Page 45 of The Last Saturday In July
She was a total idiot. Was it too late to come clean? It felt too late. ‘She’s very private, hates people knowing her business. In fact, I shouldn’t have even mentioned anything.’ She leaned forward and lowered her voice. ‘It’s a bit odd, but nobody even knows she’s getting married.’
Adam nodded slowly. ‘That is a bit odd all right.’
‘I know, but please don’t mention anything to her. Or to anyone else, obviously.’
‘Sure thing. So, why were you having lunch together?’
Jess blinked. ‘I’m her bridesmaid. And,um, I’m organising some wedding stuff for her which I had to run by Simon.’
‘So, you and Kate are good friends?’
‘Best friends.’
Adam smiled. ‘She’s lucky to have you.’
Jess managed a weak smile in return. Okay, she hadn’t actually done anything that awful to Kate. Except lie about her getting married to Simon, and hint that she was a bit odd. So, maybe it was sort of awful. She’d make it up to Kate. Anyway, it didn’t matter, now that Adam had promised absolutely nothing else would happen between them. Plus, he’d be going back to Switzerland soon, and he’d be far too busy being head of European operations, to think about Kate or Simon. Or her. Which was a good thing, obviously. Sound.
‘Um, while you’re here, I’m not sure if you’ve seen this.’
‘What?’
‘Give me a sec.’ Jess opened her phone and quickly found the two short gossip pieces. ‘There were two pieces about Chelsea and Leo on TMZ earlier. I’m sending a link to your email.’
She waited while Adam read them.
‘I wouldn’t worry about it. People like Chelsea need to be in the limelight all the time – the row was probably staged. What day is the photo shoot, by the way?’
‘Next week.’ If she didn’t know better, she’d think that Adam didn’t care for one moment that Chelsea and Leo might have had a real falling-out. ‘I’ll have to double-check my diary.’
‘Great, we’ll take the jeep. Nothing like getting out of Dublin at the weekend.’
Why was it that he always wanted to be in the bloody driving seat? Literally. Still, at least there wouldn’t be a repeat of their last trip.
‘Jess?’ Adam frowned. ‘You’ve gone very pale.’ He jumped up and took two strides to the water dispenser, filling a cup for her. ‘You’re not worried about the wedding, are you?’
Jess sipped some water. ‘The wedding?’
‘At Linford Castle.’ Adam spoke slowly. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
‘All good.’ She had to keep it together. ‘The wedding won’t be a problem.’
Adam smiled again, and Jess offered a small smile in return. None of this was Adam’s fault. She couldn’t allow her guilt to affect their working relationship. She wished he’d move away: it felt a bit dangerous when he was this close. And that smile ... she swallowed hard. She didn’t just jump into bed with any guy. Nope, he must have smiled like that a lot, the night she met him. Pathetic.
‘I’ll catch you later.’ Adam got to his feet.
‘Great.’ Jess fixed her eyes on her computer screen.
After Adam left, she slithered down her chair until she was almost horizontal. How had that just happened? There were probably Russian spies leading less complicated lives than her. She opened her desk drawer and reached for a Mars bar.
Adam came back in, making her jump. ‘Sorry, left my phone …’ He picked it up off her desk, as Jess, red-faced, scrambled to pull herself up on the chair.
Adam raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.
Upright again, Jess held up a pen. ‘Got it.’ From the corner of her eye, Jess saw his mouth twitch as he left.
Chapter 18
TMZ has learned today that the upcoming wedding of the year, the three days’ nuptials of Chelsea Deneuve and Leo Dinardia, will be almost entirely vegan. We applaud the celebrity couple for their ethical and moral choices, but it’s hard to imagine some of their guests, which include body-builder Rocko Davida, will be too thrilled. Davida has publicly rubbished veganism as ‘fine for people who operate on a sub-par level’. As for lots of their other Hollywood guests who don’t eat gluten, or who have soy, sesame and nut allergies, we have to wonder what they’ll be able to eat.
