Page 141 of The Secret We Keep
“Yeah. One of Sarah’s friends works there. I emailed him after I saw you with that woman. Catherine.” She shakes her head. “It came today so it couldn’t have been anything to do with my email. But they said in their reply that they liked what they heard.” Sucking in a breath, she shakes her hands in front of her.
“Slow down,” I try to tell her, brimming with pride, my chest constricting. This right here, this is the girl I remember.
“Sorry.” She swallows. “I emailed them my work after I thought you were… I don’t know. Anyway, they’ve emailed me back and asked if I had received a letter yet. And it literally came today.”
“This letter?” I happily open it up. “What does it say?”
Morgan shakes her head, hands threading into her hair. “I don’t know. I’ve been too nervous to read it.”
“What?”
She steps closer but leaves some space between us. “I wanted you to read it with me.”
My chest tightens. “Why?”
There’s humour in her voice. “Because if I hadn’t been mad at you, I never would have been brave enough to do something like that.”
I rub the back of my head, still smiling. “That’s twisted logic.”
Her eyebrows raise. “It makes sense to me,” she laughs. “Oh, will you just open it?”
I open the letter and read it out. “Dear Morgan Brooks, following a recent discussion with Sarah Caldwell,” I hear Morgan gasp, “I am pleased to submit a proposal for editorial services of your work. My team and I read your work… Read your work?” I look at her, confused. “But you said you emailed them yesterday?”
“Sarah.” One hand slaps to her head. “She read one of my poems ages ago. She must have remembered it. She must have called or emailed her friend, thinking I wouldn’t.”
I take a deep breath, smiling on the inside at how much Sarah has done without Morgan’s knowledge.
“Go on,” Morgan ushers me, hands squeezing together against her chest.
“Sorry.” I clear my throat. “Right… Read your work and believe we have extensive experience in the editing and printing services and are confident that we would be able to help you get your work to print. Holy fuck, Morgan.”
“Oh. My. God.” Unexpectedly, Morgan jumps into my arms, and I’m guilty of pulling her closer to me, stealing a deep inhale of her hair as she nestles her face into my neck.
This fucking feeling.
I could drown in her.
“Is this real?” Emotion cracks in her voice.
“Really real.”
She hugs me tighter. “Paddy? Can you believe it? Me? Getting my work printed?”
“I’m so fucking happy for you, curly fries.” My hand slips into the back of her hair, my fingers scrunching tight as I look deep into herocean eyes. It’s my new favourite colour. Especially when it’s as bright as the one looking at me like I’m the best thing since sliced bread.
“I’m happy for me too,” she says, cupping my face with her hands. “I couldn’t have done this without you, Paddy.”
“This is all on you. And maybe Sarah.”
Her lips curl up. “Yeah, I think I need to call her. I haven’t spoken to her since last night.”
A deep rumble erupts from my chest. “Trust me, I spoke to Danny. She had a good night.”
Morgan chuckles. “I dread to think what that means.” Then she muses to herself as she looks down at me. “You think I should go for it?”
Pulling her face to mine, I whisper against her lips, “I think you should absolutely go for it.” And I kiss her gently, tentatively, soaking up the moment like it’s the first time all over again. “I’m taking you away,” I mutter against her lips.
“Where?” Her body squirms against mine, making me instantly semi-hard.
