cream?”
“No.”
“Twiglets?”
Kate shot him a glance.
“I like Twiglets,” he said.“Mmm, crunchy sticks coated with Marmite.My favorite.”
“I like them too, but not in hot chocolate.”
“Try it.It’s a real treat.”
He watched her mind slide away again and chewed his lip.
“Go and sit down.I’ll make the drink,” he said.
He poured in the water and whisked with a spoon in each hand.Kate hadn’t moved, and took the mug he offered.
“Do you want to use the bathroom first?There’s a bath and a separate shower,” she said in a flat voice.
“After you.” Charlie bit back the automatic “with you”.
Much to his disappointment, Kate took the scrunched up note with her, but while she was occupied elsewhere, he explored.The first door he opened took him into a room almost as empty as the main one.Bare boards, no rugs, no curtains.The single piece of furniture was a trestle table pushed against a wall, a plastic chair tucked underneath.On top of the table sat an old computer and a sewing machine and, underneath, three cardboard boxes.He opened the flap of one.It was full of slinky black material.
When Charlie opened the door to her bedroom, the breath caught in his throat.
He felt as though he’d stepped into another world, certainly into a different apartment.The room was dominated by a four-poster bed with an elaborate twisted-metal headboard decorated with bronze butterflies.Cream linen drapes smothered with multicolored appliqué butterflies had been tied up with silver cords at each metal corner post.Charlie had a sudden vision of the pair of them on that bed, naked in each other’s arms, the drapes pulled across to cut them off from the world.He groaned as his cock tented the towel.He thought too much.
His fingers moved toward the chest of drawers.He shouldn’t, but he did.He gulped when he saw underwear in every imaginable color and material—lace, velvet, cotton, leather, silk, denim.He closed the drawer, not daring to look any further.He stood for a moment and then went back to the bathroom.
“Kate, I need to use the toilet,” he called through the door.
“You’ve just had hours in the sea.Couldn’t you have gone then?”
“Mum told me to get out of the water first.”
“What, even the ocean?”
“It’s wrong to pollute.” He tried to sound serious.
He could have nipped into the car park or even used the kitchen sink—it wouldn’t have been the first time—but he had an ulterior motive and thought she just needed a bit of encouragement.Anyone with a drawer full of sexy underwear had to be up for it.She’d bounced up the stairs in front of him, knowing she looked practically naked from behind, so he only needed to turn his charm up a notch.He really wanted to climb into the bath with her, but it was the sort of move that had got him into this mess in the first place. Go slow .
“Please,” he pleaded, in his very best seductive voice.“I’m getting desperate.”
Kate looked around.The bubbles covered everything, but she didn’t care anyway.She’d had modesty knocked out of her years ago.She’d spent all her life sharing bathrooms and bedrooms.Any sign of shyness and you were finished.
“There’s no lock on the door,” she said.
Charlie didn’t even try not to look at her.
“Warm again?” he asked.
“I didn’t ask you in to start up a conversation.”
“Sorry.”
Kate listened to the tinkling sound and thought of Richard.He’d never felt comfortable enough to take a leak while she was in the bathroom.She sank back into the water, pushing up her knees so her head slid below the surface.What a mess, she thought.What a shitty, fucking, awful mess.She wasn’t dead, but she felt dead.
When she resurfaced, Charlie was kneeling by the side of the bath.Who did he remind her of?He wiped a smear of bubbles from her lips.
“Can I get in?”
“No.”
He sighed.“Couldn’t you have pretended to think about it?”
“No.”
“Not even a
“No.”
“Twiglets?”
Kate shot him a glance.
“I like Twiglets,” he said.“Mmm, crunchy sticks coated with Marmite.My favorite.”
“I like them too, but not in hot chocolate.”
“Try it.It’s a real treat.”
He watched her mind slide away again and chewed his lip.
“Go and sit down.I’ll make the drink,” he said.
He poured in the water and whisked with a spoon in each hand.Kate hadn’t moved, and took the mug he offered.
“Do you want to use the bathroom first?There’s a bath and a separate shower,” she said in a flat voice.
“After you.” Charlie bit back the automatic “with you”.
Much to his disappointment, Kate took the scrunched up note with her, but while she was occupied elsewhere, he explored.The first door he opened took him into a room almost as empty as the main one.Bare boards, no rugs, no curtains.The single piece of furniture was a trestle table pushed against a wall, a plastic chair tucked underneath.On top of the table sat an old computer and a sewing machine and, underneath, three cardboard boxes.He opened the flap of one.It was full of slinky black material.
When Charlie opened the door to her bedroom, the breath caught in his throat.
He felt as though he’d stepped into another world, certainly into a different apartment.The room was dominated by a four-poster bed with an elaborate twisted-metal headboard decorated with bronze butterflies.Cream linen drapes smothered with multicolored appliqué butterflies had been tied up with silver cords at each metal corner post.Charlie had a sudden vision of the pair of them on that bed, naked in each other’s arms, the drapes pulled across to cut them off from the world.He groaned as his cock tented the towel.He thought too much.
His fingers moved toward the chest of drawers.He shouldn’t, but he did.He gulped when he saw underwear in every imaginable color and material—lace, velvet, cotton, leather, silk, denim.He closed the drawer, not daring to look any further.He stood for a moment and then went back to the bathroom.
“Kate, I need to use the toilet,” he called through the door.
“You’ve just had hours in the sea.Couldn’t you have gone then?”
“Mum told me to get out of the water first.”
“What, even the ocean?”
“It’s wrong to pollute.” He tried to sound serious.
He could have nipped into the car park or even used the kitchen sink—it wouldn’t have been the first time—but he had an ulterior motive and thought she just needed a bit of encouragement.Anyone with a drawer full of sexy underwear had to be up for it.She’d bounced up the stairs in front of him, knowing she looked practically naked from behind, so he only needed to turn his charm up a notch.He really wanted to climb into the bath with her, but it was the sort of move that had got him into this mess in the first place. Go slow .
“Please,” he pleaded, in his very best seductive voice.“I’m getting desperate.”
Kate looked around.The bubbles covered everything, but she didn’t care anyway.She’d had modesty knocked out of her years ago.She’d spent all her life sharing bathrooms and bedrooms.Any sign of shyness and you were finished.
“There’s no lock on the door,” she said.
Charlie didn’t even try not to look at her.
“Warm again?” he asked.
“I didn’t ask you in to start up a conversation.”
“Sorry.”
Kate listened to the tinkling sound and thought of Richard.He’d never felt comfortable enough to take a leak while she was in the bathroom.She sank back into the water, pushing up her knees so her head slid below the surface.What a mess, she thought.What a shitty, fucking, awful mess.She wasn’t dead, but she felt dead.
When she resurfaced, Charlie was kneeling by the side of the bath.Who did he remind her of?He wiped a smear of bubbles from her lips.
“Can I get in?”
“No.”
He sighed.“Couldn’t you have pretended to think about it?”
“No.”
“Not even a
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