Hard Lessons

By Samuel King

When his new student turns out to be a handsome property developer with a complicated past, teaching is the last thing on Jake's mind.

When recently single Jake heads off to rural Somerset for a job interview as a reading teacher, he's expecting his pupil to be a child, but it's the handsome and charismatic property dealer Nathan Foley who needs his help. Their relationship quickly becomes sexual, and Jake worries he is rushing into another relationship too fast. And, as the heat between them intensifies, Jake begins to question Nathan's motives.

Adding to the confusion is Nathan's bitter older sister, Alice, who seems to have taken an instant dislike to Jake, as well as a strange man who Jake spots wandering around the grounds of the house.

What is Alice's problem? Who is the handsome stranger? And are Nathan Foley's feelings entirely genuine? Perhaps Jake is the one who is about to learn a hard lesson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781913186296

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Pride Publishing books by Samuel King

Single Books

The Black Mask

HARD LESSONS

SAMUEL KING

Hard Lessons

ISBN # 978-1-913186-29-6

©Copyright Samuel King 2019

Cover Art by Leah Kay Suttle ©Copyright October 2019

Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

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Published in 2019 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.

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When his new student turns out to be a handsome property developer with a complicated past, teaching is the last thing on Jake’s mind.

When recently single Jake heads off to rural Somerset for a job interview as a reading teacher, he’s expecting his pupil to be a child, but it’s the handsome and charismatic property dealer Nathan Foley who needs his help. Their relationship quickly becomes sexual, and Jake worries he is rushing into another relationship too fast. And, as the heat between them intensifies, Jake begins to question Nathan’s motives.

Adding to the confusion is Nathan’s bitter older sister, Alice, who seems to have taken an instant dislike to Jake, as well as a strange man who Jake spots wandering around the grounds of the house.

What is Alice’s problem? Who is the handsome stranger? And are Nathan Foley’s feelings entirely genuine? Perhaps Jake is the one who is about to learn a hard lesson.

Trademark Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

The Phantom of the Opera: Gaston Leroux

Mr. Men: Roger Hargreaves

Affordable Art Fair: JCO’s Place LLC

Brideshead Revisited: Evelyn Waugh

Polo: PRL USA Holdings Inc.

Jeep: FCA US LLC

TASER: Taser International Inc.

Chapter One

During the taxi ride from the train station to the interview location, Jake began to wonder if his decision to escape London—and his ex, Matt—had been such a good idea. He wanted a change of scene, some time away from familiar places that held painful memories of himself and Matt together, but maybe he’d gone too far. He’d been in the cab for twenty minutes and, apart from one collection of cottages and a general store, he’d seen nothing but fields. He tried to relax and enjoy the scenery. If the job didn’t feel right or the location was just too remote, he didn’t have to take it. It might not even be offered to him.

On paper, it looked perfect—a two-month, live-in position at a large house in Somerset, teaching basic reading to a student. Jake assumed the pupil was a young child, maybe about to start school, whose parents wanted to give them a head start. The agency hadn’t given much away, which would normally have annoyed Jake, but the trip to Somerset had been paid for, including overnight accommodation if he wanted it. Any time away from the flat that he still shared with Matt until he was able to raise the deposit for his own place, was welcome.

Breaking up with Matt wasn’t the only challenge he’d had to face this year, and it was only March. He’d also lost his job as a copywriter at a small advertising agency. It had been his first job since university and he’d loved it, but the company had been forced to make cutbacks and he was the most junior person there and the last one employed. It was a case of last one in, first one out, and there was no redundancy as he’d not been there long enough to qualify. Three days after he’d received that bombshell, Matt had delivered the news that he was in love with someone else and felt their relationship had run its course.

So, here he was heading to an address in the middle of nowhere, hoping for two months of escapism while he worked out what to do next with his life.

Nearly there, said the driver, making Jake jump.

Oh, great, he replied.

He’s a nice bloke, Mr. Foley, said the driver, eyeing Jake in his rearview mirror. He was a gruff older guy, who had barely spoken since meeting Jake at the station. Five minutes later, he steered the car off the road onto a dirt track, which ended at two tall iron gates. The driver opened a window and leaned out, pushing an intercom button set in one of the brick gateposts.

Hello, said a female voice.

Got a visitor for Mr. Foley.

There followed an electronic buzz and the gates swung inward. This was all much grander than Jake had been expecting. The mud track turned into a driveway, bordered on either side by trees and dense shrubbery. The drive wound around