Catwalk Criminal Read Online Free PDF Page B

had Becky mentioned Zak’s supposed hotness? Jessica would never get her off the subject now.
    Jamie stared curiously at Jessica. “Do you think Zak’s hot?”
    â€œWhat? No! That’s not what I think. Obviously. It’s what other people say.”
    She glanced over her shoulder. She wanted to add that Jamie was the only boy she thought was hot, the only boy she could possibly be interested in, but Mattie, her dad and Becky were eavesdropping. It was too embarrassing to bare her soul in front of an audience.
    Jamie took a step back. “Whatever. He seemed like a total jerk to me.” He shrugged and turned away.
    â€œNot to me,” Becky said. “He was yummy.”
    â€œAnd charming,” Mattie added. “Don’t forget that.”
    Jessica sighed. They were both making this so much worse. “Jamie’s right. Neither of you know him. He is a total jerk. You wouldn’t believe how much he goes on and on about how wonderful he is all the time. He—”
    She stopped herself. Why was she letting Zak get under her skin and, more importantly, Jamie’s? Maybe the paralysing powder had affected her brain somehow. She wasn’t with it tonight. She glared at Mattie and her dad as they finally said their goodbyes and left the room. Couldn’t they have vanished a minute earlier? Their timing was completely off. But come to think of it, so was hers.
    â€œAnyway, I should get going and leave you to your girls’ night in,” Jamie said abruptly. “I didn’t mean to crash.”
    â€œYou’re not crashing and you’ve only just got here,” Jessica protested. “We haven’t even had time to talk.”
    Becky faked a gigantic yawn. “I have to go. I’m beat already and I’ve got to finish my essay tonight.” She kissed Jamie on the cheek and hugged Jessica, making a “call me” gesture with her fingers as she walked out.
    â€œThat wasn’t obvious at all,” Jessica said, rolling her eyes.
    Jamie laughed, his shoulders relaxing a little. “Becky means well, even if she has terrible taste in potential future boyfriends.”
    â€œAgreed. I think this PFB—”
    She lurched forward as the magazines on the floor leapt up and danced in front of her eyes. Red-hot pincers stabbed her legs.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Jamie’s arms encircled her waist. She rested her head on his shoulder as the room spun wildly. He grasped her hand, which shook uncontrollably. Clasping her hand over his, she tried to steady the embarrassing tremors. She hadn’t wanted him to see her like this. She felt like a really old woman.
    â€œIt’s the after-effects…” Her voice trailed off. Like Becky, her boyfriend couldn’t hear the truth about her Westwood training and assignments.
    â€œThe doctor said I might get the shakes from banging my head when I fell, but it’s nothing to worry about. I’m going to be OK.”
    Jamie bit his lip. “There’s nothing else you want to tell me?”
    â€œWhat do you mean? You can’t possibly think I like Zak? There’s absolutely nothing going on between us. He turned up out of the blue.”
    â€œWhat? No, that’s not what I meant.”
    Why did she have to bring up Zak again? “What, then?”
    â€œI get the feeling you’re holding out on me about something. You’ve blown me off at the last minute with loads of my gigs and you seem to be pushing me away. I had to find out from Becky that you’d been hurt.”
    The words stung her. He was right. She hadn’t been there for him recently. She’d been gutted that some of her MI6 training sessions had overrun and she’d been forced to pull out of going to his gigs. It hadn’t been easy to come up with a series of plausible reasons about why she couldn’t go out on Friday nights. Sure, she should have called to tell him she’d been