Her New Worst Enemy Read Online Free PDF Page A

mind. The thought made her breath catch
     in her throat.
    “I’m going to drop the shopping in the kitchen, then I’ll give you the grand tour.”
    “I’ll come with you. I love kitchens; they’re always the best room in the house.”
    “Suit yourself. It’s this way.”
    Ellie watched him stride away, a shopping bag slung over each arm. He moved with utter
     confidence. His lean, fit body gave him the appearance of an athlete and his well-honed
     muscles made him graceful, but powerful. Plus, he was one of those annoying people
     who had a knack of looking good in whatever he chose to wear.
    Ellie had the opposite effect on clothes since she’d turned sixteen and found herself
     lumped with overgenerous breasts and hips. Very little seemed to suit her so she clung
     to what did with a vengeance. She hated shopping for new clothes now. She despised
     her awkward shape, which gave her a cartoonish look if she tried on anything tight-fitting.
     Paul had always laughed at her when she tried to look glam, so she’d stopped trying.
    With a shock, she realized Gideon was looking back at her expectantly. “Well? Are
     you coming?”
    “Yes, sorry, I was miles away.” She hurried after him, annoyed to be caught staring
     at his ass. That was just the sort of thing that would give her away and she really
     couldn’t afford to do that. If he even had an inkling about how attractive she found
     him, she’d never hear the end of it. It would be ridiculing fodder for years.
    Anyway, she was well and truly off men right now.
    The kitchen was impressive, but in a completely baffling way. Ellie had expected all
     dark, glossy cupboards, marble worktops, and shiny metallic appliances. This looked
     like a kitchen that someone would actually cook in. The Shaker-style furniture, terracotta
     flagstones, and slightly battered looking racing-green aga gave it a homely feel.
     An overstuffed cream-colored sofa stood at one end and a scrubbed, reclaimed pine
     table at the other.
    “Nice.”
    “You like it? Good. I wanted it to be a room I could live in. I used to spend a lot
     of my time in this kitchen when I was young, hiding out from my grandparents.” He
     leaned casually back against the work-surface.
    “Really? I never thought of you as a kitchen person. You’re very much a living room
     person in my head. So tell me, if you spent so much time in the kitchen, how come
     you’re such an awful cook?”
    “I’m not.”
    “No? I seem to recall a particularly atrocious meal a couple of years ago that you
     foisted on us at my parents’ house.”
    “That was Gareth. I was trying to teach him one of my recipes, but he ended up drinking
     most of the cooking wine and got the measurements wrong.”
    “If that’s true, why the hell did you take the blame for it?”
    “I dunno, I thought he deserved a break. He was pretty gutted about getting it wrong.
     He tried hard, you know, but he was nervous about impressing Ali.”
    “Oh yeah, it was the first time she’d met my parents. No wonder he kept quiet. That’s
     sweet. She knows the truth now though after living with him for a couple of years.”
    “Sure does, poor girl.”
    They grinned at each other and the silence grew heavy around them. Ellie’s heart beat
     hard against her chest in the pause. She tapped her fingers nervously against the
     work-surface.
    “That was kind of you.”
    “Thank you. That means a lot coming from you.” His eyes hinted at surprise.
    A strange hum tracked along her nerves, momentarily disorientating her. She needed
     to return things to normal but the discovery of his unexpected generosity had thrown
     her.
    She’d always thought of him as being self-obsessed, but that one kindness to her brother
     made her question herself. It was as if she’d discovered a deep, dark secret about
     him, which was ridiculous really, but his actions seemed so human, so basic. In her
     caustic opinion of him, she’d never endowed him with such