Love And Liability

“Give me those.” She held out her hand.

He ignored her. “Ah, here’s a must-read — ‘My Bezzie Mate Stole My Lad!’” He shook his head. “It’s a jungle out there.”

“Alex,” Holly warned him, “if you don’t hand those magazines over right now…”

He grinned. “I had no idea teen magazines were so entertaining.” He flipped to the last one in the pile. “Wait a minute — this one’s yours, isn’t it?” He held up the latest issue of BritTEEN.

Her heart throbbing as badly as her foot, Holly tried to grab it away. “Yes. Come on, Alex, enough already! Give me those stupid magazines!”

“Wait a minute…let me just see if my interview’s in here.” He turned to the table of contents. “Ah, yes, here it is — ‘One Outrageous Question with Hottie Henry’.” He looked up in mild surprise. “Hottie Henry?”

“Alex, please, give me that—”

But he found page thirty-seven and glanced at his picture. “I’m glad you used that photo,” he approved. “One of my mates took that one. I remember it well. A bunch of us hired a sailboat in Belize a couple of years ago…”

Holly waited in an agony of dread as he began to read the interview. His smile faltered, then faded altogether.

He lowered the magazine and looked at her. “My off-the-record comments — both of them — are in here. How can that be?”

“It’s a mistake, Alex. It’s all a terrible mistake.”

“A mistake,” he repeated. His eyes narrowed. “You knew about this. That’s why you tried to grab it away just now.”

Holly opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“Did you know about this at dinner last night?”

“I — no — yes,” she admitted miserably. “Yes. I did.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“Of course I did! I thought about it a lot. I even left you a voice message.”

“A voice message?” he echoed, and frowned. “Well, I wouldn’t know, would I? Thanks to you, my phone’s been out of commission since you dropped it in the vichyssoise last night…” His words trailed away, and suspicion dawned on his face. “Wait a minute! You landed my phone in the soup on purpose, didn’t you?”

“No!” Holly protested. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Oh, no, it isn’t. It makes perfect sense. You left me a message, and then you had second thoughts. So you sabotaged my mobile!”

“I didn’t want to — to upset your digestion before dinner. And I didn’t want to ruin your evening.”

“Ruin my evening?” he echoed, his dark eyes black with anger as he stood and flung the magazine aside. “You’ve ruined more than my evening, Ms James. You’ve ruined my career!”

Holly bristled. “Now you’re just being dramatic! No one’s career is in jeopardy. Except maybe mine,” she added.

“My quote’s been taken completely out of context!” Alex went on, furious. “Where’s the bit I said about the couple being responsible, consenting adults? It’s not there! And I told you I might stand for MP in strictest confidence!”

“Look — I’m sorry about that stuff being printed, okay? I didn’t put it in the interview, or, at least, I don’t think I did, but it must’ve got left in with the final proof—”

“Actually, Ms James,” Alex cut in coldly, “I don’t care how it happened. You leave me no choice but to pursue legal action against BritTEEN for libel.”

Despite the lurch of fear his words evoked, Holly kept her face expressionless. If Alex Barrington sued the magazine, Sasha would have the perfect excuse — neatly wrapped and tied with a bow — to sack her. “I hardly think you want to do that, Mr Barrington. You’ll only make things worse by drawing attention to the matter. Besides, it’s all in fun—”

“Fun?” Alex regarded her incredulously. “Do you think it’s fun, knowing that every spot-faced teenage girl in England—”

“Scotland and Wales, too, actually,” Holly interjected helpfully. “Our readership encompasses the entire UK.”

“-and, even worse, those girls’ parents, think that I condone a leg-over on the first date? What sort of credibility do you think that gives me as a solicitor? Or even worse, as a potential MP?”

Holly bristled. “In all fairness, it’s not like you’ve admitted to…to embezzling money, or anything.”

“Lunch is served!” Cherie announced as she thrust her head around the door. She set a tray with roast lamb and chicken and assorted overcooked vegetables down on Holly’s lap. “Your father and Hannah just arrived. Alex, do come downstairs and join the rest of us in the dining room.”

Holly heard a commotion downstairs as the dogs began a chorus of barking and her sister bellowed out, “I’m home, everybody! Remain as you are!”

Her footsteps pounded up the stairs, and a moment later Hannah burst into the bedroom, her face flushed and wreathed in smiles as she launched herself at Holly. “Hols!”

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