Free Embrace Me by Jo Matthews, Rebecca Turley, Sally Goodwin, Elizabeth Simonton Page B

scared her at first.
    I could see some of myself in her eyes, though, and it was strange. Grace wasn’t much younger than me, but in many ways, I felt much older. I had overcome so much in my life. It must have taken its toll on me.
    “ Grace seems like a nice girl,” Charlie commented as we got back to our apartment.
    “ Yeah, she is fitting in really well. I’m glad she knows the truth about everything now.” I smiled as Charlie helped me out of my coat. “I have to say, I am rather enjoying having a PA.”
    “ At least Grace will be able to run things for you if the press get too heavy. You might need to go into hiding, remember.” I rolled my eyes at him. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk about Texas again. “Come on, Shan. We need to talk about this. Time is ticking away,” Charlie sighed, kissing my shoulder tenderly.
    “ We will, just not tonight, please?” I whispered, pressing my lips against his. Charlie sighed into my kiss in defeat.
    “ Can we talk about Mac and Tim at least?” he asked, pulling back to look into my eyes.
    “ I’d rather not,” I smiled, kissing his neck.
    “ You know Harry Mac is a womanizer, don’t you?” His eyes were burning with an edge of fury.
    “ Charlie, give me some credit,” I smiled, pressing my lips against his neck again, starting to undo his shirt. “I already have what I want. I know how to handle Mac.”
    “ Sorry, I just didn’t like the way he was watching you,” Charlie muttered while I removed the shirt from his back. “I trust you—you already know that—I just hate it when our old lives come back to haunt us.”
    “ It will happen from time to time. We can’t hide from our old lives, Charlie.”
    “ You have a lot on your shoulders at the moment. I want to help with some of the weight,” he muttered as he skimmed his lips against mine.
    “ You already do,” I whispered, pulling him firmly against me and letting my need for him take over.

    I knew Charlie was right. I only had three months until my true identity would be shared with the world. I tried to put it to the back of my mind, because otherwise, I might have gone insane. I had no reason to feel nervous, right? I mean, I had all the support I could possibly want.
    The truth was, I already knew what this life was going to be like. I had spent over five years with Megan, and never once had I wished for her life. I loved slipping into the background where no one could see me, but now I was going to have to get used to the centre stage. How did I even start to prepare myself for that?
    I was grateful I had found my mother and would never regret finding her, but there was so much more to our relationship than just mother and daughter. She had responsibilities that, in time, I knew would be handed to me. Running a multi-billion dollar company was never something I thought I would be doing, but this was my destiny: my birth right.
    I was more confident than the shy girl that used to hide away in the corner of a room, but she hadn’t disappeared completely. As the months slowly drifted by, she began to surface a lot more. I knew it was nerves, but I needed to learn to control them.

    “ Shall I fax these over now, Shannon, or did you want to check them first?” Grace called at my do or, waving the contracts in the air.
    “ No, you can fax them. I trust you,” I smiled.
    “ Are you sure you’re alright, Shannon?” she asked warily. I wouldn’t even know where to start. I had three weeks—only three weeks until my new life began.
    “ I’m fine,” I smiled nervously.
    “ Did you and Charlie have a fight?”
    I laughed a little. Charlie was the only thing holding me together at the moment. “No, I just have a lot on my mind right now.”
    “ Oh, I get it. It’s three weeks until…” Grace trailed off. I nodded, looking back down at my pile of papers.
    Half an hour later, I heard a soft tap at my door. I looked up, expecting to see Grace, but my heart fluttered as I saw a