The chubby landlady was behind the counter when Leanne walked into the low-ceilinged dining room. Glancing up, she gave a warm smile.
‘Morning, lovie. Sleep well?’
‘Great, thanks,’ Leanne replied shyly, wondering if the woman had heard her and Jake having sex. She didn’t usually make a lot of noise – well, she certainly hadn’t with Dean, not even in the early days when it was supposed to have been at its very best; but she’d been so drunk by the time she and Jake had stumbled up the rickety old staircase and fallen into their room last night, she could have been screaming her head off for all she knew.
‘Hubby not up yet?’ the woman asked.
‘Er, yeah, he’s just taking a business call.’ Leanne didn’t correct her. ‘Can I order breakfast?’
‘Take a seat. I’ll be with you in a tick.’
Leanne sat at the table by the window where she and Jake had eaten both lunch and dinner yesterday. It overlooked a winding stream that ran alongside the pub, and she smiled when she saw a duck float serenely past. While she waited, she decided to check her phone to see if she had any messages. She’d put it on silent last night, and she saw that she’d had a couple of missed calls from Chrissie. There were also a couple of messages, but Jake arrived before she had a chance to read them.
‘I’m really sorry, but something’s come up and I need to go back to town,’ he said. ‘You haven’t ordered breakfast, have you?’
‘No, she hasn’t come over yet,’ Leanne told him, shoving the phone into her pocket before standing up. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Nothing I can’t handle,’ Jake said, taking out his wallet to settle the bill. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you.’
‘There’s nothing to make up for,’ she insisted. ‘I’ve had a great time.’
‘Me too.’ He gave her a conspiratorial smile.
*
All too soon, they had pulled up outside Leanne’s house and, heart sinking at the thought of going inside, she leaned over and gave Jake a quick kiss before climbing out of the car.
‘I’ll give you a call when I’m done,’ he told her through his open window. ‘You might as well go back to bed while you’ve got the chance,’ he added slyly. ‘You must be wiped after all that walking yesterday.’
Grinning, because she knew exactly what he really meant, Leanne waved him off before heading inside.
‘Leave it!’ Mad Maggie barked, barrelling out of her room just as Leanne was closing the door.
Taken aback by her neighbour’s bright orange lipstick and fluorescent-green pinstripe trouser suit, Leanne asked, ‘Going somewhere nice?’
‘Nosy is as nosy does,’ the old woman snapped, pausing to pull on a pair of lace gloves which had clearly fed an army of moths during their lifetime, given how many holes were in them.
Leanne sighed and headed up the stairs, leaving Maggie to go on her secretive way. When she reached the top floor, she hesitated when she saw splinters of wood littering the threadbare carpet outside her room and a man-sized footprint on her open front door. Thinking that Roger must have already sent his boys round to evict her, she ran inside to confront them.
The bedsit had been ransacked, and as she gazed around in dismay at the mess of clothes, CDs and books strewn all over the floor, she realized she had been burgled. The wardrobe door was hanging off its hinge, the dresser drawers had all been pulled out and tipped upside down, and her mattress was lying askew on the base of the bed.
Glass crunched underfoot as she walked further into the room, and tears welled in her eyes when she saw that she was standing on the framed photograph of her parents and her grandmother, taken just one week before her gran had died.
Chin wobbling as their smiling faces swam before her eyes, she tipped the glass out and laid the picture on the table before reaching into her pocket for her phone. It wasn’t there, and she groaned when she realized that it must have fallen out of her pocket back at the pub when she’d jumped up from her seat. Hoping that Jake knew the name of the place so she could call and ask the landlady to look for it, she headed out to use the payphone on the corner instead.
Speedy was lounging against his doorframe when she reached the first floor, his phone in one hand, a half-eaten apple in the other. Instantly suspicious when he glanced up at her and smirked, Leanne marched the rest of the way down.
‘It was you, wasn’t it?’
‘What you on about?’
‘Don’t act stupid, you know exactly what I mean,’ she spat. ‘You broke into my room, didn’t you?’
‘Fuck off!’ he snorted, taking a bite of the apple. ‘I ain’t been nowhere near your poxy room.’
Unsure if she believed him, but unable to prove anything at this point, Leanne said, ‘And I suppose you didn’t hear anything, did you?’
‘I did as it happens.’ Speedy gave her a birds-eye view of the mashed fruit in his mouth. ‘A fuck-load of banging. Thought you was having a fit or summat.’
‘What time was that?’ she asked, trying not to grimace as juice trickled down through the stubble on his chin.
‘Dunno?’ He shrugged. ‘Three, four?’
‘And you didn’t think to come up and check on me?’ Leanne frowned. ‘What if I’d been getting attacked?’
‘Nowt to do with me,’ he said unconcernedly, dropping the apple core and wiping his hand on his dirty jeans. ‘You’d probably only have blamed me anyhow, knowing you.’
‘Thanks for nothing,’ she hissed. ‘I’ll just have to let the police deal with it.’
Irritated when Speedy stepped in front of her as she tried to walk past, she raised her chin and glared at him. ‘Move!’
‘Make me,’ he snarled, shoving her so hard she lost her footing and fell back against the stairs.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded, jumping unsteadily back up to her feet.
‘Giving you a taste of your own medicine,’ he hissed, his eyes glinting with malice as he walked up to her and shoved his face into hers. ‘You’ve treated me like shit ever since you moved in, and I’m fuckin’ sick of it.’
Leanne was scared, and his breath was turning her stomach, but she forced herself to hold his gaze. ‘Touch me again, and I’ll have you arrested for assault.’
‘Go for it,’ he challenged. ‘But it won’t get you nowhere, ’cos it’ll just be your word against mine.’ Grinning now, he jabbed her in the chest with his finger. ‘What’s up, gobby? Not gonna fight back? Or haven’t you got the bottle without your fat-twat mate to protect you?’
‘Pack it in!’ Leanne yelped, using all her strength to hold him off when he backed her up against the wall. ‘I mean it, Speedy, just stop this before it goes too far!’
‘Know your trouble?’ He placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head and stared down into her eyes. ‘You’re such a stuck-up bitch, you think you can—’
He was grabbed from behind before he could finish what he was saying, and he let out a shocked squawk when he was lifted off his feet and slammed over the banister rail. Struggling to keep his balance when his attacker forced the top half of his body out over the stairs, he spluttered, ‘What the fuck, man? I’m gonna fall! Pull me up!’
‘Shut your mouth, or I’ll drop you right now,’ Jake snarled.
Speedy’s face drained of colour when he saw the expression in Jake’s eyes, and he held up his hands. ‘All right, mate, calm down. Everything’s cool. Me and her are friends – aren’t we, Leanne?’ He twisted his head and gave her a pleading look, begging her to back him up.
‘She’d never be friends with a lowlife piece of shit like you,’ spat Jake. ‘And if I catch you so much as looking at her again, you’re a dead man. Have you got that?’
‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry!’ Speedy squealed, beads of sweat breaking out on his spotty forehead when the banister creaked. ‘I wouldn’t have done nothing, I swear! I was just pissed off ’cos she accused me of turning over her gaff. But it weren’t me – I
swear it weren’t.’
‘I’ve been burgled,’ Leanne explained when Jake flashed a questioning look her way.
‘Do you think he did it?’
‘I don’t know,’ she murmured. Then, feeling a little guilty when she saw the panicked look in Speedy’s eyes, she shook her head. ‘Probably not.’
Hauling Speedy to his feet, Jake said, ‘You’re lucky she believes you. But if I ever find out it was you, I’ll be coming back for you. And don’t make the mistake of testing me, because I never make idle threats.’
Legs almost giving way when Jake suddenly released him, Speedy rushed into his room, slipping on the apple core as he went and falling heavily through the door.
‘Thanks.’ Leanne let out a shaky breath when his door slammed shut. ‘I’ve never seen him like that before; I didn’t know what he was going to do.’
‘Don’t worry, he won’t come near you again,’ Jake said with confidence. ‘It’s a good job your front door was open, or I wouldn’t have caught him.’
‘Maggie must have forgotten to close it when she went out,’ Leanne said, turning to go upstairs.
‘No wonder you were burgled if anyone can walk in off the street,’ Jake chided as he followed her. ‘You need to make sure it’s locked at all times.’
‘I do,’ Leanne said truthfully. ‘But Maggie’s not all there, so she forgets sometimes.’
They had entered the bedsit by now, and Jake shook his head as he gazed around. ‘Wow, what a mess. Is anything missing?’
‘I don’t know.’ Leanne shrugged. ‘I haven’t had time to check. And I didn’t really want to touch anything before the police get here.’
‘Have you called them yet?’
‘No. I was on my way to do it when I ran into Speedy.’
‘I wouldn’t bother,’ Jake said flatly. ‘They won’t find whoever did it, so you might as well clean up and forget about it. Let me know if anything’s missing, though, so I can replace it for you.’
‘You don’t have to do that,’ Leanne argued.
‘I want to,’ Jake insisted. ‘So just do as you’re told and check. Okay?’
Leanne couldn’t help but smile, but she shook her head at the same time, and said, ‘Thanks, but there’s really no need. I haven’t got anything of value, so I won’t have lost much even if they have taken anything.’
‘You always were too proud for your own good,’ Jake said, pulling her into his arms and walking her slowly back toward the bed. ‘But I’ll soon win you round to my way of thinking.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ Leanne squirmed when he kissed her neck. ‘And what exactly is your way of thinking?’
‘That it’s a man’s job to take care of his woman,’ said Jake, reaching behind her and dragging the mattress back on to the base. ‘And a woman’s job to take care of her man,’ he added as he pushed her down on to it.
‘I thought you were supposed to be going somewhere,’ she gasped when he lay on top of her.
‘I am,’ he murmured, dropping little kisses on to her neck. ‘But I found your phone on the floor of the car and thought I’d best bring it round before I go.’
‘Wait!’ she spluttered as he worked his fingertips under the hem of the dress. ‘The door’s still—’
Jake’s mouth covered hers before she could finish speaking, and she groaned when his hand slid up her thigh.
‘Oh, my God!’ Chrissie’s shocked voice interrupted them. ‘You could at least shut the door before you get down and dirty.’
Leanne gave a sheepish smile as Jake leapt back up to his feet. ‘I tried to tell him, but we, er, got a bit carried away.’
‘So I see.’ Chrissie raised an eyebrow as she looked around.
‘I’ve been burgled,’ said Leanne, guessing that Chrissie thought they had made the mess because they had been overcome by passion.
‘Seriously?’ Chrissie frowned. ‘When?’
‘Sometime in the early hours, according to Speedy.’
‘And where were you?’ Chrissie asked, immediately following it with, ‘Actually, don’t bother answering that; I think I can guess. I suppose that explains why I couldn’t get hold of you yesterday.’
‘My phone was on silent,’ Leanne admitted. ‘I was going to call you when I got home, but then I found this and forgot.’
‘Have you called the police yet?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because they probably won’t find whoever did it,’ Leanne said, parroting Jake. ‘Anyway, if it was Speedy, like I suspect, I doubt he’ll dare come near me again now he’s been warned off.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Chrissie flashed Jake a bemused look. ‘Been playing the hero, have we?’
Jake shrugged as if it were no big deal and glanced at his watch. ‘I’d best get going. Will you be okay till I get back, Lee?’
‘She’ll be fine now I’m here,’ said Chrissie, taking her coat off and rolling up her sleeves.
‘Aren’t you supposed to be at work?’ Leanne asked.
‘Dylan had me up all night, and I was worried about you, so I pulled a sickie,’ Chrissie said as she scooped up an armful of clothes off the floor and dumped them on the bed. Glancing up as she reached for the next lot, she said, ‘Don’t just stand there. Go and see lover-boy out, then get your arse back in here and help me.’
Glad that Chrissie had turned up – she’d have been nervous staying in the bedsit on her own – Leanne took Jake’s hand and led him out.
‘I wish I didn’t have to go,’ he said when they reached the landing. ‘If anything happens – and I mean anything – ring me. I might not be able to get here straight away, but Ben’s only round the corner and he could be here in two minutes.’
‘Stop worrying.’ Leanne looped her arms around his neck. ‘It was a shock, but I’m okay now.’
‘I won’t apologize for caring,’ Jake said, kissing her softly.
Leanne moaned and pressed her hips against his when he slid his tongue between her teeth. Wriggling free when she felt the stiffness in his pants, she whispered, ‘Pack it in, or I’ll never get anything done.’
‘You and me are going to have some serious catching up to do when I get back,’ Jake warned, giving a throaty little chuckle as he adjusted himself.
‘Is that a threat?’ she asked, smiling sexily.
‘You bet it is,’ he purred.
‘Get moving,’ she laughed, pushing him towards the stairs.
‘You’ll need this.’ He pulled her phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. ‘Oh, and pack a bag while I’m gone.’
‘A bag?’ She gave him a quizzical look.
‘Yeah, you’re moving in with me,’ he said decisively. ‘And don’t bother arguing, because I won’t have you staying here after this.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ she spluttered. ‘We’ve only been seeing each other for a couple of days.’
‘So?’
‘So, it’s ridiculous to think about moving in with each other so soon. Anyway, this is my home, and I’m not letting a stupid break-in scare me out of it.’
‘Why are you so stubborn?’ Jake sighed.
‘I’m not,’ she argued. ‘I just don’t want you thinking I’m some pathetic little woman who needs looking after.’
‘If I thought that, I wouldn’t be here. But, come on . . . This place is the pits.’
‘Maybe so, but it’s all I can afford, so . . .’ Tailing off when she remembered that she would soon be out on her ear if Roger decided not to wait for her benefits to be reinstated, Leanne shrugged and folded her arms. ‘It’s honestly not that bad once you get used to it. And, like I said, it’s my home.’
‘Okay, what’s the difference?’ Jake demanded.
Thrown, Leanne frowned. ‘Between what?’
‘Between sharing a bed with me at that pub last night, or sharing my bed.’
‘None, I suppose. But you could just as easily share mine.’
‘With this smell hanging over us?’ Jake pulled
a face. ‘Sorry, I didn’t want to mention it, but what the hell is it?’
‘The drain in the backyard,’ Leanne said, dipping her face to hide her blushes. ‘The landlord knows about it, so it’ll get sorted soon.’
‘Yeah, well, not soon enough for me,’ Jake said softly, raising her chin with his finger. ‘And you shouldn’t be putting up with it, either. You’re way too good for this dump.’
Leanne frowned. She was embarrassed enough about the smell without him pointing out that she was living in a hovel as well. As she’d already told him, it was too early in their relationship – if she could even call it that at this stage – for them to be thinking about living together, and she guessed he’d made the offer out of pity rather than a real desire to live with her. She liked him, a lot, but it had taken a long time to get back on her feet after Dean’s betrayal, and she didn’t know Jake well enough to jump into making that kind of commitment. That said, she couldn’t deny that it would be nice to get a break from this place, if only for a couple of days.
‘Okay, I’ll make a deal with you,’ she conceded. ‘I’ll stay at yours for the weekend. But then I’m coming home, and we’ll alternate where we stay after the drain’s fixed. Okay?’
‘We’ll see,’ Jake said, flashing a victorious grin at her before strolling down the stairs.
Chrissie was sitting on the bed folding the clothes when Leanne returned. Giving her a mock-stern look, she said, ‘And what do you have to say for yourself, you dirty little stop-out? I thought you were supposed to be coming home alone after dinner?’
‘I did,’ Leanne replied truthfully, unable to keep the grin off her face as she sat down and plucked a T-shirt off the pile. ‘But then Jake took me out for lunch yesterday, and it was such a lovely place we thought we might as well stay for dinner. And then it got late, and they had rooms, so—’
‘You thought you might as well stay the night and shag each other’s brains out?’ Chrissie finished for her, sure that Jake had probably planned it that way all along.
‘It wasn’t like that,’ Leanne said, smiling coyly because that was exactly how it had been.
‘Whatever!’ Chrissie said dismissively. ‘So, come on, then . . . spill. And I want details, baby.’
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