The Morning After The Wedding Before Read Online Free PDF

half-smile from somewhere. ‘I’m fine. I was over it weeks ago.’
    ‘That’s the way.’ He smiled, all easy sympathy, and gave her hand a quick pat. ‘The trick is not to take these things too seriously.’
    These things?
Being in love was just one of
these things?
‘And you’d be the expert at that particular trick, wouldn’t you?’ She and Wayne had had an understanding. He’d betrayed her and
that was serious
.
    To her surprise, he spoke sharply. ‘Contrary to what you may think, I don’t cheat.’
    ‘Because you’re not with a woman long enough.’ As if
she
would know his modus operandi these days … she wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. She looked up and met Jake’s eyes—dark, intense, like Turkish coffee. ‘Sorry.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s just that you’re here, you’re male, and right now I want to punch something. Or someone.’ Her gaze flicked down to the street. ‘Nothing personal.’
    He shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Emma, yesterday—’
    ‘You live your way, I live mine.’ She waved him off. ‘We’re not teenagers any more.’
    But was she living her life her way? she wondered as she paced past the balcony’s foliage and back. Or was she living for other people?
    After her father had died, leaving them virtually penniless, Emma had spent years working menial jobs after school so that they wouldn’t have to sell her maternal grandmother’s home, and then had supported herselfthrough her studies. Her mother had been diagnosed with clinical depression soon after their father’s death, and Stella had taken on the role of main carer, but Emma had been the one with the ultimate financial responsibility.
    She didn’t mind giving up her time or her money, but her mother was recovered now and Emma’s sacrifices went unacknowledged and unappreciated.
    And now she’d discovered the man she’d loved had been cheating on her for God knew how long, and in Jake’s opinion it was because she was so focused on her work.
    But Jake knew nothing about it, and she intended for it to stay that way. It did
not
excuse Wayne. Even the fact that the girl was more exotic than she was, more voluptuous … more everything … was no excuse. She was tempted to run downstairs and tell him what she thought of him, let Rani in on his dirty little secret—except she never wanted to see him again and she’d only make herself look like a fool. ‘If nothing else, I expect honesty in a relationship.’
    ‘You call a regular Friday night bonk a
relationship?
’ he said.
    She met his stare with a defiant stare of her own. ‘It suited us.’
    ‘It suited
you
.’
    She bit her lip to stop unwanted words from spilling out. ‘I thought what we had was what he wanted too.’
    ‘Yeah, I’m sure it was.’
    His dry comment riled her further. She rubbed the chill from her arms while inside her the anger and hurt and humiliation burned bright and strong. Better him thinking she was an idiot than knowing the embarrassing truth—that she was a naïve, gullible idiot.
    ‘Sometimes I get so damn tired of doing what everyone else wants. What other people expect …’ She trailed off when she saw Wayne and Rani outside an Italian restauranton the street below. While his
fiancée
studied the menu in the window he glanced up and met Emma’s eyes.
    Renewed outrage surged through the other emotions in a dark wave. She refused to step back, refused to be the one to break eye contact. How dared he? Their weekly love-in had been a lie. They’d been seeing each other for months and the whole time he’d been deceiving her.
    Making a fool of her.
    In an uncharacteristic move, she made a rude hand gesture … and it felt good. Especially when Wayne looked away first. She spun away towards Jake, finding an oddly reassuring comfort in his presence. ‘And sometimes I just want to live my own life and to hell with everything and everyone.’
    ‘So start now, Em,’ he said, his voice gentle yet firm. ‘Change your