Read Online Katy Carter Wants a Hero by Ruth Saberton - Free Book Online Page A

wrapped in a warm, cosy bubble. Everything is going to be perfect, I just know it.
    ‘Now,’ I tell Pinchy, as I heap my jeans and sweater on the floor, ‘make sure you keep really quiet tonight.’
    Pinchy regards me beadily. He’s not particularly vocal, which although it doesn’t make for a very rewarding conversation, leaves me pretty confident that he’ll go unnoticed. Instead he wiggles his antennae and does a leisurely lap of the bath.
    ‘There!’ I smooth down my new trousers and spray some Coco down my cleavage. ‘What do you think? Pretty sexy, huh?’
    But Pinchy’s busy swimming and doesn’t so much as even glance my way. Typical, even lobsters ignore me. Still, I decide as I fluff up my hair and pout at myself in the mirror, I look respectable. The hippy chick has been banished and in her place stands a demure-looking merchant banker’s fiancée. Feeling pleased at this transformation, I pull the shower curtain around the bath and leave Pinchy to carry on his aqua-aerobics.
    Another glass of wine later and I’m feeling a lovely alcohol-induced warmth and confidence. This is a bit of a balancing act, though. I want to stay at the stage where I feel like the most gorgeous creature on the planet, but I know that too much more will turn me into a burbling wreck. Tonight really isn’t the night to get trolleyed.
    ‘This smells wonderful.’ James has crept up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. His lips brush against my ear lobe, sending ripples of goose bumps down my arms. I melt against him and feel almost faint with relief. The cold war between us seems to be over, because he’s been disarmed by the mouth-watering aromas of Ollie’s cooking. ‘You are clever, Chubs.’
    Actually, I
am
clever. I can read
Beowulf
in the original and know all about trochaic feet, but James doesn’t give a toss about that kind of stuff. What matters to him is having a wife who can cook and keep house.
    He should have stuck to the
Beowulf
, because I’m seriously crap at the other things.
    Still, I smile brightly and feel relieved I’m forgiven for upsetting Cordelia. ‘It’s nothing,’ I say. ‘It took me no time at all.’ And I’m not exactly lying, am I?
    ‘I’m sorry that I was so grumpy earlier,’ James says, cupping my breasts in his hands and kissing my neck. I wait to feel a Mexican wave of desire, but it doesn’t come, not even the teeniest tremor. It seems that even if my mind doesn’t want to hold grudges, my body does.
    ‘It’s just I’m so stressed at the moment,’ he continues, dropping feathery kisses on to my bare shoulder. ‘This wedding is costing a fortune, and if I’m going to go places at Millwards and make serious money, then I really need this evening to go well.’
    ‘But,’ I venture, because this seems like a valid point to me, ‘shouldn’t they promote you because you’re good at your job rather than because your fiancée can cook a nice meal?’
    ‘It’s all about image,’ says James, giving up on trying to turn me on and helping himself to wine instead. ‘The partners do an awful lot of networking and their wives have to play a part in that. If Julius is going to promote me, and,’ James has a smug smile on his face, ‘I rather think he will, he’ll need to make sure that he has the entire package. We’ll have to buy a bigger house, obviously, if we’re entertaining, and make sure that you get the hang of what cutlery to use and what wines to serve. Corporate entertaining is a vital part of a wife’s role. And this smells divine. I’m sure you’ll be up to it.’
    You know that bit in
Titanic
when the Kate Winslet character sees her life all mapped out for her and tries to fling herself off the back of the ship? Well, that’s how I feel as I tend to the dinner and paste a rigor mortis smile on to my face. Can I really spend the rest of my life pretending to be somebody I’m not? I can’t imagine that Ollie will be on hand to help me for the