Once Bitten

by Oliver, Marina

  So he expected to be waited on, did he? Judy slammed a mug onto the table in front of him, banged the teapot down beside it, and sat with her sandwich and her own mug facing him.

  'There's milk in the fridge,' she told him, through a mouthful of food. She was hungry, and maybe the shock of finding a near-naked man in the house had increased her hunger. 'Now, are you ever going to answer me? Who are you, and what are you doing here?'

  He poured out the tea, languidly fetched a carton of milk and the sugar bowl, and began dipping into the full biscuit tin Fay had left.

  'I'm Justin Danby, Paul's cousin. I've just got back from a job in Oman, and he said I could stay here while I look for a flat to rent. Clearly he and your sister have a communication problem as he didn't tell me you'd be here.'

  So that explained the tan, all that glorious sun in Oman, she thought, and wondered whether she would ever manage to holiday in exotic places. Perhaps if her new project was successful...

  She dragged her attention back to the present.

  'It was all arranged – my coming, I mean – in rather a rush. They only booked their trip a couple of weeks ago. When did you arrange it?'

  Justin grinned. 'This morning, when I rang Paul. When I discovered the flat I had rented temporarily had been ruined by a water leak, he suggested I came here instead of going to an hotel. It was all so rushed I imagine he and Fay forgot to mention it.'

  Judy nodded slowly. It figured. 'He had gone somewhere, she said, and was meeting her at the airport. And Paul wouldn't even think about what arrangements Fay had made for the dogs,' she went on. 'He regards them as her business, won't even take them for walks. He probably assumed, if he thought about it at all, that neighbours would be popping in, like they would if it were cats. But how did you get in? Where did you get the key? Fay left one for me in the dogs' kennel, and you clearly didn't use that.'

  'I didn't break in. Paul said a neighbour had keys, and rang him to let him know I was coming. But do I get the impression my cousin is not one of your favourite men?'

  'He's OK,' Judy said. 'A typical man.'

  'Ouch! Well, what are we going to do? Shall I take myself off to an hotel? Or have you things to do at home? If you want to go back I can manage to walk the dogs, even feed them when they remind me. Don't worry about Fay, we often work together, she knows I can be trusted.'

  'You work together?'

  Was this the other man she had been speculating about, the one in Fay's life? She suppressed a twinge of envy. Fay had Paul, who was handsome enough for ten men, now perhaps she had this man too.

  Justin broke a biscuit in half and tossed the pieces to the two dogs who were sitting expectantly on either side of him.

  'I'm an architect, Fay often does the interior design for me.'

  This became even more intriguing. If Fay really had someone else, who more likely than someone she worked with? She dragged her attention back to her own situation.

  'I don't want to go home,' Judy said hurriedly, shuddering at the very idea. 'I – I was glad to get away for a while. You know, have a change. And I've never explored this part of the country, it was an opportunity to look at some National Trust houses. I don't make much use of my membership.'

  He looked sceptical, but she wasn't about to explain further. It was none of his business. He gave a slight shrug, then smiled, and she had to remind herself that all men were the same, devious and untrustworthy, however attractive they seemed. In fact, the more handsome they were, the least trustworthy. Mark had film star looks, and on the surface was caring and helpful. Her girlfriends envied her, but they didn't know what a control freak he was underneath. She forced her thoughts back to the present, before she either wept or raged.

  Justin was speaking. 'Well, I intended to look for another apartment, until my own is free. It's rented out for another month, and I hate hotels. I see too much of them when I'm working away. I was wondering what to do when I discovered the dogs were here. if I promise to keep out of your way, and do my share of the cooking, could we both stay? I've looked after myself for years, I'm reasonably tidy and house trained, and if you like I'll give up the en suite to you.'

  Judy nodded slowly. There was really no reason not to agree, and if Paul had asked him to stay how could she justify kicking him out?

  'There's another en suite, I believe. Fay showed me the pictures and the floor plans when they bought the house,' she said. 'These houses were built for up and coming tycoons. But now, I must take these dogs for a run.'

  'They can go into the garden, I've already taken them for a long hike, and you look exhausted. I'll take your bags upstairs. And to say thank you I'll cook breakfast tomorrow. What time would you like it? I might even bring it to you in bed.'

  'No!' Judy took a deep breath. 'I mean, don't bother. I only have toast and coffee, nothing cooked.'

  He grinned at her, and she refused to smile back. He was just too darned attractive, and he knew it. But she was immune to male blandishments. After two years being engaged to Mark she wanted no more handsome men in her life.

  *

  She thought she would not sleep, but she must have been extra tired, for she dropped off the moment her head hit the pillow, and woke only when there was a soft tap on the door.

  'Are you decent? Coffee's here.'

  For a moment she thought she was still dreaming, then recalled last night's events.

  'C – come in,' she said, sitting up and pulling the duvet up to her chin.

  Justin appeared, carrying a tray with a cafetière, cream jug and sugar bowl, and two mugs. One was decorated with an 'Ideal Husband' logo, the other with 'My Favourite Girl'.

  He parked the tray on the night table, and, grinning, poured coffee into the latter mug.

  'Sugar? Cream?'

  Judy shook her head. 'Black, please. Thanks, but I told you not to bother.'

  He filled the other mug, poured a generous helping of cream, and scooped two spoonfuls of sugar into it.

  'I've been up for hours. Took the dogs out, phoned a couple of estate agents and made appointments to view some apartments this morning, and I need to be off in exactly ten minutes.'

  'I thought you were going to stay, not look for a flat?'

  'Well, on second thoughts, I feel it would be better if I did move out. I'll be in your way. If I don't find one I can go to an hotel for a while.'

  And me in his way, he means, she thought. So he didn't want to stay with her. Judy felt a moment's irritation, then decided it would be a good thing if he did leave.

  'You said you didn't like hotels,' she felt obliged to say.

  'I have a feeling you'd prefer me to move out.' He had drunk his coffee. 'Will you be OK?'

  'I'm not incapable!' Judy was annoyed. 'I've lived on my own for five years, since I finished college.'

  'Which makes you, let me see if my arithmetic is up to it – at least twenty-five.'

  'Six,' Judy said, then mentally kicked herself.

  He picked up the tray with his mug and moved to the door.

  'And I'm in my prime, thirty-three. I must away. See you this evening, and if you should feel like cooking dinner, I'll take you out tomorrow. Until I can make other arrangements, we can at least be civilised.'

  *

  For a moment Judy contemplated throwing something at him, but he'd gone and shut the door, so she laughed instead. Did he think they were not being civilised? He had a cheek, ordering her to cook dinner, but they had, sort of, agreed to share the cooking. It would serve him right if she gave him beans on toast.

  She finished the coffee, showered, and pulled on a track suit. Downstairs the dogs, Gypsy, an almost white collie cross, and Buster, an unidentifiable mixture of various terriers, fawned round her while she made toast and more coffee.

  'I'll take you out later,' she told them, then set up her laptop in the small room Paul called his study. While it booted she investigated the freezer. Fay must have stocked up on freezer meals, there seemed to be nothing else
there except a loaf of sliced bread and a tub of ice cream. That solved the problem of dinner, and there were tins of fruit in the cupboards. She could concentrate on catching up with work. But first she ought to ring Bill and ask how Kate was.

  'Hi Judy. She's tired, but it's all OK. A boy, small, but they say he'll be all right once he's put on some weight. Kate said she'd promised to forward your letters. There were some this morning. I'll put them in the post when I go to see Kate. Is this the address? I found it by the phone.'

  She confirmed it, thanked him, and said to give Kate her love. Then, hearing sounds of excited twins in the background, she rang off and started work.

  After a sandwich lunch she took the eager dogs out. Behind Cherry Tree Close was a stretch of common land, and she saw several other dog walkers. Some of the dogs were off the leads, racing around, but Judy didn't dare let her two loose, in case they refused to come back to her.

  They clearly had doggy friends. A golden retriever ran up, followed by a slower dachshund, and Judy found herself entangled in the leads as her pair danced around in excitement.

  'Come off, you idiots! Let me sort you out.'

  It was a middle-aged man, with the sturdy figure of a rugger player and a neat brown beard. He took the leads from Judy and straightened them.

  'These are Fay's dogs, aren't they? Thought I recognised them. But I don't know you. I live opposite her in the Close.'

  'I'm looking after them while she's away. I'm Judy Morton, Fay's sister.'

  'Oh yes, she's mentioned you. I remember now. You're the clever one, according to her. I'm Ken Tibbetts. Why don't you let the dogs go? They'll come back, and they get more exercise that way.'

  'Will they? I was too afraid they'd vanish.'

  They walked on together. Ken taught games, he told her, and Judy suppressed a shudder. She had had enough of teachers after Mark.

  'Fay says you teach art. I used to teach near Manchester, but my wife got a job down here, so I changed schools. Magda's an accountant. I was sorry in some ways to leave my last school, but then, all life's a challenge, and I wouldn't want to hold Magda back. And my new school's pleasant enough, even the staff.'

  'I did teach, but I've resigned. I want to do something else,' Judy managed to say when he paused for breath.

  His voice was loud, probably because he was used to bawling instructions across a playing field. And did he always talk so much?

  'Your own business, she said. Something to do with art, or painting. Not that I know anything about art, but when I see a painting I know at once whether I like it or not. I'll be interested in seeing some of yours.'

  Not if I can help it, Judy thought. She had no desire to have her work appraised by a man who knew what he liked when he saw it. Fay seemed to have said a lot about her, and Judy wondered whether the other residents of the Close knew many details of her private life.

  She asked him who else lived there, and managed to say no more about herself. That wasn't difficult, Ken seemed to give her the life histories of all the other residents. When they had circled the common Ken whistled, and the dogs rushed up.

  'You must come in for a drink soon, to meet Magda.'

  Judy nodded, leashed her two and went indoors. She did not want to get involved in neighbourly togetherness. She'd had enough of that in the flats back in Manchester. Only Kate had been someone she wanted to spend time with. There was time to do some more work before she had to worry about dinner. Thinking about Justin sent a shiver of anticipation up her spine, and she went swiftly to her laptop. He was funny, even if domineering, but he was a man, and she'd foresworn men for the next few years or decades.

  ***

  Chapter 2

  Deciding it would be mean to give him beans on toast, she fished a couple of freezer meals out, chicken with a wine sauce, and rice. Judy groaned when she saw they were supposed to be cooked in the oven. It was already seven, and she had no idea when he would be back. Well, if he came in soon he'd have to wait, and if they were overdone, tough luck.

  He arrived as she was taking hers out of the oven, put a couple of bottles of wine on the kitchen table, and grinned at her.

  'Perfect timing, I'll be down when I've washed my hands.'

  'Any suitable flats?' she asked as he opened one of the bottles and poured her a glass of wine.

  'Are you so anxious to get rid of me?'

  Judy frowned. Why did he have to take a civil question the wrong way?

  'It makes no difference to me.'

  'There's nothing yet, but I have more to see tomorrow.'

  'You're staying in this area? Do you belong to a firm, or are you on your own?'

  'I have half a dozen partners, in London, but I'm often away, working on site, especially when the job is abroad.'

  'Does Fay have to be there? On the sites, I mean?'

  'She does most of it from home, from my spec. Usually a quick visit to see the place once the main building work is finished is enough for her. Hasn't she explained to you?'

  'We haven't met for ages.'

  So that put paid to her fantasies of Fay and this man having a fling while they worked together. Come to think of it, Fay wouldn't have been able to leave the dogs. But it didn't mean they were not involved.

  'Are you off to another job somewhere hot?'

  If only she could live that sort of life, Judy thought, suppressing a sigh. She'd always longed to travel, but short holidays to France or Spain had been all she could afford in the high season during school holidays. Still, if her plans worked out, in the future she might be able to go at any time.

  'Not yet, back to the old firm for a while. There's a job in Oxfordshire, another hotel. The offices are in London, in the City.'

  'What were you building in Oman? A luxury hotel?'

  He grinned at her. He had a lazy smile that made her weak at the knees.

  'No, a luxury villa for an oil man.'

  'So you'll be working in London? Will you get a flat there, or are you intending to commute? I know a lot of people do, but I'd hate it.'

  'I'm still officially on leave, so I won't need to go into the office. I think I'll stay in this area. My own flat in London is rented out, and I came back earlier than I'd expected. I was going to take a long trip round India, but – well, my plans changed.'

  There was suddenly a bleak expression in his eyes, and he clamped his lips together. Judy shivered. He looked dangerous, and she knew she would hate to get on the wrong side of him. Why, she wondered, had his plans fallen through, and why did this appear to make him angry? Or was it hurt she saw? Somehow the thought that such a man could be hurt was uncomfortable.

  'I met one of Fay's neighbours when I was out with the dogs,' she said hurriedly, to break the silence.

  He looked grim. Then he shook his head as if to clear it, and smiled, his usual cheerful look back on his face.

  'Enough of me. Do you enjoy teaching?'

  Judy shrugged. 'It depends. I like the children, can't stand some of the staff.'

  Especially Mark, she thought. She'd have stayed in teaching if it hadn't been for him, but even if she moved schools he would be there in the background. He was good at networking, went to dozens of conferences.

  'So what's this business Fay mentioned? Anything to do with art?'

  Judy became enthusiastic. This was a dream she'd had since college, and at last it seemed as though she could make it happen.

  'I design cards, greetings cards, and the sort of promotional cards and leaflets companies use for mail shots. Some friends I was at college with have a design studio and I work with them, they do most of the printing, and all the business side. But I'd like to control the lot myself, sell from my web site, take a stand at exhibitions. I can't do that and teach full time, so I resigned. I'll have to find a part time job to pay the bills, but not until I go back to Manchester. And I fancy trying something other than teaching. These four weeks give me a chance to create some new designs.'

  'Will you stay in Man
chester? You have friends there?'

  Yes, she thought, and Mark. She could keep in touch with the friends who mattered, but she had to get away from him and the memories of the good times they had once shared.

  'I have my flat on the market, but at the moment they are difficult to sell. I'll move back south, I think, or at least to the Midlands, where I grew up.'

  'Not here to be near Fay? You don't have any other family, I believe?'

  'Our parents retired to Spain, so we don't see a lot of them. Fay and I have never been especially close. She's ten years older, and she left home before I really knew her.'

  This was getting too personal.

  'What about your family?' she asked. 'Paul is a cousin?'

  'Our mothers were sisters. Paul's parents are dead, mine live in Florida, and I have no brothers or sisters. Now, shall I make coffee?'

  Suddenly she had to get away. For a reason she didn't want to examine, she wanted to ask him if he had a girl friend, but then she would have to tell him about Mark, and the subject was too painful. She'd come here to forget.

  'I won't have any, thanks. It was a nightmare journey yesterday, and I need an early night.'

  'Then I'll take the dogs out. I'll be gone first thing, so I won't disturb you in the morning. But don't forget we're going out for a meal tomorrow.'

  *

  Pushing all thoughts of Mark and Justin out of her mind, Judy managed a satisfactory morning's work. A couple of letters with cheques for some work she'd done had been forwarded by Bill, and she would find a bank tomorrow to pay them in. She took the dogs out before she made herself some lunch, telling herself it was to give her an appetite, but knowing her real reason was to avoid Ken Tibbetts. She'd had enough of teachers and his loud voice.

  By seven Justin had not returned, and Judy was in a fret trying to decide what to wear. She showered and washed her hair, and was standing in her bedroom, wrapped in just a large bath towel, contemplating her wardrobe. What sort of place would he take her to? He was the kind of sophisticated, well-travelled man who would patronise expensive restaurants. She recalled Paul's comment about Fay having expensive restaurant meals, and wondered if these had been with Justin. But she didn't want to overdo it by wearing the one party frock she had stuffed into her case at the last minute.