Shopaholic on Honeymoon by Sophie Kinsella Read Free Book Online Page B

‘Please,’ she says a third time. ‘I’m … I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you employed by the shop?’
    ‘No. I’m a customer. I was up a ladder.’
    ‘Did they see me?’
    ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so.’
    With a trembling hand she grabs the three pairs of socks from her bag and offers them to me.
    ‘I don’t know what I was doing. I haven’t slept for two nights. I think I went a little crazy. I never did anything like this before. I never will again. Please,’ she whispers again, shrinking inside her hoody. ‘Take the socks. Take them back.’
    ‘
Me?
’
    ‘Please.’ She sounds desperate. At last, awkwardly, I take the socks from her.
    ‘Here.’ She’s scrabbling in her bag again and produces a fifty-dollar note. ‘Give this to the employees.’
    ‘You look quite … um … stressed,’ I venture. ‘Are you OK?’
    Lois Kellerton raises her head and meets my eyes, and I’m suddenly reminded of a leopard I once saw in a Spanish zoo. That looked desperate, too.
    ‘Are you going to tell the police?’ she breathes, so quietly I can barely hear her. ‘Are you going to tell anyone?’
    Oh God. Oh
God
. What do I do?
    I put the socks in my bag, playing for time. I should tell the police. Of course I should. What difference does it make if she’s a movie star? She stole the socks and that’s a crime and I should perform a citizen’s arrest right now and march her off for justice.
    But … I can’t. I just
can’t
. She looks so fragile. Like a moth or a paper flower. And after all, she’s giving the socks back, and she’s making a donation, and it sounds like she just had a moment of madness …
    Lois Kellerton’s head is bowed. Her face is hidden inside the grey hood. She looks as though she’s waiting for an execution.
    ‘I won’t tell anyone,’ I say at last. ‘I promise. I’ll give the socks back and I won’t tell anyone.’
    As I release my grip on her, her thin hand squeezes mine. Her dark glasses are already back on her face. She looks like an anonymous skinny girl in a hoody.
    ‘Thank you,’ she whispers. ‘Thank you. What’s your name?’
    ‘Becky,’ I reply eagerly. ‘Becky Bloomwood. I mean, Brandon. I was Bloomwood but I got married, so my name changed …’ Argh, stop gabbling. ‘Um, Becky,’ I finish lamely. ‘My name is Becky.’
    ‘Thank you, Becky.’
    And before I can say anything, she’s turned and gone.

About the Author
    Sophie Kinsella is an international bestselling writer and former financial journalist. She is the author of many number one bestsellers, including the hugely popular Shopaholic series.
    She has also written seven bestselling novels as Madeleine Wickham.
    She lives in London with her husband and family.
    Visit her website at www.sophiekinsella.co.uk

THE SHOPAHOLIC SERIES
Starring the unforgettable Becky Bloomwood
    THE SECRET DREAMWORLD OF A SHOPAHOLIC (also published as Confessions of a Shopaholic)
Meet Becky – a journalist who spends all her time telling people how to manage money, and all her leisure time spending it. But the letters from her bank manager are getting harder to ignore. Can she ever escape this dream world, find true love … and regain the use of her credit card?
    SHOPAHOLIC ABROAD
Becky’s life is peachy. Her balance is in the black – well, nearly – and now her boyfriend has asked her to move to New York with him. Can Becky keep the man and the clothes, when there’s so much temptation around every corner?
    SHOPAHOLIC TIES THE KNOT
Becky finally has the perfect job, the perfect man and, at last, the perfect wedding. Or rather,
weddings
… How has Becky ended up with not one, but two big days?
    SHOPAHOLIC & SISTER
Becky has received some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! But how will she cope when she realises her sister is not a shopper … but a skinflint?
    SHOPAHOLIC & BABY
Becky is pregnant! But being Becky, she decides to shop around – for a new, more expensive obstetrician,