Chapter 38
She awoke to the sound of drilling in her brain. Or was it a one-man band trying to run the hundred metres? Whatever it was, it was swiftly followed by pain, the dull thud of sledgehammer against concrete. Full-on body nausea completed the holy trinity of stinking hangover. She’d clearly decided to have more than a couple of drinks after all. She prised her eyes open. This wasn’t her bedroom; it was a hotel room. This also hadn’t been in the plan for the evening. Dread and paranoia intermingled with all the other sensations she was feeling. She shifted in the bed and felt a warm body beside her. The body was naked. As was she.
Nooo. Please tell her she hadn’t actually slept with Wolfe. She tried to piece together what had happened, but her head wasn’t yet playing ball. She knew he’d tried it on, so far so predictable, but he’d been wasted. And even if she’d been drunk, she’d have found a way to not sleep with him. She always found a way. But maybe this time she didn’t. Maybe this time she’d actually done the thing she promised herself she would never do. She refused to turn around. What was that weird thought experiment with the cat in the box? The one where it was dead and alive at the same time. This was like that. For as long as she didn’t look, it would be like whatever happened, hadn’t. She pulled the covers more tightly around her, but in doing so disturbed the other occupant of the bed. An arm folded over her and a familiar voice added to her mental chatter.
‘I knew you’d be back.’
It was Marcus. Her body relaxed and relief flooded through it. It was only Marcus. But why the hell would she be with him? He wasn’t even at the gala. No, the surprise guest of the evening had been…
Fuck.
She got a sudden mental image of Jasper in his tuxedo. Of their flirting. Of him asking her out on a date. And of him walking away from her after their row. She must have gotten drunk after that, and then called up the one person who wouldn’t judge her.
‘Time for a quickie?’
She didn’t move when Marcus pressed his hard-on against her bum cheek. Didn’t say anything as he shuffled into position behind her. It was too late for all of that. The damage was already done.