The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) Read Online Free Page B

twenty years.
    Hardly surprising, the lifestyle
he’d been forced into. His carefree Jack the Lad days were long gone. His blue
eyes had lost their sparkle; his brown hair was in need of a bloody good wash
and the frown lines and two-day stubble made him look like his dad. He sighed.
Some days he felt life wasn’t worth living. He’d let everybody he cared about
down; his mates in the band, his parents, but most of all, Jane.
    He swallowed hard and rubbed at
the paint splashes, bringing a glow to his cheeks. He wiped his boots, chucked
the rag on the floor and turned to the chipped and stained urinal. ‘I could
murder a pint,’ he muttered, as he unzipped and peed.
    ‘Them can handles are useless,’
Jack began when Eddie rejoined him in the packing department. ‘They couldn’t
hold water, never mind five gallon of gloss. And now look. You’ve gone and lost
your bloody job.’
    ‘Never mind that, look at the
fucking state of my new boots!’ Eddie stripped off his overalls and tossed them
onto the bench. ‘They’re ruined.’
    ‘Shouldn’t wear decent boots to
work,’ Jack said.
    ‘I’ve bugger all else. My only
other pair’s full of holes. But that’s it; I’m not staying here to be treated
like shit by George Hill. He’s had it in for me since the day I started. I hate
the job anyway. I’ll have to find something else.’
    'But there’s not many jobs out
there that don’t need qualifications,’ Jack said, dragging an almost toothless
comb through his greasy quiff. ‘Angie will go bloody mad when you tell her
what’s happened. How will you pay your way with no wages coming in?’
    ‘She’ll have to keep me for a
week or two while I find another job. But I don’t fancy telling her that.’
    ‘God help you.’ Jack smirked and
shrugged into a threadbare donkey jacket. ‘And you don’t half stink of turps.
Angie will be welcoming you home with open arms, I don’t think.’
    ‘I’d rather she welcomed me with
open legs,’ Eddie muttered. ‘No chance of that. The only thing I’ll get my leg
over tonight is my motorbike. I fancy a pint before I go home. The smell should
have faded by then. Fancy a quick one in the Black Lion?’
    ‘Dutch courage, eh?’ Jack said,
‘Not like you to go boozing on a Monday. What about the book-keeping class?’
    ‘Can’t be bothered tonight.’
Eddie pulled on his leather biking jacket. ‘I’d rather go out with my mates,
but Angie’s got big ideas. Wants a new house with all the trimmings. Reckons
the book-keeping course will get me a better job.’
    Being stuck in a bloody office
all day would be as soul destroying as the factory though. He wanted to join a
band again, make some serious money; see a bit of the world. But every time he
brought the subject up it caused a row.
    ‘Should have kept it zipped up,
Ed. Then you wouldn’t be in this mess. Don’t
end up like me, with a grasping missus, a houseful of kids and more regrets
than I’ve had hot dinners.’
    Eddie raised his eyebrows. ‘Should
have told me that three years ago. The way things are with me and Angie,
there’ll be no more kids, unless it’s
an immaculate conception.’
    Jack smiled and slung his bag
over his shoulder. George Hill appeared in front of them. He glared at Eddie
and pointed at the paint-stained floor.
    ‘Thought you might have seen
sense, Mellor and cleaned that mess up. You
can collect your cards and any wages owing tomorrow at four.' He swaggered
away. Eddie stuck two fingers up behind his back and he and Jack clocked out.
    ‘Well, that’s that.’ Eddie blew
out his cheeks. ‘As if my life’s not bad enough. Mind you, he’s probably done
me a favour. I’ll have to find a job I really like now.’
    ‘Want a fag?’ Jack pulled a
crumpled packet of Woodbines from his pocket.
    Eddie flicked up his collar,
shivering. ‘Ta!’ He lit up and blew a smoke ring into the cold air. He pointed
his cigarette in Jack’s direction. ‘Know what I need, apart from a new