Another Summer by Sue Lilley Read Free Book Online

hedge as if nothing had even happened.
    It was impossible to concentrate.  She couldn’t think of anything but what would happen next.  Was she really going to sleep with him?  Should she wait?  What was it about him that had her in such a state so quickly?  She didn’t recognise herself.
    After a while, he dropped the shears beside the other tools and stretched his arms above his head.
    “I’ve got cricks in muscles I never knew I had.”
    “You should have a hot bath.”
    “With you?”
    He grinned, clearly liking the idea although that hadn’t been what she’d meant.  But he was picking up his shirt from the grass and she realised he was leaving.
    “I can do more of this some other time.  But I have to meet the guys now for a rehearsal.  We’ve got a gig tomorrow night.  Last one before Ibiza.”
    “Well, thanks for all your help,” she managed, embarrassed by her disappointment.  “Good luck with the gig.”
    “Should be a good turn-out.  Why don’t you come?”
    “Me?”
    “Too old for gigs?”
    “Funny!”  She didn’t want to admit to how many years it had been since her last one.
    “Cool!  We’re on at nine.  You can give me a lift home.  The Old Crown along the coast?  You know it?”
    She nodded, her mouth too dry to speak as he brushed his lips across her cheek and headed for the bike.  The Old Crown?  Of all the places his band could be playing.  She could hardly tell him it was the very place she’d stayed with Joe on their honeymoon.

Chapter 5
     
    If he’d thought about it at all, Joe would probably have said Steve was his best mate at uni.  Of course he knew Steve’s family owned the flat in York but it had never occurred to him that the Drydens were so fucking loaded.
    The house on the rugged north coast of Cornwall was a faded Victorian mansion stuffed with heirloom furniture and an oppressive sense of history.  Joe felt way out of his depth.  The food was great, though.  Especially breakfast where you could rummage around the kitchen and help yourself without any need for polite conversation.
    When Steve came back from his wedding suit fitting, looking all preppy in chinos and proper shoes, Joe was tucking into bacon and eggs.  He couldn’t resist bragging a bit about Evie.
    “You having a laugh?  She’s all legs and teeth!”
    “Not what I was looking at, mate.”
    “Straight up?  She must’ve grown up a bit since last summer.  If her sister isn’t here, you think she’s worth a crack?”
    Joe had never fancied a virgin before but the sight of Evie squeezed into that schoolgirl swimsuit had given him a hard-on.  His balls were still aching.  But he wasn’t about to admit that to Steve.
    “Why not?” he shrugged, swiping a sausage from the tray Steve was bringing from the Aga.  “At least there’ll be no husband to catch us at it during the lunchtime rush.”
    “What, you mean Glenda?  You weren’t giving her one in the actual bar?”
    “We were upstairs,” Joe laughed.  “Even Glenda’s not that wild.”
    “But her old man caught you at it?  Jesus!  He’s a big bloke, even for a landlord.”
    “Why do you think I legged it down here at the last minute?  Means I’ll have to get another job next term, though.  Doubt he’d have me back behind his bar.”
    “There’s bound to be other landladies up for a bit of rough.  You’ve got that angle well covered.  In the meantime, I’m having first crack at young Evie.  She’ll be at the party on Saturday, suitably grateful for the invite.”
    Joe bristled.  Best mate or not, Steve had been getting right up his nose.  Flashing his cash and acting all superior with the talent in the village.  Making proper coffee in a machine when they made do with teabags at the flat.  And now he was assuming he’d get Evie just by snapping his rich little fingers and Joe wouldn’t have a chance.
    Joe wasn’t having that.  He might be the penniless student but he wasn’t the tosser in