True Colours (The You Don't Know Me Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free

second sandwich.  ‘May I?’
    ‘Go ahead.’
    Picking up the sandwich, she turns it in her hands, narrowing her eyes at a blob of ketchup as it oozes from the side.  At last, she seems to make a decision, possibly to take her life into her own hands, and takes a dainty bite.  Rolling her perfectly oval eyes, she chews.
    ‘Mmm.  This is really good.  Where did you get the fish?’
    ‘Local supermarket.  Freezer aisle.’
    She chews some more, probably for a good minute or so before she finally swallows.  No wonder she looks like a stick insect, eating like that.  It must take at least three hours to down a regular meal.
    ‘Aren’t you going to say any more?’ I demand.
    ‘Do you want to know more?’
    I’m fighting the urge and not doing a very good job of it.  I nod, meekly, and still holding the sandwich, she begins her story.
    ‘My parents knew John and Lydia Foster.  When I was younger, we were always at their house.  Clive’s family too.  That’s where we all met.’  The blob of ketchup falls from the sandwich onto the table top.  ‘Dan wouldn’t say boo to a goose to begin with, but I liked him.  We used to play in the orchard, climb trees, go exploring in the fields, that sort of thing.’  She leans forwards, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper.  ‘His first kiss.’  She puckers her lips and grins mischievously.  ‘He started at the same school as me and Clive.  They hit it off straight away.  Thick as thieves.’  She takes another tiny mouthful of the sandwich, swallowing quickly before she proceeds.  ‘The older Dan got, the better looking he became, but he never seemed to understand that.  By the time we were in sixth form, he was already a stunner.’
    She inspects the sandwich again, eyeing up the next place for a bite, but I’m not prepared to wait.
    ‘Just leave the bloody sandwich,’ I grumble.  ‘Get on with your story.’
    ‘Okay, so all the girls were after him, including me.  Hardly anybody had any luck.’
    You did though, my brain fires out.
    ‘He had a couple of girlfriends.  Nothing major.  He was more focussed on his studies than anything else.  He worked hard and he was incredibly bright, and still very sweet.  I think that was what was so charming about him.’
    ‘So what changed?’
    She places the half-eaten sandwich back down onto the place.  Suddenly, she’s serious.
    ‘When he was eighteen, he went up to Cambridge.  Clive got in at the same time.  They shared a flat.  Dan was doing really well until the Fosters were killed.  That was in his third year.  He went off the rails, drank too much, did no work.  Eventually, he was thrown out.’
    ‘Thrown out?’
    ‘Oh, he didn’t tell you that?’  An eyebrow curves upwards.  ‘He raided his bank account and disappeared off the face of the Earth.  We didn’t see him for two years.  Nobody knew where he was and he’s never talked about it.  All I know is that when he came back he was a totally different man: self-controlled, shut off from emotion, pretty much the man you met.  He took over at the company, learned the ropes and transformed it into a huge success.  And in the meantime, he had no desire for relationships, no wish to connect with anyone.’  She pauses, fixing me with her hazel eyes, waiting for the right moment to drop her bomb.  ‘Until he met you.’
    She gives a broad smile and I’m floored.
    ‘But why me?’
    ‘There’s a saying, isn’t there?  You don’t choose love; love chooses you.’  She winks and then returns to the serious face.  ‘He’s lived behind a mask for years, and you’ve pulled it back.  He’s changing into himself again, and I like that.  Long may it continue.’
    While she draws in a breath and lets it go, I drum my fingers on the table.  The ache is back, and it’s weakening my resolve.  Lily Babbage has turned up on my doorstep, nicked my dinner and dangled a juicy piece of bait in front of me.  And now,