“Told him off and reminded him how much he sucked because he got to go off and lose his control and get into fights about Alexis and I didn’t.”
“How did he take that?”
“He agreed. It was like he’d been waiting for me to unload on him.” He winked at her. “Then he told me to switch islands because there was too much death here.”
Except for the last part, it was all exactly what she expected from Hansen. He was a smart man. He knew the toll his actions and all that pressure must have had on Connor. She appreciated him stepping up and being the good brother that Connor deserved.
“Are you taking your big brother’s advice on the subject of geography?” If he did, she would put in a call to Hansen on her own. She had his number. Got it from Ben, just in case.
“No, because I’m actually the smarter Rye brother.”
The joking tone wiped away the last of her doubts. He had no intention of running and hiding from the healing he still had in front of him. “I thought that might be the case.”
“The plan is to stick around and see what happens.” He lifted her up onto her tiptoes and planted a kiss on her surprised mouth.
No timetable. No details. It was as if he was drawing this out to torture her . . . and he would pay later in bed. She looked forward to that bit of revenge. “That’s cryptic.”
He sat down on the armrest of the couch and pulled her onto his lap. “Are you willing to take a chance on an overworked, relationship-challenged, still-grieving guy?”
She already had and it paid off big-time. “Is he hot?”
He wasn’t the only one who was done running from their problems. She was ready to be in one place, plant roots. Not be looking over her shoulder.
He shrugged. “I heard someone call him McHottiePants.”
Now that was embarrassing. It still fit. Probably even better now, but still.
“He does sound hot.” She dragged her finger along the neckline of his shirt. He had the sexiest collarbone and sometimes it took all the self-control she had not to lick it. “He also sounds like he’s pretty self-aware.”
“He likes to pretend he is, but he’s a work in progress. Good thing is, he’s willing to learn.” Some of the amusement left his tone. “He’s also falling for you.”
Her stomach flipped over. She fought to keep the giant smile from spreading across her face. Not just yet. “That’s big news.”
“He’s terrified of that part.”
He’d gone from being a no-commitment guy who didn’t understand love to circling close to using the L word. That was a big leap. He might be scared but he wasn’t letting it slow him down.
“He’s not alone.” He’d been honest, so she returned the same. “I had no interest in love before I met you and now . . .”
“I’m getting there, too.” He dipped his head and rubbed his cheek against hers. “The love thing. It’s right there. Really close.”
“A few more weeks and I won’t be able to let you go.” She doubted she could do it now but she didn’t want to scare him.
“I’m counting on that.” That smile came roaring back. “Ever been to D.C.?”
“Oh, yeah. About that.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“If this—us—happens, and it’s going to, by the way. Count on that.”
He nodded. “Agreed.”
“No more being on magazine covers that highlight your inability to leave your desk. This whole work-twenty-hours-a-day thing isn’t happening.” She refused to spend her days tracking him down at the office and dragging him home. It was time for a new work ethic that included downtime. “The word to learn is balance.”
He pretended to think about her proposal. “First love, then balance. I think I can handle both.”
“You’ve never been hotter.”
“Now you’re just trying for extra credit.”
She let that smile show now. “Is it working?”
“Definitely.”
They finally ventured outside the next night. Connor was against the idea but Maddie thought they should let Whitaker know they were still alive. He doubted they cared until people cheered when they walked into the Lodge’s dining room.
Nothing weird about that. On another island, maybe. Not on Whitaker.
That was only the second most interesting thing about their dinner. The first was finding Ben and Jenna sitting together at a table in the corner. Naturally, Connor invited himself to join them and gave Maddie no choice but to come along. He wasn’t about to miss out on the chance to annoy Ben.
Somehow they made it through getting menus and drinks and rounds of idle chitchat. They’d just ordered when Connor looked around the room and saw a few empty tables. Not many but three or four. “I see the crowds are back to normal.”
Jenna sighed. “I’m still worried that Whitaker is going to get on some sort of murder tour.”
“As the owner, you can say no. Put up no-trespassing signs. Let me shoot people, only as a warning, of course,” Ben said as he signaled the waiter to pour more water.
“I was waiting for you to bring up my ownership status.” She smiled at him. “It took days to get around to it.”
Connor looked at Maddie. She was already rolling her eyes. He could read her unspoken expression—she thought they were intruding. Connor sort of hoped so. He wouldn’t mind seeing Ben in action. Turned out he gave pretty good relationship advice, especially for a guy who wasn’t in one. And if the conversation with Jenna was any indication, Ben might not stay that way.
Ben continued talking to Jenna as if the other two weren’t there. “Well, I’ve been busy with all the crime solving.”
“He likes to throw that into a conversation whenever he can,” Maddie said, clearly not wanting to be ignored if it meant making Ben blush. Which he did.
Connor liked her style. “It’s his version of flirting.”
Ben finally looked at Connor. “When do you go back to D.C.? There’s a ferry tomorrow that will get you as far as Seattle.”
“That’s neighborly.” When Ben continued to stare, Connor took pity on him. “Not to disappoint you but I’m extending my vacation on Whitaker.”
“Until when?” Jenna sounded genuinely curious.
“January, at least. We’ll do a quick trip home for the holidays so Maddie can meet the parents. Then we’ll be back.” We and holiday . . . using those words together was new. When Connor mentioned it to his mom during a call this morning she didn’t say much. Three seconds later Hansen called with a million questions, insisting Mom wanted to know.
The family gossip tree worked that fast.
“More time with you. Lucky us.” Ben’s voice was loaded with sarcasm.
Connor guessed he was secretly excited to have him stick around. “I don’t have a date set yet but keep this up and I’ll be here until March.”
“No, not that long. The fourteenth.” Jenna dropped that little gem without any explanation.
Connor had no idea what that meant. “Excuse me?”
Ben didn’t even try to hide his smile. “She has that date in the pool. January 14.”
“Not you, too.” Connor suddenly hated pools.
Ben smiled. “Jenna suggested this one.”
“What are you talking about?” Maddie asked before Connor could stop her.
“The date people—Jenna, in particular—predict Connor will leave the island.” Ben shot Connor a look that suggested he thought he’d won. “Taking you, of course. Because he’s not a total dumbass, though he likes to pretend to be.”
Maddie nodded. “Sounds good. Carry on and put me down for February 1.”
“That’s insider information,” Ben pointed out.
Maddie shrugged in response.
That was the exact wrong answer. Giving Ben that sort of green light spelled disaster. “Stop betting on my love life.”
Ben whistled. “Those are big words.”
Well, shit. “How did this conversation beco
me about me?”
“I wonder,” Ben said in a dry tone before turning to Jenna. “What about you? You breeze in, surprise everyone by not being what we expected.”
She shook her head. “You thought I’d be an old man.”
Maddie jumped in with her support. Even silently toasted Jenna with her glass of water. “Of course, because only men own islands. Idiots.”
Ben ignored both of them. Didn’t pay attention to the rest of the room either, which Connor found interesting. He planned on giving Ben a lot of shit for that later, out of Maddie’s presence. The last thing he needed was her rushing to Ben’s defense.
Ben put an elbow on the table and leaned a tiny bit closer to Jenna. “Are you staying with Sylvia and maybe . . . ?”
He really sucked at this. Connor was happy he didn’t know that when he went seeking advice days ago. “Subtle. As she has her own really big house on the island.”
Jenna didn’t seem to get it. Her eyes narrowed. “What are you really asking?”
“You and Sylvia.”
“Are friends,” she said, drawing the words out for emphasis. “We’re not dating. She’s not my type. I prefer men, actually.”
“Oh.” Ben sat back hard in his chair. “Interesting.”
“He’s truly terrible at this.” Maddie didn’t even try to whisper the observation.
If he hadn’t been running full speed at being in love with her before then, that would have done it. She delivered the line perfectly. Connor wanted to kiss her for that . . . and other reasons.
“Shouldn’t you be celebrating his continued stay on Whitaker? Maybe somewhere private that’s not right here?” Ben asked.
Maddie just smiled. “We did before dinner.”
“I’m ignoring you both now.”
Jenna reached for her glass. “I’ll be staying for a while as well.”
“How long?” Ben’s attention immediately returned to the woman sitting across from him.
“I’m not sure yet.” She swirled the red wine in her glass.
“That’s good.”
Oh, Ben. “Is it?”
Ben answered Connor but kept his attention on Jenna. “Things have been out of control. Maybe having you here will calm some nerves and let people get back to normal.”
“That’s why you think it’s a good thing?” Connor asked.
“Yes.” Ben shot Connor a look that screamed shut up before turning back to Jenna. “And it’s interesting.”
Maddie smiled at Connor over the top of her glass. “I think it will be, yes.”
The company and the island deserved a cheer. Connor raised his water glass in a toast. “To Whitaker.”
Jenna raised her glass. “Whitaker.”
“Interesting,” Ben said.
Connor agreed.
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to May Chen, my marvelous editor, for supporting this series and not balking at the idea of an island of dysfunctional misfits. We had a bumpy road getting this one to production. I am eternally grateful that you gave me the time and space I needed to write it the way it deserved to be written. Mr. Higginbotham is my gift to you.
As always, thanks to Laura Bradford, my lovely agent, for pitching this project so we could both get paid. I’m a fan of getting paid.
And big thanks to my husband, James, for tolerating me during the writing of this book. Surviving this one was not easy. I wrote this during a difficult time, when my attention was pulled in 900 directions and I felt as if I were failing at everything. This truly was the “I can no longer write” book for me. I thought I’d lost it . . . but I found it again. It just took some time. I wrote a version, hated it, and then rewrote until I fixed it. Almost every last word changed from the original and I did the rewrite in less than four weeks. It wasn’t the optimal way to get a book done, but we got there. I wanted to write about grief and moving on and how hard those are. Connor and Maddie let me do that.
To my readers—thank you and I hope you enjoy this one. It truly was a labor of love.
Announcement
Don’t miss the previous book in HelenKay Dimon’s thrilling Whitaker Island series,
HER OTHER SECRET
Is it the perfect escape?
Whitaker Island is more than a getaway. For Tessa Jenkins, the remote strip of land in Washington state is a sanctuary. Fleeing from a shattering scandal, she has a new name, a chance at a new beginning, and a breathtaking new view: Hansen Rye. It’s hard not to crush on Whitaker’s hottest handyman. At six-foot-three and all kinds of fine, he’s also intensely private—and the attraction between them soon simmers dangerously out of control.
. . . or a private trap for two lovers?
After a devastating family tragedy, Hansen finds the pebbled shores of the faraway island to be an ideal refuge. Letting down his guard for the sexy, impulsive Tessa is an unexpected pleasure. But there’s another newcomer to Whitaker. He’s no stranger to Hansen. And when he’s murdered, the crime casts a threatening shadow. As suspicion falls on Hansen, all his secrets are about to collide with Tessa’s. Now the pasts they were determined to outrun are catching up to them. So is a killer who’s putting their love—and their lives—on the line.
On Sale Now from Avon Books!
About the Author
HELENKAY DIMON spent the years before becoming a romance author as a . . . divorce attorney. Not the usual transition, she knows. Good news is she now writes full time and is much happier. Her award-winning books have been showcased in numerous venues, including the Washington Post, and her books have twice been named “Red-Hot Reads” in Cosmopolitan magazine. She is an RT Reviewer’s Choice Award winner and RITA® Award winner in romantic suspense.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by HelenKay Dimon
Her Other Secret
The Protector
The Pretender
The Negotiator (novella)
The Enforcer
The Fixer
Under the Wire
Facing Fire
Falling Hard
Playing Dirty
Running Hot (novella)
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
the secret she keeps. Copyright © 2020 by HelenKay Dimon. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition JANUARY 2020 ISBN: 978-0-06-289280-5
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-289279-9
Cover design by Amy Halperin
Cover illustration © Anna Kmet
Cover photograph © Yasmeen Anderson Photography
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HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
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