Read Online The Paris Secret by Angela Henry - Free Book Online Page A

serious. He also had a point. Did I really need to add Simon’s troubles to my own? His eyes held a deep sadness that made my heart ache for him. And the last thing I needed was to get into more trouble over some stranger, even one with beautiful, green, sad puppy dog eyes.
    “Why don’t we wait until tomorrow to see what Dr. Hewitt has to say? If she doesn’t know anything useful, then we can go our separate ways and you can do whatever you want. Now, if you really want to do something for me,” I said, sitting back down, “you can feed me. I’m starving.”
     
    I woke with the birds the next morning in Simon’s brother’s bed. Simon slept on the couch. We’d spent the rest of the previous evening in awkward companionship, making occasional small talk punctuated by long lapses of silence. I sensed Simon was much more personable and charming under normal circumstances, and so was I. But we were both so tired and these were hardly normal circumstances. The only edible things to eat in the tiny fridge, that didn’t resemble a science project, had been some eggs, a wedge of Gruyere cheese and a pint of strawberries. Simon made a large omelet and we’d shared it along with the strawberries before he gave me one of his old T-shirts to sleep in and went to bed. He was still asleep, lying on his stomach with his left arm hanging over the side of the couch, when I walked into the living room and pulled up the blinds, flooding the living room with bright sunlight.
    “Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. We need to get a move on.”
    Simon jerked awake with a groan and fell off the couch. When he scrambled to his feet, he was completely naked, and the only part of him that was awake and alert was below his waist. Wow! No wonder he could run up all those flights of stairs. He had the trim, well-muscled body of an athlete. He was in excellent shape. In short, his body was bangin’.
    “ Mon Dieu! What are you trying to do, kill me?” He hastily grabbed two pillows from the floor to cover his front and back and sidestepped me.
    “Well, I am suspected of murder after all,” I joked, hoping he hadn’t noticed me admiring his anatomy.
    “What time is it?” he asked.
    “Ten ’til seven.”
    “Why did you wake me so early?” he asked grouchily as he dropped the pillow covering his ass and rubbed his scruffy face.
    “You said you had an appointment with that professor this morning.”
    “At eleven. A civilized hour,” he snapped, grabbing his pants from where they were draped across the chaise.
    “Sorry,” I said, slinking off to the kitchen. “I didn’t realize you weren’t a morning person.”
    “There is only one reason a woman should wake me first thing in the morning. And it’s not for an appointment.” He eyed my bare legs. I tugged at the T-shirt.
    He came into the kitchen and walked toward me. Due to the limited space, I couldn’t get out of his way fast enough and ended up backed into a corner. At first, I was afraid he was going to try and kiss me, and I could tell by his smile that he knew it. Instead, he reached over my head to the cabinet above and pulled out a bag of coffee beans and a grinder. I noticed for the first time he had a small diamond stud in his left ear.
    “Do you think she’ll still talk to you if you bring me along?” I asked to mask my embarrassment.
    Simon looked down at me, started to speak and stopped abruptly. A horrified look spread over his face. He leaned down to look at my neck. Rattled, I headed off to the bathroom to see what the problem was. Simon followed. What I saw made me gasp. Livid purple bruises from where I’d been choked the day before encircled my neck.
    “Does it hurt?” He probed the bruises with tender fingers. I could feel his warm breath on my neck and jumped away from him like I’d been burned.
    “A little,” I said, though in truth it didn’t hurt at all.
    “Are you hurt anywhere else?” He promptly pulled up the T-shirt to reveal my white