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

body and died. Who said he was trying to seduce her? Maybe all he wanted to do was talk about the past, the memories they shared. James. A gnawing pain clawed at her throat and Kate squeezed her eyes tightly shut. Mark was never a bad person. What would she do if he gave her a plausible reason for his years of no contact? What would she say?
    Swallowing hard, she opened her eyes and let the dress slip from her fingers. There couldn’t be any plausible excuse. Mark had been James’s best friend and her…what? Her…fantasy? The man she wanted, but he didn’t want her? The man who’d let his best friend marry a girl he once knew?
    And the fact of the matter was, she fell in love with James--to a point. It was never the all-consuming passion she’d felt for Mark, but she had loved James. He’d turned her head from the boy who never made a single attempt at taking their friendship further, and wooed her with his ideas of grandeur. He’d painted a romantic picture of living abroad where there would be constant sun, sea and sand.
    But it turned out Kate spent the time under the sun alone while James spent his travelling up to the mountains every day where the snow never melted and the snowboarders always played.
    She sank onto the bed. And once she’d become pregnant, Kate tumbled into the age-old delusion a baby would bring them closer. Jess was everything to both of them, but they only drifted further apart. Kate’s vision blurred. She’d been planning to tell James she wanted a divorce the very day he died. And there hadn’t been a day since when the guilt of carrying the secret around like a ball and chain didn’t weigh heavy on her heart. Would Jessica ever understand her mum not wanting to be with a daddy who loved his little girl to the ends of the earth? Of course she wouldn’t and Kate would ensure she never found out.
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    Getting It Right This Time
    Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Kate stood up. She would do whatever it took to ensure Jess’s happiness. And that was why she would not let Mark Johnston into her life. He was an ambitious and money-hungry man who would tire of a child quicker than he would a non-profit investment.
    His face filled her mind’s eye. If only she could believe Mark capable of not loving Jess--
    everyone loved Jess. Even possibly, Foxton’s very own heartthrob. Kate snorted with laughter as she remembered the gangly prepubescent boy with horn-rimmed glasses and the unattractive trait of collecting train numbers.
    A smile played at her lips. And by God, she’d loved that boy.
    And it wasn’t helping her cause that he’d became a man whose hair was darker than a night sky and eyes so sexy and intense she felt as though he could see into her soul every time he looked at her. Feeling her heart swell and a distinct pull at more intimate parts, Kate defiantly tilted her chin. She would meet Mark and listen to what he had to say and then she would walk away. Forever.
    She’d do it for her daughter. Jess didn’t need Mark Johnston in her life and neither did she.
    Yanking a pale pink, tight fitting top that was flattering yet not the obvious seduction weapon of the black dress, Kate felt the momentary weakness, the unexpected and guilt-ridden wave of desire, subside. The delicate criss-cross of straps revealed just a glimpse of her shoulders and fit smoothly over her torso to the upper curve of her hips. Teamed with a pair of smart black trousers, the look was sexy yet demure. Much more appropriate.
    Yet once dressed and looking at her reflection in the full-length mirror, Kate could not ignore the sensation of wanting to look good for someone for the first time in years. She felt sexy and alive, and knew it was all because of Mark. He’d always made her feel this way, and even after all this time he could still do it. She shivered. She had to get a grip or tonight could go horribly against plan.
    She quickly strode to the dressing table and sat down. To finish the look, she