Grayson narrowed his eyes, studying her carefully. ‘That’s a shame,’ he said.
The truth was it was Mark who had knocked her notions of herself as an artist on the head. His initial admiration and praise of her work had quickly turned to constant criticism and scorn, until nothing she did pleased or satisfied him. His disappointment in her was obvious. He made it clear that he thought he’d been mistaken about her talent, and that he now saw her as a trite, talentless pretender unworthy of his time and attention. He had not only shattered her confidence in her work, but he had drained all the joy from it for her. Painting used to bring her such intense pleasure, but Mark’s unceasing and increasingly irrational demands gradually turned it into a grinding chore; an endless, fruitless struggle to win the approval of someone who was impossible to please. His relentless derision had finally stamped out every shred of belief she had in her work and crushed her spirit to the point where she felt it was pointless to attempt anything because she already knew it wouldn’t be good enough.
‘Mark needed an assistant, so I started working at the gallery.’ She realised now it had been part of his campaign to control every aspect of her life, so that it all revolved around him. He had gradually eroded everything she had for herself – her art, her work, her friends – until there was nothing in her life but him.
‘But you don’t work at the gallery now?’
‘No. Mark needed someone more qualified, more in touch with the contemporary scene.’ She tried to keep her voice even, not to betray how hurt she still was by that. It had broken her heart to leave the gallery. She had loved her job there. It had allowed her to keep up with the art world even if she couldn’t really be part of it. She had wanted to scream at the injustice of Mark taking on a recent graduate to replace her, explaining that he needed someone better qualified and more ambitious – someone who was serious about building a career in the arts. He had actually had the gall to cite the fact that she had never finished her degree as evidence of her lack of commitment. She wanted to argue that he was the reason she had dropped out of college. He had persuaded her that she didn’t need a degree and led her to believe that he would support her in her career. She had plenty of ambition and she would have been happy to build a career at the gallery alongside him. But she had said nothing, mindful not to do anything to provoke his anger. Instead she had stood mutely by while he whisked the rug from under her feet. That was when she first realised she was afraid of him.
It had been the final step in isolating her. ‘I’m just a housewife now, I guess,’ she said with a shrug.
‘There’s nothing wrong with that,’ Grayson said, ‘if it’s what you want.’ His smile was kind, but his eyes looked troubled.
‘What about you?’ she asked, desperate to take the focus off her. ‘Did you always want to be an architect?’
‘Well, not always. I did go through a phase where I wanted to be a power ranger.’
‘Power ranger? Impressive.’
‘Yeah, fighting crime in a spandex suit.’
‘Mmm, you’d look good in spandex,’ she smiled. God, was she flirting with him? It was a bit late for coyness considering the things he’d done to her in the kitchen.
‘But once I realised I’d never qualify as a superhero, I guess architecture took over. Mainly I just wanted to wear a hard hat and drive a digger.’ He gave her a boyish grin. ‘But I always loved building stuff, and I was a whizz at Lego. So I guess it was on the cards from an early age. What about you? What did you want to be when you were a little kid?’
She grinned. ‘It’s a bit embarrassing.’
‘Come on, I showed you mine, you have to show me yours.’
Lisa knew he didn’t intend it to sound like innuendo, but she couldn’t help blushing.
‘It can’t be more embarrassing than power ranger,’ Grayson coaxed.
‘Don’t be so sure. At least yours was human. I wanted to be a mermaid.’
His eyes locked with hers, his gaze openly appreciative. ‘Is this your way of distracting me, so I can’t concentrate on my next move? Because it’s working.’
Lisa blushed, remembering too late that mermaids weren’t usually portrayed as modestly as the sweet and innocent Ariel from the Disney film that had fuelled her childhood fantasies. In folklore, they traditionally sat around naked on rocks, luring sailors to their doom.
‘‘You’d make a beautiful mermaid,’ Grayson said. ‘But then, you’d make a beautiful anything.’
‘I didn’t want to just sit around combing my long hair, though.’
‘I take it this ambition was inspired by the Disney version of The Little Mermaid?’
‘Yes, Ariel was my idol. I wanted to save people who were drowning at sea.’
Grayson laughed. ‘Especially if they were handsome princes?’
‘It wasn’t just about handsome princes. Little girls do dream about other things, you know. Though if one had come along, it would have been a nice perk of the job.’ She had thought Mark was her prince, she thought, smiling at the irony of it.
‘That’s the drawback of being a power ranger,’ Grayson said as he moved his knight. ‘No time for romance.’
Lisa laughed. She couldn’t believe how easy she was finding it to chat to Grayson, especially after what had happened in the kitchen. Occasionally an image of him sucking her nipples or licking her pussy would flash into her mind, and she would blush, feeling hot all over. But then he would say something and she’d become engaged in the conversation again, and forget to feel embarrassed and shy with him.
He was a skilled and clever chess player, and Lisa enjoyed playing with someone who could keep up with her. They were well matched, but Grayson won in the end.
‘Checkmate,’ he said, moving his final pawn into position with a little smile of triumph.
Lisa conceded defeat with a rueful smile. Then she held out her hand for the traditional handshake and he grasped it firmly.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I enjoyed that.’
‘Me too. It was fun.’
‘I haven’t had such a challenging opponent for a long time. You really kept me on my toes.’
Lisa stifled a yawn and glanced at her watch. She was surprised to discover it was one-thirty. The time had flown. She wished she could come over and play with Grayson again – but this wasn’t the sort of ‘play’ he was interested in with her, she reminded herself. He wanted a fuck buddy, not a chess buddy. The poor man was probably bored out of his mind and itching for the evening to be over. He hadn’t planned on spending the night playing chess and making small talk with a boring housewife.
‘I guess we should go and find the others,’ Grayson said, standing up.
Lisa stood, glancing nervously at the door. She took a deep breath. ‘Could you not mention the chess? I promised Mark I’d join in with whatever went down tonight, and I– I don’t want to disappoint him.’ She twisted her hands nervously.
‘You want to give him the impression I brought you in here to have my wicked way with you?’ Grayson asked, with a mischievous grin.
‘Yes,’ she nodded.
‘Sure.’ Grayson said. ‘Your chess-playing secret is safe with me.’
‘Thank you.’ She smiled at him in relief.
‘Well, I guess we should look the part.’ He took off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, so it fell open, revealing a smooth, golden chest. Then he popped open the top button of his trousers and kicked off his shoes. He bent to remove his socks, then straightened and ran his hands through his hair until it was messy and disheveled.
‘How do I look?’ he asked, holding his arms out to his sides.
He looked edible. Lisa nodded, swallowing hard. ‘Good,’ she choked.
‘Now you,’ he said, nodding at her.
‘What?’ Lisa asked dazedly.
‘You don’t look like you’ve just been ravaged.’
‘Oh!’ she jolted to attention. She hadn’t realised she was just standing there gaping at Grayson.
‘Here, let me help,’ he said, stepping close to her. Gently he removed the pins from her hair, then he teased it out, running it through his fingers until it fell in a wild, tangled mess around her shoulders. His gaze dropped to her mouth and his eyes darkened as he ran a thumb across her lips, smudging her lipstick. Lisa felt her pulse quickening at the touch of his fingers against her skin.
‘There. You look suitably debauched,’ he said, releasing her.
‘Thank you,’ she said, kicking off her shoes. She picked them up, then Grayson took her hand lightly in his and led her out of the room.
They found Mark and Isabel sitting next to each other on the sofa in the living room. Lisa was relieved that they were both dressed again, though looking as mussed up and tousled as she and Grayson were.
‘There you are,’ Mark said, standing as they came into the room. He looked tired, Lisa noted with relief. She hoped Isabel had worn him out and they could go straight to sleep when they got home. She felt depressed suddenly, a sick knot of dread settling in her stomach at the prospect of going home with Mark. Weariness overcame her and all her earlier tension returned.
‘Did you have fun?’ he asked, holding out an arm to her.
She nodded as Grayson released her hand. She went to Mark and he put his arm around her, pulling her into his side and kissing the top of her head. ‘Ready to go?’
‘Yes.’ But she wasn’t. She wished she could stay here. She yearned to go back into the library with Grayson and curl up in that armchair. She had felt safe and warm there. She shivered, and Mark ran a hand up and down her arm. She dropped her shoes on the floor and stepped into them.
‘Come on, let’s get you home,’ Mark said, curling a proprietary hand around her ass. Embarrassed, she dropped her eyes to the floor. Suddenly she looked up and her eyes met Grayson’s and she gasped at the emotion she saw in his face. He looked almost ... hurt. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was jealous. But that wasn’t possible. She was being ridiculous and fanciful. So why did she feel so guilty, as if she were cheating on him? Why did it feel so wrong to let Mark touch her like this in front of him?
She shook off the feeling, but still found herself unable to look Grayson in the eye as he and Isabel saw them to the door.
Lisa was taken aback, but touched when Isabel put her arms around her and enveloped her in a hug. ‘Thank you for coming,’ she said. ‘It was lovely to meet you.’
‘Thank you. I’m sorry I was a bit–‘
‘You were perfect,’ Isabel said, releasing her, and the warmth of her smile almost made Lisa well up. ‘I hope we’ll see you again sometime.’
‘Thank you for a lovely evening,’ Mark said as he shook Grayson’s hand. ‘You must come to us next time. Let’s do this again soon.’
Lisa tensed. Grayson had put up with her tonight, but there was no way he’d want to spend another evening playing chess with her while Mark fucked his gorgeous girlfriend. She expected him to make some vague non-committal response, but to her surprise, he smiled smoothly at Mark and said ‘I’d like that a lot,’ his gaze drifting to her.
‘Great! Give me a ring and we’ll arrange a date,’ Isabel said to Mark.
‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Grayson said, turning to Lisa and tracing a finger lightly down her arm.
She smiled at him, grateful that he was keeping up the charade. ‘Goodbye Lisa,’ he said, eyeballing her as he took her hand and raised it to his lips in a sweetly chivalrous gesture. ‘Until we meet again.’
CHAPTER SIX
Grayson and Isabel stood side by side in the doorway as Lisa and Mark got into the back of the waiting car and were driven away. Grayson watched wistfully as the car disappeared around the corner. He felt Isabel’s arm go around his back as he closed the door.
‘So, how was that for you?’ she asked, shooting him a sympathetic look as they walked back to the living room together.
Grayson let out a long sigh. ‘It was ... interesting.’ He raised an eyebrow wryly.
‘Yeah,’ Isabel laughed softly. ‘Not exactly what I’d promised you.’
Grayson sat down on the sofa.
‘Drink?’ Isabel asked him, going to the cabinet.
‘Yes, please.’ He was tired and he’d already had more than enough to drink, but he needed time to get his head around everything that had happened tonight, and he wanted to discuss it with Isabel.
She handed him a large glass of brandy, then flopped down beside him, laying her head on his shoulder sleepily.
‘So how did it go?’ she asked him. ‘What did you do with Lisa? I take it you didn’t ...’
‘No.’ Grayson turned to her. ‘We played chess,’ he said with a wry smile.
‘Oh, God. Sorry.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s okay. I enjoyed it.’
‘Still ... it’s not how you were expecting tonight to pan out.’ Her fingers stroked his leg lazily. ‘Let me make it up to you.’
‘No, I’m fine,’ he said, putting a hand over hers to still it.
‘I feel responsible. And it would be no trouble.’ She smiled, but her eyes were already drooping. He could see she was exhausted.
‘Really, Issy, I’m fine. I had a good time. Anyway, you look worn out.’ He stroked her hair affectionately as she laid her head back on his shoulder.
‘I am pretty pooped.’
‘Was it okay with Mark?’ he asked, his fingers massaging her scalp lightly.
‘Yeah, it was good. I mean he’s pretty full-on. He’s a takes-no-prisoners kind of guy, you know? He fucks hard and fast. But nothing I couldn’t handle. I enjoyed it.’
Grayson thought of Lisa. She wasn’t as strong and ballsy as Isabel. He wondered if she could handle it. She was so fragile and timid. He hated the thought of Mark being rough with her.
‘Was he ... aggressive?’ He frowned.
‘He didn’t hurt me or anything. He was pretty rough, but you know I like that. He didn’t scare me, and I wouldn’t have let him push me further than I wanted. But Lisa ...’ She trailed off and a worried frown creased her brow.
‘Yeah,’ Grayson sighed. ‘I think she’s a bit afraid of him.’
Isabel nodded. ‘Me too. That’s why I didn’t let him know I was calling a halt. I got the feeling she’d have gone through with the whole thing, just to please him.’
‘She as good as told me she would have. Thanks for the heads-up that she wasn’t into it. Christ, if you hadn’t stopped me–‘ He broke off, horrified at the thought of what he might have done to Lisa, not knowing that she didn’t want it. He shuddered.
‘Thank goodness for safe words,’ Isabel said, stroking his leg soothingly. ‘Lisa should have had one tonight, though I suspect she wouldn’t have used it even if she had. But Mark should have seen that it was too much for her. It was her first time playing with another couple – he should have looked after her, made sure she was okay.’
‘It wasn’t just her first time,’ Grayson said. ‘She didn’t even know.’
‘What?’ Isabel frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He hadn’t told her anything about what would be happening. She thought it was just a normal dinner party.’
‘Jesus!’ Isabel gasped. ‘That’s not cool.’
‘That’s putting it mildly,’ he said crossly. ‘He got her to promise that she’d go along with whatever happened. And then he brought her here for me to fuck.’
‘Oh, my God! That is seriously fucked up. What a manipulative asshole! I knew he was controlling and domineering, but that–‘ Isabel broke off with an indignant sigh.
‘God, when I think of the way I mauled her at the table.’ Grayson leaned forward on his knees and buried his face in his hands. He thought of the way Lisa had jumped when he’d touched her, filled with remorse as he realised now how shocked and frightened she must have been.
‘You weren’t to know,’ Isabel said, rubbing his back soothingly. ‘She wanted us to think she was into it. It’s not your fault
her boyfriend’s an abusive ass.’
Grayson turned to her. ‘Do you think–‘ He swallowed hard. ‘Do you think he hurts her?’
‘Maybe not physically,’ Isabel said, her eyes full of concern, ‘though it wouldn’t surprise me. But he’s certainly emotionally abusive. I hated the way he was with her at dinner – putting her down all the time.’
‘I know – it was horrible to watch.’ Grayson flopped back against the sofa.
‘Well, we don’t have to see them again,’ Isabel said, taking his hand and playing with his fingers. ‘When Mark calls, I’ll make some excuse.’
‘Actually ... would you mind if we did go to their place?’
Isabel raised her head and looked at him in surprise. ‘Really?’
‘Only if you’re into it, of course. If you don’t want to be with Mark again–‘
‘No, it’s fine with me. Like I said, I had a good time with him – even if he is an asshole to his girlfriend. Besides, I owe you for tonight. But what are you going to do? Play chess again?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe. I like chess.’
Isabel looked at him thoughtfully. ‘You like her, don’t you? Lisa?’
‘Yeah,’ he smiled. ‘I did like her.’
‘She seemed very sweet. But if you’re going to spend another night playing chess with her, you’re going to have to let me take care of you.’ She slid a warm hand onto his thigh.
He shook his head. ‘Really, I’m fine. And you’re exhausted.’ He lifted her hand and kissed the knuckles. ‘Why don’t you stay in the spare room?’
‘You’re sure?’ She stood, yawning, and swayed on her feet.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘You’re worn out, and if you sleep in my bed you won’t get any rest.’
‘Okay, then. Goodnight.’ She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, and then she was gone.
Grayson sank back into the sofa and finished the rest of his brandy. He loved the easy friendly relationship he had with Isabel. She would come to bed with him now and make love if he wanted her to, and it would be good between them. They would give each other a lot of pleasure. But equally he could choose to go to bed alone without her feeling rejected or jealous, like he was blowing her off. They could discuss the fact that he liked another woman, she could tell him about being with someone else, and it didn’t change anything between them. Sometimes he thought he would never have a relationship more perfect than what he had with Isabel. But tonight he just wanted be alone and think about a girl with big soft brown eyes and long hair the colour of a newly opened chestnut.
The Endgame Page 6
