Molly Matthews Meddles in Marriage Read Online Free Page B

groove in the table. “But between the casual affairs, there must have been something more serious, some long-term relationships?”
    He shifted in his chair, his gaze wandering around the restaurant. He topped off her glass, but she noticed he was only sipping from his own. Was he trying to get her drunk?
    “Not really. There was something when I was a kid. A teenage thing that fizzled out. That would have been my longest relationship, but since then…” He raised his eyebrows, his gaze challenging her to probe further.
    Molly did a mental checklist of all the women she’d known him to have gone out with. Quickly she was into double figures and way, way beyond. The kiss-and-tells would make a tasty volume on their own.
    “I know what you’re thinking,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Yes, I’ve been linked to a lot of women, but honestly none of them got far beyond the starting post. That’s why the press have such a field day. Another woman, another story. That’s all it is to them.”
    “Oh.” She paused, dissembling the information. She rested her forearms on the table and looked deep into his eyes, searching for answers, but there were none. The trouble with meeting your idol was that you thought you already knew everything there was to know about him, but Molly was beginning to realize there was so much more to Rory. Charismatic, funny and charming on the surface, that was undeniable, but what secrets hid beneath that highly polished exterior? Everybody has someone special in their past. Did Rory really expect her to believe that he’d never been in love, that his past was littered only with a trail of good time girls whose names he could barely remember? That there wasn’t someone special who’d touched him deep inside and left a lasting impression? He was bound to have a history of some sort. Something or someone that had shaped him into the person he’d become.
    She had to ask.
    “And why is that, do you think?” She clasped her fingers together, tilting her head to one side. “Why have you had trouble making long-lasting relationships?”
    He stopped eating, his knife and fork poised over his plate in mid-flow. His blue eyes, darker now, locked on to hers, his expression unfathomable.
    “I didn’t realize a full-on therapy session was part of the service.” He put down his cutlery, his gaze upon her face unwavering. “You want me to be honest with you?” He went on, not waiting for a reply. “I’ve never really felt comfortable around women. I was an only child who went to an all boys’ school. I wasn’t used to hanging around with girls. Apart from Emma, my next-door neighbor, but she didn’t count. She was a proper tomboy. My mum wasn’t around much. If I’m being truthful, women are still a bit of a mystery to me.”
    His honesty touched her, but she also detected an irritation tempering his words, an icy chill wafting across the table. Could it be true that one of the country’s most desired celebrities, a pinup for a huge swathe of the female population, really had no idea when it came to women? If that was the case then he was doing a very good job at hiding the fact. He was a relentless flirt, that much was obvious. The type of man who could charm the leaves off the trees, but maybe the whole thing was an elaborate act. Wasn’t that his job, after all? Either way, Molly had her work cut out. The woman to make Rory change his ways would have to be special.
    And beautiful obviously.
    Someone independent and strong to cope with living life under the glare of the spotlight.
    Someone kind and nice, as Rory had instructed her.
    Someone who liked animals. Rory had a dog.
    Someone with brown eyes. Preferably.
    Someone special enough to break through that highly polished veneer.
    Molly ran through the women currently on her books and came up with…a big fat zero. But even if she managed to come up with anyone to tick all those boxes, she wasn’t convinced, with Rory’s track