‘Nah, I had met her mother going up the lift and she told me to tell Leticia that she was going to the hairdresser after and would be at least an hour.’
‘Was Leticia mad at you?’
‘Mad at me. She was quivering like a school dinner pudding. I stuck the Yorkie bar up her fanny and ate it off her. She said it was the best orgasm she’s ever had.’
Lana laughs. ‘Oh, Billie. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to let me tie him to a bed.’
‘You can still try the blindfold. It increases the sensation when you can’t see. You could suggest a game.
Put the egg timer on and he who comes first loses. When it’s his turn, blindfold him and give him the best sucking he’s ever had.’
‘OK, maybe, I’ll try that.’
‘Let me know how it goes, won’t you?’ Billie says with a smile.
Lana looks at her watch. ‘I’ve got to pop into the employment agency so they can tell tear a strip off me for inappropriately offering myself to one of their clients, but before I go; you know the extra money Blake gave me? I’ve decided I want you to have half.’
Billie’s eyes widen. It takes a moment for her to find her voice again. ‘I’ll take the free trip and I’ll take the jam, but I’m not taking the money.’
‘Remember when we were kids and we used to say if we won the lottery we’d share the money. Well… Isn’t this like winning the lottery?’
Billie smiles at Lana. ‘This isn’t the lottery. Besides, what would I do with money?’
‘You could go get your boobs done.’
‘Very tempting, but…‘
‘No buts. Do you want me to turn into one of those people who are generous only when they don’t believe they will ever have the money? Would you give me half if our positions were reversed?’
Billie thinks and grimaces. ‘To be honest I don’t know what I’d do. I think I’m just like everyone else, I want to go out, get wasted out of my mind and have fun, but you’ve always been different. You used to save up to buy violets when you were a child and take the bus to see paintings in the National Gallery. That was probably why I was drawn to you then, even though you wore boring clothes and actually read books instead of waiting for the movie version.’
‘While you painted the toenails of your gerbil bright red…’
‘Hamster,’ Billie corrects, and laughs.
‘Whatever. I know you’re on the dole and can’t show that you have too much in the way of savings so I’ve opened an account in my name at the Abbey and here’s the card. Use it as it is yours.’
Fifteen
he is fastening her hoop earrings when she hears his Skey in the door. Her stomach in knots, she stands away from the dressing table and looks at herself. She is wearing her Pucci dress. The colors look good with her hair. She knows she has never looked so fine, but her heart is in her mouth. She is so nervous her hands are clammy.
She wipes them and rubs lotions into them. Then she slips into her beautiful new Jimmy Choos and leaves the bedroom.
She turns into the paneled corridor and hears him in the sitting room. He is looking down on the lighted view of London and has not heard her footfalls on the soft carpets. It is only when her reflection shows in the glass that he turns.
The crease of his pants leg looks very sharp and his shoes are beautifully polished. Her eyes move upwards.
He is wearing a navy suit and an open soft blue shirt. Her gaze travels to his brown, strong throat towards the deliciously straight mouth and up to his eyes; dark and hooded and so full of secrets. They are watching her intently. Her breath catches. The flowers he sent are behind him.
‘Thank you, for the flowers. They are beautiful.’
‘Come here,’ he says and half sits on the table behind him. His voice is very soft. There is something in it she does not understand. She is nineteen and he is a man of the world. She goes willingly to him. He catches her by her waist and pulls her to him until she is trapped between his thighs. She feels the heat that comes off his body.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘I didn’t know.’
She shakes her head. ‘You weren’t to know. It’s my fault. I should have warned you.’
‘You look very beautiful tonight.’
She blushes. He watches her blush, then runs his finger along her lower lip. ‘Are you for real?’ he whispers.
She looks at him without comprehension. He wants to tell her then. But what? Tell her what? There is nothing to say. They are worlds apart. This will end in three months. He is being a fool. The expression in his eyes changes.