Read Online The Reluctant Celebrity by Laurie Ellingham - Free Book Online Page B

recalled the answer to her question: ‘I really fancy you.’
The memory caused a shudder to take hold of her body. It was all her. She had
been the one to instigate whatever had led to her being half-naked in Rich’s bed.
What an idiot.
    This
was all Guy’s fault, Jules fumed. If he hadn’t turned up yesterday, she
wouldn’t have felt the need to drink herself stupid, have a total personality
malfunction, and woken up in Rich’s bed. She had just managed to ruin any
chance of getting to know Rich properly, if that was something she even wanted,
she wondered.
    A
few minutes later, moving very slowly, Jules rescued her jeans and jumper from
the bedroom floor. Her jacket, shoes and socks appeared to have been flung off
at a different point during her mortifying drunkenness, along with her hair
band. The waves of her long hair fell over her shoulders, messy and out of
control, just like her life, she thought.  
    Jules
closed her eyes as she padded bare feet into a bright yellow hallway, each step
sending another throb of pain into her brain.
    Suddenly
the bold colours she’d chosen for her new house seemed like a bad idea.
    Rich’s
flat above the pub had the same stripped beams and high ceilings as the pub
below. He had kept the old features, but clashed them with modern touches. She
had a feeling the bright colours would have made her head pound even without
the hangover.
    Another
agonising rush of nausea hit her as she entered the green and chrome kitchen.
    ‘Hi,’
she said in a low voice.
    Rich
kept his back to her, making no sign that he’d heard her meek greeting.
    Jules
took a breath. ‘Rich I’m sorry. I know you were just looking out for me…’ she
trailed off, waiting for him to respond in some way.
    ‘It’s
fine.’ He turned towards her. ‘Grab a stool; I’ll put some toast on. Orange
juice?’
    Jules’
stomach gave an agonising churn. How many cocktails had she drunk last night?
    ‘Err
no thanks, but I’d murder for some pain killers if you’ve got any please?’
    A
smile touched his lips. ‘Last cupboard by the sink, help yourself.’
    ‘Thanks,
and I am sorry about what I said. I’m seriously embarrassed, it’s not like me
to be so…’ Jules searched for the correct word – drunk, pathetic, needy – ‘Forward.’
    ‘That’s
not what you said last night.’
    ‘What?’
Jules exclaimed before she saw the creases of Rich’s smiling eyes. ‘Oh ha ha,
very funny.’
    Rich’s
light teasing continued as they shared toast and coffee. In that moment, and
even through the haze of her hangover, Jules felt something pass between them. She
just had no idea what it was, and more importantly, what she wanted to do about
it.
    ‘Right.
Well I’d better take Max out in a minute. Do you want to come? The fresh air
might do you good.’
    ‘Thanks,
but I’d better get up to the house and see what’s going on with the ceiling and
getting some new glass for the window in the kitchen.’
    ‘So
last night didn’t put you off then?’
    ‘What
about last night?’
    ‘What
they said about your house?’ he prompted.
    Jules
pushed her mind back through the bottomless pit of broken memories last night
had created. It was blank, totally blank.
    ‘Oh
yes that,’ Jules chose her words carefully, she couldn’t let Rich see she’d
forgotten everything. ‘No not at all.’ 
    Rich
raised his eyebrows.
    ‘I’d
better head off now too. I guess I should check the papers on my way,’ she
added, the thought of another story filling her with dread. Surely no one would
bother telling the paper about her, it’s not like she had any enemies. 
    ‘Yeah
of course.’ Rich opened his mouth to say more, but closed it again.
    ‘Does
everyone know?’ she asked.
    ‘About
you staying here?’
    ‘About
the stories in the paper, why did I throw myself at you downstairs too?’ She
didn’t think last night could have been any worse, but she had been wrong.
    ‘Well
they definitely know about the newspaper.