Page 28 of Size Doesn't Matter

Her frown deepened as she picked up the device and began reading, unsurprised to find it was an online gossip column masquerading as a news article. A photograph of her and Jack kissing on the ballroom balcony at midnight sat front and centre under a headline that read“New Year, New Lovers!”

Celebrity couple Ethan Martin and Sophie Bennett have split (again), only this time it seems to be sticking! Sources confirmed that even though the on-again, off-again pair stayed at the same luxury hotel in North Queensland for the big night, Martin and Bennett spent New Year’s Eve partying with other people. When the clock struck twelve, some eagle-eyed partygoers were shocked to see Sophie Bennett ringing in the New Year with Martin’s younger brother, the notoriously reclusive Jonathon “Jack” Martin, and all evidence points to their interaction being anything but platonic.

Martin’s wife—

Wait. What? Martin’s wife?Sophie’s breath seized in her lungs, her heart practically stopped in her chest and her brain stalled, snagged on that one tiny word.

Tiny, but significant.

Wife.

Jack had a wife?

A feeling of dread slithered over her skin, and her palms grew clammy. Her throat bobbed as she audibly swallowed, as she tried to quell the shock, the hurt, the urge to hit something—or someone. Her hand clenched around Ethan’s phone until she heard the device creak in protest.

“Soph?” Ethan said slowly, his deep voice edged with caution. “Are you okay?”

Closing her eyes for a moment, she sucked down a much-needed breath, then lifted her gaze to his, smiled, and said, “I’m fine.”

She was far from fine, but she also had an audience, including the man she’d allegedly had an affair with. It was not the time to freak out or make a scene, so she kept reading.

Martin’s wife, Sydney socialite Lisa Bancroft, with whom he is currently in the midst of a lengthy and acrimonious divorce, stated that she wasn’t surprised by her husband’s behaviour, insinuating that his marital indiscretions were the cause of their split three years ago.

Industry insiders say it’s highly likely Mr Martin will soon be named CEO of Martin Cosmetics after his mother, founder of the company and current CEO, Sienna Martin, announced her retirement just before Christmas.

Those same insiders say Sophie Bennett has spent the last few months aggressively campaigning to be named the new face for the Martin Cosmetics all-natural product line, and that her blind ambition caused the tension that saw Ethan Martin distancing himself from her in recent days.

With this new relationship coming to light, the question must be asked: If Ms Bennett succeeds in her campaign, will it be because of what she knows or who she knows? Only time will tell.

Ms Bennett is the daughter of former fashion model turned photographer Paul Bennett and the late Italian fashion icon Sofia Montini, sometimes known in social circles as Sofia Martini due to her partying lifestyle. Ms Montini passed away ten years ago from an accidental drug overdose.

Neither Ethan Martin nor Jack Martin was available for comment.

“What. In the actual. Fuck?” she murmured, scrolling back through the article to stare at the photograph of her and Jack kissing outside the ballroom.

From the angle of the photo, she could tell it had been taken from inside the ballroom, and that it was from before Jack had dragged her to the shadowy corner. Just enough light had fallen over them to show their faces, to show their lips locked and their bodies pressed together in a very non-platonic way.

Her hands were pulling him closer. His hands were curled around her hips, holding her against his erection. Not that anyone could have seenthat. But she’d certainly felt it. Like an iron bar stabbing into her.

A thick, heavy iron bar.

An involuntary shiver gripped her at the memory, and at the sight of Jack’s big hands clutching her to him, at the memory of them touching her, stroking over her heated skin, slipping easily inside her willing body.

Was it crazy that even now, after everything she’d just discovered, she still wanted to crawl into his lap and let him soothe her? That the thought of being in his arms again made her heart race and her pussy wet?

Absolutely.

On both counts.

Jack Martin didn’t deserve to touch her. He’d lied to her. Tricked her. And now her reputation was being called into question. A reputation she’d worked so hard to cultivate. She’d never slept with anyone for a job, and she certainly didn’t sleep with married men. She wasn’t her mother and never would be.

The urge to hit something flooded through her again, but again she counted to ten and took a deep breath. Violence never solved anything.

Nobody else said a word as she sat there, thinking. Silently imploding. It was as if they understood she needed the silence to unpack and absorb the volume of information that had just been dumped in her lap. So much to unpack, but out of everything, she kept going back to that one tiny titbit. The one thing that stood out more than the rest.

Shoving down her hurt, she turned in her seat and glared up at Jack, then snarled, “You’re married?”

11

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