Summer of Love by Sophie Pembroke Read Free Book Online Page A

before they started dissecting her history.
    ‘Alex is Cora’s cousin,’ she said, leaning her hip against Max’s desk. ‘He’s a photographer, and he’s looking at renting our empty unit.’
    ‘A photographer? I thought he was an accountant.’
    ‘That too,’ Alex said, shrugging. ‘The photography’s a newer direction for me.’
    ‘You got a portfolio? Don’t know what Lily’s told you, but we’re a proper collective here. We vote on newcomers. They’ll want to see your stuff.’
    ‘Of course. I’m still building up my portfolio at the moment. Lily suggested that maybe a few of your artists would let me take some shots of their stock. For free, of course.’
    That hadn’t been her suggestion; it had been his. But Alex had obviously noticed Max’s fondness for her, and was playing up to it. Clever man.
    ‘Maybe.’ Max glanced up at her and she knew he wasn’t fooled at all. Motioning towards the chair on the other side of the desk, he said, ‘Have a seat, Alex.’
    Max’s office was tiny; it barely had room for the desk and two chairs already there, so Lily perched on the windowsill to watch the exchange.
    ‘So, you want to be a photographer?’
    Alex nodded. ‘That’s the plan.’
    ‘I heard you were making good money in the City. Great money, even.’
    ‘Good enough, yes.’ Alex’s shoulders were looking stiffer, now, Lily realized, biting her lip.
    ‘So what happened?’ Max asked, eyebrows raised.
    ‘I decided it was time for a change in direction.’ The words came out clipped. Alex never had liked explaining himself to people. It was one of the things that had got him into so much trouble as a kid. But if he wanted to be part of the collective… Well, she was afraid he’d have to learn. There was nothing the collective liked to do more than
talk
about stuff.
    ‘Kind of a drastic change.’ Max leant back in his chair, eyes still fixed on Alex. ‘In my experience, that sort of change is usually preceded by some sort of disaster making it necessary.’
    ‘Not in my case. My father died. Makes a man re-evaluate things.’ Alex’s hands were clenched against his thighs as he spoke, and Lily realized she really needed to intervene if she didn’t want him to lose it with Max and blow his chance of a place at the Mill.
    ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Max said, but he didn’t look abashed. In fact, he looked like he thought he’d been proven right.
    Was he? Was Alex just taking action to distract himself from his father’s death? Or even because he thought it was what his dad would have wanted? Would he give up and move back to London in a few months, once the grief started to fade?
    Cora was worried he would, Lily knew. But then, Cora hadn’t heard him talking about his dream on becoming a photographer. Lily had.
    ‘Alex has been taking photography courses for the last couple of years,’ she said, pushing herself off the windowsill and closer to the desk. Maybe if she flung herself across the desk between them…
    ‘Is that so?’ Max said, eyeing Alex again. ‘So, you’ve been planning this move for a while?’
Since before your dad died
went unspoken, but Lily knew she’d got her point across.
    Alex nodded, and Lily let out a breath as his shoulders began to relax. ‘I knew I wanted to make a change, but it wasn’t until I found photography that I knew what I wanted that change to be.’
    ‘So you’re here looking for a whole new life?’
    Alex’s smile was self-deprecating. Lily didn’t believe it. ‘I’m thirty now. I’m ready to move out of the City, ready to settle down.’
    Max’s eyes flicked to Lily for one alarming moment. She tried to take a step back before realizing she was already up against the window frame. There was nowhere else to go.
    ‘Sounds like you’re looking for a wife, son,’ Max said.
    ‘Maybe.’ Alex grinned. ‘But I’ve got a new career to build up first.’
    ‘Well, we’ll have to see what we can do about that.’ Max turned