LITMIR.BIZ

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And do stop jumping up and down on your bed. It’s not a trampoline. Look, go and put a video on. I’ll never be ready in time if you keep distracting me.’

      Emily was off the bed and out of the room in a flash. If there was one thing that would successfully shut Emily up, it was watching one of her favourite videos.

      Being left alone, however, didn’t help Jessie as much as she had hoped. Her hands kept shaking for starters, and her usually decisive mind could not seem to settle on what she should wear tonight.

      Kane had told her in an email yesterday—one of several he’d sent her during the last three days—that she didn’t need to be dressed up. Something casual would be fine.

      Jessie had been relieved at the time. Her wardrobe was ninety-five per cent casual. But most were on the cheap side.

      The evening promised to be warm, so a skirt was probably a good choice. She pulled out a black and white one similar to the pink floral she’d worn to work the other day, the one which Kane had said made her look good enough to eat.

      Oh, dear. She shouldn’t have thought about that. Her nipples tightened and a little tremor ran down the back of her legs.

      A glance at her watch brought instant panic. She only had a quarter of an hour before Kane was due to pick her up at seven. She’d already showered and done her make-up since arriving home, but she was still naked under her robe, her hair was a mess and Dora would be arriving any moment with Emily’s dinner.

      The darling woman had promised to feed the child, as well as look after her for the night. She seemed just as excited at Jessie having a so-called boyfriend as Emily was. Jessie hadn’t liked to disillusion them over Kane’s true intentions—they both thought he was the ant’s pants—so she let them think what they liked.

      Meanwhile, Jessie just kept telling herself that tonight was nothing serious. Just fun and games.

      ‘Fun and games,’ she repeated as she opened her underwear drawer and pulled out a black satin bra and matching G-string from underneath her more sensible sets. They had been outrageously expensive when she’d bought them pre-Emily, and had rarely been worn. Motherhood had made her breasts larger, so when she put the bra on, her cups really did runneth over.

      But oh, my, she did look seriously sexy, with a cleavage deeper than the Grand Canyon. The G-string looked OK from the front. But she didn’t even risk a peek at a rear view. What she didn’t know couldn’t depress her.

      A knock on the granny-flat door was followed by Dora’s voice as she opened the door and came in. ‘It’s just me, Jessie, with Em’s dinner.’

      ‘I’m still not ready, Dora. Can you organise things out there for a few minutes?’

      ‘No worries. We’ll be fine, won’t we, Emily?’

      No reply from Emily.

      ‘Emily,’ her mother shouted whilst she manoeuvred on the stretchy black cross-over top she’d bought to go with the skirt. ‘Sit up at the table for Dora. I’ve set a place for her, Dora. And her apple juice is in her special cup in the fridge.’

      ‘Yes, yes, stop fussing. I can manage. You get on with getting ready. Kane will be here soon, you know.’

      ‘I know,’ Jessie muttered, hurriedly wrapping the skirt around her hips and tying the sash tightly at the back. One thing motherhood hadn’t improved on her figure was her waistline. It was slightly thicker now. Still, her bigger bust and hips balanced that, so the overall look was still hourglass.

      Reasonably satisfied with the result—the amount of flesh she had on display in the deep V-neckline gave her a few butterflies—Jessie turned to doing something with her hair, which was a bit of a frizz, due to the humidity in the air. The only thing for it was up, of course. So up it went, brushed back from her face quite brutally and anchored to her crown with a black scrunchie.

      Naturally, quite a few strands and curls escaped but guys had always told her they liked that. They said it looked sexy. And sexy was definitely the look she was aiming for tonight.

      Her jewelry she kept to a minimum. A silver chain locket necklace and silver loop earrings. Her perfume was an expensive one, a present from Dora for her birthday back in June. It was called True Love.

      True irony, Jessie thought wryly as she slipped her feet into the same strappy black high heels she’d worn the previous Friday. Her only regret about her appearance was that she hadn’t invested in some fake tan. No sleeves and no stockings meant that a lot of her pale flesh was on display. But she hadn’t been paid yet and could have only afforded the cheap variety. Better to have no tan than to have orange streaks and oddly coloured elbows and ankles.

      ‘Kane’s here,’ Dora chimed out a few seconds before he knocked on the door. She must have heard his footsteps on the concrete path which led around to the granny flat.

      ‘Coming,’ Jessie replied, amazed at how nauseous she was suddenly feeling. What had happened to the carefree girl she’d used to be?

      Well, that girl was gone, Jessie realised, replaced by a nervous wreck who was scared stiff that she’d be so hopeless that Kane wouldn’t want to see her again after tonight. Which might be for the best. But somehow, at this precise moment, wisdom wasn’t Jessie’s long suit.

      Thinking about the girl she had used to be, however, reminded her that she didn’t have any condoms. Still, she was sure Kane would be well prepared. A man who didn’t want children would always be prepared.

      ‘Kane! Kane!’ Emily’s excited voice reached Jessie.

      Jessie hoped her daughter didn’t start chanting to him about his being her mummy’s boyfriend.

      ‘Won’t be a sec,’ she called out from the bedroom as she hurriedly put her make-up, brush and wallet into her black patent evening bag and headed for the bedroom door.

      Kane hadn’t actually come inside. He’d stayed standing on the back doorstep under the light that shone down from above.

      ‘Oh,’ she said on seeing him. ‘We’re colour coordinated.’

      He was wearing a black suit—casually tailored—with a white T-shirt underneath. No doubt a very expensive designer white T-shirt. Not that it mattered. On him, anything looked good.

      By the look in his eyes what she was wearing was meeting with his approval as well. It was good that men rarely knew what a woman’s clothes cost. She wouldn’t mind betting that his T-shirt had cost more than her whole outfit. Minus the lingerie and the shoes, of course. They had been expensive.

      ‘Doesn’t Mummy look pretty?’ Emily said from where Dora, by some miracle, had kept her sitting at the table, eating her dinner. Admittedly, it was spaghetti bolognaise, Emily’s favourite. But Jessie had pictured her daughter hurling herself into Kane’s arms the moment he arrived.

      ‘Yes, indeed,’ Kane agreed with gleaming eyes.

      ‘Are you going to ask Mummy to marry you?’

      It was just the sort of question Jessie had feared.

      She groaned her embarrassment whilst Dora laughed.

      Kane, the suave devil, took it in his stride. ‘Would you like me to?’ he said.

      ‘Oh, yes,’ Emily replied.

      ‘Your wish is my command, princess. The trouble is I don’t think your mummy’s quite ready to marry me yet.’

      ‘Why not?’ Emily demanded to know, scowling up at her mother.

      ‘Kane and I have only known each other a week,’ Jessie said with more patience than she was feeling. ‘You don’t marry someone until you’ve known them much longer than that.’

      ‘Two weeks?’ Emily suggested, and both Dora and Kane laughed.

      Jessie rolled her eyes. ‘At least two weeks. Now, you be good for Dora tonight and

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