He huffs out a breath, his grin long gone. ‘She was Leo’s godmother.’
Chapter 39
I stand at the door to the living room, preparing to put on the performance of a lifetime. They’ll be throwing Oscars at me for my role as ‘Womannotalmost caught by her dead boyfriend’s godmother while being brought to orgasm by his brother’.
Once the coast was clear, I’d crept back to my room, taken an ice-cold shower to muzzle my libido, and wriggled into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, because after being practically naked in Mark’s hot hands, I’m too self-conscious to showanyskin. By the time I’ve combed my hair and slapped on a bit of make-up, I’m sweating, but I don’t care.
Chin up and tits out, I bound into the living room, wearing my biggest smile. I give Kiki a kiss on the cheek, and she tells me how pleased she is to finally meet me.
She looks like Anthi, with the same sharp cheekbones and blue eyes, except she’s let her hair go white and it’s cut in a smart bob. I can also see Leo in her, and it strikes me anew how Mark got all his father’s dark, brooding looks and that extra dose of testosterone that sculpted his square jaw, strong neck and enormous hands whose size I didn’t notice until they were wrapped around my bare hips.
I sit next to him on the sofa, not because I want to but because it’s the only place left. Theo and Kiki are on the opposite sofa, and the third is covered in damp beach towels that I really hope aren’t ruining the leather.
‘God bless you, my girl,’ says Kiki, ‘for helping Marko when he slipped in the pool.’
Is that how we’re describing his near-fatal drowning?
From the corner of my eye I see Mark nod imperceptibly, as if to say: just go with it.
He’s manspreading in a fresh pair of shorts so I’m forced to sit upright with my knees together to stop our legs touching.
‘It was nothing,’ I reply, trying not to choke on the words.
She takes my reply at face value, then adds, ‘If Leo, God rest his soul, were still with us, you and Marko would be brother and sister.’ She states it like a fact; as if it doesn’t need saying.
Mark doesn’t react, his only response a long intake of breath.
I wish I could laugh off her words or tell her, ‘Nothing brotherly about where those fingers have been.’
I could say nothing. Ishouldsay nothing. But I’ve had a particularly difficult twenty-four hours. I’m hot, I’m sweaty and I’m frustrated as hell.
‘Leo was a lovely person, but I wasn’t going to marry him.’
Theo looks at me in panic, trying to decide whether I’m joking or whether he ought to sweep in and change the subject.
Only Kiki doesn’t seem shocked by what I’ve said. ‘Yes, yes, of course, not until you finished school.’
What is this, the Middle Ages?
‘Not ever,’ I say, my boldness taking me by surprise.
‘Well, of course, because of his illness. We all knew he didn’t have much time. But if itwasn’tfor his illness …’
She seems satisfied to have got to the bottom of what she thinks I’m trying to say.
I bite my tongue to stop myself from blurting out how I really feel. That if it wasn’t for his illness, I wouldn’t have gone out with him in the first place. That I only did so out of pressure from our mums and because I feltsorryfor him.
Luckily, she switches her attention to Theo, asking about the wedding plans and, after she’s asked a suitable amount offollow-up questions to appear polite, she asks what she really wants to know.
‘When areyougetting married, Marko?’
I get a perverted satisfaction that this annoying question, beloved of older relatives, also gets thrown at men.
‘I need to find a girl that will have me first,’ he says with an easy smile.
‘Maybe Nella can find you a nice girl to settle down with. I’m sure she’s got lots of single friends.’
How does she manage to make that sound like a burn?
