Strictly My Husband: It's funny, it's romantic and it's got dancing - what's not to love! Read Online Free PDF Page B

that joke.’
    ‘I was. Wasn’t I?’ he said, looking round. ‘Didn’t I just say: why did the chicken cross the road?’
    ‘Because she wanted to lay it on the line,’ came a voice from behind them.
    Everyone turned to see Carly standing there in all her glory.
    Jerry whistled under his breath. ‘Bloody hell.’
    Oh, hilarious, thought Laura, staring at Carly’s beautiful sparkling red sequined strapless dress with a slit up to her . . . well, her crotch.
    ‘I’m rubbish at jokes,’ she said nervously when no one laughed, just stood staring at her. ‘Did that come out right?’
    ‘Did that come out right? Did that come out right? I have never seen anything come out so right in my life,’ boomed Jerry, glancing rapidly between her face and her hemline.
    ‘What a beautiful dress,’ said Hannah politely. Laura looked daggers at her.
    ‘Oh, I know it’s over the top,’ Carly answered, glancing at her audience dressed in their high-street best, ‘but I didn’t have anything else.’ Her eyes hovered for a moment over Will and then snapped back to look innocently at Laura.
    You really had nothing other than a dress more suited to a red carpet than their cheap Ikea hall runner? thought Laura.
    ‘I didn’t have time to pack properly so I just bought my work clothes really which are pretty much all Lycra and I didn’t think you’d want to see me in those.’
    ‘Don’t know about that,’ muttered Jerry.
    ‘So this is Carly and she auditioned at work today – wearing this dress, I believe,’ Tom announced by way of explanation.
    ‘I was supposed to be like a girly devil,’ added Carly. ‘I had this big red cape over it and some little horns . . . I think I pulled it off,’ she continued, looking at Tom.
    ‘She blew us away,’ Tom told them all. ‘Best Halloween devil I’ve ever seen.’
    The devil, mused Laura. How apt.
    ‘So you’re a singer?’ asked Jerry.
    ‘Well, a dancer really, but I can sing as well. Whatever I need to do to get work.’
    ‘So you’re taking in performers now?’ Jerry asked Tom.
    ‘It’s just temporary,’ he replied.
    Jerry turned to Carly. ‘You know we have a lot of spare rooms at ours. To be honest, our house is much bigger than this one. You could have your choice of any number of guest rooms complete with walk-in wardrobes and en-suite with the latest state-of-the-art rainforest-effect shower.’
    ‘Jerry is a builder,’ Tom told Carly, ‘and very house-proud.’
    ‘Not just a builder,’ said Jerry. ‘A very successful builder.’
    ‘
Jerry
,’ said Hannah in a pleading tone.
    ‘And this is Hannah,’ continued Tom. ‘Jerry’s much better half, and my little baby brother Will.’
    ‘Oh,’ said Carly, gazing up at Will’s six-foot-tall frame, broad shoulders and well-cultivated facial hair.
    Will bent to offer her a handshake. ‘I’m actually older than Tom but he likes to keep me in my place,’ he said. ‘I’ll go and sort out that dead fish problem for you now, shall I, my big brave brother?’ He grinned at Tom and then headed for the kitchen, leaving an awkward silence behind him.
    ‘So,’ said Jerry eventually, slapping his hands and rubbing them together. ‘What does a thirsty man have to do to get a drink around here?’ he asked as he took Carly’s arm and led her though to the dining room. ‘Let’s find out some more about this young lady, shall we?’
    Laura was staring at Carly through narrowed eyes and a fog of red wine as she reached for another cheese biscuit. If she concentrated hard enough she could picture red horns coming out of her head and red flames leaping aroundin her eyes. Her tinkling laughter had punctuated the evening like daggers through Laura’s heart as she winced over her simpering at Jerry’s terrible jokes and thinly veiled flattery. Jerry had now pulled out the big guns and was in full throttle, telling Carly all about how he’d built his father-in-law’s local building firm into a thriving