by Pam Howes
‘Are you sure about this, Liv? It’s not too late to stop.’ He could feel her shaking as he took her in his arms and guessed that she was terrified.
‘I don’t want to stop.’
‘Relax a little. I won’t do anything that hurts you, I promise.’ He kissed each breast in turn, his eager mouth moving down her body. He peeled off her knickers and she gasped as his tongue searched. She arched to his touch as his fingers explored. ‘Is that good?’ he whispered and she nodded.
He was desperate for her to touch him and drawing her hand to his erection he folded her fingers around it, moving them gently up and down. ‘See, it won’t bite,’ he said, ‘and that feels so good to me, too.’
She was wet and welcoming when he pushed into her, flinching as she cried out. He held his breath, terrified of hurting her. She was so tiny compared to Sammy.
‘Are you okay?’ He looked at her flushed face.
‘Yes,’ she whispered.
He nodded, thrusting gently. ‘Tell me if I hurt you and I’ll stop.’
‘I’m okay, honestly.’
Roy felt her relax and he kissed her, pushing his tongue deep into her mouth. As he thrust into her she pushed her hips against him. ‘That’s it,’ he encouraged. ‘You’re getting the hang of it!’ Her head tossed from side to side as she moved in rhythm. He cupped her buttocks, pulling her closer until she shuddered and cried his name. Roy built up speed and withdrew, ejaculating onto her stomach. He collapsed by her side, breathing deeply in her ear. Once he’d caught his breath, he looked at her flushed face, surrounded by a mass of tousled curls, and grinned.
‘That was pretty wild for a first time! Are you sure you’re okay?’
She nodded, wide-eyed. ‘I wasn’t expecting anything like those feelings at all.’
‘Those feelings, my darling Livvy, were your first orgasm. It’s what happens when you make love. Sorry I’ve made your tummy sticky, but we really should have used a condom.’ He reached for a handful of tissues from the box on her bedside table and cleaned her up. ‘I apologise for not being prepared. I’ll buy some for next time.’
‘Next time?’ She sat up. ‘You want there to be a next time?’
‘Of course. Do you?’
‘Oh yes,’ she replied. ‘In fact, I wouldn’t mind next time being sooner rather than later!’
‘You enjoyed it that much, eh?’ Roy said, grinning. ‘Share a ciggy with me then while I get my breath back.’
***
Roy left Livvy’s apartment at three-forty-five and drove to Hanover’s Lodge at top speed. The wonderful time far outweighed the guilt and he was feeling on top of the world. He’d promised to call Livvy and see her again as soon as he could.
He pulled up outside the house and leapt out of his car as Eddie opened the door. ‘Morning, Ed.’
‘It’s bloody afternoon! Where the hell have you been? ‘I’ve been calling you all day.’
‘Just out,’ Roy replied airily, following Eddie into the kitchen.
‘Out where? You were supposed to be here just after twelve. You could have at least have let me know you were going to be late.’
‘I couldn’t call, I was busy.’ Roy lit the cigarette Eddie handed him.
Eddie narrowed his eyes. ‘You’ve been up to something, Cantello. There’s guilt written all over your bloody face.’
‘I haven’t,’ Roy said, lowering his gaze.
‘So where’ve you been? Why won’t you tell me?’
‘I’ve been for lunch with Livvy Grant, if you must know,’ Roy said, knowing that Eddie wouldn’t give up until he told him.
Eddie’s eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. ‘Why?’
‘Because I wanted to, that’s why.’
‘So, you’ve been into Manchester then, to Flanagan and Grey’s?’
‘No, it’s her day off; I drove us out to Castleton. We had a walk and lunch in The Cheshire Cheese. Then I took her home.’
‘Well it’s almost four now. Why on earth did it take you so long? I called you just after half-ten. I wanted you to come over earlier so we could make a start. You’ve obviously been with her for most of the day, how come?’
‘I was in the shower at half-ten, I didn’t hear the phone. I picked up Livvy at eleven. I felt I owed her an apology for last night.’
‘Oh, you mean Jess sounding off? Well that was hardly your fault.’
‘Well yeah, there was that and the fact that I kissed her when I took her home,’ Roy confessed.
‘Fucking hell! You did what?’
‘I couldn’t resist; she looked all lost and lonely. It just happened.’
‘And today, did you kiss her again today?’
‘Yeah, but just a peck to say bye,’ Roy lied. He couldn’t tell Eddie he’d just taken Livvy’s virginity. He wouldn’t understand for one minute.
‘Roy, you’re playing with fire, mate. Next thing you know you’ll be shagging her! For God’s sake, man, she’s young enough to be your daughter. Sammy would fucking kill you if she even found out you’d had lunch with her.’
‘Sammy won’t find out, so don’t worry about it.’
Eddie sighed and shook his head. ‘We’re too late now to do any work. I’ve got to go and collect Katie and Dom from their after-school club. Do you want to come with me for the ride?’
Roy shook his head and yawned. ‘No thanks, Ed. I’ll go home. I feel a bit tired actually. I might have an hour’s kip.’
Eddie nodded and followed Roy out to his car.
‘See you tomorrow then,’ Roy called as he drove away.
***
As Roy sped off down the lane Eddie frowned and went back indoors. He had a gut feeling that Roy had shagged Livvy. Apart from oozing guilt, his mate was usually fired with enthusiasm and raring to go when they were writing new songs. Nothing got in the way of their work, least of all, women. He wouldn’t like to be in Roy’s shoes if Sammy found out that he’d taken a very young, not to mention very attractive girl, out to lunch without her knowledge.
***
Livvy climbed back into bed after seeing Roy out. She felt exhausted, but mellow and contented. Roy had been an expert lover. Not that she’d anything to compare him with, but Sheena had told her it was crap the first time and always hurt. Well hers hadn’t been crap and apart from the initial tightness when he first entered her she’d enjoyed every minute.
She smiled as she thought of his firm body. His long legs straddling hers, the dark curly hairs on his chest brushing against her breasts and his wonderful, kissable lips glued to her own. She couldn’t wait to see him again and remembered she’d made a promise as he left to consult with her doctor about taking the pill. In fact, if she called the surgery now she might be able to get an appointment this evening.
She picked up the phone from her bedside table and dialled the number. The receptionist told her there was a cancellation at five-thirty. Livvy promised to be there. She lay back on her pillows thinking again about Roy and closed her eyes, hoping she might dream about him. She was semi-dozing when the phone rang, startling her.
‘Hello,’ she mumbled into the receiver.
‘Hi, gorgeous,’ a deep voice replied.
‘Roy, I was just dreaming about you.’ She sat up, leaning back against the headboard.
‘Were you now? Well I can’t stop thinking about you. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, Livvy but my mind’s all over the bloody place.’
‘Oh dear,’ she replied. ‘I thought you were going to Eddie’s after you left me. Are you calling from there?’
‘No, I’m at home, lying down. By the time I got to Ed’s it was too late to do any work. He had to do the school run. You’ve worn me out, you wanton woman!’
Livvy grinned. ‘I’m lying down, too. I feel so tired. I’ve arranged to see my doctor later. I’ll take a shower in a wee while and wake myself up a bit.’
‘That’s good. Find out if the pill’s the right thing for you, and I’ll get some condoms for the time
being. I might be able to get over tomorrow night. Sammy’s working late; they’ve a big order to finish. What time are you home?’
‘Just after six-thirty usually.’
‘I promise I’ll be there if I can.’
’Okay. Bye, Roy, see you very soon.’ She hung up smiling. He really did want to see her again. She got out of bed and padded into the bathroom, singing the chorus of the new song and feeling happier than she’d ever felt in her life.
***
CHAPTER NINE
‘We’ll take it,’ Jess said as Nick nodded his agreement. The apartment in Abbott’s Edge was perfect. It was spacious, tastefully decorated, newly carpeted and had far reaching views over The Edge from the lounge window.
The estate agent looked down his long, thin nose at her and Jess could tell that he thought they were penniless time wasters.
‘We will need to see a suitable reference, Miss, err,’ he looked at his clipboard, ‘Mellor. We also require one month’s rent in advance plus a three-hundred-pound deposit.’
Wiping the supercilious look from his face, Jess brandished her chequebook and smiled sweetly. ‘That’s okay, Mr Hawthorn, money’s not a problem. Six months up front do you?’ The horrible man had shiny shoes, horn-rimmed glasses and a phoney-posh accent, Jess hated him on sight.
‘That won’t be necessary, Miss Mellor,’ he replied. ‘I presume you are both in regular employment? We prefer the reference to be from your employer.’
‘We don’t work. Not yet anyway,’ Nick told him.
‘Oh, I see. Well in that case I’m not sure I can help you, Mr Cantello.’
‘We could ask our Dads to be guarantors,’ Jess suggested.
Hawthorn pushed his heavy glasses up his nose and looked at her. ‘So, can I assume your fathers would be able to provide suitable employment references?’
Nick shrugged dismissively. ‘They don’t work either; well, not boring work like you mean. They don’t have employers. They’re songwriters.’
Hawthorne’s eyes widened with disbelief. ‘Oh really, and would their names mean anything to me?’
‘They might,’ Jess replied. ‘But I don’t reckon their music would have been your thing. They had a lot of hit records when they were in a band called The Raiders.’
Hawthorn frowned as the penny dropped. ‘Your fathers are Eddie Mellor and Roy Cantello?’ he squeaked.
Jess nodded. ‘Got it in one!’
His attitude towards them changed dramatically as he accompanied them back to the car park. His jaw hit the floor when he set eyes on Jess’s dad’s red Ferrari with its personalised number plate, EM 1.
‘I’ll have my secretary draw up the lease first thing tomorrow. You can sign when you collect the keys from the office.’
Jess and Nick grinned as he bowed and scraped his way back to his company Volvo. Jess stuck her fingers down her throat in a mock vomiting gesture. Nick stuck two fingers up at the departing Volvo in a gesture he used all too often when people annoyed him.
‘What a fucking arse-licker!’ Nick climbed in the passenger side as Jess unlocked the car.
‘Nicholas, you can’t use that sort of language around here,’ Jess said with a grin as she slid in beside him. ‘Right, Habitat now to buy some furniture.’
‘We only need a bed,’ Nick leered, as she swung onto the main road. ‘I hope the walls aren’t too thin, or we’ll be kicked out with the noise you make!’
‘Behave yourself!’ Jess giggled. ‘Honestly, you’re a bad boy at times.’
‘But you love me, don’t you, Jess?’
‘With all my heart, Nick.’ She glanced at him. ‘You are sure about this? Living together I mean. I know we’ve talked about it a lot, but now it’s actually going to happen.’
‘I’m positive. I want it more than anything.’
‘So do I. We’re not too young for the commitment, are we? Gran said we were.’
He reached for her hand and squeezed it. ‘Of course not. Mum and Dad have been together since their teens and they’re still very much into one other.’
‘I guess we’re lucky with our parents; they’re well past the seven year itch now,’ Jess said.
***
Shall we call into Flanagan and Grey’s to see Jon and Sean while we’re in town?’ Nick suggested as they walked towards St Anne’s Square and the Habitat store.
‘Livvy will be there. I don’t fancy seeing her.’
‘She told me last night that she’s off today,’ Nick replied.
‘Oh well, in that case, yes,’ Jess nodded. ‘We’ll choose our furniture first and then go and cadge a coffee.’
They wandered hand in hand around Habitat and chose a pine bed and a matching chest of drawers. Two comfortable two-seater sofas, upholstered in dusky pink cord, caught Jess’s eye.
‘I love those, Nick. They’ll go great with the beige carpet. We could have a cream Flokati rug on the floor in front of them.’
‘What’s a Flokati rug?’
‘You know, like the one at home in front of our fireplace,’ she replied.
‘Ah, you mean the one we made …’ he began as Jess dug him in the ribs.
‘Yes, that one.’
‘I thought you said it tickled your arse!’
‘Nick! Pack it in. I’m not coming shopping with you again. You’re embarrassing me.’
He laughed and took her hand. ‘Sorry, Jess, I’m only teasing. Do we need a coffee table?’
‘Yeah - a pine one, I think. We don’t need a wardrobe, ’cos there’s one built in. We’ll ask your mum about curtains, she’s good with that sort of thing.’
‘What about stuff like cups and plates and sheets for the bed?’ Nick asked.
‘We’ll choose bedding from here and beg pots and pans from the parents. There are cupboards full at home and they don’t use half of them. Mum’s got tons of spare towels, too.’
They chose cream sheets and pillowcases and Nick picked up a terracotta and cream check duvet cover.
‘I really like this. It’s not too girly and I don’t want flowers.’
‘Okay then, we’ll have that,’ Jess said.
‘There’s just one problem as far as I can see,’ Nick said as they stood in the queue waiting to pay.
‘What’s that then?’ she replied, rooting in her handbag for her chequebook.
‘We don’t have a duvet or pillows to put the bedding on.’
‘Oh, we’ll buy those from Kendals. Mum says they have the best duvets in town.’
‘Quite the little housewife, aren’t you?’
‘You are joking? I hate washing up and I haven’t a clue how to use a washing machine. But I can make toast and coffee, so we won’t starve.’
‘We can take our dirty laundry home. That’s what mothers are for.’ Nick smiled confidently, the problem solved.
***
‘What on earth have you been buying?’ Jon asked as Nick and Jess struggled up the stairs, arms laden.
‘A bed.’ Nick’s eyes gleamed. ‘One of our very own. But they’re delivering it to the flat.’
‘Ignore him,’ Jess laughed. ‘We’ve bought all sorts of things.’
‘So, kids, what’s the furniture shopping for?’ Sean asked. ‘Have you found somewhere to live?’
‘Yeah. An apartment in Abbott’s Edge,’ Jess replied. ‘It’s really lovely. You and Helen will have to come round for a meal as soon as we move in, Jon.’
‘Abbott’s Edge? Bloody hell, Jess, that’ll make a hole in Celia’s legacy,’ Jon said.
‘Just a bit,’ she replied. ‘But it’s what we both want and the money’s there to spend. You can’t take it with you.’
‘Grandma Molly’s favourite saying is There’s no pockets in a shroud! So we might as well as enjoy it while we’ve got it and when we run out, well there’s always Dad,’ Nick said as Jess shivered involuntarily. ‘What’s the matter, Jess?’
‘I don’t know,’ she replied. ‘It was when you mentioned shrouds, it made me
feel strange, that’s all.’
‘Jess, you are strange.’ Nick kissed the tip of her nose and whispered, ‘Let’s go back to my place while there’s no one home.’
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘But we’ll have a coffee with Jon and Sean first.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on then, seeing as we don’t have Livvy here to brew up,’ Sean offered. ‘Have you spoken to her today, Jon?’
‘I called her earlier to see if she fancied coming into town for lunch, but there was no reply. I called again about half an hour ago and she sounded really sleepy. Told me she’d been out to lunch with a friend and was very tired, so she was having a lie down.’
‘Lying down on her own, was she?’ Nick said. ‘Or was she with the friend?’
‘I don’t know. I never thought to ask,’ Jon replied. ‘It’s a bit odd though, a girl Livvy’s age needing an afternoon nap. Maybe she was in bed with someone. I’ve no idea if she’s got a boyfriend. She’s very secretive about her private life. But perhaps she hasn’t and we’re all jumping to conclusions.’
‘Well if she has, it’s obviously not someone we know. Because she’d be flaunting him around for us all to see,’ Jess sneered. ‘I hope she has got someone, at least she’ll keep her claws out of you then,’ she directed at Nick.
Nick shook his head in an exasperated fashion. ‘Jess, she doesn’t fancy me and I don’t fancy her. She’s too doll like and fluffy. I like something I can get hold of. I’ve told you that before. Ah, here’s Sean with the coffees. Get it drunk and then we can go home before Jason comes in from college.’
Jess sat down on the stool behind the counter and sipped at her coffee. ‘Have you talked to Helen about France yet, Jon?’ she asked.
‘She’s supposed to be asking her mum this week if she can come with us. But I don’t hold out much hope to be honest,’ he replied.
‘Well you can hardly blame her mother if she says no, now can you?’ Sean chipped in. ‘I wouldn’t allow my Charlotte to go off with a twenty-two year old bloke, no matter how much of a charmer Tina thought he was.’
