The Soft Whisper of Dreams by Christina Courtenay Read Free Book Online Page A

seemed to be the case. The prettiest of the three immediately came sauntering over and Alex could have kicked himself. He shouldn’t have shown any interest at all.
    ‘Alex? Alex Marcombe, is that really you? Long time no see!’ The girl leaned forward to kiss the air either side of his face, showing him a huge amount of cleavage in the process and enveloping him in a cloud of strong perfume. She giggled flirtatiously. ‘I’m Jenna, remember? Olivia’s party down on the beach a couple of years back?’
    Alex smiled and nodded, although he only had the haziest of memories of that night. ‘Of course. Jenna. Good to see you. Sorry, I’ve, er … not been around for a while, so I’m having trouble with names.’ A lame excuse, but it was all she’d get.
    ‘That’s okay, I’m the same. There’s, like, so many people around here. Can’t remember them all.’ She kept her gaze fastened on him and put one hand on his arm. ‘So are you around now? We should go out sometime, you know, for old times’ sake. I’m always up for a drink.’
    ‘Well, I …’ Alex was out of practice and didn’t know how to tell her no without offending her. But just at that moment, Maddie came hurtling through the door, flushed as if she’d just run a mile, and despite her obviously dishevelled state, his pulse started racing. She hadn’t even looked at him yet and still his body reacted. Alex cursed silently.
    I’ve got it bad.
    Maddie spotted him and came over to join him. ‘I’m so sorry I’m late, I forgot the time,’ she said, then glanced at Jenna. ‘Hope I’m not interrupting?’ She pulled out a chair and sat down, picking up the menu and studying it intently. Alex wondered what she’d been up to, but refrained from asking.
    ‘Not at all. Jenna was just leaving,’ he said, hoping it was true. Jenna was busy throwing Maddie an icy glare, but his words registered eventually. She turned to give Alex a huge smile and a kiss on the cheek, again bending over much too far.
    ‘I’ll call you, sweetie,’ she said. ‘I know where you live. Marcombe Hall, right?’
    ‘Er, at the moment, yes, but it’s ―’
    Jenna didn’t give him a chance to explain that this was a temporary arrangement. ‘No worries, I’ll find you,’ she promised, and Alex was sure she would. She had a steely look of determination in her eyes and for once he felt like the prey instead of the hunter he’d used to be. He didn’t like it. ‘Byeee,’ she cooed and sauntered off with a sassy wiggle.
    Damn. Alex could see that Maddie was on edge again now, and just when he’d got her to relax a bit in his company earlier. Typical.
    He took a deep breath and tried to sound normal as he asked Maddie, ‘Got all your shopping done?’
    ‘What? Oh, yes, thank you.’ She indicated the carrier bags she had deposited on the floor. ‘I found everything I needed.’
    Alex noticed a rather large bag with ‘Gillian’s Artists’ Materials’ written on the outside and seized on this topic of conversation. ‘Are you an artist?’ he asked, curious to find out more about her. Kayla had told him Maddie worked as a legal secretary, just like she herself used to do.
    ‘Well, not exactly. I just sketch for pleasure now and again. I don’t really get much time for it, but now that I’m here on holiday for a while I thought I would have a go. There are so many pretty views around Marcombe.’
    ‘Yes, absolutely. Will you let me see the finished results?’
    ‘I don’t know about that.’ She looked enchantingly shy all of a sudden. ‘I’m really not that good.’
    ‘Please? I promise not to laugh. I can’t draw to save my life, in fact, I should think Jago is better at it than I am.’ He smiled at her and was pleased to see an answering smile on her face. Good, she was relaxing again. She had a generous, pouting sort of mouth that would be perfect for kissing. Alex almost groaned. I have to stop this or I’ll drive myself mad.
    ‘Okay, fine, but if