Love and Liability (Dating Mr Darcy - Book 2) by Katie Oliver Read Free Book Online

Oxfordshire this weekend. We’re having a few of the neighbours round for a dinner party.”
    She winced. “Oh. Okay. I suppose I could.”
    “Don’t sound so enthused.”
    “I
am
enthused,” Holly told him as she went into the kitchen and switched on the kettle. “I’m not quite awake yet.”
    “It’s nearly noon. Out late clubbing, were you?”
    “I wish.” Holly took down a cup. “No, I was working.”
    “You work the longest hours for the lowest pay of anyone I know—”
    “Don’t start, Dad. Please?”
    He sighed. “She’s invited John and Enid to stay the weekend as well. You remember — they lived next door when you were small.”
    She didn’t, not really. “Right.”
    “I can count on you, then? I’d like to spend some time with you over something other than a chequebook.”
    John and Enid. Holly frowned. They had two sons, both grown. One was married, and the other was in banking or insurance or something equally boring.
    She scanned the calendar on her mobile. “There’s nothing important going on. What time?”
    “Shall we say seven? Get there a bit earlier and we can have a drink beforehand.”
    “Great, I’ll see you on Friday.” As she ended the call Holly tried to picture John and Enid’s sons, and failed. One worked in the City and the other was…an architect? Actuary? Something with an ‘A’…
    She plunked a tea bag in her cup and went back to her bedroom, noticing as she did that Kate’s door was firmly shut, and sat down at the desk. Her laptop was still open. She jiggled the mouse and the screen sprang to life.
    She checked her email to see if there’d been any further response from Sasha about Alex’s interview, but there was nothing. Holly frowned. She
knew
she’d sent it. Perhaps she’d just have a quick look to make absolutely sure…
    Yes, there it was. She’d sent the interview to Sasha late on Friday evening. Twice.
    Holly frowned. Odd, that; she’d sent it once, not twice. Oh, well — her email must be acting wonky again. Or she’d hit ‘send’ twice. That was what drinking two vodka-and-grapefruits while you worked did to you, she supposed…
    “Make me some tea, love, eh?”
    She looked up to see Mick leaning against the doorway in his boxers. He usually didn’t stir before mid-afternoon.
    “You’re up early. Rehearsal today?”
    Blearily he nodded and followed her back into the kitchen. He sat slumped at the table as she found a mug and fixed his tea.
    “You didn’t come to bed,” she added, keeping her voice carefully neutral.
    “I passed out on the sofa when I came in this morning. I didn’t want to wake you.” He wrapped his hands round the mug she handed him. “I thought you’d come down the pub last night.”
    Holly finished her tea and set the cup in the sink. “I told you, I couldn’t. I had to work.”
    “Oh, yeah, work. Right. That’s all you ever do, innit, putting in all those hours for that stupid teen rag.”
    “
BritTEEN
isn’t stupid,” she said defensively, having had this argument before. “We have a high pass-along rate, and our readership is second only to
Bliss
—”
    He thrust his chair back. “I’ve heard it all before, haven’t I? I got things to do. I’ll see you later.”
    Holly turned from the sink to face him. “No, you won’t.” She was suddenly furious, fed up with Mick and his dismissive attitude. He’d never taken her job at
BritTEEN
seriously; he’d never taken
her
seriously. “Go ahead and leave. But don’t bother coming back.”
    He stood there in his boxers, his blue hair standing straight up like a rooster’s comb, and stared at her in bafflement.
    “What are you on about? That time of the month, is it?”
    As quickly as it came, her anger left.
You have to care to be angry,
Holly reflected guiltily, and she didn’t care enough about Mick any more to be bothered.
    She grabbed her bag, feeling sad and deflated.
Another relationship bites the dust
. What she desperately needed was