EIGHT

      Back in Morgan’s apartment, Noah glanced to the other side of the couch and smiled when he saw that Morgan had shuffled down, her head on a cushion, eyes closed and her sock-covered feet touching his thigh. Noah placed his beer on the side table and glanced at his watch; it was just past nine-thirty.

      Standing up, he walked over to her and gently removed the earphones she’d plugged into her ears earlier. Her hand still loosely clutched her iPad and he pulled that away too. She liked listening to music while she read, she’d told him earlier, and wasn’t that keen on TV, so he was welcome to watch what he liked.

      Noah heard sound coming from the earphones and lifted one bud up to his ear. Instead of music, a low, melodious voice filled his ear. Frowning, he tapped the tablet and quickly realised that Morgan was listening to an audiobook, Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth—a book he’d read years ago and thoroughly loved.

      Noah had barely any time to react as Morgan launched up and tried to whip the tablet from his grasp. Her fingers skimmed the tablet as he moved it out of her reach.

      ‘What the hell are you doing?’ she demanded. ‘Give it back!’

      ‘Calm down, Duchess. Anyone would think you’re hiding something here.’ He grinned. ‘Erotica? How to be an It Girl manuals?’

      Morgan just glared at him, reared up and tried to take the device again.

      ‘Oooh, temper. Now, I definitely know you’re hiding something!’

      ‘Stop being an ass! Give. It. Back!’ Morgan shouted.

      ‘Nah...I want to see what you’re hiding. Bad music? Sappy movies? Your addiction to Angry Birds? Badly written cowboy books?’

      ‘Noah!’

      Noah tapped the menu and scrolled through her books. Frowning, he looked at the books on the device—there were many, and they covered a wide range of genres and subjects. But they were all audiobooks. He scrolled up, backwards, checked her files, and eventually realised that there wasn’t a single e-book anywhere on the device.

      ‘Only audiobooks, Morgs? Are you too lazy to read?’

      He saw the colour seep from her face and her eyes fill with hurt. He frowned, knowing that he had misstepped badly, but he wasn’t sure why his comment had had such an effect on her.

      ‘Just give it back, Fraser,’ Morgan said in a small voice.

      Pride and defiance now flashed in her eyes, but underneath he could still sense her embarrassment and her vulnerability.

      ‘My reading habits have nothing to do with you.’

      ‘Reports are a hassle to read.’

      ‘Can you give me a verbal report instead?’

      He rubbed his jaw. Could it be...was it possible...that Morgan couldn’t read? No, come on...everyone could read in this day and age, right? And she was so smart. There had to be another explanation.

      Morgan sat back down on the couch and stared at the floor. Instinctively he balanced himself on his haunches and pushed her hair behind her ears, gently stroking the tender skin behind her ear.

      ‘Do you have a problem with reading?’

      She didn’t reply and wouldn’t meet his eyes. He hated to ask but he needed to know. ‘Can you read...at all?’

      Morgan jolted up and looked at him, her eyes wide and horrified. ‘Of course I can read! Not well or fast, but I can read!’ She stumbled to her feet, walked across the carpet and turned to look at him, her expression belligerent. ‘Go on—say it. I dare you.’

      ‘What?’ Noah asked, genuinely confused.

      Morgan placed a hand on her cocked hip and lifted her chin. ‘I’ve heard them all, Noah—all the wisecracks, all the jokes. She’s got the looks and she’s got money—what does she need a brain for? She’s so thick that she’d get trapped on an escalator if the power went out. Quickest way to drown her? Put a mirror on the bottom of the pool—’

      ‘That’s enough. Stop.’ Noah held up his hand and kept his voice even. Who had said such brutal things about her? Whoever it was deserved a kick up the ass. It would be his pleasure to do it. ‘Come and sit down, lass,’ he said eventually, his voice gentle.

      Noah waited until Morgan had perched on the edge of the couch, her bottom lip between her teeth. He resumed his position on his haunches in front of her.

      ‘I’m not going to make fun of you, Morgan, but I do need to understand.’ Noah rested his hand on her knee. ‘Dyslexia?’

      Morgan sighed. ‘Chronic.’ She glared at him again. ‘But know this: I am not stupid, Noah. I have an exceedingly high IQ. I am not a dumb blonde.’

      ‘Anyone with half a brain can see that.’ Of course she wasn’t stupid. She had the vocabulary of a Scrabble master and a brain that could tie him up in knots. ‘You’re probably one of the smartest women I know.’ He ran a finger down her chest, skimming over her T-shirt between her breasts. ‘This body is a work of art, but this—’ he lifted his hand and gently tapped her temple with his finger ‘—what’s in here scares the daylights out of me.’

      Morgan’s eyes lightened in pleasure and a whole lot of relief. He smiled as a peachy blush spread over her cheekbones.

      ‘It’s just another part of you and you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. So, who was the loser?’

      ‘The loser?’

      ‘The guy who threw those comments at you. Name? Address? Name of the cemetery you want his dead body dumped at...’

      Morgan’s small smile disappeared quickly. She stared at her hands. ‘First lover—a couple of months after you. I convinced myself that I loved him. He told me that I couldn’t take a joke. He was verbally abusive but I gave him the ammunition to hurt me. Since then I’ve kept the dyslexia to myself.’

      Noah uttered an obscenity and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘Seriously, Morgs. Give me his name and I can cause him a world of pain.’

      Morgan placed the tips of her fingers on his cheek. ‘I appreciate the offer, but he’s not worth the jail sentence.’

      ‘You’re no fun,’ he complained mildly. She thought he was joking yet he’d happily use some of his nastiest unarmed combat skills on any man who so much as looked at Morgan the wrong way.

      Noah