He's the One by Katie Price Page B

me?’
    ‘I thought you’d take me more seriously if I said I was twenty-one. And that’s only two years out.’
    ‘And what about this girl you broke up with – your mum pretty much said that you were on the rebound from a broken heart.’
    ‘Oh, she did, did she? Yeah, I was cut up when shedumped me, but I don’t suppose my mom told you that she dumped me for my best friend? I think his betrayal hurt more. My mom is saying all these things to undermine you and make you think that what we have isn’t real. But we know it is, don’t we?’
    He looked and sounded so convincing and she so wanted to believe him, to believe in the dream that he could stay in the UK and they could be together …
    ‘Yes,’ she murmured, pressing her lips to his. ‘Yes, it is real.’
    Melissa was as good as her word. When Cory met Liberty after work the next day he revealed that his parents had stopped his regular allowance. He wouldn’t have enough to cover his rent. She really was a witch, Liberty thought. How could someone do that to their own son?
    ‘I’m going to have to get a job,’ he said, as they sat on the grass in the Pavilion gardens, catching the last rays of the September sun.
    ‘I should be getting paid from that modelling job soon. How about I lend you some money, just to tide you over?’
    He shook his head. ‘No way are you doing that. You need that for you and Brooke. And I want to prove to my parents that they don’t have to bankroll me, that I can make it on my own. It’ll be good for me.’ Cory grinned at her, ‘I know you think I have been a bit spoiled, admit it, so now comes the reality check.’
    ‘But what about your painting?’
    ‘I can do that whenever. That’s what other artists have had to do.’
    A day later Cory got himself a job at a popular bar along the seafront. His shifts started at six p.m. and didn’t end until after midnight. Liberty couldn’timagine when she would ever see him. But Cory was upbeat and didn’t seem to share her concern.
    ‘It’ll be cool – I’ll give you a key and you can call by when your shift finishes at the restaurant, whenever your mum can babysit, or I can come to yours. This doesn’t have to change anything.’
    Liberty didn’t want to tell him that she wouldn’t be able to do that all the time. She didn’t want to point out that she had other responsibilities, that she had to get up at half-past seven every morning without fail so as to see to Brooke. She didn’t want to put a downer on everything as she could see how much getting the job meant to Cory. But as soon as he started work, it was like the unravelling of their brilliant summer together. His first shift didn’t finish until one-thirty a.m. Liberty had done as he’d suggested and let herself into his flat. She stayed up until half-past midnight, taking a long bath, listening to music, planning to surprise him by lying on the sofa in her sexiest underwear. But the evenings were getting cool, and after lying there shivering for a few minutes, she retreated into the bedroom and under the duvet.
    She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew Cory was sliding into bed next to her, and kissing her neck. Sleepily she turned round to kiss him.
    ‘This is the best thing ever, getting into bed with you already there,’ he murmured, sliding his hands over her body. Sleepy as she was, she instantly responded to his touch and soon she was gasping with pleasure.
    She expected to fall asleep after that, with his arms round her as they always did. Instead he sat up. ‘D’you want a drink? I can’t sleep yet, I’m totally wired.’
    She stifled a yawn. ‘Okay, but I’ll just have a cup of tea.’ She pulled on one of his t-shirts and followed him into the kitchen, where he poured himself a largemeasure of Jack Daniel’s, topped up with a small amount of Coke, and made her a cup of tea.
    ‘So how was it then?’ Liberty asked, folding her arms to try and keep warm.
    He shrugged.