Free Seducing Phoebe (Crimson Romance) by Nicole Flockton

with him much — she’d never thought he would appreciate it. She was always known at the hospital as the resident comedian, but sometimes joking was the only way to cope when things got dark with emergency after emergency after emergency.
    It was something she’d done as a kid too, when things had got bad at home. It was easier to joke about why the power was out than face the fact that her mum and dad had thought it was a great time to go on vacation and forget to pay the electricity bill while leaving her home alone. Only Sophie and Phoebe’s neighbor Mrs. White had known the truth. It was Adele White who had taken her in when her parents had thought deep-cave diving was a good adventure to try, and it turned out to be deadly instead of fun. Phoebe shuddered and pushed the thought of her parents’ untimely death aside. And thoughts of Mrs. White — they were still too raw to deal with. She’d hated that she hadn’t been able to go to her funeral. To say a final goodbye. Not that she was positive Adele White would’ve wanted her there, after all.
    She sipped her wine, wishing her troubled thoughts away into the ocean with the waves as they retreated.
    “Everything okay?” Marco’s quiet voice drifted over to her. She turned her head to the side and saw him sitting in a chair on the deck.
    She mustered up a smile that she really didn’t feel. “Fine, just enjoying the quiet of the night.” She glanced around the deck, sniffing to see if the scent of grilling meat was in the air. All she smelled was the ocean. “I don’t smell anything cooking.”
    “I was about to start but I didn’t want to disturb you. You seemed so very far away.”
    “Nope, I was standing right here, so how about you impress me with your culinary skills and get cooking. I’m getting hungry.”
    She withstood his gaze, sure he was going to press her to find out what she had been thinking about. But as if realizing he wouldn’t get very far questioning her about her thoughts, he rose elegantly from the chair and went into the kitchen.
    The breath whooshed out of her — she wasn’t sure she was ready to share everything with Marco yet. It was funny — she’d told him all the dirty details about her relationship to John, but had only touched on her childhood and her parents with him. Neither one of them had discussed their upbringing. It seemed strange that she now just realized that. It was like by keeping a part of her away from him, she was creating a distance so that he couldn’t hurt her. It didn’t seem right, considering they’d been about to get married. There should’ve been nothing between them, but apparently they were very good at keeping secrets.
    Then again, when she’d been in his arms she had always lost her ability to think. All she had done was feel. Everything involving her past had faded to nothing and she had only been able to concentrate on how Marco had made her body come alive. Physical connection was a major part of relationships, but emotional connection was even more important. Perhaps in order to move on and see if there was more than just a physical connection between her and Marco, she had to share the dirty secrets of her childhood — only how would he react when she revealed her past to him? When she revealed that she’d been keeping that part of her from him. He already said he didn’t like liars — would he see her as being a liar? And if so, what would happen then? Would he still want her?

CHAPTER 5
    Phoebe placed the spoon back in the bowl, feeling sufficiently full.
    “Well? Do my culinary skills pass your test?” Marco asked as he stood and collected their dessert bowls.
    “Depends — do you expect me to do the dishes?”
    “I think I can manage to put a few plates, bowls, and utensils into the dishwasher.”
    “Excellent. You’ll make a good husband for someone one of these days.” The moment Phoebe uttered the words she wanted to gobble them back up. How could she have said