One Day in December: The Christmas read you won't want to put down
Page 30
‘They didn’t? How do you know that?’
Nina was grinning at her now, like she was the only one who had no idea what was going on. Not an unfamiliar situation, it would seem. ‘Mum, it’s been all over the internet! Haven’t you seen it? It’s like, the biggest social media story of the year.’
‘What is?’
Nina pulled out her phone. ‘Look. There’s Lila and that’s…’
*
Jean Pascal ran his fingers down the curve of her back, then back up across her shoulder blades, along her neck, her chin, stopping at her mouth. She kissed his finger, took it in her mouth, enjoying his groan of pleasure.
This was the sexiest man she’d ever known. And what did it matter if he barely spoke English, and the only French words she knew were Chanel and Gaultier? This was a true meeting of minds. Since Christmas Eve, when he’d sent her a first class ticket to join him in Paris, until now, they’d only left the bed to eat in gorgeous restaurants, luxuriate in a spa, take walks in the park, where they were relentlessly pursued by paparazzi. Neither of them minded.
This was like a dream come true. Jean Pascal loved to share their relationship on social media, so every public moment, and some not-so-public moments had been caught on camera and caused a frenzy when they were posted.
The irony was, none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for Ken and Cammy. If Ken hadn’t made her believe that he wanted to be with her, she’d have broken it off long ago. And then, when Cammy proposed, perhaps she’d have said yes, and there would have been no story, just a few hundred ‘likes’ on her Instagram page for a cute video and a few shots of an embarrassing ring.
She was destined for more than that. Jean Pascal’s video of her rejecting Cammy now had over a million ‘likes’ and tens of thousands of shares. Overnight she’d become a celebrity. People knew her. Others wanted to know her. Jean Pascal had chased her until he knew her intimately.
She had called her boss, informed him that she wouldn’t be coming down to head office for their meeting and told him he could shove his job. It might seem rash, but she was all about opportunity and this was one that she wasn’t going to refuse. He told her the company would have no option but to pursue her for the expenses she had illegally charged to her credit card, but when she’d gone crying to her parents about it, her dad had offered to pay it. He might not have been the most loving father when she was growing up, but at least the money showed just how much he loved her now.
So. Job gone. Cammy gone. Ken gone. But she didn’t care. That was her old life. This was her new one. Just her. Jean Pascal. And a camera lens.
Not that she was deluding herself. She’d done her research. She knew that Jean Pascal had a hideous reputation, and a long trail of womanising and broken relationships behind him. He was a serial playboy, who never settled with one woman for more than a couple of months. But Lila was pretty sure she could change that. And if she didn’t?
That was fine by her. The break-up would cause a huge stir, hit the headlines, bring her even more followers. Jean Pascal might have brought the attention, but she was pretty sure she had what it took to keep it.
Screw Ken. Screw his wife. Screw them all.
‘Cherie, show me sexy.’ Lila glanced up to see Jean Pascal holding up his phone. She shook her hair, adopted her best pose, smouldered into the lens.
She had everything she needed right here.
Her life was perfect.
The whole world could see that.
Click.
THE END
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Acknowledgements
With immense and heartfelt thanks to the incredible team at Aria. I’m so happy to have found my publishing home here.
About Shari Low
SHARI LOWS lives in Glasgow and writes a weekly opinion column and Book Club page for a well known newspaper. She is married to a very laid-back guy and has two athletic teenage sons, who think she’s fairly embarrassing, except when they need a lift.
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A Letter from the Author
Dearest Reader,
Thank you so much for choosing to read my book – I hope you loved it.
The basis of all my books is friendship, so I hope that when you turn the last page of one of my novels, you feel like you’ve had a meeting with a friend, one that may be happy, or sad, or facing tough times, or laughing until their sides hurt.
Most of all, one that you want to keep in touch with.
So please join me on Facebook, Twitter, and pop over to my website – follow the links below.
And of course, I’d be hugely thankful if you’d leave a review or share your thoughts on social media – don’t forget to tag me!
With love and thanks,
Shari x
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Addictive Fiction
First published in the UK in 2017 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Shari Low, 2017
The moral right of Shari Low to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786699008
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