by Alice Raine
‘She’s doing really well, all things considered.’
‘You still camped out at her place?’
‘Yeah. Well, I’ve been there all week, but I’m going back to mine tonight.’ Being away from Robyn hadn’t been an option for me in the initial days after I’d got her back, so I’d been practically living at her flat and conducting work from her sofa on my laptop. I wasn’t thrilled by the idea of leaving her tonight, but this morning she’d told me she needed a night alone to prove to us both that she really was OK now. I was feeling so possessive over her at the moment that I might have put up a bigger fight about it, if she lived on her own. But knowing that Sasha and Chloe would be with her had allowed me to just about get over my worry.
So, today was the first time I was leaving Robyn for any significant length of time; first to go to work, and now to play squash with Marcus, and I couldn’t deny that I’d felt a little fidgety and anxious all day.
‘You’ll be asking her to move in with you next,’ Marcus teased, seemingly trying to lighten the air, but I stayed silent. He had no idea how many times I had considered doing just that over this last week, but seeing as taking Robyn to mine still posed certain problems of its own, I’d held back.
I’d really been looking forward to our weekly squash game. We’d skipped last week as I hadn’t wanted to leave Robyn, but a good tiring game should help to relive some of my tension.
I began my own warm-up, circling my neck, rolling my shoulders and briefly jogging on the spot, but the whole time my mind dwelled on various images of Robyn, and how brave she had been in the last week. It turned out that my little bird was quite the fighter.
‘She’s incredible, Marcus. She’s taken it all in her stride. To be honest, I think I’ve struggled with it more than she has. I’ve been a little prickly, as I’m sure you and Nathan might have noticed. Sorry about that.’
‘No apology required,’ Marcus stated, with a shake of his head. ‘It’s a completely understandable reaction, mate. She’s your girl, of course you feel protective. But Dominic’s locked away now and she’s safe, so you guys can get back to just enjoying being together.’
I let out a long, relieved breath as his words washed over me. It was true, she was safe.
‘With the exception of the Dominic situation, it’s a long while since I’ve seen you this happy with a girl, Oliver, a very long time. I’m stoked for you.’
I nodded my agreement with a small smile and my cheeks heated slightly. ‘Thanks.’
We took turns lightly hitting the ball against the back wall to warm it up, and I decided it was about time to shift the focus away from myself for a while. I’d been rather self-absorbed since the kidnapping, but I knew that Marcus also had issues he was dealing with.
‘So how about you? How are you doing? We haven’t really had time to sit down and talk about how you feel since splitting with Celia.’ Celia – the ex who had chosen America over Marcus, and a woman I had never been fond of.
Marcus looked at me with a raised eyebrow and sighed. ‘You always hated her. I should have listened to you from the start.’
‘She wasn’t my favourite person, no,’ I admitted. Something had always seemed off about her, but I’d never been able to put my finger on it. ‘What caused you two to break up? You said you’d tell me once you got back to the UK, but we’ve never really got around to it.’ Marcus and I had always been open in our conversations about sex and relationships, so I was slightly surprised about how quiet he’d been on the subject of his recent split.
Marcus didn’t reply, but as the ball bounced before him he stepped into his next shot and smashed it so hard that the ball rebounded off the back wall and hit the ceiling before falling to the court floor. ‘Fuck. Sorry.’
Glancing across, I saw his shoulders were tense, cheeks red, and his eyes were averted away from me. He looked pissed off, or perhaps even furious, and I began to wonder if perhaps I wasn’t the only one struggling with some deeper personal issues at the moment.
From the grimace he flashed me, I’d guess there was a little more to the breakup than he’d originally let on. Perhaps she’d cheated on him and bruised his pride?
‘You want to talk about it?’ I offered, already suspecting from his violent reaction that this was going to be a closed subject for Marcus.
‘No.’ His reply was immediate, and sharp, causing me to pause and rest my hands on my hips in curiosity. Marcus was usually the most laidback guy I knew, and it was so rare for him to lose his temper that I was genuinely shocked. He retrieved the ball, let out a long, heavy breath, and gave me a tight, apologetic smile.
‘Sorry, mate. Thank you, but no, I don’t want to talk about it.’ He chucked the ball to me and lowered himself into a crouch, ready to receive a serve. ‘Let’s start a proper game. Less talking, more hitting. You serve first.’
The conversation ended there, but I made a note not to be so self-centred and to keep a closer eye on him in the coming weeks to check he was definitely OK.
Marcus had mentioned that he’d stopped playing squash while he’d been in the US, and it was showing a little in his game, because he was nowhere near as quick as he used to be which was probably the only reason I managed to well and truly beat him again. He won a couple of games, though, so as we made our way back towards the changing rooms we were both tired and in better spirits than earlier.
Feeling lighter in spirits than I had in weeks, I chuckled, remembering something I’d been meaning to tell him for a while now. ‘By the way, did you know Robyn’s friend Sasha has the hots for you?’
Marcus opened his locker and laughed. ‘Sasha? I didn’t know that, no.’
‘Yep. She’s your type, no?’
Marcus nodded, then pulled his towel out. ‘Looks-wise, yes. She’s undeniably pretty. She did sort of try it on with me the first night they came to the club, but I’m not really up for something casual right now.’
This was news. Before he’d got together with Celia, Marcus had always been up for something casual. It was one of the things that we’d had in common. Casual meant no strings, which meant no hassle. It had been perfect for me back then, but funnily enough, that type of relationship held zero appeal for me now.
‘You and she looked pretty cosy when you were working together to help me look for Robyn.’ It had been a hellish night, but even I hadn’t missed the way he and Sasha had been looking at each other. There had been some pretty heavy chemistry hanging in the air.
‘We may have exchanged a few flirtatious glances, but I think that’s just her style. She seems to have her tongue stuck down the throat of a different guy every time I see her.’
I couldn’t deny that he had a point there. I’d also seen Sasha with numerous different men at the club, and Robyn had all but confirmed that her friend was rather casual in her approach to dating.
‘Perhaps she’s just acting like that to get your attention,’ I speculated, because even though Sasha messed around with other guys, I’d noticed just how frequently her eyes were focused on Marcus.
‘Maybe.’
Marcus seemed to be responding with a little too much nonchalance, leading me to believe that perhaps he was more interested than he was letting on. ‘You’re not even up for a bit of fun? I would have thought that now you’re single again you would jump at the chance of a hot girl throwing herself at you?’
‘Nah. To be honest I’m kinda avoiding the whole dating scene for a while, casual or otherwise.’
I could understand that. It was exactly how I’d felt when everything had gone wrong with Abi all those years ago. ‘Fair enough.’ I decided to let the subject drop, and grabbed my towel and shower bag before following Marcus in the direction of the showers.
The showers here were private, with each cubicle having its own door, but we often stripped off outside and hung our clothes on the hooks to avoid them getting wet on the floor. As Marcus pulled his T-shirt off, a flash of red caught in my peripheral vision and I looke
d across at his torso and sucked in a shocked breath. He had several vivid red scars lacing across his side – not entirely dissimilar to the colour of those marking Dominic’s body. Upon hearing my intake of breath, he quickly covered himself with a towel.
‘Marcus, what the hell?’ Those scars looked vicious, and definitely hadn’t been there before he’d left for the US. I hadn’t noticed them since his return, but they would certainly explain why he was so much stiffer in his movements around the squash court.
‘Accident in the US. And before you ask, no, I don’t want to talk about that either.’
Accident? Car accident? Or work accident? But before I could push him any further Marcus hung his damp sports clothes up and shut himself away in his cubicle, effectively ending the conversation.
That was twice he’d been short with me today, which was so out of character, I couldn’t help but suspect that there was something he wasn’t telling me. I knew Marcus well enough to know that he was a stubborn guy, though, so forcing him wouldn’t get me any answers.
I’d have to wait and hope he’d tell me in his own time.
Chapter Forty-three
Robyn
Sasha had been like my shadow today, following me around the house, eating when I ate, and even offering to dry my hair for me after I’d had a shower. If she’d been bearing gifts of chocolate or wine I might have tolerated it for a bit longer, but by just gone lunchtime her constant closeness was starting to grate on my nerves.
‘I’m not going to break, you know? What’s with the constant supervision?’
Sasha attempted an innocent, unaware expression, as if she had no idea what I was talking about, but after I propped my hands on my hips and gave her a firm look she relented and held her hands up in defeat.
‘OK, OK, so Oliver may have asked me to keep an eye on you today.’
‘May have?’ I demanded, wondering why everyone around me seemed to think I needed wrapping in bubble wrap since the stuff with Dominic had occurred. Yes, it had been fucking terrifying at the time, but I’d dealt with it. A couple of trips to a therapist this week hadn’t hurt, but I was fine now. Genuinely fine.
‘OK. He did ask me to keep an eye on you. You know, coz it’s his first day properly back at work, and your first day being here on your own.’
Oliver’s concern was very sweet, and I’d absolutely loved having him here pretty much non-stop for the past week, but he was going to exhaust himself if he tried to keep up this level of protectiveness.
‘I’m fine, Sash, honestly.’
She grinned at me, and knocked her shoulder against mine in that way she had. ‘I know you are, chick. But you know Oliver, he’s very difficult to say no to when he asks you to do something.’
Ha! Wasn’t that just the truth?
‘What about you, though? Shouldn’t you be at work?’
‘Nah, it’s cool. I was owed a couple of days off in lieu. It was about time I took them.’
The sound of the doorbell ringing made both Sasha and I jump, but wanting to prove that I really was fine now, I rolled my eyes and went to see who it was.
I checked the spyhole. A man in a delivery uniform held a huge bunch of flowers, so I pulled it open.
‘Hey. I have a delivery for Sasha Mortimer.’
It was actually two separate bunches of flowers, so after signing the receipt, I cradled them into my arms and went back inside, closing the door behind me.
‘You have some flowers,’ I remarked, inhaling the beautiful scent.
Sasha skipped over gleefully. ‘For me? Makes a change!’ she remarked. She had a point, because the flat was already swathed in several bunches of flowers that Oliver had bought for me – one each day this week.
She took the card from the first bunch and read it. Her nose crinkled up and she held it out to me. ‘Boo. These are for you.’
Juggling the other bunch across to her, I took the arrangement that was for me, and read the card.
Robyn, I’m glad to hear you are feeling recovered. Marcus.
Well, it was straight to the point, I supposed, but very sweet of him to send them.
‘They’re from Marcus. What does the other card say?’ I asked, placing mine down on a table and glancing across just in time to see a blush creeping its way up Sasha’s neck. Wow. This was new – she hardly ever blushed.
‘It says, “Sasha, sorry I scared the crap out of you. I’ll work on not being an insensitive arse. Marcus.” Then there’s a little winky face.’
A laugh burst from my throat at the expression on Sasha’s face, and I moved closer to have a look. ‘What does it mean?’
Sasha was still looking a bit of a funny colour, but then she seemed to shake herself out of it and put the flowers down. ‘Well, on the night you … well, you know … the night that all the shit happened, Marcus was searching for you, but he found me on the dance floor. Chloe was in the loo, and instead of calmly asking if I’d seen you, he strode up and declared that you’d been fucking kidnapped.’ Her description came to a dead halt as she slapped a hand over her mouth and cringed. ‘Which obviously you had … but at the time it sounded crazy, and as his note says, he scared the absolutely crap out of me.’ She let out a dry chuckle and reread the card. ‘Later on, I told him he was a shit messenger, and an insensitive arse, hence the second comment.’
‘Maybe next time we see him you should ask him to buy you a drink by way of apology,’ I ventured, fairly sure that Sasha still liked Marcus way more than she was letting on.
‘Hmm. Maybe…’ was all the answer I got before Chloe wandered into the lounge and came up short.
‘More flowers from Oliver?’ She gawked in bewilderment, taking in the two new bunches on the table.
‘Nope, these are from Marcus,’ Sasha informed her, tucking the card into the pocket of her jeans.
Chloe made a face, as if she wished that she were the one being bought flowers, then glanced around the room. ‘So where is Oliver?’
‘At work. Then I think he was playing squash with Marcus and then he’s heading home for the night.’
‘He’s not staying here again?’ she asked in surprise. The idea of not having him here after seeing him near constantly for the last week caused my stomach to clench, but I gave what I hoped was a nonchalant shrug and shook my head. ‘Nope. I told him to go home. He can’t exactly stay here forever, can he?’
‘Not really. But you could stay at his. Have you even seen his house yet?’ she asked. To my ears, there was something slightly off about her tone and I stiffened. Not this topic again.
‘Not yet, but he lives miles away in Holland Park. It’s easier for him to drive here.’
‘Easier, is it?’ Chloe mimicked, crossing her arms and frowning.
‘You work near there, Chloe, you know how difficult the trains are to get there,’ Sasha intervened.
I studied Chloe’s expression intently, feeling my hackles rising at her interest in my relationship. ‘If you have something to say, Chloe, just spit it out.’
She let out a huffed breath and nervously chewed on a fingernail. ‘I just keep thinking about that woman he was with in my office, Robyn. They looked really close … and he still hasn’t shown you his house.’
‘What exactly are you implying?’ I demanded, slamming my hands onto my hips.
Chloe looked uncomfortable with this inquisition, but seeing as she was the one to start it, it was tough luck. ‘Like maybe he’s hiding something? I dunno, something just doesn’t sit right with me.’
Just as I was about to step up and defend Oliver, Sasha, my trusty sidekick, did it for me, bless her. ‘Fuck off with your pessimism, Chloe. You’ve seen how protective of Robyn Oliver has been since the shit with Dominic. He’s got the feels, big time. There’s no way he’s playing around.’
Chloe took in a breath as if she was planning on saying more, but then snapped her teeth shut and nodded. ‘That’s true …’ Running a hand through her hair, she offered me an apologetic smile. ‘So
rry, Rob. I’m probably just being paranoid because of my shitty relationship history. Forgive me?’
Stepping forwards, she held her hands out in the offer of a hug. After rolling my eyes, I stepped forwards and accepted her apology cuddle.
‘Well, after causing all that trouble, I’m off to the gym. See you guys in a bit.’
Once Chloe had gone, Sasha approached me from the side, holding out two bottles of beer and the television remote. ‘Ignore her, babes. Oliver is a total dude. It’s been obvious from the get-go just how into you he is. So, how does beer and a movie sound?’
Grinning at my bestie, I nodded. It sounded pretty awesome to me.
Chapter Forty-four
Robyn
‘Oh Rob-yyyyn! Come out here for a second.’ Frowning at the sing-song quality to Sasha’s voice as it floated through to my bedroom, I glanced at the clock. My frown deepened. It was ten past eleven. We’d watched movies all afternoon, accompanied by several beers, and so now I was in bed feeling sleepy and just a little bit tipsy. What on earth could she need me for?
I slid reluctantly from my lovely warm covers and wandered out in my pyjamas, curious to see what was so important.
It turned out to be a “who”, not a “what,” because as I entered our living room I found Oliver lounging against the doorframe, looking gorgeous in one of his trademark suits, with his hands shoved in his pockets and a lazy grin splitting his unfairly handsome face.
‘Look who’s back again!’ Sasha stood beside him, and made a “ta-da” noise, and after grinning at me she disappeared from the room, leaving me gawking at Oliver with my mouth hanging open.
I’d actually told him to stay at his place tonight, because I wanted to prove to him that I was fine now – strong, and fully recovered from the Dominic thing – but God he was a welcome sight in our doorway. It had only been twelve hours since I’d last seen him, but I wanted to jump into his arms and devour him.
