Beneath This Man (This Man Trilogy)(85)

Ponytailed creep moves in closer. ‘If you were mine, you wouldn’t be out of my sight.’

Oh good God! ‘Listen, I’ve tried to be polite. Back off!’

‘I think we could show each other a good time.’ He runs his fingertip down my arm.

I jump, instantly furious with myself for appearing anxious, but then I’m distracted by the barman returning. Thank God! He hands me my change and I grasp Kate’s drink quickly, keen to escape this toad. Turning a bit too hastily, I drop my coins everywhere.

Fuck!

I place the glasses back on the bar and retrieve the coins within grabbing distance and leave whatever else there may have been. I’m not that desperate. I grab the drinks and catch my heel awkwardly causing me to stagger slightly.

‘Shit!’ I curse. Now he’ll think I’m pissed and easy.

I’m met with the twat again when I turn back around. ‘A bit drunk, sweetheart?’ he sneers.

‘Fuck off!’ I’ve tried to be patient.

‘Oh, feisty.’ he laughs, as I push my way past him, thinking how grateful he should be that Jesse isn’t here. He would be flattened by now.

I make it over to Kate and place the drinks down a bit too sloppily, spilling a considerable amount. I shake my head mildly and take my position on the barstool, staggering again. Kate frowns at me.

‘Shoes.’ I mutter.

‘Are you okay?’ Kate leans forward, looking all concerned.

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ I assure her. I’m not drunk. This is only my third glass of wine.

‘Who was that idiot?’ She nods in the direction of the self-proclaimed stud muffin as she has a sip of her fresh glass of wine.

‘Exactly that…an idiot.’ I say shortly. ‘Anyway, you have some explaining to do.’

‘I have?’ she blurts.

‘Yes, you have, and don’t you dare brush me off. What’s going on?’

She glugs down more wine, refusing to meet my eyes. ‘What are you talking about?’

I feel myself getting a bit impatient with my fiery friend. She would never allow me to evade her questioning, and I wouldn’t anyway. We tell each other everything. ‘I’m talking about you, Sam and The Manor.’

‘Fun!’ she snaps.

‘No! Don’t you dare!’

‘I’m just having some fun, Ava. What are you? The sex police?’

I recoil, ‘So there’s no feelings?’

‘No!’

‘You know, if you were me, you’d be twiddling your hair.’ I huff, and take a long swig of my wine. No feelings? She’s impossible. ‘Okay, try and help me out. Being as you’re refusing to open up, I’ll dump my shit on you. I value your opinion.’ I smile sweetly.

She ignores my snipe, her eyebrows shooting up. ‘This sounds serious.’

‘It is. You know the developer of Lusso, the one who asked me to dinner?’

Kate nods. ‘Yeah, the Dane, handsome in a Scandinavian kind of way.’

‘Yes, Mikael. Jesse slept with his wife. He’s going through a divorce at the moment.’

‘No!’ Kate leans in.

‘Yes, and now he’s on some sort of revenge mission to turn Jesse over and it looks like he’s decided that I’m the best way to do this. I’ve got to meet him, and I know it won’t be work related.’

‘Oh shit!’

‘I know. The wife has been sniffing around too.’

‘What are you going to do?’

I shake my head, taking another swig of my wine. ‘I don’t know, just like I don’t know what to do about that woman, the one who turned up at The Manor’s anniversary.’

‘Who is she?’ Kate’s eyes are widening by the second. I’m not surprised. This is information overload.

‘Coral. Do you remember that nasty man at The Manor the day we found the communal room?’

‘Oh yes! Jesse crushed him. It was frightening, Ava.’

I laugh to myself. I can imagine. ‘That’s her husband. She asked Jesse to be the third in a threesome. She fell in love with him, left her husband and now has nothing. She wants Jesse. She turned up at Lusso and rang his phone. I’ve told Jesse about neither, but I answered the call. She warned me off.’

‘Oh my fucking God!’ Kate flops back on her stool, and I take another glug of wine.

Hearing it all out loud, it sounds ridiculous, crazy, unreal…

‘So, Jesse’s had a threesome?’ she asks.

I frown into my wine glass. ‘Yes, I guess so.’ I hadn’t thought about it. I was too busy trying to work out how I felt about Coral being in love with my boyfriend…fiancé…whatever he is. ‘Fucking hell!’ I exclaim, looking up at Kate, mouth gaping.

Kate starts nodding. ‘Have you just had the same thought I have?’

My wine gets placed on the table, my eyes flicking from Kate’s wide blues to the floor and back again. But then I laugh. ‘No! I saw Jesse’s face when Tom felt him up at the launch night of Lusso. There is no way he’s bisexual. Not a chance.’ I grab my wine again. ‘You can have threesomes with two men and a woman; it doesn’t mean that the men have to touch each other.’ Down goes another huge mouthful as I remember the scene from the communal room. None of them men touched each other. The other scenario, the one with two women and one man, starts skipping around my brain, laughing at me. I wipe the back of my hand across my brow, a shimmer of sweat breaking out. I really don’t feel right. Looking up, I see Kate’s face light up as she follows the path of someone approaching behind me. I don’t have to turn around to see who it is.

‘Ladies’!’

I look up and see Sam grinning from ear to ear. What is he doing here? It’s supposed to be a girls’ night out and Kate still hasn’t given her verdict on my current screwed up situation.

He shoves his tongue in Kate’s ear, and I huff to myself. Kate would never let any man invade her girl time. I pick my wine up and down the rest, watching over the rim of my glass as Sam greets Kate and she accepts willingly. If she tries to tell me tomorrow that this is just fun, then I’ll challenge her…hard!

‘I’m going to the toilet.’ I inform them.

‘Okay.’ Kate says idly.

I lower myself to the floor and turn towards the entrance, reaching up to rub my temples in an attempt to sooth my thumping head. As I make my way through the roaring crowd, the sound around me dulls into a faint hum and my head starts spinning slightly. I push my way past the blurry gatherings of people and very nearly have a seizure when I clock Jesse stood a few meters ahead of me in the doorway of the bar.

Oh shit!

I freeze on the spot. I knew he wouldn’t be able to leave me be, not even for a few hours to enjoy a few glasses of well-earned wine. My vision might be challenged, but there is no mistaking the pure fury that’s spread across his handsome features. I don’t know why. I’m not drunk. I’ve had a few glasses of wine, and I’ve enjoyed them. He’s the one with the drink issue, not me.

And with that thought, I stagger slightly again. Maybe I’m just topping up last night’s session.

We stand staring at each other for a few moments, then he starts stalking towards me. I make a grab for a table when I feel my legs wobble and the change in his approaching expression from rage to pure terror is the last thing I see before the black sets in and I become weightless.





Chapter 27




‘Jesse, calm down. She had three glasses of wine. She wasn’t drunk.’

My eyes are attacked by fluorescent lighting and bright white at every wall. I feel like I’ve been bashed over the head a few times with an iron bar. Where the hell am I? I close my eyes again and reach up to brush away a lock of hair that’s tickling my cheek. The soft contact of my hand on my head stabs at my brain.

‘Ava?’ His voice is quiet and his hand clamped around mine. ‘Ava baby, open your eyes.’

I try my best, but it is too bloody painful. Fuck! What is wrong with me? Is this the worse hangover ever? I don’t remember drinking that much.

‘Will someone tell me what the FUCK is going on!’ he roars.

I snap my eyes open again and gaze around my unfamiliar surroundings. The only familiar thing is that irate voice and it’s a strange comfort to me, but God it’s playing havoc with my sensitive head. I reach up to clasp my aching skull.

‘Ava, baby?’

I squint my eyes in an attempt to focus, and I’m met with a green, grief-stricken pair. The feel of his warm palm stroking my head has me groaning in protest. It hurts. ‘Hi.’ I squeak. My throat is raspy and dry.

‘Oh, thank fucking God!’ He swaps my face in kisses, and I beat him away. I can’t breathe.

‘Ava, chick. Are you okay?’

I follow the sound of another familiar voice and find Sam leaning over me, looking the most serious I’ve ever seen him. What’s going on?

‘Does she fucking look all right?’ Jesse yells in Sam’s face. ‘For fuck sake!’

‘Calm down!’

I know that voice too. I flick my sensitive eyes around the room and find Kate sat in a chair opposite me. ‘Where am I?’ I ask through my dryness. I need some water.

‘You’re in hospital, baby.’ He strokes my face and kisses my forehead again.