Summer at the Star and Sixpence by Holly Hepburn Read Free Book Online Page B

conference room that day.’
    ‘My ring was at the jeweller’s,’ he said patiently. ‘It wasn’t fitting properly and I kept fiddling with it. Myles said it would look bad in my television
interviews so I sent it to be fixed. I got it back the day after we spent the night together.’ He hesitated. ‘I’m sorry about that day too. I just wanted you so much, it was
driving me crazy.’
    He had an answer for everything, Sam thought, not believing a single word. It was a good thing he was moving in political circles now; he had the right personality for it. ‘You know what?
None of it matters,’ she said wearily. ‘I don’t have to believe you – I’m not the one who has to spin a way out of this for you.’
    ‘But you do need to limit the damage, just the same as I do. Myles says if we handle things the right way, we might still manage to find a way out of this.’
    He
might find a way out, Sam realised, not
we
, which was why he was so keen to take control and break the story before his wife could. The trouble was that in order to paint Will
as a good man who’d made a mistake he bitterly regretted, Sam would have to be cast as a predatory bitch who’d knowingly had an affair with a married man. The media would want blood to
spice up the story and if it wasn’t Will’s, it had to be hers. But she wasn’t about to throw herself on her sword: she might not have a high-flying career to protect any more but
she still had plenty to lose.
    ‘I’m not meeting you,’ she insisted. ‘It will look bad if it gets out, like we’re cooking up a story to cover our tracks. And I really don’t want to be in the
same room as you, not after what happened last time. Tell Myles I’ll speak to him instead.’
    ‘He won’t talk to you. He says he can’t represent both of us – conflict of interest.’
    Sam felt her temper flare. ‘I’m not asking him to represent me. But if he wants me on board with this then he’ll have to communicate somehow.’
    ‘Okay, I’ll pass that along. We’ll get through this, don’t worry.’
    The implication that the whole sorry situation was something they shared equal responsibility for was almost more than Sam could take. She gritted her teeth. ‘Goodbye, Will.’
    ‘Bye, Sam,’ he said, and his voice was suddenly filled with warmth. ‘It’s great to hear your voice.’
    Sam hung up. With her hands folded in her lap, she sat perfectly still and waited for her anger to die down. As it began to fade, the practical PR side of her brain began to kick in. She needed
to know how vindictive Will’s wife was likely to be, who she blamed for the whole mess and whether she was the type to go straight to the press. Sam rummaged in her bag for her little black
address book. It was time to call in a few favours.
    ‘Earth to Sam, come in, Sam.’
    Joss waved a hand in front of her face as they stood behind the bar on Friday morning, his face amused.
    Sam started. ‘What?’ she snapped.
    His smile drained away. ‘You were miles away. I thought you might like to know that the marquee’s going up. Look.’
    He pointed past the few customers to the open door, through which Sam could see a gigantic white tent had begun to take shape in the distance.
    ‘Oh,’ she said, rousing herself. ‘Good.’
    Joss frowned. ‘What’s going on? You’ve been snapping like a crocodile with toothache all week and your phone hasn’t stopped ringing.’ He held up a hand. ‘And
don’t tell me it’s work stuff again because I’m not an idiot. Something is wrong, Sam, and I want to know what it is.’
    She should tell him, Sam knew, before he found out through lurid headlines and wildly exaggerated claims. It had happened before they’d met, so technically it didn’t concern him, but
he’d still be caught in the crossfire and so would Nessie. Sam was hoping it wouldn’t come to that; her sources suggested Marina Pargeter wasn’t the kind to air her dirty laundry
in public. The