Jill Mansell - Mixed doubles

‘My mixed doubles partner,’ Liam explained, ‘was a very hairy lesbian. She had her heart set on a razor. On the last night she got me drunk, challenged me to a camel race and won.’ He shrugged and held the leather box out to Pru. ‘That was it. I was left with the earrings.’

Pru laughed.

‘I can’t imagine why you haven’t given them to someone else.’

Liam opened the box. The earrings, pink-gold studded with diamonds, were each the shape of a stylised letter P.

‘My tennis partner’s name,’ he said simply, ‘was Paula.’

Pru stood in front of the bathroom mirror admiring her reflection. She had tucked her hair behind her ears. When she turned her head from side to side the earrings caught the light, glittering like ... well, like diamonds.

‘This is really kind of you.’

‘My pleasure.’ Liam moved up behind her, his breath warm on the back of her neck. Gently, he lifted Pru’s dark glossy hair further away from her ears and examined the still-reddened but scalpel-fine scars.

‘Your surgeon did a good job,’ he told her. ‘If you didn’t know, you’d never know.’

His mouth was inches from her neck. Now it was moving closer. Pru, watching in the mirror, held her breath and told herself she was imagining things. Liam couldn’t possibly be about to do what it looked as if he was about to do.

She let out a squeak as his warm tongue flickered against her neck.

Chapter 41

‘Liam—!’

‘You know, you really are an incredibly attractive woman.’ He murmured the words as if confiding a tremendous secret, then dropped a kiss on to her shoulder. ‘Dulcie’s told me all about you and that miserable husband of yours. You know, all you need is someone to give you a confidence boost.’

Pru smothered a giggle.

‘You mean—?’

‘Don’t get me wrong,’ said Liam hastily, ‘nothing serious, nothing long-term. Just, you know, a bit of fun.’

‘You mean you?’

His dark-blue eyes met Pru’s astonished grey ones in the mirror. He gave her his most irresistible smile.

‘I mean exactly that. Aren’t I the perfect man for the job? Come on, sweetheart, how about it? To celebrate the new you?’

Pru tried hard to imagine doing it with Liam. He was blond and blue-eyed, deeply tanned and quite extraordinarily handsome. He had wall-to-wall muscles. He was superfit. And she had heard a thousand times from Dulcie how fabulous he was in bed.

Physically, he was indeed the perfect man for the job.

Pru sighed. What a shame he had to be Liam. Anyone else with those attributes wouldn’t have stood a chance of escape.

‘Oh dear,’ Liam murmured, teasing her. ‘Big sigh. Decisions, decisions.’

His arms were sliding around her waist. Carefully, Pru extricated herself.’No thanks, Liam.’

He looked perplexed.

‘Are you sure?’

She unclipped the earrings and held them out to him. ‘I’m sure.’

‘What are you doing?’

‘You’d better have these back,’ said Pru.

Liam started to laugh.

‘Keep them! I don’t bribe women to sleep with me. I was only trying to do you a favour.’ Still smiling, he clipped the earrings back on to Pru’s ear lobes.

‘Ouch.’ She winced as his fingers slipped. The left one pinched like a crab claw.

‘Sorry. There, that’s better. Like I said, you’re an attractive girl. All you need is that extra boost of confidence.’

I think you just gave me that when I turned you down, thought Pru, returning his smile. Good old Liam, you couldn’t hate him. What you saw was what you got. He’d certainly never pretended to be anything other than what he was – the ultimate good-time boy.

Aloud she said, ‘Thanks.’

They had been gone for almost an hour. Quite unable to concentrate on work, Eddie was pacing his office like a caged leopard when he heard the familiar sound of Pru’s decrepit Mini rattling into the courtyard. In less than a second he was at the window, his hands pressed against the cold glass.

Liam was wearing a different sweatshirt, a yellow one.

He and Pru were laughing together about something.

Now Liam was leaning across, pushing his fingers through Pru’s dark hair.

Eddie’s stomach executed a violent double somersault. What was going on? Why was Liam stroking Pru’s left ear in that uncharacteristically tender fashion?

More to the point, thought Eddie frantically, why the bloody hell is she letting him?

* * *

‘Do you know,’ said Liam, ‘I’ve never been turned down before.’

‘Oh dear.’ Pru looked sorrowful. ‘Have I blotted your copybook?’

He grinned. ‘Bloody right. Do me a favour, will you? Keep it to yourself.’

‘I won’t tell. And you,’ Pru reminded him, ‘mustn’t say anything about my ears.’

‘Deal,’ said Liam. He managed to yank open the passenger door. When he had climbed out, he turned and added cheerfully, ‘It’s our secret, sweetheart. Just between us.’

The wind had changed. Earlier when Eddie had strained to overhear Liam’s conversation with Pru, he hadn’t been able to catch any of it.

This time, having heard only too clearly more than he wanted to hear, he turned away from the window. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach like a lorryload of wet sand.

So much for thinking he had a chance with Pru. Liam — God help her – had clearly got there first.

‘Hi,’ said Pru, appearing in the doorway still breathless from the stairs. ‘I’m back.’

Her cheeks glowed pink. She looked bright-eyed and incredibly happy. Like a fresh-faced teenager in love with the school cricket captain, thought Eddie. He felt horribly old and tired in comparison.

‘Hi.’ He forced a smile. ‘Good holiday?’

Pru’s flush deepened.

‘Great, thanks.’

She wasn’t particularly brown, but she looked well. Eddie noticed she was wearing her hair differently, tucked behind her ears. All the better for Liam McPherson to fondle them, no doubt, he thought with a spasm of jealousy.’Nice earrings.’

‘Oh! Thanks.’ Pru’s eyes sparkled, and all of a sudden Eddie knew who had given them to her.

The sick feeling in his stomach intensified and he sat down behind his desk, flicking abstractedly through his diary.

‘Is everything all right?’

‘Fine. Just fine.’

‘Um ... it’s almost midday,’ Pru ventured. Something was wrong but she couldn’t imagine what.

‘Aren’t I supposed to be driving you to a meeting in Oxford?’

Eddie had cancelled the meeting. He had planned, in a surge of hopeless optimism, to whisk Pru out somewhere wonderful for lunch.

‘It’s been rescheduled,’ he said brusquely. ‘I’m seeing them on Monday instead.’

‘Oh.’ Pru watched him, apparently engrossed in the contents of his diary. ‘So, you don’t need me then?’

Yes, I need you, Eddie longed to blurt out.

He shook his head, wishing he were thirty-five again, with less paunch and more hair. He wondered if his life would have turned out differently if he’d cultivated muscles and blond highlights.

‘Eddie.’ She sounded hesitant. ‘Have I done something to upset you?’

YES. YES. YES.

‘No.’

‘Okay.’ Pru wasn’t convinced. ‘So what time on Monday?’

When he looked up, she was fiddling with one of her earrings. It occurred to him that if he wanted to, he could sack Liam McPherson. Lay-’em McPherson, he thought bitterly. But what would be the point?

‘Ten thirty.’

‘And roughly when will we be back?’ Pru was mentally juggling her cleaning jobs. She had some serious catching-up to do after her fortnight off.

Listen to her, she just can’t wait to rush home to him.