Free Jessie Slaymaker's Non-Existent Love Life (The Jessie Slaymaker Series) by Jo Iles Page A

fact, it was quite a pleasant fantasy, and he drove the rest of the distance home enjoying himself. It was only when he parked up in his parking space that he realised, he couldn’t remember anything on the road after he’d seen the man walking his dog.
    ‘Oh shit,’ Tom said, grasping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.

Chapter 25
    Thankfully, work seemed to ease up at the bank the following week, allowing everyone to get back to normal working hours and catch up on their beauty sleep. The seemingly extra time people had succeeded in putting everyone in a better mood, and people realised they could actually do other things besides work, like have a social life and go out. Even go out on dates .
    Jessie was in the communal pantry area, enjoying the luxury of being able to grab a coffee, when Charlie went marching past. He seemed to clock her at the last second as he was just about past her, then turned around and returned to the pantry to talk to her. Charlie had deviated from his path. To come and talk to her . Jessie was honoured.
    Charlie came and leaned against the kitchen counter and slowly folded his arms across his chest.
    ‘Would you like one?’ Jessie asked, pointing at her own mug.
    ‘No thanks. So Jessie, I’ve been thinking about something.’ Jessie inhaled as she waited for a fresh truckload of work to be dumped on her desk.
    ‘I meant to ask a while ago,’ he continued, ‘but things just got so crazy here. Would you like to go out for dinner on Friday?’
    ‘Yes, sure, that would be great,’ she replied so eagerly that she sloshed coffee over the sides of her mug, barely missing herself. She willed herself to calm down and play it cooler as she shook her hands, spraying little coffee droplets everywhere.
    ‘Great,’ Charlie said, pretending not to notice the spillage she’d made.
    ‘But Friday’s tomorrow,’ she said, half as a statement and half as a question. That was quite short notice, especially considering she didn’t have the foggiest idea what she was going to wear.
    ‘Yes, is that a problem?’ he asked.
    ‘No, no, not at all.’
    ‘Great, I’ll get a table sorted for eight-thirty at that new tapas place opposite the station, okay?’
    ‘Great, sounds perfect. I’m already looking forward to it.’ Jessie beamed at his back as he went back on his way. She knew she was far from playing it cool, but she didn’t care. She was overjoyed to be going out on a date with Charlie. At last . At long fucking last. She wasn’t going to leave him with any doubts about her interest in him. She was too old to play coy.
    Jessie practically skipped back to her desk and grabbed her phone.
    ‘Hey Tom, how’s things?’
    ‘Good. What can I do for you?’ he asked.
    ‘We have a wardrobe emergency and I need you tonight at my place. You on?’
    ‘Okay,’ he said, a little warily.
    ‘Great.’

Chapter 26
    ‘Please, Jack. I need you to be my wingman. Nick’s gone and got himself married, and at this short notice no one whose company I can stand is still available.’
    ‘Gee, thanks,’ Jack said, stifling a chuckle.
    ‘You know what I mean. You’re good company. Great company, even. I’ve been after this Nadia chick since the wedding. She’s finally agreed to go out with me, as long as it’s a double date. Like I said, I need you. Plus, you look like you need cheering up. You’ve been moping around the place for days now,’ Charlie added, knowing full well he’d get his way in the end.
    ‘Okay, okay. I’ll come. What’s her friend like?’ Jack asked, cocking an eyebrow.
    ‘No idea. She bailed yesterday, so I’ve found a replacement, or else Nadia would have cancelled the whole thing,’ Charlie said, rifling through his work bag distractedly.
    ‘Who’s the replacement then?’ Jack prodded when his brother didn’t enlighten him further.
    ‘A girl from work, named Jessie. She was at the wedding, maybe you met her there?’ Charlie said vaguely.
    ‘Yes,