by J. D. Chase
She authorised it and then realised that she now had the Holden standing in the car park and it was uninsured.
Great! So far, this is inconveniencing me more than Xander . . . well, at least he can’t get his hands on any of the cash . . . oh my God . . . if he’s got his company credit card or cheque book then of course he can.
She hastily placed calls to the bank and, through yet more lies, managed to get his company credit card and cheque book cancelled with immediate effect. Then she used a price comparison site to insure the car. Well, she attempted to – because it was an import, it wasn’t straightforward. Several telephone conversations later and it was finally insured. Leaning forward, she placed her elbows on the desk and began to massage her temples. She had the beginnings of an annoying, tension-induced headache. She was tired. She was stressed.
And you’re hurting.
‘No, I’m not,’ she snapped, standing up abruptly and heading over to pour a gin and tonic. She screwed her face up when she reached the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of Chardonnay instead, not able to bring herself to pour their drink. She downed a glass in one swift movement but restrained herself from pouring another. She knew it wasn’t a good idea; she needed to keep her wits about her. And wine . . . well, how many times had she vowed never to drink it again?
Smith dropped by, bringing with him the two night guards, Davies and Brown, to make the introductions. He informed her that a full handover had taken place and that the canine unit was en route to the hotel. Once they’d departed, she remembered that she’d agreed to see Dean for a drink. Yeah, she definitely needed another drink. This whole ‘teaching Xander a lesson’ mission was emotionally draining, not least since she’d been informed that he was still sitting in his car outside.
Oh crap. I haven’t any clean clothes for the morning. What the hell am I going to do? Ooh online shopping . . . there’s a certain retailer who will deliver next day, even at this time of night. Yeah, I’ll do that then I’m definitely going for that drink.
Half an hour later and Isla was ready to punch the screen of her computer. That particular retailer would only deliver to her home address and it was too late to order from any other retailer.
Bugger. I’m going to have to go home . . .
She used her walkie-talkie device and Brown replied, identifying himself. She told him of her predicament and he suggested calling a friend to bring her some clothes. Frowning, she was forced to admit that she had no friends who could oblige. He asked her to give him five minutes and he’d try to hatch a plan that wouldn’t compromise their objective.
When he called back, he began with an apology. There was no way that her request could be conducted safely. If one guard took her and Xander followed, one guard could not be guaranteed to keep Xander away from her. But if two guards were taken, that would leave only one at the hotel – what if Xander didn’t follow her?
Resentment began to kick in. She was a prisoner. What if she was stuck at the hotel for days? She’d need to pack a suitcase . . . oh and clear out any perishables from her fridge. Why didn’t she have a friend or at least someone who held a spare key?
Jamie! Did he still have a key? I remember kicking myself for not taking it from him when he took his stuff but I could barely stand to look at him and my heart was breaking when he walked away. Didn’t I text him and ask him to post it but he didn’t? I was going to have the lock changed but then, once I started here I was so busy that it slipped my mind. I bet he’s thrown it away by now anyway. But it wouldn’t hurt to ask . . .
No way! There is no way I’m asking Jamie for any favours . . . or explaining any of this to him.
Try as she might, she couldn’t think of any other way out of the situation. It seemed that asking Jamie was the only option.
But I don’t want to have to go crawling to him for help. Oh God . . . is that any worse a prospect than having no clean clothes to wear? And why care what he thinks? I wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for him . . . if he hadn’t cheated on me I wouldn’t be here . . . and I wouldn’t have had the misfortune of meeting Xander Rhodes.
Isla poured herself another glass of wine and sipped it as she pondered her difficult decision. She got as far as turning on her phone that had been switched off since the morning. She had a whole heap of voicemail messages and texts from Xander. She deleted them without a second thought, noticing the content of one text because it was short and in capitals: ‘YOU FUCKING BITCH’.
Nice!
Then she noticed the timing of the message . . . it was sent as the Holden was delivered. She chuckled. Oh yeah, she’d got to him all right.
Then she spotted a text from Jamie, apologising for dropping the bombshell that Xander was married like that. He said he thought she knew.
Yeah you should be sorry – this is all your fault.
Anger surged through her and before she could stop it, her finger clicked on the icon to call him. In her race to cancel it using clumsy fingers, she dropped the phone. When she picked it up, she could hear Jamie’s disembodied voice asking if she was there.
‘No,’ she muttered, as she moved it closer to kill the call.
‘I heard that, Isla. What are you playing at? Aren’t you a little old for prank calls? Is this your retaliation for what I told you this morning?’
Dragging the phone to her ear as she spoke, she snapped. ‘No. I dropped my bloody phone. So you can take that back. And while you’re at it, you can take back what you said this morning. I am better than that. I do hate cheating, you of all people should know that.’
‘So you’ve called me to drag up all that again? God, Isla, there’s only so many times a man can say he’s sorry.’
‘And it still doesn’t make it right. You owe me, Jamie. You owe me big time for what you did to me and if it weren’t for you cheating on me, I wouldn’t have even met Xander Rhodes.’
There was a silence at the other end of the line.
‘Jamie, are you still there?’
He sighed heavily. ‘Yes, I’m still here. I owe you? What is it you want from me? I told you months ago that I’d do anything to put what I did right. I offered to come back. I practically begged you, Isla. I would have done anything to put it right and get back to where we were before all that happened.’
‘But it was too late,’ she whispered as the first tears began to fall. ‘I couldn’t trust you after what you did to me. To us.’
‘I know,’ he whispered back. ‘All I can do is say I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. It wasn’t deliberate, Isla. I only realised how it felt when she dumped me. That’s when I realised—’
‘She dumped you? You mean you only came crawling back to me when she dumped you?’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘So tell me, Jamie, what was it like? Did you come crawling back to me after she’d dumped you or did you beg me to take you back while you were still with her? I don’t know which is worse.’
Another long sigh. ‘‘It was after but I didn’t come back because she didn’t want me any more. I could only think about what I’d lost when I was by myself. That’s when I realised that I was more bothered about losing you than losing her.’
‘Bullshit, Jamie. If you’d been bothered about losing me, you wouldn’t have been with her in the first place.’
‘You make it sound so simple. It wasn’t like that. I was stupid, I’ll admit that. The thought that I could lose you didn’t even occur to me when I started seeing her. You remember what it’s like . . . that thrill of being with someone new. What about you and Xander? You and your married man . . . surely if he’s giving you what you want, the fact that he’s married is neither here nor there.’
‘Oh Jamie. All those years together and you still don’t know me. I guess Ms Big Tits did me a favour.’
‘Don’t be like that. So what did you mean when you said I owe you? Do you want something from me? If it’s money . . .’
‘I don’t want your money! You c
ould do something for me . . . oh, I can’t believe I’m asking this of you . . . and believe me, it’s only because I’m desperate. Do you still have a key to our . . . my flat?’
‘Um . . . yeah, I think I do. God knows where it is. Why? Have you locked yourself out?’
‘Not exactly. Listen, I need you to find that key, go to the flat and pack me some clothes and then bring them to an address in Kensington.’
‘What? Now? And why do you need me to get them? Why can’t you get them yourself?’
‘Yes, now. And Jamie, believe me, if I had anyone else to ask that could possibly help me, I wouldn’t be asking you. Like I say, I’m desperate. You don’t need to know why. You just need to do the decent thing for once in your life.’
‘Fine. Tell me which clothes you want and the address I’m to bring them to.’
Once she’d got off the phone, Isla felt totally drained. ‘That’s it,’ she muttered. ‘I’ve really had enough of today, it can fuck right off. I need that drink.’
Chapter Three
When Isla walked into the bar she frowned with irritation when she saw that it wasn’t as quiet as she’d hoped. Obviously, under normal circumstances, a busy bar was good news but tonight she wanted to relax and chill with a drink or two before she went up to bed. She’d decided to stay in the suite – it was usually only occupied at weekends so she thought she’d be safe for a few days. That’s how long she was expecting to have to wait until Xander got bored. She knew he wouldn’t give up on the hotel, but she knew he couldn’t set up camp outside the hotel permanently.
Dean smiled with pleasure as she clambered on to a bar stool at the end of the bar.
‘You look like you could do with a drink,’ he said.
She laughed. ‘And you sound like a good barman. I’ll have a G an─ Could I have a glass of Chardonnay please? You’d better make it a large one.’
Dean’s eyebrow rose but, other than that, he was motionless until he whispered, ‘Tell me you’ve eaten dinner before you go throwing back the vino . . . you know what happens if you drink it on an empty stomach.’
She opened her mouth to protest but he gave her a knowing look.
‘I’ll do you a deal,’ he said, looking at her as though she were a child. ‘If you agree to eat, I’ll serve you. Deal?’
I just want a drink!
Thankfully she managed not to tell him that if he agreed to serve her, she wouldn’t give him his P45. She didn’t need any more drama . . . she just needed to feel the cool, smooth liquid sliding down her throat, so she nodded.
‘What would you like to eat?’ he responded with a self-satisfied smile.
She shrugged. ‘I really couldn’t care less. Just ask them to send through whatever they have, and hurry up with my wine.’
With a disapproving look, Dean poured her a glass of wine. A medium-sized glass, she noticed but decided not to make a stand and delay getting her lips wet even further. He passed it to her without a word and picked up the telephone to order her meal from the restaurant next door. She knew he had a point; she hadn’t eaten since breakfast and she realised that she was hungry. Very hungry. And that was surprising, given the day she’d had. But then again, that was how she’d put on more weight . . . comfort eating after Jamie had gone.
Isla brought the glass to her lips and closed her eyes as she sipped. The deliciously rich, slightly oaked liquid poured into her mouth, making her moan in satisfaction as she savoured it before swallowing. When she opened her eyes, she realised that the two gentlemen next to her were watching her avidly, and one of them had a predatory look in his eye. Remembering that she was the owner of the hotel, she bit back the caustic response that was on the tip of her tongue and arranged her face into a passable imitation of friendliness. She then acknowledged them with a nod before taking another sip.
Within minutes, a waiter set down a Caesar salad in front of her.
A Caesar salad? Of all the beautiful dishes on their menu, they bring me a salad? And their specials are always mouth-wateringly good.
‘There you go,’ grinned Dean happily. ‘I chose something healthy for you. You need to eat well and I know you ladies are always watching your weight.’
She stared at him for a few seconds in incredulity. His words rankled, forcing her to wonder whether he had a problem with her size. Was that a blatant hint that he thought she was overweight? Did he think he was being helpful, assisting her in tackling those extra pounds? Thankfully, Dean was needed to serve patrons at the other end of the bar so the confrontation that she was tempted to stage didn’t happen. From nowhere, Xander’s voice echoed inside her head . . .
Those curves need careful maintenance . . .
Curves with confidence is a heady combination . . .
She forced his voice from her mind. Clearly Dean wasn’t a worshipper of voluptuous bodies. She knew he was a fitness fanatic but since he obviously wanted to be more than friends, she’d assumed that he was accepting of larger body shapes. But it seemed that he was no different from most men.
And very different from Xander.
As she forced herself to eat the salad, she wondered how on earth it was supposed to soak up any alcohol but she didn’t let that stop her draining her glass and ordering another. When Dean hesitated, she told him she needed the calories from the wine to balance out the lack of them in her meal. Then she asked him for a packet of crisps to soak up the alcohol. He looked confused but said nothing as he obeyed.
Nadine appeared and called over to Isla to say there was a gentleman asking to see her, just as she’d finished the packet.
That’ll be Jamie.
She slid from her stool and sashayed (so she thought, but in reality it was more of a lurch) into reception where Jamie was standing next to her largest suitcase, looking incredibly uncomfortable.
‘Thanks Jamie. I’m sorry to put you to all this trouble. I’m really grateful. Come into the bar and let me buy you a drink.’ She took her case and walked across to the far side of the lobby, away from Nadine’s prying ears.
He followed her. ‘Um . . . I’m driving and it’s getting late. I should be getting back.’
Isla frowned. ‘Ah. Someone waiting for you at home?’ She didn’t know why she asked; it was nothing to do with her.
‘No,’ he said, flatly. ‘There’s nobody waiting for me. I’m done with relationships. After I realised what I did to you, seeing someone new was the last thing I needed. I’m happily single for the foreseeable.’
‘Are you happy?’ Why ask him that – what the hell do I care?
He shrugged. ‘I’m not sure about happy but I’m content with my lot for now.’ He looked awkward and then said quietly, ‘What about you? Are you happy with him?’
Isla frowned. ‘With whom?’
Jamie gave an impatient huff. ‘Xander Rhodes.’
Isla laughed bitterly. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. ‘I’m not with him. I never was. It was just a bit of harmless fun for two single people, or so I thought. But your revelation this morning soon put paid to that.’
His jaw dropped. ‘You ended it because of me? Oh God, I’m so sorry, Isla.’ His eyes were full of sincerity.
Now there’s a novelty. I haven’t seen that for a long time.
She shrugged dismissively. ‘Like I say, it was nothing serious and I didn’t know there was a Mrs Rhodes. As soon as I found out, he was history.’ She paused, trying to grasp something lurking in the back of her mind.
What was I going to ask him?
Leaning forward and placing his hand on her arm, he whispered, ‘Well, I’m still sorry that it was me that dropped that on you. And I am sorry about the way I spoke to you this morning. You’re right. I should have known better. I, of all people, should have known better; I know how you feel about cheating. I didn’t stop to think. Since I saw you with him looking all happy and loved-up, all I could think of was your double standards. Actually, if I’m honest, I hoped that what I did to you hadn’t changed your stance on ch
eating – made you lower your standards or something. I have enough on my conscience where you’re concerned, I didn’t need anything else to blame myself for.’
She smiled wryly. ‘Ah what’s done is done, Jamie. I just hope you’ve learned from it. Apparently I haven’t – I still can’t spot a lowlife rat.’
His eyes flew open. ‘Ouch!’
‘No offence intended, but that’s basically my failing.’
He gave a sad shake of his head. ‘I deserve it. I was stupid, Isla. Beyond stupid. What I risked . . . what I lost . . .’
‘But if you’ve learned from it . . . And I’ve come to realise that we weren’t meant to be, Jamie. If we were, you wouldn’t have fucked some bitch behind my back, would you?’
His whole body slumped and when he spoke, it was barely a whisper. ‘I miss you, Isla. I miss you so badly that I ache sometimes.’
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Maybe that will prevent you putting some other poor creature through what I endured.’
He nodded, looking close to tears. Isla realised then that he was lonely, that he wasn’t happy being single at all. She doubted that he missed her; he missed what they’d had because now he had nothing. He made a half step towards her, almost closing the distance between them, but as her foot slid back, preparing to increase the gap, a mobile phone gave a shrill ring, making him step back and thrust his hand in the pocket of his jeans.
His face contorted with annoyance when he peered at the screen and rejected the call.
‘Why didn’t you answer it? I think we’re done here,’ Isla announced, brightly.
He sighed. ‘It was nobody that I wanted to speak to. Well, I guess I’d better leave you to it. Just one question: what are you doing here? What do you do? It’s quite a change after stockbroking.’
His phone began to ring again making him snap, ‘For fuck’s sake.’ He killed the call and switched his phone off, a look of anger marring his handsome face.