Read Online Virtually Perfect by Sadie Mills - Free Book Online Page A

the sea.  It was dead calm; flat, like a mirror.  Eve heard the occasional wave break amidst the dull, thudding bass of the bars.  The weather was turning.  She breathed in the sea air.  The wind had lost its bite.  In fact, now they had stopped running, there didn't seem to be any wind at all. 
    They strolled towards the entrance arches.  Eve looked up at the aquarium clock.
    'I thought it was later than that.'
    Ben's leather-soled shoes clacked on the wooden boards as they followed the rail of the pier.  A quick stroll, and they'd be heading back.  The pier would be closing in twenty minutes. 
    'Do you want to get your palm read?' asked Ben, as they strolled past the little pagoda.  It didn't even look like there was anyone in.
    'No,' said Eve.  'I had it done once before.  I can't imagine very much has changed.'
    'What did she tell you?' 
    'He.  It was in Sri Lanka.  He was very good, actually.  He told me I'd have a long life, no major illnesses... and that I worry too much.  I think my hands shaking probably gave that away more than my lifeline or mount of Venus...  I was terrified he was going to tell me something awful, you know?  That must be ten years ago now, and I have to say it's proven to be remarkably accurate...'
    She smiled ruefully.
    'I mean, he neglected to tell me quite a bit - practically everything really - but that was probably for the best.'
    '...No tall, dark  stranger?'
    'Oh yes,' Eve chided.  'There were a couple of those.'
    The night club on the pier was closing.  A pair of scantily clad, bottle blondes fell out of the door, squinting at Eve and her unique ensemble.
    'I bet they're not wearing any knickers either,' Ben whispered in Eve's ear.  She pursed her lips, lowering her head as they walked by. 
    'Good Evening,' smiled an old man out walking his Yorkshire Terrier.
    'Lovely night,' offered Ben.  Eve gave an embarrassed smile and a nod.
    They passed the amusements, arriving at the end of the pier.  The lights were going out on the amenities, one by one.  Another five minutes, and they would be turfed off. 
    Ben stood in the corner, leaning against the rail, looking back down the pier.  He cast a glance down over the edge.  The tide was in.  There was barely a ripple.
    Eve thrust her hands into her fleece-lined pockets, lowering her chin.  She looked out to sea, watching the twinkling amber lights of a freighter on the horizon, fighting back a yawn.  She was starting to ache from unpacking all those boxes earlier.  She remembered Curtis's little speech.  Maybe she had gone overboard.  She shouldn't have sworn.  Eve started to feel a bit anxious.
    'So anyway.  You were saying?  ...How do you know I won't fuck you over?'
    Eve turned.  Her eyes bulged in confusion. 
    He stood there unbuttoning his shirt.  She watched him tug it from his trousers.  Two more buttons and he pulled it apart, slipping it from his broad shoulders.  He rolled it up in a ball and threw it down at his feet.  His jacket was already there.  Eve realised his feet were bare, saw the shiny toe of a shoe peeking out from under the mound of clothes.
    Eve traced the ladder of hair down his toned abdomen, watched him pull the flap of his belt from the loop; heard the chink of the buckle.  God, he was lovely.
    'We're going to get arrested,' she murmured. 
    He looked up and smiled coyly.  She heard the zipper go.  His trousers slumped to his ankles. 
    He was wearing tight black briefs.  
    'The truth is, we don't know, Eve,' she heard him say.  'We can never know for sure.'  He stepped out of the jumble of clothes.  'People screw each other over every day.'  Ben's hands reached out behind him, holding onto the rail. 'After a week, a month, a year... ten, twenty.'  He climbed up onto the first bar.  'You never can tell,' he said.  'You can never been 100% sure.'
    He swung his right leg over, lowering himself down, placing his foot on the ledge, the left one following.
    'Don't