Enticed:A Dangerous Connection (Secrets) Read Online Free Page A

Together, we finesse my outfits, deciding what goes with what, and an hour later I am posing in front of the cream-colored sheet we’d taped to the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room. But after a few shots, Michelle decides that our lighting is insufficient. So we pull up all the blinds and then get every single lamp in the house. After arranging them on tables and stools all around me, we remove the lamp shades and turn the lights all on.
    “Much better,” Michelle says as she takes more photos.
    Although the apartment looks like a hurricane hit it and the lamplight is making it uncomfortably warm, Michelle and I press on into the afternoon, taking more and more photos. I pose in dresses, pants, shorts, swimsuits, skirts, even my Hello Kitty pajamas and fluffy pink slippers, which look a little goofy, but as Michelle points out, you never know. Finally, we’re both exhausted, and I have less than thirty minutes to put the apartment back into place before Mom comes home.
    I turn on the AC, although I’m not supposed to do this since we’re on a strict budget, but Mom will freak out over how hot it is in here. As I’m running around frantically restoring order, Michelle is loading all the photos onto my computer for me.
    “Some of them are really good,” she says as she returns to the living room. “You’re actually pretty photogenic.”
    “Really?” I pause from adjusting the lamp shade. “You think so?”
    She nods. “Maybe you really will make a good model.”
    “Thanks!” I hug her. “And thanks for your help today. No way could I have done this without you.”
    “So you won’t forget me once you become rich and famous and get your photo on the cover of Elle or Vogue ?” I can hear the teasing tone in her voice, but her expression is serious.
    “You will always be my best friend.”
    “Cool.” She starts collecting her accessories now, loading them into the bags. “I can’t wait to see your portfolio when it’s done.”
    “I’ll send it to you,” I promise. “My goal is to get it put together before this weekend. And then I plan to send it out right away.”
    “Are you still babysitting for the bratty Burk twins?”
    “Yeah.” I replace the lamp on the end table. “Don’t remind me.”
    We’ve just finished up and Michelle is leaving as Mom gets home. Fortunately the apartment looks fairly normal now, and Mom is none the wiser about how I tore it all up. I can tell by her face that she’s had a hard day at work, and feeling enthused from our photo session, I even offer to fix dinner.
    “That would be fantastic.” She dumps her purse on the table and kicks off her shoes. “And I’ll take a shower and put my feet up.”
    As I scavenge in the freezer and the kitchen cabinets for something interesting to make for dinner, I try to imagine what it would feel like to have some interesting food and ingredients at my fingertips for a change. Maybe someday. In the meantime, we’ll have to settle for frozen chicken enchiladas, which I heat in the microwave. But I do slice up a cantaloupe to go with it, and Mom doesn’t complain at my meager offering. I tell her a little about our photo shoot, but her enthusiasm has definitely gone downhill since yesterday.
    Finally, she admits that she’s worried the escrow company is thinking about letting people go. “I might have to start looking for another job,” she says as we’re finishing up dinner.
    “Oh …” I frown as I clear the table. “Well, I’ll do what I can to help out.”
    “And don’t give up your babysitting job,” she says as she gets up.
    I promise her that I won’t, and after she retreats to her room, I continue to clean the kitchen. It’s only a matter of time until I’ll be making enough money to not only quit babysitting but help out if Mom loses her job.
    I really believe my life is about to change — doors are about to open. As I scrub the sink, I remember back in middle school when Hannah