Friends & Rivals by Tilly Bagshawe Read Free Book Online

favour, kid. Never go into acting. You suck at it.’
    â€˜No, really …’ Lex protested.
    â€˜Go home,’ said Jack. ‘Before I fire the both of you.’
    Lex left. Kendall continued watching TV defiantly until Jack picked up the remote and turned it off.
    â€˜Hey! I was watching that!’
    â€˜No you weren’t. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kick you off my books and out of my guesthouse right now.’
    â€˜I’ll give you three,’ said Kendall. ‘I make you a ton of money. I’m the best female artist Jester has. And I didn’t take your stupid wine.’
    â€˜You’re a liar.’
    Kendall tried not to show how hurt she was. Even after a long flight, in a crumpled shirt and chinos, Jack looked so insanely handsome it was torture. It was bad enough that he didn’t want her. But that he should disapprove of her too was more than she could bear. The fact that she’d brought it on herself was no consolation.
    â€˜OK, fine. I was pissed at you for not taking me to Ivan’s party. I should have been there.’
    â€˜You’ve never even met Ivan,’ said Jack.
    â€˜So? I was invited.’
    â€˜And you would have gone if you hadn’t proved once again that you can’t be trusted. You
cannot drink,
Kendall, OK? Some people can take their liquor. Others cannot.’
    He sounded exasperated because he was. Though she might not realize it, Jack was immensely fond of Kendall Bryce. He’d seen addictive personalities like hers before. They couldn’t do moderation. Kendall could no more stop at one drink than stop at one breath. It was all or nothing.
    â€˜I’ve got to be honest with you,’ he said. ‘At this point I have serious reservations about letting you go to London next week.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, get over them,’ snarled Kendall. ‘I’m a professional. I have commitments and I meet them. I’m not about to let my fans and record company down because
you’ve
got an overdeveloped father complex. I’m twenty-three fucking years old, Jack!’
    â€˜Then act it. Stop behaving like a spoiled teenager. And stop letting poor Lex lie for you. Unlike you, my dear, he’s no good at it. I’m going to bed. We’ll discuss this further in the morning.’
    After Jack had gone, Kendall went to bed and lay awake for hours, staring at the ceiling.
    It’s all so wrong. I’m in bed alone. He’s fifty yards away, in bed alone. Why aren’t we holding each other?
    One day, they would be. One day, Kendall Bryce would become Kendall Messenger, and all Jack’s grief and Kendall’s longing and frustration would be things of the past.
It will happen. It has to happen. It’s fate.
    Who knew, maybe this trip to London would be the start of a new phase in their relationship. Maybe Kendall’s absence would make Jack’s heart grow fonder?
    Stranger things had happened.

CHAPTER THREE
    Ivan Charles kept a firm grip on Joyce Wu’s hips as she bucked and moaned in pleasure.
As well she might
, thought Ivan, who’d spent the last fifteen minutes with his head between his teenage lover’s legs, trying to bring her to climax. Generally he wasn’t much of a one for oral sex – giving it, that is; receiving it was naturally an entirely different matter – but he made an exception for Joyce. Partly because she begged him to. Ivan Charles
did
enjoy a bit of begging. And partly because her smooth, hairless Asian pussy made him feel like he was doing a porn star, not a virtuoso violinist from a strict Chinese family. Although that was kind of horny, too.
    Even so, fifteen minutes was enough to give anybody jaw ache. His own orgasm already felt like a long time ago and he’d spent the last five minutes at least thinking exclusively about his meeting at ITV tomorrow and whether the blue or the green Paul Smith shirt would make him look more