Love and Liability (Dating Mr Darcy - Book 2) by Katie Oliver Page A

her. “‘How to Avoid a Dodgy Date’,” he read, and frowned. “I could’ve used this one at university. I once went out to dinner with a girl who smelt suspiciously of marijuana and ordered one of everything on the menu.”
    “Give me those.” She held out her hand.
    He ignored her. “Ah, here’s a must-read — ‘My Bezzie Mate Stole My Lad!’” He shook his head. “It’s a jungle out there.”
    “Alex,” Holly warned him, “if you don’t hand those magazines over right now…”
    He grinned. “I had no idea teen magazines were so entertaining.” He flipped to the last one in the pile. “Wait a minute — this one’s yours, isn’t it?” He held up the latest issue of
BritTEEN
.
    Her heart throbbing as badly as her foot, Holly tried to grab it away. “Yes. Come on, Alex, enough already! Give me those stupid magazines!”
    “Wait a minute…let me just see if my interview’s in here.” He turned to the table of contents. “Ah, yes, here it is — ‘One Outrageous Question with Hottie Henry’.” He looked up in mild surprise. “Hottie Henry?”
    “Alex, please, give me that—”
    But he found page thirty-seven and glanced at his picture. “I’m glad you used that photo,” he approved. “One of my mates took that one. I remember it well. A bunch of us hired a sailboat in Belize a couple of years ago…”
    Holly waited in an agony of dread as he began to read the interview. His smile faltered, then faded altogether.
    He lowered the magazine and looked at her. “My off-the-record comments —
both
of them — are in here. How can that be?”
    “It’s a mistake, Alex. It’s all a terrible mistake.”
    “A mistake,” he repeated. His eyes narrowed. “You knew about this. That’s why you tried to grab it away just now.”
    Holly opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
    “Did you know about this at dinner last night?”
    “I — no — yes,” she admitted miserably. “Yes. I did.”
    “And you didn’t think to tell me?”
    “Of course I did! I thought about it a lot. I even left you a voice message.”
    “A voice message?” he echoed, and frowned. “Well, I wouldn’t know, would I? Thanks to you, my phone’s been out of commission since you dropped it in the vichyssoise last night…” His words trailed away, and suspicion dawned on his face. “Wait a minute! You landed my phone in the soup on
purpose
, didn’t you?”
    “No!” Holly protested. “That’s ridiculous.”
    “Oh, no, it isn’t. It makes perfect sense. You left me a message, and then you had second thoughts. So you sabotaged my mobile!”
    “I didn’t want to — to upset your digestion before dinner. And I didn’t want to ruin your evening.”
    “Ruin my evening?” he echoed, his dark eyes black with anger as he stood and flung the magazine aside. “You’ve ruined more than my evening, Ms James. You’ve ruined my career!”
    Holly bristled
.
“Now you’re just being dramatic! No one’s career is in jeopardy. Except maybe mine,” she added.
    “My quote’s been taken completely out of context!” Alex went on, furious. “Where’s the bit I said about the couple being responsible, consenting
adults
? It’s not there! And I told you I might stand for MP in strictest confidence!”
    “Look — I’m sorry about that stuff being printed, okay? I didn’t put it in the interview, or, at least, I don’t
think
I did, but it must’ve got left in with the final proof—”
    “Actually, Ms James,” Alex cut in coldly, “I don’t care how it happened. You leave me no choice but to pursue legal action against
BritTEEN
for libel.”
    Despite the lurch of fear his words evoked, Holly kept her face expressionless. If Alex Barrington sued the magazine, Sasha would have the perfect excuse — neatly wrapped and tied with a bow — to sack her. “I hardly think you want to do that, Mr Barrington. You’ll only make things worse by drawing attention to the matter. Besides, it’s all in