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  Dan walked past her but, instead of carrying on through the door to the spare room, he paused and looked down at her.

  ‘Damn, you’re gorgeous,’ he said and leaned down to brush her now trembling lips softly with his. Jess took a deep breath and felt as if she was floating. He knelt down by the side of the bed and pushed a strand of her hair off her face. She could smell him, a sweet smell that just made her want to taste him.

  ‘Lie next to me,’ Jess whispered.

  Dan climbed into bed fully clothed. As he pulled back the covers he could see Jess’s now erect nipples through her flimsy camisole. Jess herself could feel the sense of danger, the untamed pleasure that she would get from this man with whom she felt such chemistry.

  ‘Hold me, just hold me,’ she said. The warmth of his soft mouth on hers made her feel like she was sinking to the bottom of the soft mattress.

  ‘Jesus, Jess,’ Dan murmured. ‘You’re beautiful.’

  They searched each other’s mouths with a loving intensity. Dan’s fingers gently began to stroke her body. Jess gasped with pleasure.

  ‘We can’t,’ she panted.

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I want to.’

  ‘So do I.’

  He kissed her passionately again and nothing else in the world seemed to matter.

  What seemed like hours later, drenched in sweat, Jess suddenly laughed out loud in after-sex hysteria.

  ‘I thought I told you to go to the spare room,’ she said.

  Dan lay next to her, looked into her eyes and smiled.

  ‘My, my, Mrs Robinson. I shall have to get drunk with you more often.’

  Chapter Four

  Alex woke up with a start.

  ‘Mummy! Mummy, I want some milk.’

  It was 6 a.m. Alex groaned. Why couldn’t her daughter just sleep in for a little bit longer?

  ‘Go back to sleep,’ she shouted.

  ‘Mummy, but I want milk!’

  Alex stumbled out of bed. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and knew that, although her cropped dark hair and elfin features normally made her look younger than her thirty-three years, she felt old and tired this morning. Her mouth was claggy and her eyes, small and squinty. She knew she shouldn’t have smoked all those cigarettes last night, but when her mate Sal came over they always managed to drink at least two bottles of wine and get through at least a pack of Marlboro Lights. Her arm was smarting from the recent tattoo she had had, an early Christmas present from Dan.

  She lifted the little one from her cot and gave her a kiss. Scruffy white-blonde hair was stuck to a pretty little, bright pink face.

  ‘Morning, little miss.’ She carried her through into her untidy bedroom and laid her on the bed.

  ‘Milk, please, Mummy, milk now.’

  Alex threw on her kaftan, grabbed her mobile, put CBeebies on the TV and went downstairs to warm some milk. No text from Dan. She dialled his number but it went straight through to answerphone.

  ‘Morning,’ Alex said in to the handset sleepily. ‘Guessing you had a good night? Two very important ladies want to talk to you so give us a call when you get this.’

  By 8.30 a.m. Alex was beginning to get a little worried as she had still not heard from Dan. She called Carrie’s home number

  ‘Hiya, it’s only me, just checking that my delinquent boyfriend is not demanding you make him a full English breakfast?’

  ‘Hey, Alex. He didn’t stay here in the end. I thought he’d be home with you?’

  ‘Oh, well he’s not.’

  ‘No need to worry though, Al. He met up with an old client of the company and carried on drinking with her.’

  ‘Her?’

  ‘Yeah, Jessy Morley. I’ve known her years. She’s a really nice lady. He probably ended up crashing at hers, as his car was still at the barn when I left.’

  Alex had always trusted Dan implicitly; he was the most honest person she had ever been with. They had met when he was twenty and she was twenty-nine. The nine year age gap had never seemed a problem, and not long into their relationship she had fallen pregnant. Instead of him running away at the prospect of parenthood at such a young age, he was really excited. They’d been happy until recently.

  Alex desperately wanted another baby and had been feeling insecure when Dan said he wasn’t ready just yet. Instead of discussing and getting through this hurdle, Alex had found herself reading books every night while Dan played his computer games.

  She felt a pang of jealousy that he was maybe staying at another woman’s house. She took the warmed milk upstairs and got back into bed.

  ‘Where’s Daddy?’ Evie asked.

  ‘At work, darling. We’ll see him later.’

  Alex lay back on the bed and began to question her relationship with Dan. Were they really happy? Had they been playing at parenthood because neither of them was brave enough to let the other go? She realised that they hadn’t made love for over a month now. Suddenly, warning bells went off in her head.

  ‘Mummy, why are you crying?’

  Chapter Five

  Jess woke up before her alarm. Dan was still holding her close. She turned over gently, looked at her beautiful sleeping partner and smiled. She had never felt like she did last night. Yes, of course throughout her life she’d had amazing sex on numerous occasions, but last night was different. Even if they had just kissed and he had not touched her, she knew it would have been the most erotic and sensual sexual experience she had ever had with a man. What she had with Dan Harris was chemistry with a capital C.

  ‘Hey, Mrs Robinson, how you doing?’ Dan said sleepily.

  ‘It’s all good, Mr Harris, but I have to get up now. I can drop you to work at seven if you want me to.’

  Dan grabbed hold of her and gave her a long and loving kiss.

  ‘No time to start me off again young man, sorry,’ she smiled. ‘I really enjoyed last night by the way.’ She jumped out of bed and went to get showered.

  Dan pulled the covers up over him as he realised the enormity of what had happened last night. Never before had he cheated on Alex. In fact, never before had he cheated on anyone. He could blame the drink, but no. He realised that he hadn’t even thought about home for one minute; he had been so overtaken with emotion for this marvellous woman. It was at this precise moment he realised that his relationship with Alex was over, in fact, it had been over for months.

  ‘Don’t get up,’ Jess said softly. ‘There’s an iron there to sort out your crumpled clothes, help yourself to a shower and there’s a taxi number on the coffee table downstairs. You don’t want to be two hours early with a hangover like yours.’

  Dan sat up again. ‘Wow! You look amazing.’

  Jess had put on a fitted black trouser suit and shocking blue shirt, her hair was straightened and make-up perfect. She felt content, walking on air, almost as if she had honey running through her veins.

  ‘Bye then,’ she said brightly but for some strange reason wanted to cry. ‘I’m far too big to be a bit on the side, you know. Thanks for a lovely evening – and I really mean that.’

  He waved as she disappeared down the stairs. Then, ‘Shit, shit,’ he said out loud as the front door banged shut and hurriedly looked for his phone.

  Chapter Six

  ‘Oh, Sal, it feels so wrong. I’ve never ever distrusted Dan in my life.’ Alex announced to her best friend, whilst dragging hard on a recently lit cigarette.

  ‘Mummy, want Ballamory. Want Ballamory!’

  ‘Shit, I forgot about Evie upstairs. Hang on, darling, I’ll come up and put it on for you.’

  Back in the kitchen, Alex planted a kiss on her mate’s cheek. ‘Thanks for coming over, by the way, Sal.’

  ‘Always here for you, you know that. I’ve called in to work and said I had car problems.’ She brushed Alex’s cheek lightly with her fingers. ‘However, I really don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about. You know Dan, he’s so honest. He’ll call you in a minute, I bet you.’

&
nbsp; ‘No, Sal, I know him too well. There’s something wrong.’

  Beep, beep – the reassuring sound of an awaited text message ran out across the kitchen.

  ‘See,’ Sal said smugly. Alex grabbed her mobile from the table. Just seeing Dan’s name on the screen made her smile, but this was short-lived.

  ‘Mrs Robinson, thanks for last night x’

  Alex repeated the message out loud and went white. Sal put the kettle on, lit another cigarette and handed it to her friend.

  ‘I knew it, just knew it, I had the most dreadful feeling in my stomach when I spoke to Carrie this morning. Shit, Sal, he’s fucking cheated on me with. And he wasn’t even clever enough to send the text to the right bloody person.

  ‘Maybe it was meant for you, Al. After all, he is your toy boy.’

  Alex put her hand to her head. ‘Sal, of course it wasn’t meant for me, I’m not stupid.’

  Sal placed a reassuring arm around her friend’s shoulder, as Alex continued her betrayal-induced rant. ‘Well, that’s it, Sal, no more bloody lies. It’s about time I told Daniel Harris the truth about his precious little girl.’

  ‘No, Alex! No way! Think clearly here. If you tell him, it will be Evie who suffers the most, not Dan. You know how much she loves him. Sometimes, there are things that just have to remain a secret, and I think this should be one of them.’

  ‘OK, OK, but I just want to hurt him like he’s hurt me.’ Alex was visibly shaking. She picked up the phone.

  ‘Don’t tell him, Al,’ Sal pleaded. ‘You don’t even know he’s done anything wrong yet. He might have just been thanking her for a drink, a lift even. Find out first before you go mad at him.’

  Alex didn’t need to think. She felt a white-hot anger.

  ‘Good morning and how are my beautiful girls today?’ Dan tried to sound as calm as possible but inside he felt like he was dying. ‘Sorry I haven’t called you yet,’ he went on, his voice trembling. He wasn’t used to lying. ‘My mobile is out of juice and I’m really busy this morning.’

  ‘Busy? Lucky you. So how was last night?’ Alex seethed.

  ‘Good, good. Ended up staying with Matt as had late drinks with a client in Warfield. Anyway, gotta go, loads to do, call you later, be home around six. Kisses for Evie.’

  Alex’s voice suddenly turned into a deep, slow growl. ‘Who the flying fuck is Mrs Robinson?’

  Chapter Seven

  Jess arrived at The Brewery, just in time for her meeting with the Operations Manager. She was glad that she was at a familiar venue. She was also relieved that she hadn’t had to set up last night, as she would have missed out on her fateful meeting with the luscious Daniel Harris.

  Despite having been arranging events for the past fifteen years, she still loved her job. The sense of satisfaction from arranging staging, lighting, show content, music, and then seeing it all come together, gave her a complete buzz.

  She smiled all day long and didn’t feel one ounce of tiredness. She questioned herself on how she could be so affected after such a brief interlude. The boy was practically married and had a child, he was in fact young enough to be her child! Despite this, however much she tried, she couldn’t get him out of her head.

  She got in after eight, poured herself a large glass of wine and put her feet up on the coffee table. She noticed a Lemon Events business card. Keeping up The Graduate theme, on the back, he’d written Benjamin Braddock wants you to mail him on his personal mail! Add me to messenger too! X

  Jess smiled broadly and turned on her laptop. She would send a mail that he would get in the morning. She would keep it short and sweet.

  To: [email protected]

  From: [email protected]

  Dear Benjamin

  It was good to see nearly all of you last night!

  You can reach me on this mail.

  Mrs Robinson xx

  Dan called Jess immediately. ‘Oh, Jess, you’ll never guess what has happened. I stupidly sent Alex a text that was meant for you. I’m so used to texting her.’

  ‘Oh, Dan.’ Jess wasn’t sure what to say. She could feel Dan’s anguish down the phone.

  Dan had thought of nothing but Jess since the moment he left her. He loved her vitality, her smile, her warmth, her body! She was fun, she was happening. Her age wasn’t an issue at all. But he wasn’t a philanderer. He loved Alex, but if he was honest with himself he wasn’t in love with her any more.

  He continued, ‘Jess, please listen to me. I really did have a great time last night. I was actually phoning to tell you that and also to explain that I need to sort stuff out with Alex. We’ve got Evie to think about. I have to try and make a go of it, for her sake. I’ve hurt her so badly. I’m still at work, because I just can’t face her.’ He paused. ‘I’m really scared, Jess.’

  ‘It’s OK, Dan,’ Jess replied softly, shocked by the tears that she was holding back.

  ‘It will be fine. Alex doesn’t have to know everything.’

  ‘Thanks, Jess, I really must go. Be cool.’

  ‘Bye, Dan, I will – and good luck tonight.’

  Tears began to slowly fall down Jess’s cheeks. She had never believed in love at first sight before but, on that crisp December night, what she felt for Dan was the way she imagined true love must feel. Dan was a decent bloke; he would sort it out with Alex. She would be a fool to leave him, and it would break his heart to have to abandon his little girl.

  She poured herself a glass of wine, opened up her laptop and began to type a proposal for a new event.

  Chapter Eight

  ‘Em, I can’t believe I feel like this after just one night with someone.’

  ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ blared out from the local wine bar.

  ‘My head is telling me he’s completely wrong for me but I just cannot stop thinking about him.’

  Emma and Jess had been friends for thirty-four years; they had met at primary school and had been close ever since. Emma, with her curly, dark brown hair and green eyes, was tall and willowy. She had kept her figure and looks despite giving birth to three beautiful children. It had always amazed them both that Emma had succumbed to being the earth mother and Jess was now the single career woman. Throughout the years it had been Jess who dreamt of the rose-covered cottage in the country, adoring husband, and brood of kids, whereas glamorous Emma had wanted to be dresser to the stars and marry one of them. She had been married to Mark for the past fifteen years and despite the fact that they bickered like children most of the time, their relationship was solid. Emma was a great artist and painted large mural-type paintings in her garage to supplement their income and ‘keep her sane’ amongst the madness of family life. Despite being extremely close to her siblings, Jess actually confided in Emma, more than in anyone else in her whole life. Nothing seemed to shock her.

  Em took a slurp of her sauvignon. ‘Come on, Jess, you know what you’re like. You always wear your heart on your sleeve. I think you’ve actually got to see sense on this one.’

  “Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” The chorus boomed out, drowning the Christmas revellers.

  ‘He wouldn’t even have been born when this song came out first time,’ Emma realised.

  They both laughed.

  ‘And I was having my first sexual experience as he was in the maternity ward,’ Jess added.

  ‘You probably were even driving past the hospital in your blue Mini with the ladybirds on the side. This is some age difference, Jess, even for you.’

  Jess had always liked younger men. Even Philip, with whom she had been with for two years, was five years younger. Yes, she was young at heart but deep down she knew the reason she picked these younger men was that she was actually quite frightened of commitment herself. Any man who had crossed her path and had offered her the world had frightened her off. She became bored of their intentions. On the other hand, if any man posed as a challenge, she would jump in with both feet, give them the world and then frighten them off. Heartbreak would en
sue and the whole pattern would start again.

  Emma thought it had stemmed back to the death of her mother. She thought if Jess got close and loved anyone completely, they would leave her and she would feel the same terrible loss she felt then.

  ‘But Emma, I think this is different. Age has no barriers in the game of love and all that.’

  ‘You’ll get hurt and I’ll be buying shares in Kleenex again,’ Emma replied knowingly.

  Jess looked at her friend with her big honest eyes. ‘I do get what you’re saying, Em, but I’m desperate to see him again.’

  Emma softened. ‘OK, so you know what you have to do on this one, don’t you?’

  Jess looked at her quizzically. She always relied on Emma’s sensible advice, as her own track record with men had been appalling to date.

  ‘You have to leave him alone, well alone, not even a text, or a sneaky email. He’s young, he won’t like being hounded. He’s told you that he needs some time to try and sort things out with Alex and that is what you have to let him do.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ Jess replied like an insolent child.

  ‘It’s the only way, Jess. Hunter-gatherer instinct and all that. Men love to be the chaser. If he feels the same for you he’ll come back to you.’

  ‘Wasn’t it Sting who sang ‘If you Love Somebody Set Them Free’?’ Jess piped up.

  ‘He’s probably never heard that either.’

  They both laughed out loud.

  Chapter Nine

  The lead up to Christmas was a mad time for Jess; she had an event on nearly every night, dinner-parties for rich City businessmen, and her biggest money-maker, the annual Christmas party for AG Technology at the Grosvenor House Hotel. This involved entertaining 1000 employees with a comedian, live band, and four-course dinner. She loved the buzz of an event of this size; the stress of it almost ran her ragged but the rewards allowed her to take the majority of January off.

  A day hadn’t gone by when she hadn’t thought about Dan but she had managed to take Emma’s advice on board. Even though she’d sometimes had to almost sit on her hands, she hadn’t contacted him in any shape or form. She carried on her routine of going to the gym, seeing friends and planning events for next year.