‘True,’ I said. ‘And at least Amber was having an affair with someone of the opposite sex.’
‘No!’ Daniel’s eyes widened. ‘He was with a guy?’
I nodded. For a moment, I panicked that I’d told Gary’s secret, but Daniel wasn’t from Whitsborough Bay originally so he wasn’t going to know Gary. Plus, if Gary had any sense, he’d have confessed all to Cynthia by now.
‘Wow!’ Daniel raised his glass. ‘How about a toast to despicable exes and new beginnings?’
I clinked my glass with his. ‘I’ll drink to that.’
After a poor start, the hours whizzed by. We noticed the waiters looking anxious to close for the evening just before eleven so decided we’d better settle the bill and let them head home.
Sarah, Kay, Curtis and Stevie (before the incident) had been great listeners and Jem had worked his counselling magic during a couple more sessions but speaking to somebody who was going through the same thing was ever so cathartic. We’d both been betrayed by the one person we trusted more than anyone else and we’d both had our world thrown into turmoil. We laughed, we cried, we flirted, we laughed some more.
The rain had stopped by the time we left the restaurant.
‘Did I do okay?’ Daniel asked. ‘Are my man-bits safe?’
I laughed. ‘You’ve more than made up for the shaky start. I wish the evening didn’t have to end, but there’s nowhere to go on a Tuesday night.’
‘It doesn’t have to end.’ Daniel took my hand. My heart raced at his touch.
‘What do you propose?’
‘You could always come back to mine,’ he said. ‘We don’t have to do anything. We can just continue to chat.’
I bit my lip. ‘And what if I want to do something?’
Daniel had only had one glass of wine during the meal. He told me his nan’s holiday cottage was in the grounds of a farm about twenty minutes’ drive up the coast towards Shellby Bay and it was easier and cheaper to drive than travel by taxi.
That twenty-minute journey felt like hours as he drove along the coast road in silence, the tension between us fizzing. I had to sit on my hands to stop me from touching him and causing an accident. Watching his profile out of the corner of my eye, my mind raced with all the things I wanted to do to him. I really shouldn’t have read Fifty Shades of Grey. I’m a voracious reader, but the series hadn’t sounded like my kind of thing so I’d avoided it at the time. About eight months ago, desperate to try something… anything… to garner Gary’s interests, I’d relented and borrowed the first three from a colleague at school. I hadn’t been converted to erotica as a preferred reading genre, but I’d certainly learned a thing or two. Needless to say, it hadn’t worked on Gary. At least I now knew why.
Daniel steered his car into a courtyard. A security light came on, illuminating a large farmhouse straight ahead, a cottage to the left, and a barn to the right. Daniel stopped his car in front of the cottage, switched off the ignition and took a deep breath. He touched my arm and a wave of desire ran through me. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked.
I nodded. ‘Very sure.’ I surprised myself at how much I wanted this.
We opened our doors at the same time and stepped into the cool air, which had been freshened by the earlier downpour. My whole body felt on fire so the breeze was soothing.
‘Michael’s back.’ Daniel indicated the jeep parked next to his car. ‘We’ll need to be quiet.’
He unlocked the cottage door and flicked the switch on a lamp just inside. I followed him into a large open plan kitchen/diner/lounge, but I had little chance to take in the surroundings because, the moment the door closed behind us, Daniel took me in his arms and kissed me, softly at first, then more urgently. I responded with the same urgency, clinging tightly onto him. We stumbled into the lounge area. He unzipped my dress and eased my arms out of it, letting it fall to the wooden floor. His eyes flashed with desire. Thank goodness I was wearing matching underwear. I unbuttoned his shirt and tried to pull it off him, but it had long sleeves and buttons and his hands got caught in the cuffs. We giggled as he tried to release himself. He finally tugged his arms free and pulled my face towards his, running his fingers through my hair, but I squealed as his watch got caught in my curls.
‘Oh my God! I’m so sorry.’ He unclasped his watch and carefully worked on my hair until he’d untangled it. ‘Are you okay? Did it hurt?’
‘It’s fine.’ I rubbed my sore head.
He gently kissed my scalp. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’
I reached up and took his face in my hands and moved it close to mine. ‘Where were we?’
He kissed me again, gently at first then with more passion. He lowered himself onto the sofa and pulled me towards him, but my foot got caught on a table lamp, which went crashing to the floor along with what sounded like a glass smashing.
‘What the bloody hell’s going on?’
I peeked over the sofa towards the staircase where I could make out the shape of a man in a pair of trunks.
‘Michael! Sorry. I’ll clear it up. We were just—’
‘So I see,’ Michael interrupted. ‘Show some respect and use your room.’ He turned round and stomped up the stairs again. I cringed as a door slammed.
‘Sorry,’ Daniel said. ‘That was my brother. I didn’t think it was the right moment for introductions. This isn’t going very well, is it?’
I stroked his cheek. ‘I’m beginning to feel like something’s trying to stop us.’
‘Do you want me to drive you home?’ He looked disappointed.
I shook my head. ‘No. Unless you want to.’
‘No. I’d really like you to stay. Do you want to head upstairs while I get this lot cleared up?’
I nodded.
Daniel grinned. ‘There’s only three rooms. The bathroom’s on the side, Michael’s room’s at the front and mine’s at the back so you can’t go wrong.’ He helped me to my feet and picked up my dress. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever said sorry so many times in one evening, but I really am very sorry for the crap start and end to the evening.’
I gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. ‘It’s been different, but it’s been fantastic so you have nothing to be sorry about. Plus, the evening isn’t over yet. I’ll see you upstairs.’
17
I awoke desperate for the toilet and immediately kicked myself for having fallen asleep before Daniel came upstairs last night. He could only have been about ten minutes clearing up yet I hadn’t managed to stay awake that long. What must he have thought?
To my left, he lay spark-out, hair mussed up, lips pouting. I had an overwhelming desire to kiss him, but I also had an overwhelming desire to pee and that was stronger. It was still dark, but the blinds I’d drawn last night had been black-out ones so it could have been the early hours or mid-morning for all I knew. I carefully peeled back the duvet and slipped out of bed. Through the gloom, I spotted a towel draped over a radiator and wrapped it round me in case I encountered Michael on the landing.