Four Temptations by PJ Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

Freeview. We share an agent.” The bastard was smirking. “He’s single, too,” I added.
    Why did I say that? A flippant joke, perhaps, a private dig. But what did it say about us?
    He was watching me, maybe thinking exactly the same thing. Trying to work me out. Well good luck with that, Bran – I’ve had thirty-one years and I still haven’t managed to work me out.
    “Darling, darling,” I said, taking Rebecca’s arm again. “Come along, Rebecca. There’s someone I want you to meet...”
    §
    There’s always a speech at these things, and Jimmy was always a one to rise to the occasion.
    “I know,” he said, bringing the gathering to an attentive silence. “This is the bit you’ve all been waiting for. There’s always a speech at these things, now, isn’t there?”
    Somehow Brandon had come to stand at my side, at the front of the crowd gathered around Jimmy. He did that thing where he leaned in close to whisper in my ear, so close I could feel the air moving and the brush of his lips.
    “Sweet nothings,” he said. “Just that: sweet nothings.”
    Jimmy had paused, fixing the two of us with a hard stare. It felt as if I’d been caught by teacher.
    “When Maggie Nolan came into my life, I was a highly successful literary agent. I’d been there, seen it; I’d done it all. Don’t get me wrong: I wasn’t bored. I love this business. I love what I’ve helped my authors achieve. But I’d gone way past that stage where I ever thought I’d be surprised again. But Maggie, now... Maggie was a breath of fresh air. She told me all about Leaving Lulu , the book she said she was writing but I knew she hadn’t even started, and I willed that book into existence. It was always going to be an astonishingly good book.” He paused, and spread his hands. “It was, of course, so much better than I could have anticipated.”
    Brandon’s hand had come to rest on the small of my back, and now I could feel the inevitable tug of gravity as it crept downwards, sliding smoothly down to cup one buttock.
    I kept a smile fixed on my face. Jimmy was saying such sweet things, but all my attention was suddenly focused on that hand, that slight squeeze, the fingertips pressing against the top of my thigh.
    “Now, with the publication of Words of Love Maggie has taken things to an altogether new level. My favorite review quote so far is, ‘Fiction for the brain, the heart, and – most certainly – the bedroom’.”
    There was a polite ripple of laughter at that, and I’m sure that caressing thumb was doing something polite too. It was definitely something that was making my legs take on the consistency of jelly, the bastard.
    “There are two inevitabilities about these occasions. There will be a speech, and the speech will end. Now, I know you all love the sound of my voice – or is that just me? – but generally speaking it’s best when those two inevitabilities come as close together as possible. So, without further ado, I hope you’ll all raise a glass to Maggie, for finding the words of love that stimulate the brain, the heart and, of course, the bedroom.”
    I raised my glass, not to me, but to Jimmy.
    Somehow he’d achieved the impossible.
    He’d made me forget completely that Brandon was taking this as an opportunity to not-so-discreetly feel me up.
    He’d found those magical words.
    Right then, I felt so damned lucky to have Jimmy as my friend and protector.
    §
    “I don’t know what you thought you were doing,” I said, a smile carefully pasted all over my face.
    Brandon raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. “Was that not obvious by the hand on that quite sensational ass of yours?”
    We’d slipped outside for a little air, and now we were standing in the middle of the pedestrianized street, a short distance from the knots of smokers.
    “You were distracting Jimmy. He was saying such sweet things and I felt like the naughty girl in the back row.”
    “Oh I do love it when you talk dirty, baby. You