One Night of Misbehavior Read Online Free PDF Page B

Ash.” Gran was rubbing her temple again, the furrow between her eyes telling Charlotte the pain had worsened.
    “You won’t be working with me,” Ash said, refuting one of her mental arguments. “Not on a day-to-day basis if that’s worrying you. No one will know we’re dating.”
    Charlotte gasped and tugged at the end of her braid. “You think the press members from the social pages who follow you around won’t notice this hair?”
    “Ah, so you do intend to go out to dinner with me tonight then,” he said with bald-faced satisfaction.
    “No, that wasn’t what I meant. Look, thank you for the job offer, but—”
    “Charlotte, no,” Gran ordered. “I promise I’ll talk to Elizabeth as soon as I see her.”
    “Talk to Elizabeth about what?” Elizabeth appeared at the entrance of Gran’s room. “Charlotte, what are you doing here?” Her face froze in an impassive mask, tripping foreboding in Charlotte. She knew what would come next and steeled herself.
    “I came to see Gran,” Charlotte blurted after seconds of unbearable, taut silence. “I wanted to tell her about my new job.” Cripes. That wasn’t what she’d intended to say. She’d done it now. Ms. Feisty had overruled her commonsense. She darted a glance at her stepmother and saw her expression hadn’t shifted. Her stomach hollowed, waiting for the fallout because it would come.
    “It was nice to meet you, Ivy. I’ll leave you with your family. Charlotte, I’ll pick you up at seven for dinner. I have your address.” And with a wave and an audacious wink, he left.
    “What was Ashley Marlborough doing here?” Elizabeth demanded. “And why is he taking you to dinner?”
    Charlotte swallowed, her bravery seeping through the soles of her cheap runners. She had little money and nowhere to go. She couldn’t afford to alienate Elizabeth. “I met him last week, before I went to the job interview.” She watched Elizabeth and could pinpoint the exact moment her brain fired, adding two and two and coming up with four, damn it.
    “He’s responsible for those disgusting things on your neck.” Elizabeth gestured at her in disdain. “You slept your way into this job.”
    “That’s enough,” Gran said, steel behind her words. “Charlotte won this job fair and square.”
    “I’ll see you at home,” Elizabeth said, and Charlotte could tell she’d managed to land herself in deeper trouble.
    “Charlotte is going out for dinner,” Gran said.
    Charlotte frowned. Gran didn’t look well at all. “I’ll get a nurse for you.” She stooped to kiss Gran’s soft cheek and smiled, even though she wanted to cry at the way Gran appeared in the hospital bed. Her earlier bravado had faded, and she now looked pained and shrunken.
    “Tell me about your date when you come to visit tomorrow,” Gran said, a trace of sly darting across her face. “I want to hear everything.”
    “Charlotte can’t gallivant around town while you’re ill.”
    “Hearing about Charlotte’s dinner will give me something to look forward to.” Gran closed her eyes, her breaths harsher now.
    “I’ll give you a report tomorrow,” Charlotte promised. “I’ll send in a nurse on my way out.”
    Worry cast a heavy weight on her shoulders for the rest of the afternoon. She couldn’t get excited about a date—the first one she’d had in months—when Gran was so sick. But she couldn’t beg off either because Gran had made it plain to both her and Elizabeth she expected a report the following day.
    She spent the unexpected free time spring cleaning the lounge and preparing dinner. After making a vegetable bake and a large salad for her stepmother and sisters’ dinner, she mixed a batch of cupcakes. Once they’d cooled, she pulled out her piping bag and decorated them, making each one unique.
    Her stepsisters arrived home, and Charlotte retreated to her room to change. With limited wardrobe choices, she went with her black skirt again, adding a castoff pale blue