minutes afterwards.
I opened my eyes to find him still there, still watching me with those silver-grey eyes, while his breath continued to whisper across my sex, now soothing instead of teasing. ‘Beautiful,’ he muttered.
He offered me a hand up, which I accepted, thinking that now surely I’d be rewarded with a kiss.
Apparently not.
‘Why?’ I had to ask.
He had to know he could do whatever he wanted to me at that moment. Instead, he stood away from me, tense and horny, when really there was no need. I could make him feel good.
‘I’ve probably kept you too long.’ He shoved his hands into his pockets, which had the effect of raising his shoulders.
‘That’s fine. You know I don’t normally –’
‘You don’t have to explain.’
But I did. I didn’t want him to think I routinely picked up guys in this way. Yes, I enjoyed a somewhat unconventional sex life, but I only really played with guys I knew. I’m not saying I hadn’t enjoyed the odd one-night stand in the past, but it wasn’t my normal mode of operation.
‘We’d better go down now, in case there’s another taxi waiting.’
A curious combination of embarrassment and relief flickered across Sam’s face when she saw us together. I was betting she’d anticipated me having left along with Nathan. ‘I was just coming to find you,’ she said to Victor. ‘The taxi just pulled up.’ We headed straight outside.
‘Are you OK sharing?’ I asked.
‘It’s yours. My lift’s finally arrived.’ He glanced across the car park to a point some distance away. ‘It was nice meeting you.’
‘Likewise.’
He lingered, rather than hurrying away. ‘Why aren’t you an item?’ he asked, referring back to my remarks about Nathan.
‘I’m not sure I could ever be content with only one man.’ I was being flippant. The hour was late and I still didn’t know how to interpret him. The truth was that I was still carrying around too much baggage from my last relationship to consider confining myself to another man anytime soon. Craig and I had split after he accused me of infidelity. All I’d actually done was ogle a few guys. Not touched them or kissed them, just turned my head to look when they walked by. In Craig’s eyes that was enough.
At least my present arrangement allowed me to do whatever I wanted with whoever I chose. It kept things simple.
‘What about you?’ I asked, as he held open the taxi door so I could climb inside.
An enigmatic grin spread across his face. ‘One man is plenty.’
We weren’t really supposed to carry personal phones at work, but I’d accidentally left mine in my pocket earlier, so when it bleeped as I worked on tidying up the jewellery stand, I took it out and answered.
‘Hello.’
‘Lyssa?’
I knew his voice at once. ‘Victor?’ I clutched the phone so tight to my ear it began to ache. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. How had he got my number? Why had he called? ‘I wasn’t expecting to hear from you?’
‘Your friend Sam gave me your number. She wasn’t happy about it, so I had to twist her arm. I don’t think she likes me anymore.’
‘Oh!’ A nervous giggle escaped my mouth. I could guess what sort of persuasion he’d used. ‘But you wouldn’t really have exposed her,’ I said, as I ducked out of sight behind one of the display racks.
It was Victor’s turn to laugh. ‘As what – a woman with a sex life? Come on, I’m equally, if not more, guilty of public lewdness than she is.’
‘You didn’t take any clothes off,’ I reminded him. He hadn’t done anything besides watch, much to my chagrin. I wanted to ask him why, but the moment didn’t feel right. I was too curious to learn why he’d phoned to risk him hanging up.
‘You know –’ I could practically imagine him ticking one of his long elegant fingers at me ‘– I’m not sure that would weigh much in my defence, given the view from where I was standing.’
‘My view was pretty good too.’
‘Was it?’
Damn, now I was blushing. I held my breath, waiting to hear why he’d called.
‘Can we meet?’ he asked.
Yes! Yes, we most certainly could. ‘When?’ I gasped, so urgently I probably sounded like a slavering beast.
‘How about tonight?’
Argh! It was Friday. I already had arrangements for tonight. I danced about from one foot to the other. To anyone walking past I probably looked like a toddler desperate for a pee. Ultimately though, there was only one answer I could give, despite how little I wanted to give it. ‘I’m sorry, Victor. I can’t. I’d love to. It’s just I have something on.’
‘You mean you’re seeing someone else.’
It was a standing arrangement that I met the guys on a Friday night. We had fun. We got inventive. This evening’s entertainment had been planned for weeks. ‘We’re playing laser tag. Nathan’s picking me up.’
‘Excuse me?’ His disbelief whistled out of the speaker.
‘It’s where you chase around and try to zap one another.’ We didn’t only meet up for sex. OK, maybe we did, but at least we tried to be original about it.
‘I know what it is, Lyssa. Humour me; I’m trying to picture you in combat boots and camos. Do you have one of those little green vest tops?’
‘Maybe,’ I teased. ‘I guess you’ll have to come along to find out.’ Play things right and he’d also get to discover what I wore beneath it. Mentally, I began picking out my best underwear. Of course, if Victor was going to be joining us, I’d have to warn Nathan in advance. He’d been a bit off since Wednesday night, but as he’d never had any problems with me playing with other guys before, I’d largely put that down to his plans being disrupted, rather than suspicions about what I’d done after he’d left.
‘I don’t know. It’s not really my scene.’
The first time I’d taken part, I hadn’t anticipated it being my scene either. Determined not to let him off the hook – he might not make another offer, and so far he hadn’t suggested an alternative date – I rambled on for a few more minutes, trying to persuade him to come along, and giving him directions to the site. The grounds were in an area of private woodland, a mile or two outside of town. Nathan knew the site owners. He even refereed for them occasionally, hence on nights like tonight we got the place to ourselves.
‘How
