An Acute Attraction by A.J. Walters Read Free Book Online Page B

lion’s den and read Jackie’s first message.
                “Hi hun. How’s sleepy Suffolk and Cambridge? Hope you’re having loads of fun and text me as soon as you read this. Love ya. xx”
                  I notice that was sent only 20 minutes after I had fallen asleep. So not surprisingly, Jackie’s next message is well, how can I put this? Not as loving as the first.
                “ISABEL LOUISE CHAMBERS, WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU? You never ever leave it this long to text me back. So this means you’ve either been kidnapped by gangsters or abducted by aliens! You had better call me back within the next few hours or else I'm getting on that train to find you myself. Shit Izzy, where are you?”
                 Apart from the obvious shouty caps, I know when Jackie Marie Dowling is annoyed with me, it’s the only time she uses my full name. Guilt twists in my stomach. Well here goes nothing. Dialling her number, Jackie answers so fast I surmise she must have been sitting on the darn thing. I have no choice but to remove my ear away from the handset when I hear her shouting down the phone.
                “Isabel Chambers, where the hell have you been? I've been sitting here fretting about you. You could have been lying in a gutter for all I knew!”
                  I hear her take a breath, waiting for the next onslaught of words I don’t speak. When they don’t come I put my ear to the back to the phone. Jackie sighs and continues in a softer, calmer voice. I think she may have got it out of her system now!
                “Heck Izzy, I have been so worried about you and when you didn't answer the phone as well.”
                  Understanding her anguish with the lack of contact, as I would have felt exactly the same had the tables been turned, I close my eyes and let out a breath. For the next 10 minutes or so I explain to my wonderful, caring friend what has happened during my stay so far. Not going into too much detail obviously, although I don’t think she would have minded if I had done.
                 “You sly woman you! See, aren’t you glad I persuaded you to go now?” Oh yes, I most certainly am, even if it ended tomorrow I shall always remember this.
                  “By the way Izzy, don’t forget that James is coming up to ours today. Craig will be grateful of the company and undoubtedly a visit to the pub after the gym, will be on the cards.”
                   Craig really has been a great father figure for my boys, but treats James my eldest son like one of ‘the boys’. Both he and Jackie are amazing; they have been through the good, the bad and the ugly with us.
                   After promising to text her every day, we both hang up slightly more relieved than we were quarter of an hour ago and despite the sleep I have had, I don’t fancy doing much tonight. So I text Marc letting him know that I am still alive and kicking, but would just like to veg out for the rest of the night. Reading Marc’s reply makes me giggle. I sometimes forget that he’s from across the pond, so most of our British slang can get lost in translation. Sending him another text, I reassure him that I have not in fact turned into a turnip and that his offer of vegging out with him is indeed an offer I can’t refuse. He goes on to tell me that he still has some work to do, but I am still welcome to go round, as he would enjoy the company. So I shower to freshen up and throw on some yoga trousers and a slouchy top.
                  I knock on his door and what stands before me is nothing short of a portrait of an idol. Stood bare foot again Marc wears his faded jeans with a black V-neck T-shirt and for the first time since I first saw him in the reception, I see him with his black rimmed glasses on. Oh my!
                 “Isabel, close your mouth