Read Online Under New Management by June Hopkins - Free Book Online Page B

it.
    Andy sets the drink down on the bar a little louder than is strictly necessary and throws Mollie a hard done by look which Kieran notices. He smiles to himself and says to Andy, “Bad luck, mate.”
    Andy just scowls at him. Lou and Mollie snort and Kieran smirks at them all. “Shall we?” he says as he picks up their drinks and turns towards a table in the corner.
    “Let’s,” she says as she prepares to follow.
    “Kieran, mate, there you are. Dude I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Got talking to that Evelyn bird. Jesus she is something else.”
    Kieran sighs loudly, Jack How typical! Well, he could bugger off back and talk to Evelyn. “Jack, sorry I’ve found a new friend. I’ll have to catch up with you later. Mollie this is my annoying cousin, Jack. Jack, this is my new friend, Mollie Brown.” The smile that Kieran is wearing slowly disappears as he takes in the shock on their two faces.
    “How are you, Jack?” Mollie asks.
    “Mollie? God, I don’t believe it! Bloody hell, how are you?” Jack jumps forward and grabs Mollie in a bear hug. She hugs him back, although a little less exuberantly and Kieran’s heart sinks.
    In the vain hope that he will get a good answer, he asks, “So how do you two know each other?”
    “Mate, me and Mollie were uni lovers, weren’t we Molls? How long was it, three years?”
    Kieran’s heart plummets to his designer shoes. He turns and puts the drinks back down on the bar, giving himself a few seconds to control his facial features. Not in a million years, bloody Jack!

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8 
     
    Mollie can’t believe it. Jack Murphy, last seen waving her a cheery goodbye at Heathrow Airport nearly eight years ago. He was off travelling for a year without so much as a tear for her and she was left standing there breaking her heart. He hasn’t changed that much; his hair is still a sun kissed wavy blonde, slightly shorter now, although it still reaches his shoulders. His eyes are sky blue; he still looks like a surfer dude and would look much more comfortable in shorts with a surf board under his arm. He is deeply tanned. Clearly he’s been on holiday recently, as that’s no fake tan. He has grown into his looks and is no longer the pretty boy he once was; he now has a rugged edge to him. Jack has filled out. He is wearing a clearly expensive suit with. a sixties retro edge to it and pointed black leather shoes. It suits him as he manages to pull off a slightly scruffy persona without looking dirty. He just looks as hot as he did all those years ago. No not as hot, actually hotter! Mollie takes in a breath.
    Jack was a hippy at heart. Unfortunately that included the dope and the free love. For three years she had followed him around like a faithful puppy. He’d convinced her of the virtues of both the dope and the free love and she had actually believed he loved her really, above all others. This meant that she had bitten her tongue each time he spread the love, as long as he came back to her. She knew that the only way to keep a free spirit like Jack was to allow him to feel as if he was exactly that, free. Mollie shakes her head sadly at her naivety but he had been oh so charming, like a beautiful golden god. She often wondered how she had ever managed to get her degree given the distraction.
    Now, as she stares at him standing next to Kieran she sees a resemblance even though they are polar opposites. One dark, brooding and broad, the other blonde, sunny and athletic. Christ, what’s a girl to do?
    Lou is squirming next to her as if she’s having kittens. She drags Mollie from her thoughts and hisses urgently at her, “Oh my God! Oh my God! Introduce me, immediately.”
    “Lou, this is Jack, the ex I’ve told you about, the one who broke my heart.” Mollie turns to Jack, “This is Lou, my best friend, Jack. I told you about her often enough but I don’t believe you were paying attention. And she picked up the pieces by the