together and then holds out a hand to me. “Come on.”
    “Where are we going?” I slip my palm into his.
    “We’re going to figure out how to get past this. I trust you, and, for some inexplicable reason, you trust me. Plus I know you can handle yourself, you’re hot, and you have mace.”
    I yank my hand away, stopping on the sidewalk. Gaping at him, I ask, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
    “What? Do you need an invitation? Yes, I’m saying let's get naked and see what happens. Either way, we’ll both have answers to the questions that have us respectively freaked out. Do you have a better idea?”
    I shake my head and glance nervously to the side.
    Josh remains a step away. His gaze is cautious, almost as if he regrets making the offer, but it's too late now. His words hang between us like a shopping cart full of frozen monkeys precariously poised on a high-wire, ready to fall. No one could ignore something like that. He swallows hard and spits out the question. “So, this thing—the offer.” He gestures between us. “Are you in or out?”
    I hesitate for a moment then grin. “That’s what she said. For the record, you don't want a girl asking you that.”
    Josh barks out a laugh, and we head to his car. I blow off my last class of the day to see how I really feel about things. He opens my door, and I slip inside.

CHAPTER 8
    J osh is unusually quiet . When we pull up in front of a posh hotel, I follow him inside as the valet takes his sporty car. Nerves bubble up from my stomach, and I don’t know what to do with my hands. I shove them in my pockets and look around the lobby. The expansive marble floors are dotted with large pillars stretching up to the top of the cavernous room. Ornate leaves and other foliage line the ceiling in skillfully carved Romanesque scrollwork, forming intricate designs. My heart thumps like a flat tire, and I swear it’s going to spring out of my chest and run away screaming. It’s not fear, but what is it?
    I slip my gaze over Josh’s back, admiring the shape of his body, the way his broad shoulders meet with his trim waist and narrow hips. The curve of his ass is alluring, but the attractive part of Josh is more his personality than anything else. The guy runs on full power all the time, so when he’s demure, it unnerves me. Seriousness isn’t one of his qualities. A chill slips over me, making my skin prickle with goosebumps. I rub them away, thinking about what it will be like to be with Josh.
    There’s an attraction between us. It's been there since day one, but I was serious when I said he wasn’t my type. Josh is loud, while I prefer quiet, shy guys. But if this man is the opposite of everything I want in a guy, why am I here? I swallow hard, thinking about the things I’ve done with Nate, the way my body melts into his. If I can do that with Josh, then the things I did with Nate were because of me. Maybe I found my sexual freedom with Nate. Or perhaps it’s more than that, and my ease with the professor has nothing to do with me and everything to do with him? What if I fell for him? Is this really the best way to tell?
    Falling for Nate is the stupidest thing I could have possibly done. There’s no future there, no way we can have any kind of relationship. Since I never wanted to pair off and walk hand in hand into the sunset, I worry