When She Was Bad(28)

Someone from the sales table shouted something, and there was a resounding roar of laughter. The sales team was almost entirely male. Sometimes Ewan wondered if he’d be happier on that side of the divide.

As soon as the speech was over and the present – a massage voucher and a scented candle – ceremoniously handed to Gill, and the card chuckled over, Ewan noticed Charlie making a quiet exit, mobile in hand. At least he was going to get some action tonight. It had been three weeks since Ewan had picked up that girl on his friend Jack’s birthday night out. Yet for the first time the prospect of another emotion-free one-night stand seemed strangely unappealing.

‘She’s got a nerve.’

Chloe had come up behind where he was standing and was leaning heavily on his shoulder.

‘I mean, she must know no one wants her here.’

Her voice was thick and he could feel her skin burning through her thin cotton top.

She was very drunk.

‘Get us another drink.’ Her breath was hot in his ear. ‘The wine’s all gone.’

‘Sounds like you might have drunk it all. Ow.’ He rubbed his arm where she’d punched it.

‘Sorry. Let me stroke it better.’

As she ran her fingers up and down his arm, he realized two things: firstly, she was even drunker than he thought and, secondly, she was coming on to him.

‘Steady on. You trying to give me a Chinese burn?’

‘Sorry.’ But still her hand lay on his arm, damp like a warm compress.

‘Maybe we should go back to the others. We’re being a bit anti-social staying here.’

Even from where they were standing, Ewan could sense the ill-feeling among the group at the table. He knew it was illogical to feel responsible for Rachel just because she’d invited herself along with him, yet he couldn’t help it. Nor could he help being hyper-aware of her all the time – where she was, what she was doing, who she was talking to. Yet still Chloe’s hand rested on his arm and now he could feel her pressing up against his back. Almost against his will he felt a heat stirring inside him.

‘I’m too drunk to sit back down there. I know they’re all silently disapproving. It’s like being with my mother, times four. Come on, Ewan, let’s get out of here, please?’

Ewan knew it was a bad idea. He liked Chloe. They had a laugh together and he enjoyed flirting with her, but sleeping with someone you worked with was a mug’s game. But now the heat inside him was spreading and he found himself pushing back against Chloe in a way that was impossible to misinterpret.

‘We shouldn’t . . . we work together . . .’ He tried to protest, then gave in, ‘It could only be a one-off,’ he warned her. ‘Just a bit of fun.’

‘Absolutely. Just fun. No strings.’

He didn’t believe her. He’d seen the way she looked at him. But being around Rachel Masters for the last week had built up a level of frustrated energy inside him and suddenly the prospect of going home alone was too depressing to contemplate.

‘OK, but we can’t leave together. You go first and wait for me outside. I’ll leave it five minutes and then join you.’

She squeezed his arm.

They rejoined the table and Chloe made a big deal of retrieving her stuff and saying goodbye to Gill.

‘I still can’t believe you’ve gone. You were the best boss ever,’ she slurred, ignoring her new boss, sitting just a couple of feet away.

As soon as she’d left, Rachel turned to Ewan.

‘I’ve been wanting to talk to you all evening, but you’ve been monopolized,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Come and sit down next to me and keep me company for a bit. We can get to know each other a little.’

He felt a rush of liquid joy flood through him.

‘Sure. Love to. Only I can’t stay that long. I need to be getting back.’

‘Just five minutes.’

But five turned into ten, and still Rachel was talking to him, asking him about himself, laughing at his jokes, leaning in very close to catch what he said above the noise of the suddenly full pub. He felt his phone in his pocket vibrate with an incoming text. A minute or two later, it did so again. He slid it into his palm and glanced down under the table. Chloe. Where r u?

He wished he hadn’t made the arrangement with her now, wished he could stay here with Rachel all night. But he couldn’t text her back, not with Rachel sitting right here. And he couldn’t leave the girl standing outside.

‘I’ve got to go.’ He wondered if his reluctance showed in his voice.

‘Really? That’s a shame.’

Was she flirting with him? The thought was a butterfly fluttering in his chest.