Read Online Secret North: Book 4 of The Wishes Series by GJ Walker-Smith - Free Book Online

told her that you wouldn’t be pleased, but she didn’t listen.”
    “Okay, thanks.” Stopping suddenly was a mistake. She nearly ran into me, like an overenthusiastic puppy. “Was there something else, Noelle?”
    There was usually plenty where Noelle was concerned. She was very … keen. In the year that she’d worked at Billet-doux, she’d tried a hundred times to catch my eye. I wasn’t completely immune to her charms. She was a very pretty blonde with blindingly white teeth, enormous energy and a fondness for the word ‘super’. I liked to look at Noelle. I just had no desire to touch her.
    “No.” She hit me with her stun gun smile. “I’m just super glad you’re back. Everyone missed you.”
    I glanced around the quiet restaurant. Two girls were setting tables and there was a guy polishing glasses behind the bar. None of them looked super excited to see me again.
    “Well, I’m back now.” I walked away before she could speak again.
    Noelle wisely decided against following me. Perhaps she knew what was about to go down. I threw open my office door expecting at least a second or two of expressions of terror, but I got nothing. Charli sat at my desk, staring at my computer as if she had half a clue what she was looking at.
    “Get off my chair.”
    “No. It’s my chair too.”
    “I want a chair,” came a little voice out of nowhere.
    My eyes scanned the room. “Where is she?”
    Bridget’s little hand popped up from under the desk. “I’m here.”
    “Don’t you two have anything better to do than hang out in my office?” I grumbled.
    Charli didn’t pay me so much as a sideward glance. “We’re just here to use the printer, then we’ll be out of your hair,” she declared. “Ours is out of ink.”
    “My daddy broke it,” volunteered Bridget.
    I dropped my keys on the desk. “So nothing work related then?”
    Charli’s giggle sounded positively evil. “Not unless you count princess colouring sheets as work.”
    Bridget’s head popped up. “Did you do the blue one?” she asked. “I love the blue one.”
    “None of them are blue, Bridge,” muttered her mother. “That’s the whole point. You’ve got to colour them in yourself.”
    “Do you have pencils, Ry?” asked Bridget.
    “No.” I scooped Bridget off the floor and put her down by the door, hoping her mother would follow. “I’m sure you have plenty of pencils at home.”
    Charli glanced at me. “Are you trying to get rid of us? Noelle already tried, super hard. She’s very territorial, Ryan. It’s super scary.”
    It was impossible not to smile. “It’s only scary if she thinks you’re a threat.”
    “Me?” Her eyes never left the computer screen. “Ugh. I’ll stick with your younger, hotter brother, thanks all the same.”
    “You do that, Charli,” I agreed. “I really do have work to do.”
    She let out a sigh, swivelled her chair and grabbed a handful of papers off the printer. “Okay, okay. We’re going.”
    “Thank you.”
    As soon as she moved I took her place on the chair, fearful that she’d change her mind. Charli slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed Bridget’s hand. “Where have you been, anyway?” she asked. “We haven’t seen you in days.”
    I wiggled my eyebrows. “On a date.”
    She abandoned her daughter and dumped her bag on my desk again. “With Bente?”
    I nodded, sliding her bag toward her suggestively.
    “For two days?” she asked.
    “She’s amazing, Charli.”
    She narrowed her brown eyes, tilting her head. “How amazing?”
    I leaned back in my chair. “On a level of one to chocolate cake?”
    “She could be chocolate cake girl?” Her voice rose, making her sound eerily like Bridget.
    “I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes,” I replied. “That’s all I’m telling you.”
    She put her hand up. “Say no more.”
    “I appreciate that you’re respecting my privacy,” I replied formally.
    “I’ll just call Bente for details.” She took Bridget