He nodded. I thought he’d get it. “I yearn for one of those days. I almost got one, except I’m here, I need you big time, and I’m not sure you’ll play ball.”
Now cat that I am, I liked that. “Maybe explain and I might?”
Noah muttered something that might have been okay and then came out of the freezer. “Do you have some meat and cheese?”
I thought about it. “Er. A bit of mild cheese might have mold on it, and a tin of corned beef?”
He winced. “Maybe not. Peppers? Mushrooms? Onions?”
“Well, duh.”
“Then it’s veggie pizza. With your stuff on it. Want me to do it?”
I’d had his doing it before. “No, ta, you pour the wine. White in the fridge, red in the pantry. You choose which.”
We both had a glass of South African pinot noir. I added a bit of veg to the pizza and an hour later, we were, I hoped, both full.
“Have you thought any more about my needing you?” he asked.
Well, what a stupid question, I had hardly thought of anything else. “In what way and how?” I said in what was a cautious manner. I was still wary. “I’m not going tonsil to tonsil in public.”
He almost spat his wine out. “Thank God. Summer, I need help. The film company is making noises about me not being in a stable relationship. They suggested the temper tantrum Tawny Teesa and I said no. I, ahem, also said my wife wouldn’t like it.”
Shit, fuck, and bugger.
Chapter Three
“How could you?” I was so taken aback to even think of something more forceful. “That’s long gone.”
“Not for me. We are still married and whatever you feel or say, I still love you. Always have, always will.” His expression was unreadable. He’d always managed the inscrutable look well. “Sorry, but that’s the way it is.”
Sod him, he had the power to lift me up and sadly drop me down. “What did the powers that be say to that?”
“Where is she, why didn’t we know, and what’s her name? Amongst other things.” He grinned and his eyes crinkled up. “I said, not here, no idea, and Mrs. Jackson. I thought one of them would have an apoplexy. Then I explained you had a career and we’d made the decision that it was fine for you to stay out of the limelight. That we met up without any fanfares and that was the way we like it. As I disappear to a cottage not far from here as often as I can, they couldn’t dispute that.”
I wondered if that was the Royal we. I guessed if he had to fudge the truth, that wasn’t a bad effort, but I still had no intentions of being used as a prop. I might still fancy the pants off him, okay, no might, of course I did, but I wasn’t going down the woman-when-I-get-five-minutes-to-spend-some-time-with route again. It was soul destroying.
“A cottage near here? And it’s secret?” Shit, my voice had risen and I took a few hasty deep breaths. It was not the time for hysterics.
“Well, it’s more of a barn on the edge of Simeon Cathcart’s estate. You remember? I went to school with him and Heather, his wife. They know how to keep quiet.”
No wonder I didn’t know about it. Sim and Heather hadn’t been backward at coming forward with their disapproval of what they called my lack of understanding. I had asked Heather how understanding she would have been if she was sent a photo of Sim in bed with a woman she knew wanted him, and I hadn’t got much of an answer. She’d mumbled something about trust, but I could tell she wasn’t as certain as she’d like to be.
Sim, on the other hand, was adamant I should accept what Noah said and if I didn’t, he was going to take sides and it wouldn’t be mine. And it wasn’t. I hadn’t spoken to him since Noah and I split. If I met them anywhere, Heather smiled and he blanked me.
“And of course I can always get Finn to run interference if need be,” Noah went on, jolting me back to now and not then. “Sometimes it’s handy having a double.” He grinned. “Well, as long as no one clocks our tattoos.”
That made sense. It was funny, though, how I’d never mistaken Finn for Noah. They might look the same, but to me, that was where any similarity ended. They were chalk and cheese. Finn was altogether too acerbic and temperamental for me to totally take to him. I supposed you could say we tolerated each other, no more.
Which had nothing to do with Noah and his request.
I was going to have to disappoint him. I daren’t do it.
“Now you need someone to be what, arm candy? No can do. I’m not sweet enough.” Not that it was the real reason, but it would do for now. I hoped he didn’t question me too much. I wasn’t an actor.
Noah laughed. “A nippy sweetie now, eh?” It was an expression we’d discovered both our mums used to describe someone who could give a sharp retort. I hadn’t thought it applied to me. However, needs must and all that.
“You better believe it.” I made the mistake of looking down. The bulge in his jeans seemed to be growing as I stared. I swear I salivated. Not a very sexy look. I probably looked more like I was constipated, but oh, shoot, how I loved to see that reaction from him. It sent me from cool, calm, and collected to hot and horny with damp thighs and those aching nipples in three seconds flat.
“Still do it to me, Summer. Can’t help it. I want you and my cock isn’t afraid to show it.”
I might have guessed he would see where I was looking. “Well, it doesn’t always get what it wants.” I hoped to hell my baggy top hid my hard-as-nails nipples that I swear were boring a hole through the lace of my bra.
“I know that,” he said in a rueful voice. “Oh, too well. But my need to be inside you, to hear those sexy and arousing little noises you make as you get excited, isn’t what’s important here. It’s how you feel about me. Whether you’ll help. And of course how much you’d like to metaphorically spit in Tawny’s eye.”
That got down to the crux of the matter. I would, of course. Who wouldn’t? She’d made my life hell and it would be good to return the favor. But… And it was a very big but. At what expense to me? I knew only too well how Noah affected me and how easy it would be to get all-over affected again. And then what? It was bad enough when we split up last time. I didn’t think I could cope with it all again.
“Summer, love? If it’s too much to ask, just say so. I know I wasn’t exactly supportive last time. I honestly didn’t realize how bad it was until it was too late. And in the interests of honesty, I was so wrapped up in what I was told was a film that would make or break my career, it was all I focused on. I didn’t realize what we had until I didn’t have it.” He swiveled to face me and took hold of my hands. “Can you ever forgive me? Honestly?” He swallowed deeply. “I’m not sure I can forgive myself.” His grip tightened before he made a conscious effort to loosen it.
Oh blimey. That soft and sweet gesture was almost my undoing. “I don’t know,” I said. “I’d like to think I’m big enough to admit I could, could, mind you, have overreacted a bit, but she was so bloody convincing.” Plus, I’m a wuss.
“And I wasn’t supportive enough.”
“That’s about it.”
I supposed it didn’t really seem a lot to ask, but I hated being in the limelight. It was hard enough standing up in front of a class of twenty-odd six-year-olds, but at least I knew more about what we were discussing than they did. Well, most of the time. I’d admit I was a bit hazy about some of the up-to-date toys they talk about. I mean, I couldn’t even keep my Tamagotchi alive, so what hope did I have with the latest Minecraft or whatever? Give me building bricks any time.
Which was me procrastinating again.
Think, woman. “What exactly would you want me to do?”
Noah pulled me into his arms, sat on the settee, and settled me on his lap. And that bulge, which now appeared to be trying to find a way through his jeans, my jeans, and any other clothing in the way. I wriggled, he groaned. It was such a sexy little groan I did it again, just to see what might happen next.
Noah held me still. “Stop it, love. I still need to be able to walk out of here with
clean jeans. You carry on like that and there will be no chance.”
Now contrary or what, I liked the sound of him being so turned on. Which wasn’t fair, as I had no intention of doing anything about his hard-on. Or I hoped I wasn’t. My willpower would crumble if he made a proper effort to seduce me. I knew that, and I hoped he didn’t.
“Sorry.” Half-true, anyway. “You were going to tell me what you needed me to do.”
“Come to the premiere with me. Be seen around with me every so often. Be my wife, be known as my wife. Show we’re deeply in love, have never split up, and laugh if anyone tries to say Bloody Tawny Teesa—which is as stupid a name as she is—were ever an item. If she tries to fling, I say that metaphorically, those photos at you, yawn and say, thank goodness photoshop has moved on since those amateur days, and generally be amused at her antics. In public, anyway. In private, we can make voodoo dolls and throw darts at her face on a dartboard or whatever turns us on.” He did a very over-the-top leer. “Especially the last bit.”
“In your dreams.” And mine as well, but that was privileged information and not for sharing.
“Oh yes. Every night, love. So?”
“Do you honestly think we could carry it off?”
Chapter Four
“Why not?”
“I’m no actor,” I said for the umpteenth time.
“Why act?” he said.
He seemed genuinely surprised at my question. Well, he wasn’t looking at it from where I was.
“I’m not all horrible, am I?” he asked. “I don’t smell, I clean my teeth regularly, and I am nice to animals and old people. I love you, even if you don’t believe it. I like you as well. It won’t be all on show, I promise. Just the premiere and a few other bits and bobs.”
It was the bits and bobs I worried about. Oh, the premiere would be scary enough, but at least I could watch the film and no doubt grit my teeth when he made love to bloody Tawny. Even if it was as he reiterated, all make-believe.
“What are they then? The bits and bobs?”
“Go to Cheltenham for the Gold Cup, maybe Formula One. A few things like that where we can be on show without having to put on too much of a show.”
“Wimbledon, England-Scotland rugby?” I asked hopefully. I’d guessed I might as well add a few things I’d like to do.
“Your wish, my love, if at all possible, will be my command.”
I had to bite my lip not to say hot as hades sex here and now. I’d become more and more aroused by the minute. Luckily, not enough to ditch all common sense.
“When would we need to start?” I said, resigned to the fact that common sense or not, I was going to help him as best I can.
“We’ve started.”
“Eh?” I asked, a bit startled by that comment. “How?”
“By going to the pub for a pint. Come on. Let’s live dangerously.”
That was coming out as a couple with a vengeance. “Out of character, maybe?”
“We can say we’re celebrating the fact I’ve finished my film and we both have a few weeks off.”
I had six, as it was the first week of the school holidays. Which made me think of something. “You said Cheltenham? That’s next year.”
“So is the rugby,” Noah pointed out. He hugged me. “Let’s play it all by ear.”
****
Which was how an hour later, hand in hand, we’d sauntered along the lane toward the Champion public house. My local which, to be honest, I only went into on occasion. Like end-of-term nights out with a couple of my co-workers and when there was a village do on I felt I ought to support. Even our school, pupil numbers seventy-three, give or take five, depending whether the Mackie family were living here or Tenerife, held fundraisers in the back room. I’d never mentioned who my husband was, just called him Joe—his middle name—and said he worked away a lot. Noah wasn’t the only one to have lied over the years. Whenever I didn’t get out a lot, I said we’d been having quality time together. People generally thought it was ever so romantic that we didn’t want to share our time together with other people. If a few people wondered if it was a mythical husband, no one chose to say so in my hearing.
If nothing else, this would get the gossips going. I wasn’t sure I liked that thought, but as my mum would say, build a bridge and get over it.
“God, I’m scared.” I blurted it out as we crossed the bridge over the river and headed for the pub a few yards away. Why it was called the Champion and not the river was lost in the annals of time. Something to do with a horse and a mountain guide. I think. No one seemed to know the whole story.
“What on earth have you to be scared about?” Noah sounded genuinely perplexed. “It’s just a pint or a glass or two of wine.”
“Little you know about it. It’s open to all who I am, and with you. Get ready for gushing. Oh, and the what the fuck does he see in her?”
“What crap.” He sounded genuinely astonished. “I’ll sort anyone who dares say anything in my hearing.”
It was outwith his hearing I was worried about, but I didn’t think I’d say that. Life was about to become interesting.
We passed the local shop.
“Do we need anything?” Noah asked. “Wine, cheese, chocolate?”
“Probably all three,” I said. “Plus a bucket of courage.” I was due to do my monthly trip to the big supermarket in town that week. Today’s visit had been a quick nip in and out on the local bus. My use-it-or-lose-it trip that we were all urged to do. Actually, I enjoyed the bus ride as much as I disliked the supermarket, which I put off as often as possible. “The cupboards are about bare.”
“Let’s go into the shop then.” He held my arm in a fierce grip. “They do the first three, I’ll give you the last.”
“I don’t know I…”
He clucked. The bugger did flappy arms and made chicken noises.
I punched his stomach and burst into laughter. Noah took advantage and propelled me into the shop. Imaginatively called The Village Shop.
“So, love, what do we need?” He put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.
Argh, the sickly smile and loving grin made me bite back a snigger. Talk about over-the-top.
“Wine, cheese, and chocolate,” I said as I suppressed the urge to make sicky noises or stick my tongue out. “Chenin, Edam, and dark.”
He turned to old Mrs. Black. Shop owner and the number-one gossip of the village, and probably not that old. It was just what she was called to differentiate her from the other two Mrs. Blacks in the village. Her job was perfectly suited to her purpose in life. To find out as much as she could about as many people as possible. “As my wife said.”
To say her eyes nearly fell out was an understatement. “Oh my goodness you … you’re,” she squeaked and patted her hair. I had no idea people did that in real life. I thought it was a romance book thing. You know, they see a hot bod and pat their hair and lick their lips. Thank goodness she didn’t do the latter. I really would be making sicky noises then.
“Summer’s husband,” Noah said. “Call me Joe.” He winked. “I let close friends call me that.”
Mrs. Black stammered, took his hand, and shook it so much I thought he’d have a bruise.
“Oh my, oh yes, well, yes indeed. Let me…” She swallowed. “Let me go and get your shopping. What is it?”
“Wine, cheese, and chocolate,” I said again. I thought it was about time I reminded her I was there. “But we can get it ourselves.”
She looked at me as if I was an alien who had sneaked into the shop unseen. Well, I supposed in her eyes, I was unseen. Just as well I found it amusing. It could be, as I knew from the past, very demoralizing to be invisible.
“Oh, Mrs. er, Jackson … I er…”
I took pity on her. “Summer will do.”
“Summer, oh such pretty name, and you want, yes, well … I’ll get what you need.”
She stopped talking and went to the cheese cabinet. Anyone would think s
he’d never seen me before. I’d lived and worked in the village for almost three years. Mind you, in all that time, she’d never offered to help me get my shopping, or as far as I knew, anyone else. It was usually a case of walking the two tiny aisles and getting it yourself.
She put the largest piece of Edam I’d seen stocked there on the counter and looked at Noah. “I’m no wine connoisseur, Mr. er Joe… You choose.”
Noah gave his professional smile and Mrs. Black almost fell into a puddle of drool at his feet. “I’ll let Summer choose it,” he said. “She knows what we both like.”
I also knew we had a choice between two, neither brilliant but both quaffable. I picked up the one I preferred, which weirdly was the cheaper. I was sure it was underpriced because I’d checked it on my wine app, but there was no way I was telling Mrs. B that.
Noah glanced at it, and then me. I did a tiny nod, and he nodded back. “Great, hon. Right, so just chocolate and we’re good to go.”
“Oh yes, my… er, this one?” Mrs. Black put down the bar I usually bought and beamed. “Are you sure that’s the lot?”
Noah looked at me. “We good?”
“Yep, that’s it.”
“Then this, and a shopping bag please.”
I stood back and waited for Noah to pay, Mrs. Black to simper, and me to manage not to giggle. I could see Mrs. B was trying her best not to ask Noah if he was any relation to Noah Jackson, and I wondered if she’d manage it. If she did, I bet I’d get the third degree next time I went in.
By the time we got outside, I was wondering just what I’d let myself in for. I mean, hot to trot was an understatement. I couldn’t be near him and not be affected—damn it to hell. One of his unconsciously smoldering looks and I was toast. If he touched me behind my ear or nibbled the lobe I was a goner. My mind went into overdrive as I remembered just how, and where, and how often we’d made love. And believe me, it was making love, not just sex. I knew the difference.
The Good Bad Boy Page 2