All That’s Hidden
Susan Golden
(Sugar Shack, #2)
Publication date: August 12th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
All That’s Hidden is a delightful story with intrigue, humor, and of course, romance. A perfect read for the beach or traveling on a plane. I fell in love with Sugar and Rupert!
-Lorence, singer/songwriter
Pet sitter turned entrepreneur, Jennifer Albright thinks she has it all: an expanding business, a new, blissful marriage to a very sexy husband, a dog named Rupert that people frequently think is a bear, and a parrot named Sugar that Jennifer’s pretty sure is psychic. But her idyllic life begins to unravel when a series of creepy incidents threatens to sabotage the launch of her doggie day care center, and the discovery of a hidden treasure thrusts her into the world of federal agents and international thievery. The chaos soon spills over onto her home life and Jennifer reluctantly begins to suspect that her seemingly perfect, unbelievably supportive husband is hiding something from her. There’s just so much that doesn’t add up.
Tech-mogul Ryan has found the love of his life in his adorable new bride, Jennifer. But trouble seems to follow her like a basset hound. When one strange twist of events offers Ryan an opportunity he feels he can’t pass up, he unknowingly launches himself down the road of suspicion and mistrust. But he’s got this covered. She doesn’t suspect a thing.
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EXCERPT:
I showed up for what I assumed would be our last meeting on a Friday night. Ryan met me at the door wearing faded, well-worn jeans and a t-shirt, both of which were just the right amount of tight. His hair was mussed and a little damp. His feet were bare and he was holding a small towel.
"Hey, come in. I'm not quite ready to start. Got home a bit later than planned. Just got out of the shower. Give me a couple of minutes. I'll be back down. Make yourself at home." I took the time to imprint the space into my brain…again. It was unlikely I would be back any time soon. I wanted to remember it all. Fodder for future fantasies, I guess.
We sat down at the table in the breakfast nook. It was the spot we had used for the other meetings. We didn't have much to go over and I suspected I would be out of there in less than an hour. That left plenty of time for Ryan to get to any hot date he had planned. The guy probably had a black book as big as the metro DC phone directory. Women in every corner of the area were likely sitting by their phones waiting for him to call.
As we were sitting down, the doorbell rang. Ryan popped up and went to answer it. I heard some mumbling and then Ryan said, "Thanks. Keep the change." The luscious, aroma of Chinese food accompanied his arrival back into the room. Ryan plopped two plastic bags stuffed to the gills with white cartons onto the table.
"Hope you haven't eaten. I'm starved. I skipped lunch for a meeting. I didn't know what you liked, so I got an assortment. Let me get some plates."
The food was great and I was happy that consuming it allowed for an extension of our time together. We'd gone over the remaining few business details and the conversation had drifted into social topics. It was almost like a date, I found myself thinking. Don't go there, Jenn. This isn't a fairy tale and you aren't Cinderella.
Ryan had selected a diet soda as his beverage and I had asked for water, which Ryan had poured from a pitcher in the refrigerator. The food was spicy and a bit salty. I had drained my glass.
"More water?" Ryan inquired. He started to get up, but I popped out of my seat.
"Sit. I can help myself," I said as I rounded the counter and tugged open the refrigerator door. I reached in for the pitcher and poured some water into my glass. As I spun around to head back to the table, I immediately ran smack into Ryan who had soundlessly moved in behind me. I was startled and audibly gasped as half the water from my glass splashed on his chest creating a dark blotch on his shirt. He didn't seem to notice. He reached up and took the glass from my hand and placed it on the counter. The whole time his eyes were looking at me rather than what he was doing. I was mesmerized. His hand left the glass and moved under my chin. It was a whisper-soft caress, but enough to tilt my head up so that I was peering directly into those fantastic blue eyes.
"I've wanted to do this from the first second I saw you. I hope you don't mind." The words sent tingly ripples down my spine. Then he lowered his head and gently brushed his lips against mine. Ryan drew back to gauge my reaction.
I was dazed. Firecrackers were exploding in my head. The noise and smoke they created had fogged my brain. I was incapable of coherent thought. Ryan drew back a little more and gave me a quizzical look. He was waiting. Oh jeez, Jenn. Do something. SAY something. My hands had come to rest on Ryan's chest, right in the middle of the water stain. Lord knows why that registered.
"You're all wet," I said mindlessly. It was a pathetic squeak of a statement, but it seemed to amuse Ryan. He made a little chuckle and then reached his hand over his shoulder to the back of his t-shirt and pulled it off in one quick move.
"All better," he announced in a silky croon.
I'd seen that bare chest once before when Ryan was picking me up off of his front lawn on the day we met. He'd had on a white dress shirt that he had yet to button. That vision was seared into my brain. This was oh so much more. I made a strangled gurgle in response. All better? Well, yeah and NO! I had gone so hot I was sure there must be smoke. My knees were getting watery and my vision was collapsing into a pinpoint. My hands were still where they had been a second ago, but the t-shirt had zipped out from underneath them and they were now resting on Ryan's bare chest.
His eyes were twinkling and there was a tiny trace of a self-satisfied smirk playing across his lips. It was clear he knew very well the effect he had had on me and he liked what he saw. His hands reached up to gently clasp both sides of my face. I closed my eyes in anticipation of what I expected to be an earth-shattering kiss when Ryan's cell phone blasted some kind of bugle charge thing. Ryan immediately dropped his hands.
Author Bio:
Retired federal government employee turned accidental author.
1 comments:
Thank you for sharing! Looks great!
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