Up Close and Personal (22 page)

‘What are you doing?’ Connor asked.

She smiled and unzipped his flies. The next moment, his flaccid penis was in her mouth.

Connor flinched as she began teasing the tip of his glans with her tongue. He’d been having frenetic sex with Zoe all afternoon. He didn’t think his cock could take much more punishment. ‘Sorry, Nic,’ he said, twisting his hips so he fell out of her mouth. ‘I’m just not in the mood.’

Nicole sat back on her haunches and glared at him. ‘That’s a shame.’ She picked up her dress and put it on. She wished she hadn’t bothered buying the underwear now; it had cost a fortune. ‘I’d better go and check on Tilly,’ she said.

‘Good idea,’ Connor said, reaching for the remote. ‘Get me another G and T before you go up, will you?’

Nicole rose to her feet. ‘Get it yourself.’

On the other side of Loxwood, the offices of the
Sunday Post
lay in darkness. It was the Chief Sub’s retirement do and all the staff had decamped to their local to give him one of the paper’s traditional alcoholic send-offs. All, that is, except Yasmin. The showbiz editor was still at her desk putting the finishing touches to her interview with a former game-show host and recovering coke addict who was promoting his autobiography. Her subject had been edgy and uncooperative and – when he’d visited the bathroom for the second time in the space of an hour – she found herself wondering if he really had kicked the drugs. Back in the office, she’d struggled to salvage enough decent quotes from her transcript to make up the fifteen hundred words the editor was expecting in the morning – but finally, after a lot of writing and rewriting, she’d managed to pull something decent together.

By eleven p.m., Yasmin was exhausted. The introductory
paragraph still needed a few tweaks, but she was as good as there. All she needed was one last hit of caffeine to help her on her way. Executing a giant yawn, she stood up and wandered over to the vending machine in the hallway. After selecting a watery cup of cappuccino, she carried it to the window, which overlooked the empty car park. Sighing, Yasmin shut her eyes and massaged her lids with a fingertip, trying to relieve the scratchy veil of fatigue. When she opened them again, the car park was no longer deserted. A lone figure dressed in low-slung jeans and a leather jacket was walking towards the building. As he passed under a street lamp, she realized it was Rob.

By the time the sports editor walked into the office, Yasmin was back at her desk.

‘You’re working late,’ he said gruffly as he walked past her.

‘I’m just finishing off this piece for the supplement,’ Yasmin replied. She watched as her colleague switched on his desk lamp and began foraging in his pen tidy.

‘Forgotten something, have you?’ she asked.

The sports editor held up a set of house keys. ‘Just these,’ he said. ‘I’m not going to get very far without them.’

Yasmin noticed his voice was slightly slurred; he’d obviously had a few. ‘Good evening was it?’

‘Yeah, you missed out big-time.’ Rob shoved the keys in his jeans pocket and clicked off the desk lamp. ‘You know, you really should make more of an effort to be sociable,’ he remarked. ‘Tony’s been with the paper for the best part of twenty years. Didn’t you want to say goodbye to him?’

Yasmin’s eyes didn’t leave her computer screen. ‘I’ve already told you – I’ve got a deadline.’

Rob snorted. ‘Hoping to earn more brownie points with the editor, were you?’ When she didn’t reply, he went over to her desk and began reading her copy over her shoulder.

‘Your opening paragraph’s a bit clunky,’ he said. ‘If I were you, I’d start by describing what the guy looked like. That’s the sort of thing female readers are interested in.’

Yasmin glared at him. ‘Piss off, Rob. If I need your help, I’ll ask for it.’

‘Suit yourself,’ he said, shuffling off towards the door. She thought he’d gone, but a few moments later he was back with a black coffee in his hand. He perched on the corner of the desk next to hers and began to slurp it noisily. Trying her best to ignore him, Yasmin highlighted a chunk of text and moved it to the next paragraph.

‘Doesn’t it bother you?’ Rob said conversationally.

‘Doesn’t
what
bother me?’ she replied through gritted teeth.

‘The fact you’re so unpopular.’

Yasmin spun round in her chair. ‘I know you think I’m a hard-faced bitch, but I do have feelings, you know.’

He held her gaze. ‘Do you? You’re so cold I was beginning to think you were half woman, half android.’

Yasmin’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why don’t you like me, Rob?’

‘Because you try too hard.’

‘And what’s wrong with being ambitious?’

‘Nothing,’ he replied evenly. ‘But there’s a fine line between ambition and ruthlessness.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning, I think you’ll do whatever it takes to get what you want – even if it means shitting on other people along the way.’

Yasmin’s nostrils flared. A moment ago she’d been mildly irritated; now her overriding emotion was fury. ‘You’re only saying that because I’m a woman,’ she snapped, rising to her feet. ‘It’s okay for a bloke to be aggressive at work, but if a woman shows she’s got a pair of balls, chances are there’s some arrogant, chauvinist tosspot like you waiting to put her in her place.’

Rob gave a rancid smile. ‘You’ve hit the nail on the head there, darlin’. You’ve got bigger balls than King Kong; no wonder you’re single.’

Tears scuttled up like a ball in Yasmin’s throat. She always cried easily when she was tired. ‘You bastard,’ she said. ‘You fucking bastard.’

‘Careful,’ Rob said, hearing the break in her voice. ‘You don’t want all that beautifully applied eye make-up to run.’

Almost before she knew what she was doing, Yasmin’s hand was making contact with Rob’s cheek. The sound of the slap echoed round the empty office, taking her by surprise almost as much as Rob.

‘You vicious little cow,’ he said, grabbing her arm and jerking her towards him. ‘That’s assault. I could get you sacked for that.’

‘Just you try,’ Yasmin hissed. ‘Then you’ll find out just how big my balls are.’

Suddenly Rob’s face was bearing down on hers. For one sickening moment Yasmin thought he was going to spit in her face, but then his mouth unexpectedly brushed against hers. His lips were soft … very soft.

‘What are you –?’ she managed to say. The next moment, Rob’s tongue was in her mouth. To her surprise, Yasmin found herself responding.

For several minutes, they kissed hungrily, frantically, hands clawing at each other’s bodies. Yasmin’s senses were flooded. She could smell the faint musk of his sweat, taste the beer on his breath, feel the warmth of his skin. She knew she was making a big mistake, and yet some devilish little voice in her head was telling her not to stop.

Reluctantly, she pulled her mouth away from his. He was staring at her with a crazed look in his eyes as if he couldn’t quite believe what they were doing either.

‘Why don’t we go to the third-floor boardroom?’ she said. ‘We’ll be more comfortable in there.’ A moment of doubt flickered across his face and then he took her hand and led her towards the lifts.

16

Dante was drenched in sweat by the time he arrived home. Keen to maintain the fitness levels he’d developed through years of daily skiing, he’d taken to starting each day with a five-mile run. That morning, he’d followed a particularly challenging uphill route, which led to a local beauty spot – a dramatic chalk cliff with spectacular views. The effort had been well worth it and, as Dante stood there looking out across the countryside and breathing in deep lungfuls of gorse-scented air, he realized that, for the first time since arriving in England, he felt completely carefree.

Back at Ashwicke, Dante kicked off his muddy trainers in the vestibule and headed upstairs for a shower. Juliet had been asleep when he left, but now their king-size bed was empty and on her pillow a silk nightdress lay neatly folded.

After stripping off his sodden T-shirt and shorts, Dante went through to the en suite. It was just as well he’d kept his boxers on because there was a strange woman bending over the bath. Her bottom was thrust provocatively in the air and her coltish legs seemed to extend for miles beneath her black cotton uniform. She was humming loudly as she pulled strands of Juliet’s long blonde hair from the plughole with a rubber-gloved hand.

Dante was embarrassed. Even after two months at Ashwicke, he still hadn’t got used to the presence of the
chambermaids, who serviced his own quarters as well as those of the guests.

‘Hi there, are you going to be much longer in here?’ he asked, pulling a towel from the rail and wrapping it round his waist.

When the girl didn’t even look up, Dante took a step towards her. ‘Hello?’ he said in a louder voice.

Suddenly, her head jerked round. ‘Shit!’ she said, pulling a pair of earphones from her ears. ‘You nearly gave me a heart attack.’ She had a strong regional accent that was quite different to the local burr Dante had grown used to. ‘Sorry, I didn’t realize I had company,’ she added. ‘I was listening to my iPod.’

Dante realized he had never seen her before. He wasn’t that surprised; Juliet’s chambermaids were somewhat unreliable and she regularly used agency staff as stopgaps. ‘You’re a soul fan, huh?’ he said, pointing to the dangling earphones, which were emitting the tinny strains of
Try A Little Tenderness
.

She nodded. ‘Yep. I only listen to the old stuff, though – you know, Otis, Marvin, Stevie, all the greats.’ She pulled a sheepish face. ‘I don’t suppose I should be listening to music on the job, should I?’

Dante shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me. Anyway, don’t worry, I won’t tell.’

The girl peeled off her rubber gloves and tossed them in the sink. As the light from the halogen spot caught her face, Dante saw how young she was – no more than twenty-one or twenty-two at most. She had huge dark eyes and a mane of mahogany hair that was tied in a loose ponytail.

‘You must be Mr Fisher,’ she said. ‘I’m the new chambermaid. It’s only my first day, so you’ll have to make allowances for me. This place is huge; I keep getting lost.’

Dante frowned. Juliet hadn’t told him she was recruiting new permanents. ‘I know just how you feel,’ he replied. ‘It took me weeks to get my bearings. I’ve lost count of the number of times I went looking for the downstairs bathroom and wound up in the broom cupboard. So let’s make a deal, okay? I promise to make allowances, if you promise to call me Dante. I hate all that
Mister
shit; it makes me feel about ninety.’

The girl flashed a smile. It was wide and wicked, like he’d just told her an unbelievably dirty joke. ‘That’s cool with me.’

‘And what shall I call
you
?’ he asked.

She cocked her head to the side kittenishly. ‘Orla.’

‘That’s a pretty name.’

‘It’s Irish; my mum’s from Galway.’

Dante frowned. ‘But that’s not an Irish accent you have, is it?’

‘Uh-uh, I grew up in Liverpool.’

‘Ah, a Scouser.’

The girl looked impressed. ‘You know a lot for someone who’s only just arrived in England.’

‘Yeah, well, I watch a lot of TV. To be honest, there’s not much else to do around here.’

‘Isn’t there?’ She sounded surprised. ‘I’ve heard there are some cool bars in Loxwood.’ She sighed. ‘Not that I’ve got anyone to go with; I’ve just moved down from Newcastle and I don’t know a soul around here.’ Another sigh. ‘I’m renting a studio flat just outside the town. There’s not enough room to swing a cat, but it’s all I can afford at the moment.’

‘Newcastle? Is that where you were working before?’

‘Oh, I wasn’t working,’ she said airily. ‘I was at uni. I’ve just graduated; I got a first in English and Drama.’

‘Wow, congratulations,’ Dante said. ‘So I guess this job is just a temporary thing, huh?’

The girl shrugged. ‘Who knows? If I like it, I might just stick around.’

‘Well, Orla,’ Dante said, ‘I hope you’ll be very happy here.’

Her eyes flickered briefly over his naked torso. ‘Oh, I’m sure I shall.’ She gestured to the bath. ‘Listen, I can come back and finish this cleaning later, if you like.’

‘Is that okay? Only I’ve just come back from a run and I really need to take a shower.’

‘No problem.’ She gathered up her cleaning materials. ‘I guess I’ll see you around, then.’

Dante stepped aside to let her pass. ‘I guess you will. It was nice meeting you.’

‘Yeah, you too.’

Half an hour later, showered and dressed, Dante made his way back downstairs. He found Juliet in the entrance hall standing beside a Regency table as she arranged a display of summer blooms in a cut-glass vase. The air was full of their scent, sweet and heady.

She looked up as he approached. ‘Hello, darling,’ she said. ‘Did you have a nice run?’

‘Not bad, thanks.’ Dante picked up a frothy peony from the table and held it to his nose. ‘I went up to the cliff. It was so quiet and peaceful there, and the views were unbelievable.’

Juliet smiled. ‘I can see we’re going to make a country boy of you yet.’

‘I ran into Orla earlier,’ Dante said. ‘You didn’t tell me you’d hired a new chambermaid.’

‘I didn’t think you’d be interested.’

‘I’m not especially. I just thought you might have mentioned it, that’s all.’

Juliet stepped back from the vase to inspect her handiwork. ‘Hmm … a few more carnations I think,’ she murmured.

‘Do we really need another maid?’ Dante asked. ‘The ones we’ve got seem to do a pretty good job.’

‘Yes, actually, we do,’ Juliet said briskly. ‘I had to let Alice go.’

‘You fired Alice? But you always said what a good worker she was.’

‘She got sloppy. Nathan drew my attention to several occasions where she’d fallen short of the standards expected.’

Dante watched as Juliet began stripping the leaves from a carnation. ‘Orla seems like a smart girl,’ he said. ‘She was telling me that she’s just graduated from uni.’

‘Really?’ Juliet sounded surprised.

‘What, you mean you didn’t know? Surely it came up at her interview.’

Juliet pushed the carnation into the vase. ‘She didn’t have an interview. I met her for the first time this morning.’