Don't Hurt Me Read Online Free Page A

times. What a hideous night it’s been. First the
electricity and now a runaway daughter to contend with.’ He sighed and gave her
a lopsided smile. ‘Since we’re both up though, how about a hot drink before
going back to bed? I could rustle us up some cocoa. Unless you’d prefer a
whisky?’
       She laughed and shook her head. The
male who had kissed her so dangerously in the dark seemed to have disappeared,
replaced by this charming father of a difficult teen. ‘A cup of cocoa would be
perfect, thank you.’
       The kitchen appeared to have been
tidied before Marshall went to bed, the table shining under the spotlights and
the antique Welsh dresser cleared of that appetising bread and cheese from
earlier. So he was a good housekeeper too, whatever his other faults. Julia sat
and watched as he moved silently about the kitchen, a quick and efficient
worker who knew his territory well, two generous mugs soon set out and a
saucepan of milk heating gently on the range.
       Although curious to know him
better, she had to admit that she was having trouble figuring him out. Marshall
was not so much an enigma as a contradiction, she thought, only revealing
himself in brief and misleading glimpses that seemed designed to keep her
guessing. She wondered whether that was because he had spent the last few years
in the public eye and was used to having to defend his privacy. Certainly, that
tough exterior he had shown her on first arriving was at odds with the
exhausted humour she could see in his face now.
       Julia accepted a mug of cocoa from
his hand, smiling her thanks. The unexpected encounter with his daughter seemed
to have relaxed them both. Yet much to her annoyance, she felt a faint tinge of
colour enter her cheeks as he settled opposite her, unable to prevent her eyes
slipping over the dark-haired chest as he tightened the belt on his
dressing-gown and drew the lapels closer. To her relief, however, Marshall did
not seem to have noticed her embarrassing reaction.
       ‘I must apologise again for
disturbing you tonight. You must think this is a madhouse,’ he said wryly.
       ‘Not at all,’ she laughed, relaxing
a little as she sipped at her hot cocoa and enjoyed the delicious aroma. ‘My
older sister has a daughter about Victoria’s age. She says her bedroom always
looks like something out of Dante’s Inferno and her behaviour isn’t much better. But I don’t think it’s deliberate, if
that’s any consolation. They can’t help it.’
       ‘All those racing hormones?’
       ‘Something like that.’ Julia smiled
drily, remembering her own teenage years. ‘Though I must have missed out on
hormones. I don’t remember doing anything naughty at that age apart from
sneaking the odd kiss behind the bike sheds. Not much of a rebel, I suppose.’
       ‘You don’t have any kids yourself?’
he asked, stirring sugar into his cocoa and watching her thoughtfully from
under his lashes.  
       ‘Not yet, no. Though I would like
some one day, when my career’s more established.’
       ‘That’s exactly what I said to
Victoria’s mother,’ he said with a harsh laugh. ‘I was under the impression she
was on the pill, then she waltzed into my flat one day and announced she was
pregnant. Not the most auspicious start to a marriage.’
       ‘Are you divorced?’
       Marshall nodded without looking at
her, his mouth flattening abruptly to a hard line.
       ‘Almost ten years now. Rachel got
bored with playing Mummy quite early on and ran off with someone else. At the
time, I was left in pieces. I was never really in love with her, but we were
husband and wife … Now I don’t give a damn. I’m better off without her.’ He
shrugged. ‘In fact, we’re both better off without her.’
       Julia drank her cocoa slowly,
gazing around the kitchen. It looked very different under the bright strip
lighting. In the dark, it had seemed an almost sinister place. Now the range
gave out a