The Lake of Love (Adult Novel 18+) by John Sheridan

voice before disappearing out of my bedroom. The door shut
behind him with a click.
    ‘Crap.’ I sighed to myself. ‘He knows.’
    For a long moment, I lay in bed praying to god that this was another
dream. It was not. My mind instantly ran through every single possibility that
was open to me. Many of which ended with me climbing out of the bedroom window
and making a break for it, but Nathan was my brother. He deserved better than
this. I have fallen for his girlfriend and he deserved an explanation.
    I climbed out of bed and dropped the thin white towel onto the bedroom
floor. I picked my folded shirt off the bed and slipped it on. My ears listened
to the welcoming bird songs that whistled just outside my bedroom window, as I
began to button my shirt. Had the storm finally passed us by? Without further
ado, I picked up my tumble dried trousers and slipped them on. I felt like a
death row inmate preparing to go to the chair.
    I let out a sigh. ‘Here goes nothing.’
    The bedroom door opened with a click and Nathan was waiting outside.
    ‘Come with me.’ It was not a request.
    I followed Nathan down the stairs to the ground floor. The familiar
voices of mum and dad could be heard within the kitchen, as they sat at the
kitchen table having breakfast together, but that was not our intended
destination. Nathan escorted me down a corridor towards one of the many offices
that dad, or Frank, would use when conducting business here at the lake house.
    ‘Inside,’ ordered Nathan, as he opened a door.
    I went inside without saying a word.
    Much to my surprise Miranda was sitting on the edge of a large wooden
desk at the far end of the room. She was dressed in a dark blue shirt that
clung tightly to her body leaving nothing to the imagination and a short black
skirt that hung at the level of her knees. My eyes unconsciously fell upon her
long elegant legs as they dangled over the edge of the desk. She regarded me
with those light blue piercing eyes.
    Has she told him?
    The office door locked behind me with a foreboding click.
    I turned to see Nathan palm the key into his pocket, as he walked by me.
    ‘So,’ said Nathan. Silence fell upon the room. The only sound I could
hear came from the frantic beating of my heart. ‘I know everything,’ admitted
my older brother. ‘I know all about you and, Lisa.’
    ‘Lisa told me that you guys were not really together,’ I replied in all
honesty.
    ‘What else did Lisa tell you?’ asked Nathan, as he stood beside Miranda.
    I shrugged my shoulders.
    ‘That was it really. She said you were not really boyfriend and
girlfriend and that your relationship with her was complicated.’
    ‘What, Lisa, told you is true,’ confessed Nathan. ‘Lisa and I are not
girlfriend and boyfriend. We never were in a relationship together and we never
will be.’
    ‘Then why are you telling everyone she’s your girlfriend?’ I had to ask.
    ‘She’s helping to protect the one I truly love.’ Nathan slipped the palm
of his hand into Miranda’s. An all-consuming smile spread across Nathan’s face.
‘I’m in love with, Miranda.’
    ‘Eh?’ A frown creased my brow. ‘But you’re married.’ I directed that
towards Miranda. ‘And you have a daughter.’
    ‘Sheridan is not a child,’ countered Miranda. ‘She’s the same age as you.’
    ‘But…how, when?’ A million questions began to take form within my mind.
    Nathan held up a hand to slow me. ‘It happened three months ago when I
came to the lake house. It was when you all got snowed in and were unable to
catch a flight out here.’
    ‘What about, Frank?’ the very mention of his name seemed to hit a nerve.
    ‘Shall I show him?’ asked Miranda.
    Nathan nodded his head in reply.
    Miranda picked up a television remote off the desk and pointed it towards
the large flat screen T.V that sat high on the wall. A black and white image of
an internal security camera appeared upon the screen. The camera was fixed high
in the corner of an