Chapter Eighteen
Finlay ran damp fingers across his hot brow. The water in the bath must be close to boiling, much like his blood when he looked at the woman next to him. Over the years he’d trained himself not to look at Hayley’s friends or, if he did look, not to see them properly. Now that rule had gone well and truly out of the window. Not only had he crossed every possible line with Elise, but now he’d repeated it with Genevieve. Make that exceeded it.
How was one night with Genevieve better than months with Elise?
Genevieve rested her head back on the edge of the giant sunken tub and rubbed a lather up her arm with the heavily perfumed soap. The erotic possibilities for this bath had multiplied since last night. Drying her hand on a fluffy white towel, she picked up her phone.
‘Are you recording this?’ he asked.
‘I could do a quick live from the sunken bath.’
‘And get me fired before I even get there?’
‘True. I won’t.’
Finlay smiled and lazed back. ‘What would you say to your followers if you went live?’
‘Tell them this retreat is stunning and the possibilities of this bath are… Well,’ – she raised an eyebrow – ‘that would be telling.’
‘Would it?’ Finlay rolled his head to look at her.
‘It certainly would.’ She stood up and rinsed the soap from her naked body with a very provocative slide of her hands over her breasts.
‘Stop it, you tease.’
She ducked down again and sidled up to him. ‘Maybe you should help me wash. Seems like I’m in a filthy mood.’
He shook his head, barely holding back a laugh. She was so different from her public persona. It would almost be funny if she’d left her phone recording and her followers heard this. With a moment’s unease, Finlay glanced at it. ‘That’s definitely not recording, is it?’
She pulled it towards her and checked. ‘Definitely not.’
‘Then come here.’ He pulled her close, cupped some soapy water from the tub and ran it over her upper arm.
‘And can I help you?’
‘I’m counting on it.’
She put her hand under the water, keeping her eyes on his and gently touched him. He could take a lot more, but the lightness of her touch was thrilling and teasing. Who’d have thought washing someone could be so seductive?
Soon the kisses started up again. Their mouths had been apart too long and needed each other. His body desperately desired to reconnect with hers.
Soapy suds dripped off them as they clambered out of the bath and grabbed towels before heading back to bed.
‘This headboard is actually very well screwed,’ Finlay commented as they rolled on top of the covers, his hands aching to touch every inch of her beautiful bare skin.
‘So are we,’ Genevieve added.
With a smile, he moved on top of her, and she wrapped her legs around his back.
Five stars from me for this romantic retreat.
‘Is Flora expecting us for breakfast?’ he asked half an hour later as they lay side by side, Genevieve stroking a rhythmic line down his chest with her fingertip.
‘She didn’t give us a time, and she keeps telling us to have fun, so she can’t object.’
‘Very true.’ He tightened his hold on her a little. Life was busy and people didn’t make enough time to appreciate moments like this. When he was with Elise, he definitely hadn’t. Neither of them had. They’d never woken up on a Sunday morning and done anything like this. She’d get up early to go to the gym and meet friends while he’d gone off running or cycling. Maybe his bad feelings towards her since the breakup were causing this line of thinking, but he couldn’t imagine wanting to do this with her. Their physical relationship had been ok. Elise was an attractive woman, but she was cold. Now he knew why. She’d never really fancied him. Maybe he’d never properly fancied her. The chemistry was missing.
Something odd was going on with Genevieve though. For something that was meant to be fake or a brief hookup, it felt strangely real, intimate, almost loving. He’d thought her cold too – before the proposal – but she wasn’t. This definitely wasn’t cold. Warmth spread between them and he was sated with a deep, happy sensation he didn’t remember experiencing for a very long time. Last night, there had been a brief moment straight after their explosive climax, when she’d gone silent and icy. He’d thought she was on the verge of tears, maybe about to run away, but she’d curled up in his arms and everything seemed fine again. Not that it should be. Maybe her initial reaction had been the sensible one because Finlay couldn’t bear to analyse this situation too much. All he knew was he shouldn’t be feeling this good about something that wasn’t going to last past the end of the month, but at the same time, he didn’t want to let the sensation go either.
Genevieve’s finger tracing changed to making a figure of eight across his chest. With a contented sigh, he tilted his head and placed a kiss on her brow.
‘We’ve definitely given this place a good test drive.’
‘Haven’t we just. Flora will be overjoyed when she sees how many condoms are missing from that packet.’
Finlay chuckled. ‘Oh god, I never thought about that. Maybe we should take the whole box.’
‘She might wonder why we came so unprepared.’
‘We were just making use of the facilities and besides, she provided the vegan, natural-feel, pleasure condoms, when I would have gone with everyday value. It’s a no brainer.’
‘You’re a madman.’ Genevieve prodded his chest.
‘I think we’re both a bit mad.’
‘What do we do after today? I mean… If we’re still keeping the engagement story going, we should at least arrange to see each other,’ she said.
‘In what way? Do you mean you want to keep having this kind of hookup or you want to meet up twice a week for tea and biscuits while we pretend to be getting ready for Dubai?’
‘Whichever.’ She gave an almost petulant shrug – as though it was of no real concern to her, but her expression had dropped and her hand stilled.
‘Well, I really am packing up for Dubai, so you can come and help me with that if you want. I’m still trying to sell the flat. I have the tug-of-war practices to attend every Tuesday, but that’s about it. The rugby coaching is only during the school term and all I need to do is see if I can persuade one of my colleagues to take it on.’
‘Won’t you miss all this stuff?’
‘Maybe. But I’ll be trading it for a whole lot of new experiences, which can’t be bad.’ That was what he’d told himself ever since getting this job and that was the line he was sticking to. It wasn’t like he could go back now. He’d signed a contract. And why was he even considering anything else? He didn’t want to stay here, not with the shitstorm surrounding his breakup with Elise and the one that was going to explode around his engagement to Genevieve. He wanted to be far away when that blew up. But he wasn’t that great at change either and a sick, nauseous sensation came over him every time he thought about Dubai. He pushed it away.
‘We should get dressed,’ Genevieve said, shifting away from him.
He supposed so but it would be much nicer to lie like this for the rest of the day.
The breakfast room had a table set up when they arrived downstairs, though ten thirty was maybe too late to expect service.
‘Should we help ourselves?’ Finlay asked.
‘But what can we have? Dry cereal?’
‘Good point. There’s no milk, is there?’ He perused the sideboard that had a covered plate of pastries, some cereal containers, and a selection of jam. ‘Croissants and jam?’
‘Hello, hello,’ Flora said from behind.
Finlay resisted the urge to jump comically and pretend to be ultra-shocked, but really, she had a habit of jumping out of nowhere. And how did she always know where they were? Spy cams! Maybe not such a joke after all.
‘Morning,’ Genevieve said. Her cheeks were slightly pinker than usual, even under her make-up. Maybe it was his imagination, but the bare skin on her chest under her delicate scooped-neck top looked flushed. Was she still basking in that post-coital glow?
‘Good morning,’ Flora said. ‘I hope you slept well.’
‘Very well,’ Finlay said, and it wasn’t a lie. In between the fun, he’d slept like a log.
‘Excellent.’ Flora clapped her hands together. ‘I’ve been looking at all the posts you’ve put up.’ She winked at Genevieve. ‘Happy to see you enjoying the facilities.’
Finlay glanced away. Uh-oh. What on earth had she put up? Hopefully nothing too suggestive. But even if he wasn’t in the clips, anyone who’d seen that engagement clip would know who she was here with. And had they been a real couple, then big deal, why should he care? But they weren’t and every move they made added to the wall he’d have to climb to get out of this mess in a few weeks’ time. People were going to find it more and more disturbing that a couple who were all loved-up at a romantic retreat were splitting up and going their separate ways. People like his mum, his sister, his friends, his former workmates, his tug-of-war teammates – people who cared about him.
‘I’ll get you some breakfast,’ Flora said. ‘If you want anything cooked, just let me know.’
Finlay could eat his body weight in food at this point but part of him just wanted this trip to be over. If Flora didn’t want to work with Geoff after this, it wouldn’t be for lack of effort on Genevieve’s part. She might not see it like that, but he’d vouch for her. Sleeping with him was above and beyond… Not that it had been necessary, though it had been nice. He took his seat, his eyes on Genevieve, his mind rewinding to all those hot moments they’d shared in the past twelve hours.
She blinked before catching his eye. ‘We need to have a plan,’ she said when Flora left the room. ‘If people are going to believe I’m considering going to Dubai with you, I have to at least look like I’m doing that.’
‘So what do you propose?’
‘I’ll leave the proposing to you. You’re the expert, after all.’
‘Very funny.’
‘I’ve been thinking for a while about moving, so maybe I should put my house on the market too. It would go along with the story and then, after you’ve gone, I can sell it and move somewhere else. I’ve always fancied living near the river.’
‘I think I said this before, but you can buy my flat.’
‘I would. I love that place.’
‘Well, it’s up to you. If you want to put your house on the market, go ahead.’
‘I’ll call the estate agent tomorrow. That’ll look realistic and won’t be a lie, because I really don’t want to make up too many lies.’
‘It’s not like we have to now, is it? I mean, we did actually get engaged and now we’ve consummated the relationship good and proper, so who’s to know it’s not real?’
‘Who indeed?’ she said, looking down at the table.
‘This is as real for you as it was for Elise,’ Finlay said.
‘Meaning what?’
‘Well, we were engaged, occasionally slept together and she planned to sell her flat and move in with me too. And that was it. She didn’t have any deeper feelings than you.’
Genevieve fiddled with the ring on her left hand. ‘I see what you mean. I guess the difference is that you loved her, whereas with me… Obviously you don’t.’
‘Obviously.’ He dusted the front of his jeans. Of course he didn’t. That would be stupid. He liked her, sure, but love… ‘To be honest, I’m not sure I loved Elise. I loved the idea of her.’ What guy wouldn’t want someone that stunning in their life? And he was flattered to think she liked him. That was the kind of idiot he was. Just like he’d been flattered by Genevieve admitting she was attracted to him physically and wanting to take that further. And he had. It had made for a pleasurable few hours, but it didn’t mean he loved her. Love was something else. According to Oliver, it didn’t exist, not for extended periods anyway.
‘Well, that’s fine. Maybe you can love the idea of me too and that’ll be enough.’
He cocked his head and frowned. Sure, he loved the idea of her. After last night, the idea of her would be on his mind an awful lot. But something niggled at him. Would it be enough for what? That question was much harder to answer and when he searched for a response, his brain fogged over, refusing to look too far.
‘Here we go.’ Flora returned to the room with the chef trolley Ann had used the evening before.
‘Thank you,’ Genevieve said. The pink glow on her skin had faded and she looked much more like the cool woman who’d turned up on his doorstep with Elise not so long ago, the unflappable friend of his sister’s, not the passionate loving woman he’d got to know since.
He’d like to find that woman again but that wouldn’t be wise, not when in a few short weeks he’d have to say goodbye to her. And that was ok, right? Because that was the plan and exactly what he had to do.