Read Online Private Scandal by Jenna Bayley-Burke - Free Book Online

her as she sank deeper, remembering how touched and sweet he’d been all those years ago after he realized a little too late that she was still a virgin.
    The next weekend he’d declared a do-over and they’d made love slowly with dozens of candles flickering around his bedroom. Now that was a night to remember.
    “I really hope you’re thinking about me.” His deep voice filled the room and warmed her from the inside, the way it always had. She didn’t even startle at the sound.
    “I’m thinking this tub is as wonderful as I remembered.” She didn’t open her eyes, but noticed the room darken. He must have turned off the light.
    “I remember a couple of amazing nights that started in this tub.” The water rippled around her, the movement feeling like a faraway caress.
    Before she let herself get pulled under by the sensuality of the past, Megan opened her eyes. He’d taken off his shirt so he wore only his jeans as he crouched beside the tub. “Is that why you brought me here? You wanted to have sex and my apartment wasn’t doing it for you? Were you too afraid someone might see us at the penthouse?”
    Brandon pulled his hand from the water as if it burned him. “I wasn’t the one who wanted our relationship to be a secret, Meg. That was all you.”
    “You loved it though. The secrecy and sneaking around made it hot for you.” She met his gaze, hating the mocking stare he gave her.
    “It was hot for you too. I am not the big bad wolf in this, and you are not an innocent little red riding hood. My mistake was in not pushing you to be honest with your family about us years ago. That’s where I went wrong.”
    “Nope, that’s not it.” She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Every time she thought of where things went wrong, her mind supplied her with a montage of images of Gemma Ryan plastered to his face. “We’ve seen how the media has picked apart the relationships of our friends. Keeping things private was the right choice. Can you imagine the press if they’d known about us when your little deal went down? It would have been absolutely brutal.”
    “And this isn’t? I’ve spent two months thinking you’d chosen your father and the islands over me, and then I find out you never left, but couldn’t be bothered to even let anyone know that you’re all right? These last few weeks have been torture, knowing you were working yourself like crazy and that you’ve lumped all your anger over what happened on me.”
    “I can’t absolve you of your guilt. You did a bad thing, a couple of them.”
    “No, I—”
    The water rippled as Megan raised her hand out of the water and held it up. “Stop making excuses for what happened. You had your reasons for blindsiding me. I’m never going to think they’re any good. And in light of what’s happened since, you don’t make a very strong case.”
    He paced the bathroom and pushed his hands through his hair, creating a disheveled disarray that reminded her of what he looked like in the morning. Her heart squeezed with longing to see him that way again. Her love for him wasn’t a switch she could flip or a dial she could turn down. He’d hurt her horribly, betrayed her completely, and yet her soul still held on to him as if he were the prince she’d always hoped he would become.
    He turned to face her and put his hands on his hips. “What do I have to say to get you to see I didn’t do any of this to hurt you?”
    “I never thought you did. You just didn’t think outside yourself enough to realize that it would.” She leaned forward and pulled the drain, the gurgling sound of the disappearing water filling the silence.
    Megan both craved and hated what she was about to do. A part of her wanted to be with Brandon and feel alive and happy the way she used to, but another part hated the idea that by being with him she’d be bartering her body for the security he could provide. She wished she had more options, but