Sapphire (11 page)

‘Fine by me, see you later, babe.’

With the reconciliation complete Sapphire could focus on getting ready. She was glad they had made up, she didn’t like things to be unresolved. As she didn’t want Ryan to think that she’d made too much effort, she decided to wear her skinny jeans, black knee-high boots with killer heels, a sheer black shirt and a black leather jacket. As she made one final check in the mirror before setting out she was starting to feel in a much better mood. She knew she looked good. And the expression on Ryan’s face when she walked into the bar of Hotel du Vin told her that he thought so too. Sapphire felt herself glowing under his gaze.

As they sipped champagne and talked Ryan made no secret of the fact that he found Sapphire very attractive, giving her appraising looks, making her feel that he only had eyes for her. He seemed interested in everything she had to say and wanted to know all about how she started her own business. She in turn was very interested in him. He intrigued her and was definitely more than just a pretty face. He was thirty-three and for the last five years had been running clubs in Ibiza, and before that he was a model.

‘I’ll have to Google you when I get back,’ she joked.

‘Ah, my glory days of defined abs,’ he replied.

Sapphire thought back to the morning when she’d caught a glimpse of his abs and golden-brown skin. He still looked bloody good! But he didn’t seem like he needed the compliment so she kept it to herself. Before
the modelling he’d played in a band, taught scuba diving and travelled round the world. Now he wanted to make a success of the club and maybe start others around the country. It was refreshing talking to someone about business and who’d had such a varied career. There was only so much interest she could show in Jay’s work as a personal trainer.

The subtle flirting continued over lunch. Sapphire felt as if all her senses were on high alert. She was hyper-conscious of her body and of his. When her hand brushed against his as she reached for her glass she felt as if she’d had an electric shock.

‘So, how come you got the name Sapphire?’ Ryan asked.

Sapphire smiled, ‘My mum wanted to call me Sara but my dad said that wasn’t nearly exciting enough for his daughter and that he wanted me to be called Sapphire, to match my blue eyes. Dad didn’t realise that all babies are born with blue eyes – luckily for him, and me, my eyes stayed blue.’

Ryan did another of his direct gazes into her eyes, ‘They’re an incredible colour.’ He paused. ‘But then you’re an incredibly beautiful woman.’

Sapphire, who always tried to come across as uber-cool in her dealings with men, felt herself blush. She mumbled, ‘I’m not, but thank you,’ doing a mental head slap for sounding so unsure of herself.

Ryan was having none of it, ‘Oh, I think you know the effect you have on men.’ Another pause, then he said softly, ‘You’re having quite an effect on me. I’ve hardly stopped thinking about you since we met.’

Sapphire’s stomach flipped dangerously. Fortunately or unfortunately, Sapphire was feeling too flustered to decide which, the waiter arrived with their main courses – sea bass for her, duck for Ryan – and she was saved from having to reply. Instead she steered the
conversation in a completely different direction asking Ryan how he met Alfie and what plans they had for the club.

Ryan answered all her questions as if they amused him before leaning over the table and saying, ‘You can’t distract me that easily. I told you, I’ve hardly stopped thinking about you.’

‘I’ve got a boyfriend,’ Sapphire replied, flicking her hair back, still trying to play it cool.

‘Lucky him . . . what does he do?’

‘He’s a personal trainer.’

Ryan’s lips twitched, ‘Impressive body I imagine.’

‘Very,’ Sapphire replied, trying to channel thoughts of Jay and how lovely he was to stop the lustful thoughts of Ryan that were taking over her mind.

‘But—’ Ryan hesitated.

‘But what?’

‘I can’t imagine he’s your equal. I would have thought it wouldn’t take much for a woman like you to get bored.’

Sapphire shook her head, ‘Actually, you’re wrong. Jay is a lovely guy. I’m lucky to have him.’

She suddenly felt horribly disloyal sitting flirting with Ryan. She was sure Jay would never behave like this with another woman. It’s just business, she tried to tell herself. But she knew it wasn’t just business. For the remainder of the meal she did her best to pull herself together, to stop all the eye contact, but still she was aware of Ryan’s gaze, of his long legs just inches away from hers. And Ryan was on a mission to know more about her. ‘I’m sure Alfie would be jealous if he knew we were having lunch together.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘I think he realises he made a mistake when he let you go.’

‘He didn’t let me go! I divorced him for cheating on me!’

Ryan leant closer. ‘For what it’s worth, I think he was a fool.’

‘Yeah, well, he’s ancient history now, believe me.’

‘So you don’t have any feelings for him any more?’ Ryan continued.

Sapphire shook her head. ‘I can just about face seeing him about business but that’s it.’

Ryan smiled, as if satisfied with her answer.

After the meal, which he insisted on paying for, despite Sapphire’s protestations – usually she always paid or went half – he asked if she had time for a coffee in the bar. They’d spent so long over lunch it was already five. She was due at Jay’s family in an hour and a half. She should probably make a move, but somehow she wasn’t ready to leave just yet. She was enjoying his company far too much.

While Ryan ordered coffee, Sapphire nipped to the bathroom and checked herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed and there was a glint in her eye. It’s nothing, she tried to tell herself, I’m just window shopping, no more than that, but she took her time touching up her make-up all the same.

When she returned she discovered that Ryan had chosen a sofa in the darkest, most intimate part of the bar. There were no other chairs, she would have to sit next to him. ‘I thought we were just having coffee!’ she exclaimed as Ryan handed her a rather large brandy.

He smiled and held up his glass, ‘Cheers, thanks for coming out for lunch with me, Sapphire.’

‘Thank you,’ she clinked her glass against his. Ryan stretched out his arms, so one was draped near her shoulder. She could feel to the warmth of his arm through her flimsy shirt. He was so sure of himself, it was very sexy. She’d missed that with Jay. She was always the one paying for dinner when they went out, even though he always offered, but he couldn’t possibly afford to take her to the places she wanted to go. She couldn’t deny that it was nice being treated for a change.

‘So, do you have a girlfriend?’ she asked, trying to ignore the delicious rush she was getting from being so close to him.

He shook his head, ‘Just split up with someone. I’m entirely single.’

Suddenly a treacherous thought snaked its way into Sapphire’s head that right now she wished that she was as well. Then she’d be free to flirt with Ryan and not just flirt . . .

He took another sip of his champagne. ‘So, how long have you been seeing your boyfriend?’

‘Nearly five months.’

‘As long as that? Time for the five-month itch, isn’t it?’ He grinned wickedly.

Sapphire shrugged. She could have defended what she had with Jay, which after all, for the most part was very good, but the devil inside her made her say, ‘Yeah, it probably is.’ She sipped her brandy and looked at Ryan. ‘Actually he just asked me to marry him.’

As soon as she said it she felt another stab of disloyalty. Why was she doing this? She just couldn’t help herself.

‘He’s keen. I admire his style. But,’ another pause, another considering look, ‘you’re not the marrying kind any more are you?’

‘Why d’you say that?’

‘Just a feeling I get. You’re like me, you don’t want to be tied down to one person, you want to experience everything life has to offer. I see a lot of myself in you.’

‘How much exactly?’ Sapphire asked naughtily, wondering how many inches, then giggled. ‘Sorry I didn’t mean that.’

‘Bet you’d like to know, wouldn’t you?’ Ryan leant closer to her. Sapphire was aware she was now in extremely dangerous territory. It was time to pull back. She shook her head, ‘No, no. That’s one thing I have plenty of, believe me.’

‘There’s always room for an upgrade though, isn’t there?’ Ryan said softly.

If it had been any other man bragging about his sexual prowess Sapphire would have been quick off the mark with a put-down. Somehow Ryan left her lost for words.

Suddenly she remembered the time. She checked her watch. Shit! It was nearly seven. She was horribly late for Jay’s. ‘Look, I’ve really got to go, thanks so much for lunch.’

‘Next time we’ll do dinner,’ Ryan told her, standing up and helping her on with her jacket. Again she felt a rush of lust at his touch. Bad girl. ‘It was good to spend time with you Sapphire, I hope I’ll see you again soon,’ he said, then ducked down and kissed her cheek.

Sapphire practically ran out of the bar, not easy as she was in her high boots, and raced into an off-licence to buy a bottle of champagne, then dashed to the taxi rank. She checked her phone, there was already a text from Jay asking where she was – ‘am on my way, sorry’, she texted back.

During the taxi journey Sapphire tried to compose herself. She felt light-headed, not just from drinking at lunch time but also from all the flirting with Ryan. At the time it had been so intoxicating and exciting, knowing how much he wanted her. Now guilt was creeping in. She never should have behaved like that, what had she been thinking of? It was all very well blaming Jay for his proposal, which had derailed her; she knew she had crossed a line. But the fact was she really did find Ryan very attractive. She just about managed to pull herself together by the time the taxi drew up outside a small terraced house. Clearly Jay’s family were not afraid of colour as the house was painted purple with sky blue doors and window frames. Jay’s mum, Vicky, opened the door to her. She was a very pretty blonde in her
mid-forties, dressed in skinny jeans and a cute red T-shirt with a cherry motif that Sapphire had her eye on in Topshop.

‘You must be Sapphire. Come on in!’ Sapphire stretched out her hand but instead Vicky gave her a warm hug and kiss on the cheek and led Sapphire downstairs to the large basement kitchen–dining room where the family were well into their first course.

Immediately Jay leapt from his chair and hugged her. ‘Where were you babe? I was worried.’

‘Sorry, I got held up in a business meeting.’ God, she hated herself for lying.

‘Come on, Jay, let Sapphire sit down and pour her a drink, she’s probably had a really long day.’ Vicky declared, making Sapphire feel even more guilty.

Sapphire sat opposite Jay’s twin sisters, Estelle and Marissa, two stunning fifteen-year-old girls.

‘You’re well too good-looking to be going out with Jay!’ Marissa exclaimed.

‘Just ignore them,’ Jay said, ‘They’re total air heads.’ He introduced her to his dad Clayton next, a tall, handsome man in his late forties.

‘Happy birthday,’ she said, getting the champagne out of her bag.

‘The good stuff,’ Clayton replied. ‘Thank you Sapphire.’ He looked over at his son and said, ‘Keep this one Jay!’

‘If she plays her card right,’ Jay said cheekily.

Marissa piped up, ‘You’re older than Jay aren’t you?’

‘Yep, Jay’s her boy toy,’ Estelle put in, causing both girls to giggle.

‘Nothing wrong with that!’ Vicky protested, ‘I wish I’d had one instead of an older man like you, Clayton! But he cradle-snatched me when I was eighteen.’

‘And how old was I? All of twenty? You were the one who had her eye on me if I remember.’ He turned to
Sapphire. ‘I had no chance when we met at the Honey Club in Brighton.’

‘Cheek! You were the one who went after me!’ Vicky exclaimed.

Jay rolled his eyes at Sapphire. ‘Sorry, babe, you see what I have to put up with.’

As Jay opened the bottle and poured out champagne, Sapphire was struck by the warmth and energy of his family and by the easy chatter flowing between them all. It was so different from her strained conversations with her own mum, where neither of them ever really said what they felt. ‘You’re lucky,’ Sapphire told him, ‘it’s no fun being an only child.’

Vicky overheard and asked Sapphire about her family. Usually Sapphire hated talking about her mum and about her dad dying, but Vicky was so easy to talk to, so sympathetic, that she found herself opening up, telling them how worried she was that her mum hardly seemed to do anything or have any kind of life. She didn’t mention the gambling.

‘She’s only fifty and yet she acts as if her life is over, it’s so depressing.’

‘Why don’t you get your mum to come over here? I’m a hairdresser and I work from home, I’d love to give her a new look. I always want my clients to make the best of themselves.’ Vicky’s face lit up – she obviously really enjoyed her work.

‘Well, Mum’s certainly not doing that at the moment,’ Sapphire said drily, recalling that the last time she saw Christine she was wearing a baggy velour purple tracksuit that had seen better days.

‘Interrogation over!’ Clayton ruled. ‘Let the poor girl eat.’

Sapphire looked down at the food piled on her plate. She wasn’t in the least bit hungry. She managed a few mouthfuls of chicken and glanced round the room. The
kitchen–dining room was a riot of colour – the walls were burnt orange and covered in photographs of the family and in the children’s drawings from when they were little; there was a fire blazing away in the fireplace, a fat ginger cat asleep in front of it, a green velvet sofa covered in brightly coloured cushions. The whole feel of the place was warm and vibrant. Sapphire thought of her mum’s house – the sterile, white kitchen that was always spotless, the living room cluttered with furniture and memories from another time. Now on top of feeling guilty about Jay, she was feeling guilty about her mum.

‘That was delicious,’ she said, putting her knife and fork down.

‘Jay cooked, he’s good isn’t he?’ Vicky replied.