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“Don’t deny it. I know you’ve been missing me, and I definitely know you’ve been missing my dick.”
“Oh my God!” I shake my head, incredulous. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You must really think you’re something.”
“I bet you tried to find a substitute. What did you use to get yourself off? Let me guess: a bottle? A cucumber?”
“What!” Heat creeps up my neck and colours my cheeks. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about, you pervert. A cucumber? What?!”
“I bet you feel like a part of you is missing without me inside you. I rocked your world, so you had to find a substitute for when I’m not around. You fucked yourself with a cucumber, didn’t you, my beauty, but still it wasn’t enough. You need the real thing and I promise to give it to you all night long on Saturday.”
“Right, that’s it. I’m gone. I don’t want to hear any more of this filth.”
Laughing, Alex finally releases me, and I make a desperate dive for the door.
“Remember my sweet, seven pm, Saturday. Make sure you’re there when Hobbs comes to collect you. Don’t forget. I’ll be counting down the minutes until then.”
“I won’t forget,” I mutter, slamming the door and brushing myself off. Holy fuck.Somebody shoot me now.
CHAPTER TEN
Jessica
As promised, Cynthia’s plane tickets along with details of her five-star hotel booking arrive by courier within three days and I’m over the moon to finally be able to hold them in my hands. The rest of the week passes peacefully enough, and things Alex’s end go completely quiet. There are no more phone calls, no more suspicious cars following me home and I’m relieved that he appears to have finally got the message. However, as Saturday draws near, I begin to grow frantic. I’m pacing up and down constantly, tearing my hair out in frustration.
I simply can’t do this. I can’t go on this date with him. I can’t go back to that house and most of all, I can’t allow myself to have sex with him again. Much as my body craves him, I know being physical with him again is the last thing I should be doing if I seriously want to put an end to this madness. By giving out mixed signals, I will only create more problems in the long run, so the sooner I find a way to extract myself from his vice-like grip, the better.
Somehow, someway, I need to be honest with Alex and let him down gently, make him understand that this relationship is a non-starter, but the possible repercussions frighten me. If Alexdidcarry out the arson attack, then what else is he capable of doing if made angry? It doesn’t bear thinking about. No matter what happens, I must protect Mum and Freddie at all costs. That will always be my top priority, protecting my family. I simply can’t allow them to get mixed up in this.
When Saturday morning comes, I feel so jittery I can barely eat or concentrate on anything other than dreading tonight. I go through the motions, pretending that everything’s fine, but inside I’m falling apart. I can’t believe I’ve had so much time to think things over, yet I still haven’t a clue how I’m going to get out of this date tonight.
And then sometime around midday, the bell rings and Cynthia answers the door to two smartly dressed men—one holding a bouquet of roses, the other carrying a stack of expensive-looking boxes.
“Jessica, there’s a delivery for you!” she calls from the hallway. “Someone has sent you the most gorgeous bouquet of roses. They smell absolutely exquisite.”
Bracing myself, I run to the door and accept the flowers and card from the man. Mum’s right. The bouquet is spectacular, and I don’t need three guesses to work out who sent them. Cynthia takes the roses from me and says she will put them in a vase.
“These are also for you,” the other deliveryman smiles, proffering the first of six neatly wrapped boxes that have the name of some upmarket boutique printed all over them. I thank them both and Freddie appears in the doorway to help me wrestle the gifts inside.
After the men have gone, I place the first box on the kitchen countertop and lift off the lid to reveal a stunning orange dress covered with tiger stripes.
“Wow,” Mum gasps. “That is out of this world. Isn’t that a Vivienne Westwood? Oh my gosh, it is. Are there clothes in all the other boxes too?”
“Yes, and there’s shoes in this one!” Freddie grins, and I look down to see he’s already torn open another package to reveal a pair of gold Louboutin heels.
“These are all top designer labels,” Cynthia enthuses. “They must have cost someone a fortune.” She shoots me a look. “Time to ‘fess up Jess. Who’s your secret admirer?”
Red with embarrassment, I pick up the card that came with the flowers and see a message scrawled in Alex’s intricate hand:Dear Jessica, I couldn’t decide which dress to buy you, so I bought them all. I hope you enjoy wearing them as much as I enjoyed picking them out for you. I can’t stop thinking about you and am dreaming of the day we meet again. Yours always, Alex.
“Who on earth is Alex?” my mother asks, peering over my shoulder. Hurriedly, I stuff the card in my pocket.
“Oh, um, he’s just some guy I know. A new friend of mine.”
Dammit, I am so busted.
“Don’t give me that,” Cynthia laughs. “Do I look like I was born yesterday? I want more details, darling. Where do you know him from? You’ve never mentioned an ‘Alex’ before.”
“He’s just someone I met on one of the photo shoots. We got talking and sort of clicked and I guess he likes me, that’s all. But he’s just a friend. There’s…there’s nothing going on between us.”
“Sure, right. You’re just friends with this boy and he spent how much on you? Wake up darling. You might only see him as a friend but clearly from what’s written in that card, he wants something more.”
