Part-Time Lovers (Friendship Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  Charlotte’s ears pricked, and she wondered if there was the slightest hope of scoring an interview. While she loved Gran and didn’t mind looking after her, she’d kill to break into the graphics field and gain more independence. No rich men for her. No marriage either. She wanted to step into Ms. Independent’s shoes and answer to no one but herself.

  “I’ve already booked an interview slot.” Jenny flashed a grin, sharing her confidence with each of them in turn. “I intend to grab that spot.” She shook out her long blonde hair and picked up her coffee. “I heard they’d stopped taking applicants because they have enough.”

  “Charlotte wants to go into graphic design,” Gran said casually.

  “Charlotte?” Elizabeth’s plucked brows rose to new heights. “How are you going to manage a job? Who is going to look after Mum when her lupus flares up? Who will run our errands? No, it’s impossible. We need Charlotte to cook meals and run the household for us.” She reinforced her words with a glower that dared Charlotte to argue otherwise.

  Charlotte picked up her toast with a trembling hand and forced herself to take another bite. It helped to still the tap-dancing in the pit of her stomach and dammed up her words of protest. She was saving every cent she could, but her bank account remained depressingly small. One day, she promised herself.

  “She doesn’t have the qualifications to apply for the job,” Jenny said, her tone and pointed look running along Smug Street. “So it’s a moot point. I hope Ash Marlborough sits in on the interviews. He’s amazing. And he’s single.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to have an in with a rich bachelor,” Elizabeth said in a thoughtful manner, obviously dismissing any further thoughts of Charlotte getting a job.

  “Exactly.” Jenny smirked in Charlotte’s direction again. “A job and a rich lover in one swoop.” She’d made a turn onto Complacent Drive.

  “He has scars on his face,” Rachel said with distaste. “I can’t look at him for longer than a few seconds. Imagine having to kiss him.”

  Jenny shrugged. “Who cares what he looks like if he has money?”

  Charlotte wanted to clap her hands over her ears, or even better, go back to bed. Instead she dispensed toast, fruit and cereal and made another pot of coffee, tuning out the usual morning discussions and avarice from her stepmother and stepsisters. Her mind turned more pleasant corners, drifting to the previous night and her Zorro lover. He’d asked her for a dance early on in the night. They’d laughed and talked about the different costumes. She’d felt like a real princess in her apricot ball gown with full skirts and the beaded bodice that cupped, lifted and flattered.

  The best part was her invisibility to her stepmother and stepsisters. Her dark brown wig and skillful makeup, courtesy of Gran’s best friend Esther, had completed the fantasy, and Zorro’s attention made her feel extra special. Their conversation had morphed into design and different advertising promotions they’d enjoyed, and an undercurrent of lust hummed between them, growing more urgent as the evening progressed. Charlotte removed the dirty plates from the table and made Gran another pot of tea, the twinge of her muscles reminding her of their frantic lovemaking. Heat burst onto her cheeks, her hands shaking as she stacked the plates in the dishwasher.

  “I need you to take my costume to the drycleaners,” Rachel said.

  “Mine too,” Jenny said.

  “You can take them all,” Elizabeth instructed.

  Charlotte opened her mouth to object and snapped it shut again. She’d only find herself in the middle of another argument. Same old, same old.

  “Charlotte, dear. Could you find me a pen and notepad please?” Gran asked. “What are you all doing today?”

  “I’m going to stay with my friend at the beach,” Jenny said. “I’ll be back late Sunday afternoon.”

  After handing over the requested items, Charlotte resigned herself to another evening of looking after Gran. A night alone in front of the telly since Gran went to bed around eight. At least the rugby was on and she could ogle the players to her heart’s content while working on one of her craft projects. Maybe she’d do some artist trading cards with a rugby theme. Yes, that would work.

  “Can I borrow your digital camera, Elizabeth?” Gran asked.

  “It’s in my room, Mum. Get Charlotte to grab it for you when she makes my bed. I must go or I’ll be late for my meeting.”

  Her stepmother and stepsisters left to enjoy their weekend, and Charlotte worked her way through the house, picking up clutter and cleaning as she went. She made a mental note to ring the taxi company. Maybe the driver had handed in the apricot rose that went with her gown. Maybe. She couldn’t remember if she’d still had the rose when she left Zorro in the hotel room. You sneaked, Ms. Feisty, Charlotte’s annoying inner dragon, drawled with a heavy helping of disbelief.

  “Charlotte!” Gran called.

  “Did you want something?”

  “I have a list of items for you to purchase for me. Here’s some money. There should be enough for you to have a quiet coffee and for a cab as well. You’ll need it to drop the dresses at the dry cleaners. Pass me the phone please, dear.”

  “I can’t leave you alone for that long.” Charlotte had noticed the hectic color in Gran’s face and her labored movements this morning, despite her determination to share the family breakfast. “The dresses can wait until Monday.”

  “The items on my list can’t. I’m going to ring Esther. We want to work on a scrapbooking project together.”

  Charlotte found herself overruled and ousted from the house. She hurried through her chores, but even so didn’t return to the house until late afternoon. She staggered through the door with three bags of groceries.

  “Where have you been?” Elizabeth narrowed her gaze. “What are those disgusting marks on your neck?”

  “Charlotte?” Gran’s voice came from the nearby lounge. At least her presence would probably halt Elizabeth’s tirade.

  “We’ll discuss this later,” Elizabeth snapped, and she brushed past Charlotte, leaving a lingering trace of a spicy perfume in her wake.

  “You should have reapplied the concealer,” Gran said. “Come and show Esther.”

  “Gran, you shouldn’t eavesdrop.” Charlotte peered in the hall mirror. She sighed at the telltale bruises and entered the lounge. “I don’t think more makeup will help, and why would Esther want to see my neck?”

  “Did you get everything on my list?” Gran asked.

  “I did. I’ll bring it in after I unpack the groceries.”

  “Excellent.” Gran clapped her hands together and cast a conspiratorial grin at Esther. “I have news. You have an appointment at Marlborough Media on Tuesday at five thirty. They managed to squeeze you in.”

  Purchase One Night of Misbehavior

  About Shelley

  USA Today bestselling author Shelley Munro lives in Auckland, the City of Sails, with her husband and a cheeky Jack Russell/mystery breed puppy.

  Typical New Zealanders, Shelley and her husband left home for their big OE soon after they married (translation of New Zealand speak – big overseas experience). A twelve-month long adventure lengthened to six years of roaming the world. Enduring memories include being almost sat on by a mountain gorilla in Rwanda, lazing on white sandy beaches in India, whale watching in Alaska, searching for leprechauns in Ireland, and dealing with ghosts in an English pub.

  While travel is still a big attraction, these days Shelley is most likely found in front of her computer following another love – that of writing stories of romance and adventure. Other interests include watching rugby (strictly for research purposes), cycling, baking bread and curling up with an enjoyable book.

  Visit Shelley at her website.

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  Visit Shelley’s Facebook author page.

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  Other titles by Shelley Munro

  Contemporary

  Wild Child

  Cat Burglar in Trainingr />
  One Night of Misbehavior

  Blindside

  Fringe Benefits

  Lovers at Last

  Ain’t Misbehaving

  Playing to Win

  Summer Encounter

  Reformed Bad Girl

  Stranger Things Happen

  Friendship Chronicles

  Secret Lovers

  Reunited Lovers

  Clandestine Lovers

  Part-Time Lovers

  Enemy Lovers

  Military Men

  Innocent Next Door

  Soldiers with Benefits

  Safeguarding Sorrel

  Bundle

  Military Men

  Paranormal

  Sea of Change

  Price of Love

  Lynx to the Pharaoh

  Curse of Brandon Lupinus

  Dragon Investigators

  Blue Moon Dragon

  Blood Moon Dragon

  Middlemarch Capture

  Snared by Saber

  Favored by Felix

  Lost with Leo

  Bundle

  Middlemarch Capture

  Middlemarch Shifters

  My Scarlet Woman

  My Younger Lover

  My Peeping Tom

  My Assassin

  My Estranged Lover

  My Feline Protector

  My Determined Suitor

  My Cat Burglar

  My Stray Cat

  My Second Chance

  My Plan B

  My Cat Nap

  My Romantic Tangle

  Bundle

  Middlemarch Shifters 1 – 3

  Middlemarch Shifters 4 - 6

  House of the Cat series

  Sampled & Seduced

  Captured & Seduced

  Claimed & Seduced

  Merry & Seduced

  Stranded & Seduced

  Seized & Seduced

  Hunted & Seduced

  Festive & Seduced

  Bundle

  House of the Cat

  Sci-fi/Futuristic

  Interplanetary Love

  Alien Encounter series

  Janaya

  Hinekiri

  Alexandre

  Bundle

  Alien Encounter

  Gay Romance

  No Defense

  Best Man

  Last Wish

  Curse Across Time

  Eye on the Ball

  Fallen Idol

  Historical

  The Spurned Viscountess

  Evening Tryst

  Unforgettable

  Copyright Page

  Part-Time Lovers

  Copyright © 2017 Shelley Munro

  ISBN: 978-0-9941483-9-1

  Cover: The Killion Group

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Shelley Munro