Secret Desire

By Jan Graham

Sally isn’t looking for a new relationship but that changes when Jake enters her life. Being together could be everything they each desire, except for one tiny issue. Their age difference.

Unsure how her family and friends will react to the new younger man in her life, Sally decides to keep the relationship secret as she struggles with self-doubt and insecurities about Jake’s motives for being with her. Jake wants Sally in his life but not at any cost. He wants more than the erotic sexual encounters Sally can’t seem to get enough of. He thought she was different, but just like other older women before her, it appears she’s happy to keep his presence in her life hidden.

Can the relationship survive long enough for them to overcome past insecurities, or will Jake’s ultimatum destroy the relationship they both fervently desire?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jan Graham
• Release date: Sep 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9780994400024

Jan Graham

Writing a bio that lets readers know who you are is tricky because I describe myself in so many ways. Like my books I fall into different genres, all of which depend on my mood and inspiration at the time. I am a writer, submissive, orphan, widow, sister, aunt, friend, Netflix addict, and sometimes, a wild child. I live in Australia where I spend as much time as I can writing and creating books I hope people enjoy. My writing currently falls under a variety of genres including BDSM, contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but who knows where my literary future will lead. That’s going to be the next exciting chapter.

Book preview

Secret Desire

Hot in the City Book 1

Jan Graham

Smashwords Edition

Secret Desire

Copyright © 2015 by Jan Graham

EPUB – ISBN-13: 978-0-9944000-2-4

Cover design: Willsin Rowe

All rights reserved:

This book is not to be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the copyright holder.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

Disclaimer:

The material in the book is for mature audiences only. It contains sexually explicit content and language that may offend some readers. Its intended readership is strictly 18 years and older.

Publication History:

Secret Desire is a reworked novel first published in, September 2015. Portions of the storyline and a shorter concept novella have previously been published as, The Cougar Club, in January 2012.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

About the Author

Current and New Books by the Author

Chapter One

Sally Campbell and her two best friends sat sipping their glasses of Chardonnay on the foreshore overlooking the harbor. It was nearly eight in the evening and the lights of the city were starting to twinkle to life. Daylight savings made summer so much more appealing than the other seasons of the year. The longer days suited Sally just fine. They made the nights seem shorter and when you slept by yourself, short nights were always a bonus.

Ferries shuttled people across the water, residents, and tourists alike, transported to the far reaches of the city and its opposing harbor side suburbs. Yachts and other pleasure craft skittering around, with colorful sails on display, added to the decorative living collage Sally observed.

Apart from the two iconic structures, one across the harbor and one above her, she could have been in any waterfront city in the world. Sydney, however, stretched out in front of her. It really was a lovely town, and the harbor was one of its best features.

I love this time of year. Her friend Kenzie sighed as she stretched out on the grass.

Me too. Trudy agreed as she grabbed the bottle of wine and refilled everyone’s glass.

It’s just perfect and this is the most stunning view. Sally stated as she eyed the Opera House that sat directly across from her Milson’s Point suburb.

The building really was beautiful. The designer had made a perfect structure for the location—sails in the wind, was how it had been described—and that was exactly how it looked. Technically, it did sit on the harbor rather than land, so the sail analogy was apt.

The Harbor Bridge, she and her two friends relaxed beneath, was a different matter altogether. To Sally, it was just a bridge. She realized some people marveled at its appeal, but not her. The bridge, which vaguely resembled a big coat hanger stretching across the expanse of water, was really just a pile of steel and rivets.

My ex-husband once told me that the length of this bridge equals sixty football fields. Sally informed her friends as she stared up at the bridge’s underside. He told me the engineering significance of getting something that large over a body of water alone should impress me. It didn’t, and he wasn’t impressed when I told him it was still just a bridge.

I think it’s impressive that the thing’s over eighty years old and still erect? Trudy stated with a wry smile. I’d say that’s a huge achievement for something so big.

"Now that impresses me. Sally grinned. If only my ex-husband had as much stamina, I might not have had to divorce him."

As she and Trudy laughed, Sally glanced over to Kenzie, who sat staring at the two of them with a distinct frown.

Well yes, you would have. Kenzie retorted. Remember walking in on him and his secretary that day at his office. He didn’t seem to have a problem staying erect then.

Kenzie was right. Her husband didn’t have a problem staying erect for anyone else, just Sally. Now didn’t that dent a woman’s ego? Still, there were other reasons the divorce was inevitable. Her husband had turned into a boring, opinionated, grumpy old man and she was too young to live such an old life.

Yeah but that had just been the final nail…so to speak. Sally quipped, laughing out loud. This time Kenzie joined in the frivolity.

Sally was thirty-nine, well, nearly forty actually, and in her book that was still young. She wanted to experience more of life, not retire from it, as her husband had wanted her to do. Despite her ex-husbands lack of sexual interest in her, Sally liked to think she was in her prime. Her five-foot-six-inch, curvy body was still in good shape, and she kept it that way with regular exercise and healthy eating. She ran her own events management business and had become known as the must have woman if you needed a charity or high profile social event organized.

Life was good, with the exception of her slightly battered sexual self-esteem. Sally rebuilt a life that, in every practical sense, would be the envy of most women. Successful business, a happy child, albeit a grow-up one, a beautiful home on the harbor and the financial security to do whatever she pleased. She didn’t have a man though, or a sex life to speak of. Not unless you counted her battery operated boyfriend—Mr. Buzzy. The scary thing was, after what she’d been through during her marriage, Sally had no idea if she could even sexually interest a man anymore.

Not that it mattered all that much, with a trusty vibrator to satisfy her wanton desires, and an active imagination, Sally was satisfied in the sexual arena. All that left her was to keep experiencing everything she could from life.

Which was how she now found herself reclining against one of the pylons under the Sydney Harbor Bridge, with her two best friends, sipping a chilled chardonnay from a disposable plastic wine glass.

A smile filled her face as she looked at them. They were all as different as chalk and cheese, but they just clicked. If it hadn’t been for Trudy Dean and Kenzie Stuart, Sally wouldn’t have survived the divorce. Hell, she wouldn’t have survived high school.

At forty-two, Trudy was the oldest of the three women, married to a loving, supportive, and sexy man who didn’t care that she had a wobbly belly, large bum, stretch marks, and less than pert breasts anymore. Once the four children they’d made were older and living their own lives, Trudy started writing cookbooks and now made a very nice income from what she first saw as a hobby to keep her mind active. According to Trudy, sex with her man was even more exciting now than it had been when she was in her twenties. She’d been a chef when she met her lawyer husband. He swept her off her feet, married her, and they started making babies shortly thereafter.

Kenzie, on the other hand, was the youngest of the three. Having never been married, she was an artist who lived the bohemian lifestyle to the full. With an eclectic mix of friends that kept her amused, Kenzie often found herself mixed up in all sorts of public and private scandals. Tall and slim, she still looked much the same as she did when she was a teenager. It was no surprise she found getting a boyfriend easy and, in true commitment phobic fashion, had a stream of them. Sally and Trudy liked to joke that Kenzie changed boyfriends nearly as often as they changed their underwear.

Are we nearly ready to go? Kenzie asked as she reclined on the grass.

Not yet, I still have more wine left and I think I need to finish it before I go anywhere near that club. Sally wasn’t sure this was a good idea. She wanted to experience life but somehow Club Rub didn’t sound like the sort of experience she needed.

Rubens is meant to be great. The buildings been refurbished. It’s not like other places, it’s a club for the more mature woman to frequent and have a good night out. Everyone says it’s the place to be. Even the young guys that share my art space said I should go there. Kenzie stated emphatically.

"Then why is it referred to as Club Rub? It sounds seedy." Sally shuddered as she sculled the last of her wine.

Don’t be a silly, that’s just short for Rubens. Kenzie replied. I’m sure the owner is more than likely called Ruben something. People must just shorten the name to Rub.

They shorten everything these days. Trudy explained as she dusted bits of grass off her tailored black pants. "God, even an episode of a TV show is shortened to an Ep., and what about those things on phones, they’re called Apps not applications. Kenzie’s probably right. Rub is just short for Rubens."

Sally knew the explanation sounded logical, but still wasn’t convinced. At least she would be able to say she’d been to the hottest place in town. If the club was as nice as Kenzie seemed to imply, then she could talk to the owner about putting it on her list of venues for the events she organized. After all, the club was on Oxford Street, the social hub of the city, sitting between the entertainment, theatre, and red light districts of Sydney. Appropriate inner city venues were hard to find these days and if Rubens was suitable, she could give them added publicity and patronage through using it as a preferred venue. Of course, she wouldn’t be talking to the owner tonight, not in the dress she wore, it was less than professional and didn’t give the appropriate business impression she usually went for. Anyway, tonight was about having fun and Sally intended to do just that.

As the women walked down to the ferry wharf, Sally felt sexy. The short