The Secret Between Them

They share more than a past

Wounded, weary and wiser, ex-marine Kyle Northrup had planned to stay far away from Wallis Point. But after his stepfather’s passing, he must return home and claim his unexpected inheritance: the ice rink he grew up on. Except he has to share ownership with Jessica Hughes, the hometown girl who got away and whose figure skating career he ended. He’d hoped the rink would save him once more, as it had when he was a grief-stricken youth, but working with Jessica will be hard. Especially since his teenage infatuation is now full-blown adult attraction. And the last thing he wants to do is hurt Jessica again.

“What are you hiding, Kyle?”

When he didn’t answer, she walked around him to the back corner of the room.

Leaning against the wall was the missing poster of her, performing on the ice in her skating costume from the World Junior Championship.

“Why...?” she asked him.

“Why didn’t I throw it out?” he filled in the blanks dully.

Jessica nodded. “Yes. I asked you to.”

He shrugged. “It’s a good picture. Maybe I wanted to decorate my locker room with it.”

“I don’t get it, Kyle. It’s an embarrassing picture. I was a stupid girl who did everything wrong back then—”

“Like hell you did.” He uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t looking at her. “I had a crush on you.” In a lower voice, he added, “Maybe I still do.”

She clutched her throat. “You do?”

“You think that kiss was by accident?” he shot at her.

She focused on his chest. His beautiful, muscular chest that she’d laid her cheek against less than a day ago. A small noise came from her throat. She didn’t want it to be so, but that kiss had been a nicer kiss than the one her boyfriend—fiancé—had given her after he’d proposed to her. Her cheeks flamed.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to a new Wallis Point, New Hampshire, story, set in the fictional seaside town first described in The Long Way Home.

I’ve poured my love of the community of ice-skaters and ice-skating rinks into this story, as well as my deep respect for servicemen and women, particularly wounded veterans.

Kyle Northrup is a war-injured marine veteran with a secret that he’s keeping. Jessica Hughes is a physical therapist who’d rather not think about her figure-skating past. When Kyle is summoned home for a reading of a will, he doesn’t count on facing the former teen crush whose life he’d forever changed.

Now the two must work together to bring a dilapidated community ice rink back to life. They never expect to reconnect—and fall in love. But will their secrets ruin everything?

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy Kyle and Jessica’s story.

All the best,

Cathryn Parry

The Secret Between Them

Cathryn Parry

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CATHRYN PARRY is the author of seven contemporary romance novels. Her books have received such honors as a Booksellers’ Best Award, a CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award and several readers’ choice award nominations. Cathryn is also an adult figure skater and longtime fan of the sport. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and her neighbor’s cat, Otis. Please see her website at www.cathrynparry.com for information about upcoming releases or to sign up for her reader newsletter.

To my readers.

I’m appreciative every day for your support and goodwill. Thank you!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

FROM THE MOMENT he’d left home, Kyle Northrup had fantasized about returning, triumphant, to Wallis Point.

Until that fantasy died two years ago on April 19. The day the Humvee he’d been driving had run over a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. After that, Kyle decided he would never go home again.

He thought nothing more about his discarded fantasy, until a call came in from a Wallis Point, New Hampshire, exchange.

Kyle gripped his phone in sweaty palms. He sat behind the desk at his new civilian job, staring at Navy procurement reports on a computer screen. The order-analyst position depressed him—he was more cut out for physical work, but that seemed off the table now that he was a wounded military veteran.

He listened as a lawyer back in his hometown spoke in hesitating, halting sentences.

“...Kyle, I’m calling about your stepfather,” Natalie Kimball said. “I’m his attorney.”

Kyle couldn’t picture the face behind her name. A former classmate of his, she’d said, but he’d been gone from town too long to remember. “Yes, ma’am.”

Natalie cleared her throat and continued. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but Joe passed away this afternoon. He wasn’t in pain. All his funeral arrangements were completed, so there is nothing you need to do in that respect—”