Getting It Right This Time by Rachel Brimble Read Free Book Online Page A

be the topic of conversation between Jo and her friends at the wine bar later. Finally averting her gaze, Jo feigned interest in the bottles of lotion lining the shelves behind the counter.
    “He said he was sorry he’d missed you and put that basket on the counter and then asked if he could borrow a pen and some paper.”
    Kate stared at her turned back. “What for?”
    She swiveled round. “To write you a note. The guy is obviously love-struck and you’re standing there as though he looks like Shrek after a mud-bath.”
    Glaring at her, Kate fisted her hands on her hips. “Jo...”
    “Fine, fine.” She whipped an envelope from the pocket of her tunic. “Here.”
    Kate took the note and sat down. Squeezing her eyes shut, she counted to five and started to read.
    Swiping at the tears slowly edging over her cheeks, Kate looked up at Jo who hovered above her with her hands clasped to her chest.
    “He wants to have dinner with me tonight,” she said.
    “Ooh, you’re going to go, aren’t you? You have to. You can’t say no to Mark Johnston.”
    “Why? Because he’s some hot-shot agent now?” Kate pushed to her feet and brushed past her. “That doesn’t make a blind bit of difference to me.”
    “But surely--”
    Kate raised her hand. “And besides, I’ve got a three-year-old to think of.”
    “Don’t you have someone you trust to watch her? Kate, listen to me. I know I’m being silly about how handsome, rich, successful, gorgeous, sexy--”
    “Jo, for crying out loud--”
    “Sorry, sorry. But he’s serious. He looked so….so absolutely gutted when you weren’t here.
    His entire face dropped like a young boy. He wasn’t hot-shot Mark Johnston, Kate. He was just a man who wanted to impress you.”
    Kate stared as her heartbeat quickened and then sense rang supreme. She curtly shook her head. “Whatever he’s feeling is not important, Jessica is.”

    26
    Getting It Right This Time
    “But--” The phone on the counter rang. “Damn it.”
    Jo hurried to the phone and picked it up. Kate opened the note and re-read it. She needed to put an end to Mark’s desire to see her. Maybe she should meet him tonight and hear what he wanted to say and then tell him about Jessica--that would soon put an end to his interest, guaranteed.
    His reaction to her having a daughter with James would surely dampen what she’d seen lingering dangerously in his eyes every time he looked at her?
    The irrational pull she felt toward him was dangerous, pointless and completely irresponsible. She needed to quash it--quickly. Jessica’s happiness was Kate’s entire world and purpose. Getting involved with Britain’s most eligible bachelor with a reputation of hard working and hard playing would be emotional suicide for both her and Jess. She would not risk Jess’s emotional well-being, not to mention the fear of her getting caught up in a media frenzy.
    No, Mark needed to be stopped in his tracks. Tonight. Before it was too late for all of them.

    Chapter 4
    Kate stood in front of her wardrobe, the doors flung wide open. What to wear? What to wear?
    Her insides were a mess. Her newly shaved and perfume-scented skin tingled with unleashed panic.
    She looked at her watch. She had one hour before she was due to meet Mark for dinner. She’d yet to pick an outfit and it was a twenty minute cab journey to the restaurant. She would have driven herself, but the need for dutch courage had overtaken common sense and she’d poured a glass of wine while taking a bath--and the night was still young.
    “Pick something. Anything. It’s only Mark. Mark, who you’re going to cut all contact with in the next couple of hours.”
    Her mumbled words fell on deaf ears and numbed nerves. Kate fingered her reliable, sexy black dress which never failed to floor its intended target. Should she wear it tonight? Make Mark rue the day he decided it was all right to pursue his best friend’s widow? A tingling of anticipation flickered through her