All Work and No Play by Julie Cohen Read Free Book Online

sorry.’
    Jay nodded. ‘I haven’t told my mother. I couldn’t bear to destroy her image of him. And I know he didn’t mean to leave her in such debt; he’d had heart problems but his death was sudden. But I’ve had to do some scrambling to buy some time to repay the loans, and I need to do everything I possibly can to make money. I’ve done some extra consultancy work, and taken on some extra projects, and then when Thom started bugging me again to do some modelling for him, I said yes, even though it was something I never really wanted to do.’
    ‘So you’re modelling just to pay your father’s debts.’
    ‘Yes.’ He let out a long breath, and smiled at her. Not the million-watt model smile, but a dimmer, sadder one.‘It feels good to tell you about it. Thom doesn’t know. Nobody knows. My mother thinks I’ve suddenly developed a love of having my photograph taken.’
    She squeezed his hand. ‘I know what it’s like to keep a secret,’ she said. ‘It shouldn’t be hard, because all you have to do is keep your mouth shut and act normal. But it is.’
    She thought about the past few days at work, seeing Gary, knowing what had happened between them, and pretending that everything was all right.
    ‘It feels better once you’ve told somebody,’ she said, remembering the relief she’d felt typing her problems to Jonny.
    He turned his hand over so he was clasping hers. ‘It feels better now I’ve told you .’
    Why me? she was about to ask, and then she looked from their clasped hands to his face. There was warmth in his eyes, gentleness and earnestness in his mouth, and every line was familiar in that unexpected way.
    This intimacy had been between them since they’d first seen each other, and although Jane couldn’t explain it, she couldn’t deny it, either.
    Instead she bit her lip and nodded.
    ‘You’re so beautiful, Jane,’ Jay murmured, his dark blue eyes still looking into hers. The air around them thickened, time seemed to slow even though her pulsesped up. He was so close, she was sharing every breath he took.
    Jonny’s words swam into her mind. He’d described this moment. And then he’d described what could happen afterwards.
    She could have her mouth on this man’s mouth, his hands on her, lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist, pushing her clothing aside so he could enter her. Fast and hard and breathless.
    The idea, the imagined feeling, throbbed inside her.
    She didn’t know Jay. And she didn’t know if the way he made her feel was just part of his natural charm, a normal reaction of every female to his looks and his behaviour.
    But she did know she wanted him. And he appeared to want her, too.
    She had been engaged for eight months and had never felt even remotely this turned on. And after the hell of the past few days, after the habit and hard work of the past few years, this seemed too miraculous not to seize with both hands.
    Jane lifted her free hand to Jay’s face. She touched his left cheekbone and ran her fingertips down over his skin, over the place where his smile dug grooves in his cheek, close to the side of his mouth. His skin was smooth andalmost shockingly warm. He tilted his head slightly, as if to press her fingers closer.
    ‘I don’t think I want dinner,’ she said, and heard that her voice had become husky.
    ‘Me neither.’
    They stood at the same time, their hands still clasped. Jay dropped a note on the table and they walked out of the bar together, saying nothing. Jane was aware of every part of her body: the way her high heels made her hips sway, the brushing of her bare thighs together under her dress, the soft material of her skirt against her legs, the way her breasts moved slightly as she walked. Her fingers, twined with Jay’s, which were long and strong and sinewy.
    She was aware of his body, too. He moved easily but she sensed urgency in his movements. He held her hand tight and kept her close so that her shoulder and hip