by Beevis, Keri
‘Entirely.’ The air hung thick between them as Jack caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, raised it slightly, his gaze dropping briefly to her mouth, before he met her eyes again. This time his expression was sober, his words when he spoke sounding sincere. ‘Trust me, Lila. There is nothing rebound about you.’
Her heart hammered as he cupped her face in both hands and leaned in to kiss her, this time slow, soft and passionate, and her awkwardness melted away, wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer as he deepened the kiss, his tongue probing and exploring as one hand slid back into her hair, his fist tightening around the loose knot she had pinned it up in, the other running down the length of her spine. He slowly guided her back on to the bed, settling himself on top of her then broke the kiss, easing back onto one elbow to study her face, pulling the hairband loose and freeing the knot, smoothing her hair around her shoulders.
‘Better,’ he told her, leaning forward to trail feather-light kisses down the side of her neck.
Lila wriggled beneath him, arms tightening around his neck, fingertips digging into his shoulders, as his mouth moved lower to explore the deep v neckline of her dress. She let out a gasp, tried to draw him closer, frustrated when instead he eased himself back again, looked down at her, a sly smile on his face.
He reached for the top button on her dress, popped it open, kept his eyes locked on hers as his fingers deftly worked lower, until the dress was open down to her waist exposing her bra and belly, dipped his head to softly kiss the flesh just above the silk cups, easing one hand inside the dress, warm and gentle, caressing bare skin and making her tingle in anticipation.
Need and urgency taking over, Lila reached up, slipping her hands under his T-shirt, her fingers finding hot flesh and hard muscle. She ran her palms over his shoulders, pulling him towards her, annoyed when he resisted. Instead she tried to free him of the T-shirt, eager hands trying to pull it over his head, frustration burning through her when he stopped her, catching hold of her wrists, gently pushing them down by her sides. Holding them there, he shook his head. ‘Uh-uh. Not yet.’
When she responded with a protest, he cut her off with a deep kiss that was hot and heavy and had her insides melting. His lips curved against hers as she let out a moan, and he eased his head back. ‘This time we take things slower, okay?’
He waited until she nodded before letting go of her wrists, returning his attention to the dress and slowly working the rest of the buttons open, taking his time as he stopped to nibble, kiss and tease each newly exposed bit of flesh.
Lila squirmed, her breathing heavy as heat spread through her.
‘Is this from the accident?’
She raised her head slightly, looked down at the bruising that ran from her left breast down across her belly. It was healing, wasn’t as ugly as it had been, but the marks were still there and would take time to fully go.
‘Seat belt,’ she told him as his eyes met hers.
Jack nodded, gently kissing the marks on her belly before unhooking her bra. As he eased her out of it, threw it on the floor, Lila realised he had already discarded her dress and that she was naked apart from her knickers.
‘I know you said take things slow–’ She gasped as he cupped her breasts, rubbed his thumbs over her nipples.
‘I did.’
‘But I’m the only one naked.’
Jack dipped his head to kiss the bruising on her left breast. ‘That’s the plan.’
‘The plan?’
He gave her a devilish smile, fingertips skimming down over her belly, stopping short of where she wanted them, gently caressing and teasing. ‘For what I said last night and what happened this morning. I’m going to make it up to you.’
25
Aaron watched as the two detectives showed his parents pictures of the missing schoolgirls. They sat around the kitchen table, the cups of tea his mother had made them still untouched, probably because his mother wasn’t good at making tea, never leaving the teabag in for long enough. Despite Aaron repeatedly showing her, she seemed to think people liked their tea a milky white colour.
His father frowned, made a point of studying the pictures before shaking his head. ‘No, I’ve never seen them around here. You said some evidence was found near the accident site?’
‘We did, sir,’ the red-haired detective told him. She didn’t elaborate.
‘I’m sorry, I can’t help you.’ Gruger gave an almost bored sigh as he handed the photos to Aaron’s mother.
She studied them briefly. ‘Sorry, I’ve never seen them… other than on the television.’ She put a hand to her chest, looking pained. ‘Their poor parents; I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of hell they’re going through.’
Neither detective missed the look Gruger gave Aaron’s mother, rolling his eyes as though she was being melodramatic. Aaron bit down on his temper. Even in front of company, his father had to belittle his mother.
‘Can I see?’ Aaron asked, stepping forward as the female detective started to slip the photos back in a folder.
‘What’s the point in that? You’re not going to recognise them.’
Aaron scowled at his father. ‘You don’t know that. I might do.’ He glanced at the detective. ‘It’s worth me at least looking, right?’
‘It certainly is,’ she agreed with a half-smile, handing him both pictures.
He recalled her saying they had driven down from Lincolnshire and were part of the Major Investigation Team and he guessed neither detective wanted this to be a wasted trip.
Aaron studied the photos carefully, first the picture of the dark-haired girl with the curly hair then the blonde. Despite having a shorter more boyish haircut, her fringe flopping in her eyes, the blonde was prettier; her wide grey-green eyes and freckled nose softer than the dark-haired girl, who had a harder pinched look about her. He had seen both of them on the television, the coverage becoming more extensive the longer they were missing, especially when Phoebe Kendall’s uncle was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Aaron hadn’t seen these photos though. They looked like they had come out of family albums, possibly even frames that were displayed around the house. It felt a little voyeuristic to be studying the memories of two grieving families, but it was intriguing all the same. Plus of course it vexed his father, who was not going to be happy about this police visit at all, and that just about made Aaron’s day.
* * *
Lila planned on catching the bus into work, but Jack insisted on taking her, promised to be back to collect her at the end of her shift. As she unlocked her seat belt, he leaned across, drawing her in for an unexpected lingering hot kiss that made her pulse race and had her cheeks flushing.
‘I’ll pick you up at three thirty, okay?’
‘Okay,’ she managed breathlessly as he ran the pad of his thumb across her cheek, kissing her again before releasing her.
She waved him goodbye before turning to go into the café, struggling with her crutches on shaky legs, a little annoyed when she realised Beth had been standing at the front window and, judging from her grin, had seen everything.
‘You have a nice healthy glow about you,’ she commented dryly. ‘Looks like we have a lot of catching up to do.’ Before Lila could respond, Beth sauntered back towards the kitchen.
Lila reluctantly followed, not sure she wanted Beth dissecting her relationship with Jack. Not that it was a relationship. They’d had sex three times and, yes, it had been really good sex, and okay, he had made it clear that he wanted it to be more than just sex, but it was still early days and there were too many hurdles in the way of it ever becoming serious. She didn’t want to think about those hurdles, couldn’t bear the thought of not having Jack in her life, so, for now, she was choosing to ignore them.
‘Good morning,’ Natalie greeted her brightly, looking up from the ice cream she was churning. ‘How are you?’
‘Glad to be back,’ Lila told her, setting down her bag. ‘I’ve missed work.’<
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‘Crazy girl, though I guess it gets boring sitting around.’
‘Oh, I don’t think Lila’s been bored,’ Beth chipped in. When Lila shot her a warning look, she added innocently, ‘I didn’t recognise the car that dropped you off this morning. Did you stay with a friend last night?’
That caught Natalie’s attention. ‘Have I missed something?’ she asked, eyes darting from Beth to Lila.
Lila’s cheeks flamed. ‘No-one has missed anything. I stayed with Jack last night and Beth is trying to make it into a bigger deal than it is.’
‘Bollocks. That kiss looked like a big deal.’
‘Kiss?’
‘Jack just dropped Lila off for work and the kiss he gave her before she got out of the car had the windows steaming up.’
‘If they steamed up, I’m surprised you were able to see anything,’ Lila retorted sarcastically.
‘I saw enough. Have you slept with him? That kiss suggested you have.’
‘I…’
Lila’s pause was confirmation enough for Beth, who clapped her hands in delight. ‘You bloody well have. What was it like?’
Hungry, intense, passionate, emotional, easily the best sex she’d ever had: Lila didn’t say any of those things, certainly didn’t let on that she had fallen hard for Jack, so hard it actually frightened her, instead she smiled demurely. ‘It was just sex. As I said, no big deal.’
Beth’s expression suggested she didn’t believe her, but with the café due to open, there was no time to grill Lila further. As Lila helped Natalie finish preparing the counter food, Beth went out front to stock the cabinets.
‘Oh, while I remember. You had a visitor yesterday.’
Lila glanced up at Natalie. ‘I did? Who?’
‘He didn’t leave a name, popped in as we were closing, and seemed to think you’d be working. Obviously we didn’t give him any personal details, but he said he’d call back, that he needed to speak to you.’
Lila’s heartbeat quickened as both intrigue and apprehension niggled at her gut. After questioning Natalie further, she was able to rule out the police, who for starters would not have been cagy about who they were, and it wasn’t Richard or Aaron Gruger, given that the visitor was somewhere around the thirty age mark.
Two possibilities lingered in her mind and she didn’t particularly like either of them. It could be the man who had attacked her, pushing her in front of the bus then breaking into her home. It sounded incredulous that he would be bold enough to waltz into her workplace, but he clearly wished her harm and with the hood down, Lila would never recognise him. Maybe it was some kind of mind game.
The other possibility both unnerved and excited her. What if it was The Bishop?
The timing was close – she had posted the comment around four in the afternoon and Nat’s Hideaway closed a couple of hours later. He would have had to have seen her message and reacted almost immediately, but it was possible, wasn’t it?
Her initial instinct was to let Jack know, but then she remembered she hadn’t told him about the post she had left on the Instagram page. She needed to hold fire, wait and see who had wanted to speak with her, hope they would return that day.
Thoughts of the visitor played on her mind for much of the morning and she tried to work out what the hell she would say if it were The Bishop, as she prepared the lunchtime salads and scrubbed jacket potatoes.
Would he really risk coming there? He would know Lila wasn’t a student, didn’t really need his help. The only reason he might approach her would be to warn her off, but this was a public place and her territory. He wouldn’t get away with making any threats there.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she wiped her hands on a tea towel, pulled it out to see she had a text from Jack. She swiped the screen to open it, the message making her smile and blush to her roots as she read in detail exactly what he planned to do to her when they got back to his house. Damn, the man definitely had a way with words.
Heat warming through her, her smile breaking into a grin, she fired an equally dirty text back, glanced at the time on her phone, realising it was going to be a painfully long and frustrating afternoon.
Jack lingered on her mind for the next couple of hours, mostly distracting her from thoughts of her mystery visitor, and Lila was counting down the last hour of her shift, eager to see him, when the bell sounded and a stocky man of about thirty entered the café. He stood out from the tourists, dressed like he was off to a bank meeting in an expensive-looking suit and conservative tie. Lila was serving at the time and gave him a smile. The lunchtime crowd had died down and only two couples remained inside.
‘Hi there, may I help you?’
‘Lila Amberson?’ It was phrased as a question, but she suspected the man knew exactly who she was. He gave her a slick smile that didn’t touch his eyes. ‘My name is Giles Buchanan.’
The name meant nothing to her, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t The Bishop. He offered his hand and she took it, unimpressed with his weak handshake.
‘How can I help you, Mr Buchanan?’
‘Could we talk in private?’
Lila made a show of looking around her. ‘I’m sorry, but as you can see I’m at work. I can’t just down tools.’
His lips thinned as he peered over her shoulder towards the kitchen. ‘I’m sure one of your colleagues will cover for you.’
‘I’m not due a break.’ True, though Lila knew Natalie would give her five minutes.
She had no intention of going off alone with this man though. ‘Could you tell me what this is about please?’
He hesitated, seeming annoyed that she wouldn’t do as he asked. Lila got the impression he was used to getting his own way. She smiled pleasantly and waited.
Realising that she wasn’t going to budge, he leaned forward, lowering his voice.
‘I’m here on behalf of the Whitman family.’
Lila’s chest tightened at the mention of the name. Giles Buchanan. Hadn’t Jack mentioned his sister’s boyfriend, the one whose shoes Cooper had chewed, was a Giles?
‘You’re Jack’s sister’s boyfriend.’
Small close-set eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘You know who I am. Good.’
‘Why are you here, Mr Buchanan?’
‘I want you to leave the family alone. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but they’ve been through enough and they don’t need a troublemaker like you trying to manipulate them.’
Lila swallowed hard, her heart hammering. ‘I haven’t done anything to the Whitmans and I haven’t tried to manipulate anyone. Did they send you?’
‘They want you to leave them alone,’ Giles said more forcefully. ‘And they want you to leave Jack alone too. I’ve done some digging, Miss Amberson, hired a friend to look into you. I know all about your past and I bloody well intend to make sure you don’t get your hands on a penny of their money.’
‘What?’ Lila shook her head, disbelieving what she was hearing. ‘I’m not after anyone’s money. You have this all wrong.’ She could feel herself shaking, couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘I want you to leave.’
‘I will, once we’re clear. Do you understand, Miss Amberson? You don’t want to take me on. I will break you.’
‘Get out!’ When Giles flinched, but remained where he was, Lila yelled the words again.
Natalie and Beth came running through from the kitchen, suspicious eyes on Giles.
‘What’s wrong? Lila?’
Lila ignored Natalie. ‘I told you to get out. Now!’
‘Do we have an agreement, Miss Amberson?’ Giles pushed, angry.
‘Who the hell are you?’ That was from Beth.
‘This is Jack’s sister’s boyfriend,’ Lila told her, her voice shaky. ‘He stopped by to tell me to leave the family alone. Apparently I’m a troublemaker who’s after their money. Isn’t that right, Mr Buchanan.’
‘Get the hell out of my café.’ Natalie’s tone was low, but her words held a threat.
When Giles hesitated, she added. ‘I’m going to count to five then I’m going to call the police. One… two…’
Giles’s face deepened to a dark purple, a scowl on his face. ‘You’ve been warned,’ he snarled at Lila.
‘Three… four…’
‘Okay, okay. I’m going.’ He smoothed a hand over his hair, took a step back, trying to retain his dignity. ‘Crazy bitches,’ he hissed at them as he turned.
The door slammed behind him, the customers in the café watching him go. All four of them had been discreetly listening in.
‘Lila, go back in the kitchen,’ Natalie ordered, taking charge. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sorry you had to witness that. Beth will sort you all with a free drink.’
Hurt followed shock and was swiftly replaced with anger, as Lila tried to process what had just happened. She lowered herself onto one of the two kitchen stools, annoyed that her legs were shaking, tried to draw a few deep breaths to calm down.
With hindsight, she thought of a dozen things she should have said to Giles Buchanan, wished she had been angrier with him, showed him she wasn’t prepared to take any crap. Hindsight was a wonderful thing though and truth was he had blindsided her. She had been relaxed and happier than she had been in a while, counting down the last hour of her shift, desperate to see Jack. Her guard had been down and she hadn’t been expecting the attack.
Who the hell did Giles think he was, making threats to her to stay away from the Whitmans, and from Jack?
He knew about her past, had hired someone to look into her.
A sliver of dread snaked through Lila’s belly. She had worked hard to bury what had happened, was terrified though it would one day come back to haunt her. Her skin was burning, her chest tight, as a wave of nausea washed over her. She grabbed her crutches, pushed past Natalie who was coming to check on her.
‘I need to get some air.’
Outside the café, Lila leant against the wall, greedily sucking in mouthfuls of the salty sea air, knew that Giles had backed her into a corner.
