Chapter 25
25
The next day
I can’t bring myself to watch the match, and I can’t concentrate on anything else. Running’s the one thing that might shut my brain down, but I’m not even a mile from home when I’m stopped in my tracks by a waterfall coming from Tony’s lodge– water is cascading through the gates and over the road. I’m tempted to leave it, what do I care if Tony’s garden floods? Except it’ll end up as my problem to fix.
I clamber over a low spot in the wall, then wish I hadn’t. The sprinklers are spraying at full capacity and the lawn’s like an Amazonian tributary. By the time I’ve worked out how to shut the water off, I’m absolutely drenched. Trying to ward off hypothermia, I shove my hands into the pouch of my top and feel my keyring, zipped into the inner pocket.
My keyring, which has Tony’s front door key. And obviously, I wouldn’t usually let myself into a player’s home uninvited. But I’m freezing, and it’s not like Tony will ever know. He’s far too busy ordering room service for whoever’s sharing his Egyptian cotton sheets. So why shouldn’t I unlock the lodge’s weathered oak door? It’s not like running my clothes through the drier will do any harm. I won’t snoop. I’ll just shiver in the laundry room until they’re done. Only, on top of the washing machine, there’s a pile of freshly folded, pillowy white towels. And that reminds me where in this house is very, very warm.
Before I know it, the hot tub’s on and I’m lying back, eyes shut, letting the heat soak into my bones and the noise of the bubbles drown out what’s been going through my head all day. Because I’m still getting mental flashes of Tony naked. But it’s not me with him, it’s someone younger and prettier and infinitely less messed up.
I’m telling myself this absolutely has to be my last five more minutes, when there’s a familiar drawl from immediately above me. ‘Can I get you anything, love? Glass of wine maybe, or how ’bout some company?’
I shriek, snap open my eyes and struggle to cover what I can with my hands all at the same time. Tony’s looking down at me, in a sweatshirt and jeans but his feet are bare, so it makes sense, him getting so close without me hearing. And now, we’re acting out my worst nightmare, me naked and Tony laughing like he’ll never stop. But he just about manages to get some words out. ‘It’s all right, Genie. No need to look like that.’
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ I demand, my heart still pounding.
‘I live here. Remember?’
‘But you’re not supposed to be back till tomorrow.’
He stops looking entertained for long enough to show he’s confused. ‘I dunno where you got that from. I came back with everyone else. What else’d I be doing?’
It’s so offhand, it sounds true. But I’m light-headed enough, more from the shock than the steam, that I can’t trust my instincts, let alone come up with an alternative explanation for the hotel booking. And I can’t exactly interrogate Tony when I’m midway through a home invasion. Not that he seems upset. He’s back to laughing, though at least now, he’s trying not to. ‘How ’bout I find you a dressing gown?’
‘Please, yes, thank you.’ I was aiming for dignified, but it comes out more mortified.
Tony’s still grinning, but his hands are over his eyes. ‘’K, you wait here. I’ll chuck you something over.’
He turns, drops his hands and strolls over to the pegs on the wall. Without looking back, he throws a robe and towels to land perfectly at the foot of the tub.
I put my head around the sitting-room door, the fluffy white dressing gown tied corset tight. ‘Tony, I’m so sorry. I’ll grab my clothes from the drier and go.’
He twists over the back of the sofa to grin at me. ‘Come in here a sec.’
I tiptoe inside the door. ‘Tony, really, I can’t apologize enough.’
I launch into a complicated explanation about sprinklers. Tony shakes his head. It’s pitch black outside now and with only the lamps lit, his face is all shadows. ‘I’m not bothered ’bout none of that, I just wanna know what’s got you all worked up.’
Obviously, now is not the time to get into the hotel thing, since jealous and delusional aren’t personality traits I want to highlight. ‘Me being here. It’s a huge abuse of your privacy.’
He shrugs. ‘Then go ahead, abuse my privacy any time you like.’ I start trying to apologize again but he carries on over me. ‘Seriously, I completely get why they call you Genie now. The whole time, coming back here, I was dreading an empty house. Walking in and finding a gorgeous, naked woman in my hot tub, for a minute, I honestly thought I must’ve conjured you up.’
My smile is embarrassed, but I feel a little better. ‘Maybe you did. Otherwise, I don’t know what possessed me…’
‘I do. Cos you’ve been dying to get in that hot tub from the minute you saw it, haven’t you?’
I bite my lip. ‘They’re my secret vice.’
‘I can think of worse. And like I’ve said before, you’re welcome, anytime. Feel free to make use of the gym, the hot tub, my bed. Whatever takes your fancy,’ he adds with a wink.
He begins to lounge over to me. I still don’t trust him, but I’m not sure I care. All I can think about is how much I want him. But when I laugh, it’s nervous, not seductive. ‘If every girl you said that to took you up on it, I imagine this place would get rather crowded.’
‘I’m off girls for the foreseeable.’
‘I can’t see that lasting.’
He shakes his head. ‘You’re wrong ’bout that. I don’t reckon I’ll have any problem sticking to women. They’re less trouble and a whole load more fun and all.’
He’s at the end of the sofa now, nowhere near close enough to touch. But still, I’m struggling to come up with a line that matches his grin. The best I can do is, ‘So, you’ve been flirting with me because I’m old and not much effort?’
His face gets more serious. ‘Nah. Your body completely does it for me too. And, if you wanna check that out, I’m still hard from walking in on you.’
I’d give anything to be the sort of woman who’d do just that. But I’m not. I’m the type who looks down at the floor, blushing, which is maddening.
Tony watches me for what feels like forever, then comes close enough that his toes touch mine when he lifts my chin.
‘The last couple of times I played, I was all miserable over you wanting to be just mates. This time it was cos of you not picking up the phone. I’d got myself convinced, you getting standoffish anytime it felt like we was going somewhere, it was cos you weren’t sure I was worth the bother.’ He reaches and strokes along the line of my jaw to the collar of the robe. ‘But you was proper upset, wasn’t you? Over me walking in. That don’t make sense, unless you’ve got no clue how gorgeous you are.’
I make an inarticulate noise.
‘And that’d fit with you not wanting to swim the other night. So, love, am I on the money? Was them sulks partly cos you didn’t wanna get your kit off?’
I bite my lip and the hand under my chin drifts down my throat, until it joins his other, loose over my shoulder.
‘Come on. I reckon it’s time you got straight with me. Was that it?’
Now feels like the time when I should pull back, but it’s like he’s drawing words out of me. ‘Maybe. A bit. And, well, Kat and Sky are so beautiful, and so young.’ I shrug. ‘The comparison, it’s hardly flattering.’
His eyes are laughing but he manages to keep his voice steady. ‘Exactly how old are you?’
‘Thirty-three.’
‘So hardly ancient.’
‘It’s a long way from twenty-three.’
He smiles and shakes his head once. ‘And like I said, that don’t need to be a bad thing.’
‘Because it’s less trouble?’ I ask, my voice small.
This time the shake of his head is emphatic. ‘Nah, I’ve got a feeling you could cause me a whole load of trouble.’ He stops smiling and looks down at his hands on my shoulders. ‘Look, I don’t wanna come over like I’m one of them blokes that goes round paying women false compliments, or whatever, cos he read on the internet that that will get him what he wants.’
That does make me smile, and I almost forget how awkward I feel. ‘Don’t worry. I can’t believe you’ve ever had to google a solution to that particular problem.’
‘Nah, I haven’t. Which is why you should believe me, when I tells you, you don’t have to worry ’bout comparisons with your girls. Cos Katia, she’s dead pretty, but she’s a bit dull, isn’t she?’
‘Katia’s a very sweet girl.’
‘Exactly, that’s what I just said. And I’m not into little girls.’
‘Skylar’s perhaps more to your tastes.’ I manage to make my voice teasing.
He strokes my cheek so lightly it tingles. ‘Even if it’s just on looks, I’d go for you over Sky every time. Cos I know it’s not fashionable to say it, but the whole rock-solid abs, zero body fat thing, I don’t like it.’ Tony runs his fingertips over my waist, then places the back of his hand flat against my stomach, and I find myself longing for him to undo the dressing gown. ‘Like, to me you are perfect. And that move in your back, the thing you did when I first touched you, that’s so fucking sexy. But what I don’t get is, if you wants this, wants me, why do you keep getting all flighty, anytime we get close?’
I look down. ‘My job, everything I told you before.’
‘Bollocks.’ His hand edges down between my thighs, and this time he does part the dressing gown, and before I know it he’s stroking my bare skin. ‘If it was just that, me and you, we’d have been at it for weeks and keeping it quiet.’ His voice is dropping into a growl. ‘And it’s not that I’ve got it all wrong and you’re not into this, cos, Jesus, I can feel you are. So, what is it? Is it that a nice educated woman like you shouldn’t be getting all hot and bothered over a bloke with an accent like mine, all tatted up, and vulgar new money? Cos you’re better than that?’
‘No, of course not.’ My voice is sharp, I’m so offended he’d even suggest that, and my eyes leap straight to his. ‘You know what I think about you, your talent.’
He laughs softly. ‘Oh yeah, I was forgetting. You’re a connoisseur of the midfield.’
I start to pull away from him, but he shakes his head. ‘No, love, don’t go getting all offended. You just relax and enjoy yourself. Cos you like this, don’t you, Genie?’ He slides his hand higher up, until he’s touching my most intimate parts. I whimper, his fingers feel so good. Tony grins, all teeth and stubble. ‘Is this what you were planning? When you got in my hot tub?’
I try to say no, but it comes out more as a moan as I sink against him.
‘Having a bit of trouble talking, Genie?’ he murmurs, twisting me around with his free hand, pulling my back tight against his chest.
I try again to say it’s not true, that I didn’t know he’d be back, that none of this is what I want. But he’s started to kiss my neck and that’s all I can think about. That, and his fingers.
‘Can’t get the words out, beauty? Well, that’s all right, I can probably guess, or we can go by trial and error. Oh, you like that idea, do you?’ His laugh tickles my throat. ‘Who’d have thought? Perfect, put-together Genie letting me…’
I pull at his hand on my waist. ‘Tony. Can you stop it, please? Now.’
He lets me go, holding his hands in the air. ‘Sorry. Too fast?’
I’m struggling to get the dressing gown re-tied as tight as possible.
‘I’m sorry if I upset you. You wanna go back a few steps?’ he asks, voice back to everyday.
I shake my head. ‘No. I’m sorry, Tony, this was a mistake. I didn’t come here for any of this.’
He nods and sighs. ‘OK, I’m sorry if I read it wrong. Go and get some clothes on and I’ll drive you home, all right?’ he adds, more gently.
‘No, it’s fine. I’ll pick the clothes up some other time.’ I hurry out into the hall and grab my shoes, keeping my back to him, so he can’t see the state I’m in.
‘Genie, don’t be fucking stupid. You can’t walk out of here in a dressing gown and running shoes.’
‘I’ll take the track through the woods. No one will see.’
‘I’m not worried about no one seeing you coming out of here. I’m worried ’bout you wandering round half-dressed in the dark.’
‘Don’t be.’ I slam the door and run off down the drive.