by Beth Abbott
“It’s Ok, Suzy. Honestly. It’s only just after eight. Hardly the middle of the night.” Matt took her hand and tugged her to get her out of the car. “I’m just glad you’re home. Rory’s missed you.”
Suzy nodded, thinking how much she’d missed him too.
“So have I.” Matt said quietly.
She turned to find him staring at her, a strange look on his face.
“Charlie is keeping an eye on Rory and Taylor for a few minutes. Can we just go upstairs and finish that conversation?” Matt asked. “No more arguments, I promise.”
Suzy followed Matt into the house and up the stairs to their bedroom.
When he closed the door behind them, she climbed up onto the bed, ready for whatever he wanted to talk about.
She’d spent the whole afternoon thinking about how she was going to get through to him, but she’d come up with a big fat blank.
Hopefully, Matt would have had better luck.
She watched him drag her snuggle chair over, so he could sit in front of her.
“You left me with a lot of shit to think through today.” He began, reaching forward to take her hand in his. “Most of which I would’ve ignored if I hadn’t had a lot of time on my hands.”
“Did you miss many meetings?” Suzy asked, wondering what little Miss PA would have made of that.
“A few.” Matt nodded. “Nothing that won’t keep. I managed to deal with a couple of them over the phone this afternoon while Rory napped.”
“I’m sorry.” Suzy sighed. “I was being childish, stomping off like that.”
“Maybe a little.” Matt’s mouth twitched at the corner. “But I think it worked out well in the end. It kicked me up the ass and made me confront a few things.”
“Oh?” Suzy’s heart leapt. “Which things?”
“Spending too much time away from the family, for one.” Matt admitted. “You were right, Suze. I’m trying to do the job of two people, and it’s hurting our family.”
Suzy held her breath. It was one thing for matt to admit there was a problem to her, but another altogether admitting it to the rest of the family.
“I’ve added it to the agenda for next week’s meeting, and I’m going to ask for help up here.” Matt smiled sheepishly. “You were right about me not wanting to admit to being unable to cope, but the workload has more than doubled in that last couple of years. I can’t keep trying to cover everything myself, relying on my support staff for so much. We need another director here to take some of the responsibility.”
Suzy breathed out slowly. That was going to be the cure for half her problems, at least.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, though, you know.” Matt warned. “One of the others will have to relocate up here from London. That’s a big decision. A family decision, too. It will take time to plan.”
“I get that.” Suzy nodded. “But the sooner you tell them what’s going on, the sooner they can start to give you some help. Even if someone has to come up here Monday to Friday for a little while.”
“True.” Matt smiled. “And it will free up some of my time, so I can be home more for you and the kids.”
“That’s all we want, Matt.” Suzy squeezed his hands. “More time with you means the world to us.”
“Spending time with Rory today made me see how much I’ve missed out on.” Matt looked down. “I missed so much of Charlie’s first couple of years, I don’t want to miss any more of Rory’s.”
Suzy felt the tears at the back of her eyes. For the first time in such a long time she actually felt like Matt was his old self.
“I’ve done what I can about this weekend, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to drive down with you and the kids.” Matt frowned. “One of the meetings is taking place after Saturday’s match in the club boardroom. It’s an early kick-off so I can probably get away around four o’clock. But that means the earliest I’ll be in London is maybe six or seven o’clock.”
“The kids party starts at five o’clock and finishes at seven.” Suzy said quietly. “It’s all arranged.”
“I’ll do my best to be there, but it’s all dependent on traffic conditions.” Matt shrugged, and Suzy knew he’d try his best. “At least I’ve managed to free up Sunday completely. We can do something fun before we drive back up here.”
“I guess.” Suzy nodded, trying not to sound too disappointed. Matt was obviously trying to put things right. “And the other issue?”
Matt frowned at her.
“Other issue?” He asked. “What other issue?”
Suzy wondered if he was deliberately being obtuse.
“The ‘Lacey’ issue.” She said quietly.
Matt’s shoulders slumped. He’d obviously hoped she would forget all about his little PA.
“Look, there’s nothing I can do about her for the moment.” He shrugged. “Until I get more help, I really can’t do without her, no matter how much you think I can. I certainly can’t fire her.”
“Even though I’ve told you I think she’s a threat to our marriage, you still won’t get rid of her?” Suzy pulled her hands back. “What sort of message do you think I should take from that?”
“There’s no message for you to take, Suze.” Matt threw up his hands. “I’m drowning in work, and without her help, we might as well cancel Christmas now, because I won’t have time to be there.”
Suzy scowled at her husband, not knowing how much of that was exaggerated.
“I promise you, as soon as I get another director up here to help out, I’ll switch Lacey to work with whoever it is, and I’ll find someone else.” Matt reassured her.
“Someone like me?” Suzy stared at Matt, waiting for him to flinch.
Instead he shook his head, a smile appearing from nowhere.
“Someone so like you I won’t be able to tell the difference.” He teased. “I may even have to reconfigure the floor plan at work, so she gets an office next to mine with an adjoining door.”
“Oh?” Suzy was trying to keep the smile from her face, but it was getting harder. “And why would you need her to have an adjoining door? You wouldn’t expect her to sneak in without the rest of the staff knowing, would you?”
She leaned forward to take Matt’s hands in hers and tug him forward.
“Well, it would be nice if she could join me from time to time.” He shrugged. “Not that I’d expect any sexual favours, or anything like that. I wouldn’t expect it, but of course, if it was offered, I probably wouldn’t be able to resist. Not if she was exactly like you.”
As Suzy shifted backwards on the mattress, Matt crawled up in front of her.
“What sort of sexual favours wouldn’t you be able to resist her offering?” She asked innocently, as Matt nudged her onto her back, prowling up the mattress until he hovered over her.
She watched a slow smile appear on his face.
“Any damn thing she wanted to do to me.” He lowered his head, and pressed his lips to hers, and Suzy’s heart damn near exploded.
This was her Matt!
This was the man she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. The drop-dead gorgeous, hot and sexy lover she’d shared a bed with and made love with more times than she’d had hot dinners. Literally!
Without warning he turned them onto their sides, and as his lips continued to devour hers, his hands skimmed down her ribs and waist and over her ass until he gripped her leg and lifted it up over his thigh, pulling her tightly against him.
His leg came up between hers and instinctively Suzy ground herself against him, aching to get some friction on her sex, her fingers wrapping themselves in his hair to hold him closer.
When Matt dragged his lips from hers to gasp a breath, they were both panting.
“When was the last time I tied you to the bed and fucked you blindfolded?” He whispered.
Suzy felt her sex clench at the suggestion.
“Too long ago.” She grumbled. “Before Rory was born.”
“When was the last time I strapped you
r ankles to the legs of your snuggle chair and got you off with a vibrator while you sucked me dry?” He growled.
Suzy closed her eyes at the vivid memory of him torturing her with multiple orgasms, before he finally released himself in her throat.
“Oh, God.” She groaned. “Much, much too long ago.”
Matt leaned forward and nipped her lips with his teeth to make her open her eyes.
“I think I know what we’ll be doing later, don’t you?” He smiled suggestively.
“Yes, please.” Suzy leaned into him, rubbing her aching breasts on the hard muscles of his chest. “Now shut up and kiss me again.”
It was probably only minutes later, but could have been an hour, when she heard a noise over Matt’s shoulder.
“Dad, Rory needs a fresh nappy, and… Oh, shit!” Charlie’s voice tailed off. “For God’s sake, couldn’t you leave a sock on the door handle if you’re gonna be doing stuff like that?”
Suzy buried her head in her husband’s shirt as she giggled.
“Son, if you haven’t figured out by now that your mum and I kiss and cuddle occasionally, then you must have been walking around with blinkers on for most of your life.” Matt grinned. “And need I point out that this is our bedroom, and the door was most definitely shut. You chose to open it and walk in.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t hear mum come in.” Charlie grumbled. “But now you’re both here, Rory needs a fresh nappy and there aren’t any in the changing bag.”
“Ok, I’ll be down to sort him out now.” Suzy sighed.
They listened to Charlie retreat and shut the door behind him.
“We are not done with this encounter.” Matt growled. “Not by a long shot.”
Suzy reached down to where Matt’s erection was trapped between them and squeezed gently.
“You bet your ass we’re not done.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “It’s been too long since we made time for just us. We need to put that right.”
Matt nodded, seriously.
“And we definitely need to leave a sock on the door handle.” He growled.
Suzy smiled at him.
“I think we need the sock, a bolt, and a chair to jam under the handle.” She warned. “No way do I want my kids seeing what I want you to do to me tonight!”
Matt’s grin was slow and full of promise.
“I’ll get working on that bolt right away.”
Chapter 9 – Megan
Megan stood at the back of a group of nurses, watching the children receiving their gifts from Robbie, and another half a dozen young footballers from his club.
Between the players and the security guys, they’d virtually packed out the ward, and there was very little room left for the nurses or doctors to stand and watch.
“Please God we don’t have an emergency in the next hour.” The Irish nurse standing next to her murmured. “We’ve not a hope of getting a crash cart in if one of the wee ones takes a bad turn.”
Megan looked around her.
Robbie had been on the ward for twenty minutes, and so far, he’d only made his way around a quarter of the beds.
It didn’t seem to make a difference that he wasn’t even English.
Everyone wanted a selfie with the new Welsh Wizard who’d amazed the footballing world by settling for a lower-ranking Midlands club, rather than go with some of the bigger clubs that had come courting him.
She didn’t know that much about football, but even she knew that he’d had offers from Liverpool, Chelsea and even Barcelona. He’d turned them all down because he wanted to be near her.
As she watched him slide his backside onto a bed next to a boy of about seven, Robbie glanced over to where she was standing and gave her a wink.
“Oh, Jesus and Mary! Did you see that?” The Irish girl, Maureen, spun around to look at her, her cheeks bright red. “Robbie Jones just winked at me, I swear he did!”
Megan couldn’t help but smile.
“I’m sure he did.” Maureen was about five years older than Robbie, but she was a pretty young thing.
“Maureen, why don’t you slip your number to one of the security guards and ask him to pass it to Robbie?” One of the other nurses suggested. “What have you got to lose?”
“I wouldn’t know who to pass it to.” Maureen admitted. “There are so many of them.”
“Over there, see?” The other nurse pointed. “The big dark-haired guy that looks like he should be a WWE wrestler. He was right next to Robbie when they came in, and he hasn’t moved more than ten feet from him since they’ve been here.”
Someone pushed a piece of paper and a pen into Maureen’s hand.
“Go on…” They hissed. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Robbie climbed off the bed he was sitting on and they moved to the next cubicle, passing out more gifts to a young girl of about five. Megan smiled at how gentle her brother was being with the child.
“Where’s the security guy gone?” Maureen whined.
Megan glanced around to see if she could spot him. Since they’d come in, she’d only really had eyes for what her brother had been doing and hadn’t really taken much notice of the security guys or the other players.
She was a very proud big sister today, even if nobody knew it but her.
“I think he’s crouched down in front of the bed, so the family can get some photos of Robbie.” Someone murmured.
“Hell, I’ll just take the security guard! Did you see him?” Another nurse grinned at her. “She can have the skinny footballer.”
“The rich, skinny footballer.” One of the female doctors pointed out. “I doubt the security guy is quite as loaded as the kid, more’s the pity.”
As Robbie and his entourage moved to the next bed, Megan’s curiosity got the better of her, and she leaned to one side to get a glimpse of the security guard.
He was standing with his back to the nurse’s station, his dark, slightly wavy hair trimmed to just above his white shirt collar, his charcoal grey suit cut nicely to show off an impressive physique. Even from here, Megan could see that he towered over her little brother, and she was thankful that Robbie had a minder that actually looked like he could offer some protection.
As Robbie moved again, the guy positioned himself between Robbie and the crowd, and Megan watched his muscles ripple under the suit jacket.
Nice body! Megan thought to herself, before blushing slightly at the idea that she might have possibly said that aloud.
She glanced around at her colleagues to find nobody was paying her any attention, so either she’d kept the thought to herself, or they were all silently agreeing with her.
“I’m going in, girls!” Maureen’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Wish me luck.”
A few of the other nurses giggled as Maureen made her way around the desk and inched her way forward to where the security guard was standing.
Megan secretly couldn’t help but admire the girl, going after what she wanted, even though her chances of success were slim to say the least.
She leaned around the pillar, watching as Maureen tapped the big security guy on the arm to get his attention.
As he turned to Maureen with a smile, Megan couldn’t help but notice that he had a nice profile. A straight nose, strong jaw, with just a hint of stubble giving him a ruggedly handsome look.
Maureen was speaking to him now, and Megan noticed the way he leaned down so that the tiny Irish woman could say something in his ear.
When he smiled at her and took the piece of paper, folding it and putting it in his jacket pocket, a few of the nearby nurses gave Maureen a cheer for what looked like a successful endeavour.
The security guy looked up at them for a few seconds, grinning as Maureen scurried away from him, and for just a few moments, Megan stood rooted to the spot, her heart beating out of her chest.
His face, and what a handsome face it was, was so familiar to her.
Older, definitely. More rugged, oh, for sure. But tho
se eyes! Dark chocolate brown, not dull, but textured, almost shimmering like crushed velvet.
She’d have known those eyes anywhere.
Before she had a chance to move, he glanced around the faces of the nurses, and his gaze fell on her.
If there’d been any doubt in her mind before, it vanished as quickly as the smile on the man’s face.
Instead his brows pulled together, and he frowned.
Megan leaned back, putting the pillar between them, and reached down to pick up the charts she’d been carrying when Robbie and his entourage had arrived.
“I’m just slipping down to the pharmacy to get that prescription filled for little Poppy.” She murmured to the Sister. “This lot should have moved on by the time I get back.”
She stepped away from the desk and moved in the opposite direction from where Robbie and the players were headed, making sure to keep her head turned away from the visitors until she was out of the ward.
She ran straight past the lifts and charged through the doors to the stairwell. It didn’t matter at the moment that the pharmacy was six floors up. All she wanted to do was get away from the children’s ward.
By the time she came out on the ninth floor, Megan’s adrenaline rush was subsiding, and her legs were trembling from the exertion.
She walked straight to the staff counter in the pharmacy and handed over the prescription.
“Do you want it delivered?” The assistant asked politely.
“I’ll wait, thanks. She needs the meds asap.” Megan lied.
She wandered over to a chair in the waiting area and picked up a magazine, opening it at any old page, not seeing a word of what was inside.
Surely, she had been hallucinating.
Why on earth would her ex-husband walk into her ward in a hospital, almost a hundred and fifty miles away from where she’d last seen him more than a decade ago?
It just made no sense whatsoever.
Maybe she had just imagined it was him? Maybe that conversation with Robbie the night before had dredged up some long-buried memories, and she’d simply imagined that the guy looked like her ex?
Thinking about it rationally, that had to be the answer. After all, her ex had never had THAT sort of body when they’d been together! She was pretty sure she would’ve noticed if he did.