Up Close and Personal Read Online Free PDF Page A

remember the last time I had sex.’
    ‘You’re kidding!’ Yasmin cried. ‘I thought you and Connor couldn’t keep your hands off each other.’
    Nicole looked down at the sleeping infant in her arms. ‘Things have changed since Tilly was born. I don’t think Connor finds me sexually attractive any more.’
    ‘In that case he needs his head examining,’ Juliet said. ‘Because any idiot can see you’re absolutely gorgeous.’
    ‘Thanks, it’s sweet of you to say that, but I’m still struggling to get rid of this baby weight.’ Nicole’s hand went instinctively to the overhang of flesh at the waistband of her skirt. ‘I wish I could be like one of those celebrity mums whose stomachs miraculously snap back into shape two days after giving birth.’
    ‘No you don’t,’ Yasmin said firmly. ‘The women that do that put themselves through hell – and for what? Just so they can look good in front of the camera. Who gives a shit if you’re carrying a few extra pounds anyway?’ Shethrew Nicole a sharp look. ‘Has Connor said something to you?’
    ‘Not in so many words. He did buy me a gym membership for our wedding anniversary last week, though.’
    Yasmin snorted. ‘And they say romance is dead.’
    ‘He didn’t even take me out for dinner like he usually does; he had to work late at the surgery.’ Nicole’s mouth tightened. ‘He’s always working late these days. I sometimes think he does it on purpose, just to avoid being at home.’
    ‘Why would he do that?’ Juliet asked. ‘Surely he’d want to spend every spare minute with his family.’
    Nicole shrugged. ‘I get the impression he’s finding fatherhood quite difficult. I don’t think he realized just how much our lives were going to change when Tilly came along.’
    ‘Honestly, men can be so pathetic sometimes,’ Yasmin snapped. ‘When a woman has a baby, she’s thrown in at the deep end and just expected to get on with it. Why can’t guys be the same?’ Her gaze wandered to Juliet. ‘You know, I’m surprised you and Gus never had kids. I think he would’ve made a brilliant dad.’
    ‘Do you?’ Juliet said, fiddling with the stem of her wine glass.
    ‘Yeah … maybe it’s because he seemed like a big kid himself. He was so full of life, always laughing and joking, and he had that wonderful mischievous grin, as if he’d just put a whoopee cushion on the teacher’s chair.’ She smiled. ‘Do you remember that time he hosted the auction at the cricket-club dinner?’
    ‘God, yes,’ said Nicole, giggling at the memory. ‘He had us all in stitches, didn’t he?’ She turned to Juliet, but theother woman was staring out of the window with a faraway look in her eyes.
    ‘Anyway, let’s not dwell on the past,’ Yasmin said briskly, sensing Juliet’s discomfort. ‘Why don’t we order some food and then Juliet can tell us all about Dante?’
    ‘And you mustn’t leave out a single detail,’ Nicole said, squeezing Juliet’s arm. ‘We’ve missed out on far too much already.’
    Over the course of the next hour, Juliet regaled her friends with the story of her whirlwind romance. Although the three women had been in regular email contact during her stay in Aspen, this was the first chance they’d had to talk face to face. As Juliet relived her low-key wedding, her eyes shone with happiness. ‘It was amazing – just me, Dante and the mountains,’ she said. ‘And afterwards we went for dinner at this wonderful Italian restaurant Dante knows. He’d persuaded the owner to let us have the private dining room all to ourselves and when we walked in the whole place was filled with candles and dozens of long-stemmed roses.’
    ‘Dante sounds ever so romantic,’ Nicole said enviously. ‘I can’t wait to meet him.’
    ‘Why don’t you both come to dinner next weekend? I’ve invited my family over.’ Juliet winced. ‘And Piers and Eleanor, Gus’s parents. They’re going to want to meet Dante sooner or later and I