Whoa! That last sentence hurt! Like a punch in the gut. My first instinct is to spring away from his body. As if he feels it, he holds me tight against his body. ‘Ask me whether I love her.’
I swallow hard and feel glad that he cannot see my face. ‘Do you love her?’
‘No,’ he says very emphatically.
‘OK.’
‘OK what?’
‘OK, I’ll go out with you.’
He brightens endearingly. ‘Where would you like to go? The opera? To the theater?’
‘Why on earth would you imagine I’d want to go and see a bunch of people wailing in a language I don’t understand?’
He chuckles. ‘We can go to an English production if you prefer.’
‘Are you serious? Opera in English kills cats.’
I can’t see him but I know he is smiling. ‘That’s what I love about you, Billie. You say it like it is. So refreshing.’
‘It’s just a matter of taste. Lana likes the opera.’
‘Lana Barrington?’
I nod.
‘I met her at the art exhibition, didn’t I?’
‘Yes.’
‘She’s a good friend of yours?’
‘My best friend,’ I correct.
How strange, but his body tenses. ‘Hmmm…’
I twist around to look at him, but his face gives nothing away. ‘We grew up together. I guess we are more like sisters.’
His body relaxes again. ‘She’s the reason you have this flat?’
‘Yup. I used to live on a council estate and her husband didn’t want her wandering around one whenever she came to visit me. So he bought this for me. For a billionaire he’s a cool guy.’
He raises an eyebrow. ‘How did she meet him?’
I’m not about to tell him the story of how Blake paid to acquire Lana. ‘It’s a long story and you’ll be bored.’
‘No I won’t.’
I look at him curiously. ‘Why are you so interested in Lana?’
‘I’m interested in everything about you,’ he says, and for some reason that I refuse to investigate further, his claim rings hollow. He runs his hand along my body and palms my breast. I turn around to lie with my forearms on his chest.
‘So what am I to you then?’ I ask.
‘What do you want to be?’
I shrug lightly. ‘I can’t be your girlfriend, because you already have one. So what else is left? I can be your fuck buddy or I can be your mistress.’
His voice is very soft. ‘Do you want to be my girlfriend?’
‘Not really,’ I say immediately and a shade too brightly. ‘I think I’d kinda like to be your mistress. You’ll have to take me to insanely expensive restaurants and buy me diamonds.’
His eyes flash. ‘Do you like diamonds? Somehow I never thought of you as a diamond girl.’
‘I was kidding. I’ve never owned a diamond. Lana gave me an obscenely large sapphire pendant for my birthday. But it’s so valuable I’ve had to put it in her safe.’
‘A sapphire to go with your eyes.’
‘That’s what Lana said,’ I say with a smile and, because he is looking at me strangely, I start babbling. ‘Lana says diamonds are actually not precious at all. That diamonds are as plentiful as amethysts and should be priced the same. They are only expensive because their supply is so tightly controlled.’ I snap my mouth shut. I’ve never been a babbling brook before.
‘Clever Lana. She’s absolutely right. It is a strange paradox of this world that all the things that are truly rare are artificially kept at low prices and the things that are not are inflated to insane prices. The only diamonds that are rare are the colored diamonds and the larger sizes. All the others have no more worth than semi-precious stones.’
Taking my forearms he lifts me up and suddenly I am on my back lying where his legs had been.
‘Wow! You’re fast,’ I say laughing.
‘You ain’t seen nothing yet, baby,’ he says, and never a truer word was spoken.
Six
‘Dress sexy,’ he tells me on the phone.
So I wear the white hot pants that I bought in Thailand, black boots and a red top. When I open the door he whistles, his eyes roving my body. ‘You totally nailed sexy,’ he says.
‘Is he dead yet?’
He chuckles. ‘Nearly. He will be by tonight.’
I giggle. ‘Good, I like stiff things.’
He takes my hand and puts it on his crotch. He is already as hard as a board.
‘He’ll do,’ I approve.
‘He’d better.’
He touches my hair. ‘What color is this?’
‘Teal.’
‘Teal,’ he says softly. ‘You’re the only girl I know who could carry off teal.’ His eyes crinkle at the corners. ‘You’re very, very unique, Billie.’