Going away on a secret holiday with the love of your life should be fun…
Mandy and Leon have plans to go on a week away to Blackpool for uninterrupted time together and lots of hot sex. But before they even manage to leave, things start going wrong. A man accosts Mandy in the pub, then that same man is seen robbing a bank. It’s time to leave the city…
Getting away from crime and their secrets isn’t quite that simple, though. What should have been fun turns into a nightmare. Mandy and Leon bump into the same man again…and again. All Mandy wants to do is enjoy a game of ‘What’s her Secret?’ with Leon and have a great time in the sack, but fate is playing one of her silly games…
With tension mounting as things start going wrong, Mandy wonders whether her happily ever after will happen now. Thrown into turmoil and fear by the gang, she has to search inside herself in order to find even a nugget of the person she used to be. Who is Mandy now? And is she someone Leon wants to be with?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of anal play and mild BDSM.
General Release Date: 11th April 2014
I stood outside The Rusty Nail, feeling guilty that I was still keeping a secret from my friends. I’d kept one before, from Leon—the man I’d fancied the pants off for ages—but that was out in the open between us now. This new secret was mine and his, and we’d agreed to set things in motion tonight so it wouldn’t be something to hide for much longer. I’d have to lie—again—in order to pull this off, but what was one more on top of all the others I’d told?
I took a deep breath and put my hand on one of the doors. It was cold even through my gloves, and if I didn’t get inside soon I’d freeze my tits off. The weather had changed drastically over the past week, going from reasonable autumn to harsh and evil winter. Of course, it had taken me ages to find my gloves and scarf tonight, but I was glad of the time it had taken. I’d needed the extra minutes to steel myself.
You can still keep this secret for a while longer.
I pushed the door and went inside.
The pub was packed—unusual for a Thursday night but there were a load of beefy men propping up the bar, some rugby team or other gathering after their match. It gave the pub a claustrophobic air, one I wasn’t used to and didn’t like. I preferred it the way it usually was, where we could stand without anyone in our personal space.
I stared around for my friends. Wedged between a man with biceps bigger than my thighs and another whose tattoos obliterated most of his skin, Jen and the blokes in our little gang looked more than put out. I smiled. We were used to having the place pretty much to ourselves, and with the pub being our local, outsiders were seen as interlopers. Tom cats spraying on another’s patch.
I’d been keeping a secret from them for a while now. Well, from Jen and Marshall. Gary knew about my relationship with Leon—him being his best friend and the one to finally get us together—but me and Leon had been sneaking around for a few months now. I’d had the mad idea that us being together and our group knowing about it might have upset the balance. We’d got along so well up until now that revealing something different had me cautious. Why rock the boat? Why spoil what was working?
Because if we didn’t, we’d have to sneak around forever and I couldn’t stand the thought of that. Mind you, we’d shared news of our loves and relationships in the past, had talked about the men or women we’d been seeing, so me being with Leon wasn’t much different, was it?
Keeping the secret had wreaked havoc on my nerves, especially the past couple of weeks. Jen had seemed suspicious as to why I wasn’t going out with her as much—trips to the shops for new clothes or makeup, stuff like that—and had even asked if she’d done something wrong. I’d assured her she hadn’t but I don’t think she bought it.
Besides, the irritation of not being able to reach out and touch Leon in any way other than in friendship grated on my nerves too. The man was on my mind twenty-four-seven, so to pretend he wasn’t had become a bit of a bind. At times I’d had to stop myself planting a kiss on his cheek or holding his hand while we drank ourselves silly with our gang. He’d slipped up once or twice too, putting his hand on the bottom of my back or absent-mindedly rubbing my thigh if we were sitting at one of the tables.
Things had to change. Whether the others liked it or not.
I pushed through a group of rugby players, assaulted by the overpowering smell of deodorant and aftershave where they’d obviously had a post-game shower. The mix was cloying, and I’d swear they pressed around me, trying to block me in. One of them pinched my bum, and I turned in a tight circle, studying all their faces to determine which one held a guilty look.
“Who did that?” I asked, frowning. “Don’t you know it’s rude to do that?”
“Rude’s our game,” one of them said, a short fella with cauliflower ears that would look right at home on a plate of Sunday roast.
“Well, whatever your game is, I’m not playing. Could you move, please? I’d like to get past.”
“We could,” Cauli Ears said, “but I don’t think we will. You fit more than nicely there. What’s it like being surrounded by a load of sexy blokes?”
Sexy? They were average as far as I was concerned, but judging by their expressions they all felt the same as Cauli. God’s gift and all that. I found their attitude boring. How many years had I gone out with men just like them, thinking they were the kind of men I deserved—or, to be honest, the only kind of man available?
Too many to count.
“I wouldn’t know what it’s like,” I said. “Because I’ve never been surrounded by them.”
Cauli narrowed his eyes. I’d hit a nerve. He reminded me of a man I’d slept with just before I’d started seeing Leon. The type who thought he was the best-looking man on the planet and that I should have been grateful he’d chosen me to fuck. At the time I’d been exceptionally pleased he had—stupid cow—but since then I’d learnt that people like him were in abundance and long-lasting relationships weren’t something they seemed to want. This Cauli was no different, I suspected.
Geraldine O’Hara is a multi-published author in three pen names writing several genres. She lives with her husband, youngest daughter, and a cat in England. She writes at weekends and is a cover artist/head of art in her day job. In another life she was an editor. Her other pen names are Natalie Dae and Sarah Masters.
Geraldine also co-authors as Sarah Masters with Jaime Samms, and as Natalie Dae she co-authors with Lily Harlem under the name Harlem Dae.
Geraldine O ' Hara - Feature for Covert Affair
Three words I use to describe myself:
Weird. Because I do some strange things that have family members rolling their eyes. Like randomly breaking into song or dance. Or answering people as a cat if they talk to ours. Why? Maybe because I find it amusing to do odd things every so often. You know, stop people getting complacent, mix things up a bit.
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