VANCE Read Online Free Page A

like her. I don’t want her to get into any trouble.”

    “Okay, but if she gets too annoying just tell me and I’ll have a word with her.”

    “Will do, but I doubt that will be necessary. So, you’re friends then?”

    I shrug. “I suppose we are, kind of. Jules seems to be friends with everyone.”

    “She couldn’t say enough good things about you earlier,” he replies. He gives me another of his piercing looks. “I’m glad she likes you, it means she has good taste.”

    I look at him in bafflement, unable to find a suitable response. I feel my cheeks going red.  

    “Don’t get embarrassed,” he chuckles. “You’re a very nice person, Holly. Now, where’s this taxi rank you want me to go to?”

Chapter 4

    I make arrangements with Jeb and he goes straight away to collect Jules. Vance and I then go on to a small late night coffee shop I sometimes go to on my days off. It is tucked away on the edge of the town square, and overlooks the park. As I’d hoped, there are only a couple of patrons in, and we sit on the comfortable sofa in the far corner of the room. The lighting is low, and Vance looks very mysterious and sultry in the warm glow.

    As a consequence, I struggle to keep my hormones in check. I have to keep telling myself he is not available, and even if was, I am not. I am not going to get my heart broken again, no matter how charming and brave Vance is.

    “So, what brings you to Pikeshaw?” I ask in a neutral voice when he returns from the counter with our coffees. “You and Mrs Drake don’t strike me as the type of people to come to a small town like ours very often.”

    “You should never judge by appearances,” Vance says cryptically. “What’s wrong with your town anyway? I think it’s very pleasant. Much nicer than where I grew up.”

    “Oh? Where was that?”

    “I grew up in a slum in the Ukraine,” he says, his tone deadly serious.

    I am not sure how to respond to this. “I, I mean, I wouldn’t have guessed it.”

    “You mean I look too much like a rich playboy jerk,” he says with a sly grin.

    “No!” I exclaim, nearly spilling my coffee. “I mean, you just look . . . different,” I trail away lamely and decide to cut my losses. “I’m sorry if I offended you.”

    “You didn’t offend me. Actually I am a rich playboy jerk, well it’s the impression I like to give, though the allowance Estelle gives me doesn’t let me be as rich or as jerky as I might like.”

    There are so many questions I want to ask, but I am unsure whether he would take offence if I pry too much. I decide to err on the side of caution. “You and Estelle are on vacation then?”              

    He dips his gaze for a moment. “Not exactly, we are here on business. We’re in antiques and we’re down here to talk to a collector.”

    “How fascinating,” I say, now genuinely intrigued by the couple. “You run your own business?”

    “In a manner of speaking, but let’s not talk about me, it’s boring. I want to know more about you.”

    The request startles me, and I am not sure what to say. “Well, there’s not much to tell. I work at the Cherry Tree, as you know, and I grew up here. I live with my aunt and a cat called Captain Razzamataz.”

    He laughs. It is a rich, gorgeous sound and I want to curl up against his chest to feel it reverberate through me. “Sounds like a pretty nice life you got.”

    “I suppose so,” I say. “I am very lucky.”

    “Apart from an aunt and a cat is there no one special on the scene?”

    “No, I’m single,” I reply, feeling uncomfortable. “I’ve been single since just after High School, in fact.”

    He raises his eyebrows at me. “I’m really surprised. What’s the reason for that?”

    I am a little stunned by his directness, and my instinct is to fabricate an excuse. But I don’t want to lie to him, and and part of me feels I can trust him, so I decide to take a risk and tell him the truth. “There was