Free The Girl Before Eve by Lisa J Hobman

your presentation go? Did your lesson go okay? And did the kids seem to like you?” Eve’s questions came out in a rush, making Adam smile.
    He chuckled. “Erm…hang on…let me get this right…not really…quite well…great and yes.”
    “Adam!” She sounded frustrated.
    “Sorry…the presentation went great thanks to you making me be uber prepared. The practise lesson was brilliant! We had a discussion about acrostic poems. I got them all to make an acrostic poem using their names. Some of them were amazing. I was so impressed. The kids were great fun. Awww, I really want this job, Evie.”
    She sighed. “You’ll get it, honey. I just know you will.”
    “I wish I had your optimism. Anyway, when are you coming over? I miss you and I haven’t made love to you in almost a week.” His voice turned to a husky low whisper.
    She moaned in his ear, sending shivers down his spine. “Hmmm, I was thinking the same thing. I would’ve come over tonight but I thought you might be too tired.”
    He sat upright. “Too tired for you? Never. Come over now if you like.”
    “I’ve just got some things to sort out for work and then I’ll come over, okay?”
    “Hmmm, can’t wait. Hurry up, okay?”
    ♥♥♥
    After leaving university Eve had moved with her friends into a house on the outskirts of Edinburgh, on the route to Jedburgh. Her post-grad internship with a small local newspaper didn’t pay much, but considering she had three other housemates her rent was fairly low. She was stuck doing the births, deaths and marriages (AKA hatches, matches, and dispatches) at first but didn’t really mind. Adam had attended several interviews but had been hitherto unsuccessful. High school English teacher vacancies were few and far between and the competition for each one fierce. More applicants than available posts; that was the issue.
    This latest one had felt different. The high school was a fairly rural prospect but the kids had been great. Very respectful, unless they were lulling him into a false sense of security—a highly plausible prospect.
    Adam shared a house with a guy named Max that he too had met at uni. He had been working, along with Max, in a large bookstore in the centre of Edinburgh to tide him over, and his work colleagues were rooting for him.
    Lily? Well, Lily had inherited a tidy sum from a Spanish aunt and had gone travelling. She had spent less and less time around them lately and had a string of loser boyfriends who she joked she was just using for sex. Travelling had been something she had always dreamed of. And so when the opportunity arose, she grabbed it with both hands. Her gift of the gab meant she quickly made contacts and was soon busy working as a freelance journalist as she travelled, which kept her in the lifestyle to which she had quickly become accustomed.
    Every so often either Adam or Eve would receive a postcard or a letter containing a photo of her in the arms of some Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish man. She looked as if she was having fun. Adam hoped she was. As if waiting in the wings, the phone rang as soon as he had hung up from his call to Eve. It was Lily.
    “G’day, Adders! So are you soon going to be teaching the children of some poor unsuspecting Scottish parents or what?”
    He held the phone away from his ear as Lily’s voice boomed down the receiver into his ill-prepared cochlear. “Hey, Lil. No news yet. I think it went well though.”
    “Fantastic! So what are you up to? Is Eve there?”
    “No, not yet. She’s coming over soon, though. Where are you?”
    She snorted down the line. “Durrr! Australia! Didn’t you get that from my greeting?”
    He nodded as if she could see him. “Ah, yes sorry. Fried brain. Having a good time down under?”
    “It’s awesome, Adders! And I have met the most goooorgeous guy! His name is Chris and he’s really hot. He’s a fucking underwear model!” She squealed.
    “Hmmm, great. What happened to Alberto?” He remembered the