Jill Mansell - Falling for you

I don’t think you’re even trying.’

‘OK. Sorry.’ Quick, think, what was the most off-putting thing a besotted girl could say? ‘I love you, I want to marry you, can we get engaged?’ whined Maddy. ‘Then we can live happily ever after and have lots of babies. In fact, I think I may already be pregnant ...’

‘Sorry, nice try, it just doesn’t seem to be doing the trick. Maybe I should show you over the house.’ Taking her by the hand, Kerr led the way across the shadowy hall and up the winding staircase. ‘I’d especially like you to see my old bedroom.’

Guessing from the look in his eyes that his intentions were — thank goodness — completely dishonourable, Maddy said innocently, ‘Got any etchings up there?’

‘No,’ Kerr gave her waist a squeeze, exploring the sensitive gap between her top and her jeans, ‘but I’ve got a double bed.’

Oh God in Heaven, how could she ever, in a million years, get bored of an experience as indescribably stupendous as that?

‘I can’t believe I’m here. In your mother’s house,’ whispered Maddy when she was finally able to speak normally again. Breathe normally, too, rather than pant like a dog.

‘It’s where I grew up. It was my house too,’ Kerr reminded her.

‘I know. It feels a bit funny, though. You’d feel a bit funny if we’d just done this in my family home.’

‘I’d be bloody terrified. Imagine being caught by Marcella.’

Heavenly though it would have been, they couldn’t spend the entire afternoon in bed. After a quick shower, Maddy headed downstairs where Kerr was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee.

‘OK? I’d have opened a bottle of wine but you said you’d told Marcella you were going shopping.’ He kissed Maddy on the mouth. ‘If you’re hungry I’ve got some stuff in the fridge.’

‘I’m not hungry.’ That was the great thing about new-man syndrome, it shrank your appetite to thimble-sized proportions. ‘Marcella knows I’m seeing someone, by the way. She was dying to meet you, so I had to tell her you were married.’

‘I wouldn’t have thought you were the type. A married man?’ Kerr raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s terrible.’

‘Your wife doesn’t understand you.’ Maddy’s tone was reassuring. ‘It’s a hopeless situation, you’ve both been miserable for years and you’re on the verge of splitting up. Plus, of course, she’s a complete bitch.’

‘Oh well, goes without saying. That’s all right then.’

‘Marcella doesn’t think so. She isn’t thrilled. We nearly had a big fight about it.’

‘But not so big a fight as if you’d told her who you were really seeing,’ said Kerr. ‘Do I have a name, by the way?’

‘No. Easier not to give you one. You’re just ... married.’

‘Any kids?’

‘No way. I’m not that much of a cow. Although,’ Maddy was struck by a thought, ‘maybe you could have had just one, then found out it wasn’t yours after all ... Oh well, never mind, too late now.

Anyway, let’s not talk about Marcella. When are you going to put this place on the market?’

‘Well, that’s one of the reasons I asked you to come over and see it. One of the reasons,’ Kerr said with a smile. ‘You see, I had a word with my bank manager yesterday. Business is good at the agency and I may not need to sell the house after all. I can take out a second mortgage, which would cover the nursing home fees. That way, my mother’s taken care of and I could move out of that flat. Live here instead.’

Here. Crikey. Good grief.

‘Well?’ prompted Kerr. ‘What d’you think?’

Maddy shook her head; she didn’t know what to think. It all depended on how their relationship panned out, didn’t it? Because secretly seeing each other and hoping to God that the novelty would wear off and that sooner or later they’d call it a day was all very well, but the chances of it happening by mutual agreement were, frankly, slim. It was far more likely that one of them would get bored first and finish with the other, and although it didn’t seem terribly likely at present, Maddy was rather hoping to be the finisher rather than the finishee. If she could just man age to persuade herself to go off Kerr McKinnon, how much easier it would be, knowing that he was living here, just a couple of miles from Ashcombe. If, on the other hand, he broke her heart and left her bereft, it wouldn’t be easy at all.

Maddy gave herself a mental slap. This was ridiculous; whether Kerr lived two miles away here or five miles away in Bath, what difference did it make? She had to get a grip, act like a mature and sensible adult. Whatever happened between them, Kerr was entitled to live wherever he liked. And this was a beautiful house.

Now, why was he looking at her like that? Oh yes, waiting for her to say something.

Brightly, Maddy said, ‘Great.’

‘Come on, finish your coffee. I’ll show you around.’

‘You said that before, and we didn’t get too far.’

‘I know, sorry about that. My motives were pure, I promise you.’ Kerr’s eyes glittered with wickedness. ‘I was pretending to be a sex-crazed seducer, to put you off me. I just hope it worked.’

Maddy thought about it. ‘Good tactics. But this time I’m actually going to see the rest of the house?’

‘Not making any promises,’ Kerr murmured into her still-damp hair. ‘I may have to seduce you in a few more rooms en route. But we’ll give it a go.’

‘Marcella told me. She’s not thrilled.’

‘Didn’t expect her to be,’ Maddy retaliated with a careless shrug. Fresh from the bath, she was in the kitchen making herself cheese on toast. She had no intention of being intimidated and lectured to by, of all people, Jake.

Watching her, Jake said evenly, ‘So, who is he?’ Had he suspected, earlier, that it could be Kerr?

‘No one you know, no one you’ve heard of, and I’m not telling you his name because there’s no point. Now, do you want some cheese on toast or not?’

Jake leaned against the door, his hands folded.

‘Marcella wants you to finish with him.’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, of course she wants me to finish with him!’ Shaking her head in defiance, Maddy prodded the bubbling slices of cheese on toast under the grill with her knife. ‘But it’s not as easy as that. Which is why you’ve been dragged in to put the pressure on, presumably.’ She raised her eyebrows at Jake. ‘Although why I should take a blind bit of notice of anything you say, I’ve no idea. You sleep with married women, why can’t I do it too?’

‘There’s a difference,’ said Jake. ‘OK, I may have slept with a few married women in my time, but it was never serious. Just a bit of fun, to cheer them up and tide them over while their husbands weren’t doing their share. I don’t get emotionally involved and I certainly don’t put their marriages at risk.’

‘What a hero,’ Maddy said crossly. ‘Your trouble is, you never get emotionally involved with anyone, married or not. But Sophie’s seven now, doesn’t it ever occur to you that maybe you should give it a go? I mean, you can’t spend the rest of your life just shagging your way round Bath for the hell of it. Don’t you think it’s about time you found yourself someone nice and settled down? You never know, if you carried on seeing a girl for longer than three days, you might find out you actually liked her.’

‘Here comes Sophie,’ said Jake as the back door banged and Sophie and Bean raced in. ‘Tell you what, you don’t lecture me and I won’t lecture you.’ Strolling over and turning off the smoking grill he added, ‘Even though I know exactly what I’m doing and you haven’t a clue. These are wrecked, by the way. I’ll have the one on the left.’