Unveiled

by Alice Raine

  ‘Never mind. I have to be up really early tomorrow, anyway,’ he conceded, gently brushing some hair away from my face. He looked and sounded a little frustrated by our continued inability to be together properly, which certainly made two of us.

  ‘So Cait might be moving back to the hostel?’ He pulled his T-shirt back on and slid his arm around my shoulders, pulling me firmly against him.

  Sighing happily at our entwined position – probably one of my favourite places to be – I gave a little shrug. ‘Yeah. I think she feels she should give me and you some privacy so you can come around whenever you get some free time.’

  Nodding thoughtfully, Sean suddenly twisted his head down so he could make eye contact and grinned that special smile again. ‘So next time I’m over I really can walk around the suite stark naked?’ he asked cheekily, to which I merely rolled my eyes and chuckled.

  ‘I seem to recall you did that today, anyway.’

  ‘I did, didn’t I? And in the pool …’ he added with an endearing wink.

  A giggle burst from my throat as memories of our heated pool liaison came to my mind. ‘I think you did a whole lot more than just strut around in the pool.’

  ‘You better believe it,’ he murmured through a grin, giving my bum a playful squeeze.

  After spending a while longer with Sean enjoying the sunshine outside the pool house (chatting, kissing, fondling, and generally making sure that we were definitely OK after the Savannah incident), I reluctantly peeled myself away from his tempting warmth and sat up.

  ‘I need to get back to the hotel. Sorry. Cait should be back and I want to see how she got along. Plus, I promised to take her out for celebratory drinks. Well, hopefully celebratory,’ I corrected myself.

  ‘OK. I’ll drive you back.’ Standing up, Sean held out his hands to assist me, and even though I was perfectly capable of doing it by myself, I took his offer and let him pull me to my feet.

  Placing a kiss on the tip of my nose, he sighed. ‘Come on then, my gorgeous girl. Let’s get you back.’ He sounded a little glum, as he often did when we were parting, and after having spent an amazing night and morning together – forgetting about the Savannah blip – I had to say that today, I certainly felt the same melancholy about leaving him.

  SEVEN

  Allie

  The drive back to the hotel was quick and eventless, but as Sean pulled into the hotel grounds we found the car park far busier than it had been this morning. In a fit of panic, I yelped and tugged my cap down low again, much to Sean’s amusement, and found my heart absolutely racing. Considering it was his job on the line if we got caught, he looked remarkably chilled as he reversed into a parking space. How he stayed so calm and cool I had no idea, because all this stress was seriously taking its toll on me, I’d never been so frigging jumpy in my life. Forget cat on a hot tin roof, I was like hyperactive frog on freshly poured tarmac.

  ‘I doubt anyone has spotted me, but we best not have a goodbye kiss just in case.’ I was disappointed, of course, but after two rounds of Sean-loving today I was rather well sated, so instead I nodded my understanding.

  Reaching across the gap between us, Sean gave my hand a quick squeeze as we shared a frustrated look.

  ‘It won’t be like this forever, babe. Call me tonight when you get in. Or message me,’ he reminded me, his face serious and worried as I glanced over, which merely made me roll my eyes.

  Nodding, I smiled at his protective ways. I supposed some women might find it a little oppressive, or over-bearing, but knowing the backstory of why he worried about me so much, I just saw it as a demonstration of how much he cared. ‘Of course. Has there ever been a time I’ve forgotten, Sean?’ I asked, which was supposed to be rhetorical, because I always did it. As soon as I realised just how much he obsessed about my safety it had quickly become our thing, and it was now as much a part of my nightly routine as brushing my teeth.

  ‘When you were angry with me because of the fake engagement,’ he muttered, his expression suddenly darkening and reminding me of just how quick his moods could swing. ‘You didn’t message me properly for two nights. Worse than that, you changed your number so I couldn’t even call you.’ Slightly surprised by how agitated Sean was suddenly getting, I felt my mouth hang open in surprise. I’d thought this was all behind us, but obviously it was still playing on Sean’s mind. ‘I got no sleep those nights, Allie,’ he murmured grittily, and from the haunted expression on his face, I totally believed him.

  Wow. OK, so his fixation with my safety wasn’t lessening now that we were in the same city.

  ‘Sorry,’ I murmured, unsure what else to say. ‘I’m twenty-six, Sean, and I know you worry about me but I can take care of myself.’ His blue eyes flashed to mine, looking darker and edgier than before, but just when I thought he was going to challenge me he sighed, flicked off his sunglasses, and ran both his hands over his face as if scrubbing away bad memories.

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know you can. I’ll try to be less paranoid.’ His words were perfect, but the expression on his face wasn’t the happiest and I didn’t want to get out of the car and leave him looking so miserable without a proper goodbye embrace. Except I couldn’t even give him a hug because we were sitting in a crowded car park and weren’t supposed to be together.

  Bugger it. This situation was so frustrating, I literally couldn’t wait for things with Savannah to be sorted out.

  Reaching over to squeeze his hand, I stared him right in the eye with a purposeful gaze. ‘I love you, Sean, even with your paranoia. I will call tonight before bed, I promise. Any idea when I’ll see you next?’

  Shaking his head, Sean tried to look perkier by smiling. ‘I’m not sure, the next two weeks are pretty jam-packed, but I’ll make sure I see you, even if it means sneaking into your hotel room in the middle of the night just to spend an hour with you in my arms.’

  A shiver of excitement ran through me at the thought of Sean creeping up on me during the night, and I couldn’t help but grin naughtily as my cheeks flushed.

  His eyes narrowed. ‘Hmmm. You like that idea,’ he observed, watching me with a wicked smile twitching at the corners of his lips. ‘The thought of an intruder slipping into your room at night turns you on, does it?’

  How we had gone from discussing his paranoia to talking about rude sexual fantasies, I had no idea, but we had and it was starting to get me quite hot under the collar. Licking my lips, I nodded slowly and deliberately, which caused Sean’s eyes to twinkle with excitement. ‘But only if the intruder is you, obviously,’ I confirmed hoarsely.

  ‘Of course. That goes without saying,’ he agreed smoothly, now looking fully back to his usual calm self. ‘In which case, I shall do my upmost to tiptoe in as quietly as possible, pin you to the bed when you are least expecting it, or perhaps even tie you up …’ he mused, an idea that made my pulse spike with excitement, ‘… and then take you however I wish.’

  Oh my god.

  I was suddenly really hot, my eyes as wide as saucers, mouth feeling as parched as a desert, and so turned on that I was squirming in my seat to try and ease the throbbing between my legs. And I was in the middle of a busy car park. Perfect. The only real sign that Sean was just as affected by all of this was his tone, which was lower and grittier than before, but apart from that he still looked cool as a cucumber.

  ‘I’ll leave you with that thought,’ he murmured, winking at me before a slightly troubled look crossed his brow. ‘And I have a key to the bungalow, so don’t get any silly thoughts about leaving the door unlocked for me. Lock it up tight every night, OK?’ he demanded while giving me an intense stare.

  ‘Yes, Sir,’ I muttered sarcastically around a supressed laugh, trying not to giggle out loud at how quickly he could change from domineering and sexy to a panicky worrier.

  With one last squeeze of his hand, I opened the car door and slid out, dropping from the Jeep’s high cabin before swivelling to wiggle my fingers in a brief goodbye wave. ‘See you
soon, and speak to you later.’

  Making my way through the lush gardens towards the bungalow, I had to divert my route to avoid the sprinklers currently watering the lawns, but after the intense hours spent with Sean, a wander through the tranquil gardens was actually quite a welcome moment of calm. Pulling off my cap, I shook out my hair, glad to be free from its confines in the warm summer evening. Veering to my right, I took the longer path that zigzagged between beautifully scented rhododendrons. The smell always reminded me of my parents’ garden at home.

  Finally arriving at the bungalow, I mounted the steps, entered the empty lounge, and following the sound of music I wandered to the garden area and found Cait sprawled on a lounger humming along to Maroon 5. Our small garden was completely surrounded, so since our arrival, Cait had been brave enough to don her bikini most days, and her lovely healthy tan was becoming something to be rather envious of.

  ‘Allie!’ Cait beamed. Her cheeks were pink from sunbathing and she looked mightily pleased with herself, which indicated that the job hunt had gone well today. Grabbing a beer from the cooler beside her, she popped the lid and then flapped her spare arm in the direction of the empty sunbed beside her.

  ‘So, you finally managed to peel yourself away from lover boy?’ A knowing smirk was twitching on her lips, and in return I nearly laughed – yeah, lover boy and his psycho, fake-lipped ex. But that was a story to tell later; now was about Cait’s day. ‘I was starting to think you weren’t going to make it back to join in with my celebrations.’

  ‘Sorry,’ I murmured with an apologetic smile. Dropping onto the lounger I sipped my cool beer and raised my eyebrows expectantly. ‘Celebrations?’ I questioned. ‘Does that mean you got the job?’

  Suddenly looking incredibly animated, Cait leant forwards, her eyes twinkling in the evening sun. ‘I did.’ Cait’s face reddened further with apparent excitement. ‘Actually, I got a full-on upgrade, they offered me a job – a proper job – in the props department for Dark Blood, that vampire drama. It comes with a six month contract and everything.’

  Giving a small shrug, she sipped her beer casually, as if this wasn’t majorly exciting news.

  ‘Oh my god! This is fantastic! Well done, you!’ I yelped, almost falling off my lounger in my rush to get up and congratulate her. ‘This is am-az-ing!’

  Smiling modestly, Cait shrugged. ‘It is pretty exciting.’ Which was about right for Cait, she was always so shy about anything vaguely complimentary, and for once, this trait had nothing to do with her fucked-up ex and everything to do with her sweet, gentle nature – she had always been unassuming, ever since I had known her.

  ‘Yeah. I signed for it straight away …’ She paused, and some of the excitement seemed to fade from her eyes. ‘… but I’m not sure I should have now,’ she murmured, examining her beer bottle with apparent fascination.

  ‘What? Why not?’ I squawked, not sure I’d heard her correctly. ‘Me and you living it up in LA for the next few months will be amazing!’ Cait smiled at my enthusiasm, but I could see hesitation in her eyes and I wondered what on earth it was holding her back. After all, she had no ties in the UK, she’d effectively been a traveller for the past three years, earning cash here and there whenever she could so surely this would be perfect.

  ‘I dunno,’ was all the reply she gave. Words so vague that I began to suspect there was more to her hesitation than she was letting on.

  ‘What exactly is the job? The same prop work you did in Oz?’

  ‘Yep, prosthetic accessories, mostly, some stage design work too, I think,’ Cait agreed, taking a casual swig of her beer. I narrowed my eyes at her blasé response. She was deliberately trying to stay vague, but I knew Cait well enough that I could see the excited twinkle in her eye. I knew how much she had loved her work in Australia, so if this was similar then it certainly couldn’t be the job holding her back. She wanted this job, I could see it in her face. So what was causing her hesitation?

  Hmm. If she was feeling defensive then I needed to play it cool. Perhaps if I skirted around the subject for a while I could distract her enough to get her to open up about the cause of her uncertainty.

  ‘I thought you built stage sets in Sydney, but you just said something about prosthetics? What does that involve?’

  Chuckling, Cait popped her empty bottle on the floor and lounged back again. ‘It’s the same silicone material used in prosthetic limbs, but in a prop department we use it in a different way to create masks, or attachments that give a character a different appearance.’ It was as if Cait was speaking a foreign language, which I guess if you knew nothing about stage make-up like me, she kind of was. But still, it sounded pretty cool.

  ‘For example, if you want a character to have a vampire bite on their neck, I would create the bite mark from silicone, paint it, and then attach it to the actor’s skin with special glue. Then I’d add some make up to smooth down any edges, but’s that’s not always necessary. It’s pretty amazing what we can do with it, really.’

  I was impressed. I knew my bestie was arty, but I hadn’t quite realised her talent extended to that level. Cait now looked bashful, almost embarrassed by her skills. ‘Wow. That sounds seriously technical. You’ll get to work with all those dishy vampires too, my god, the lead guy is so hot!’

  ‘Yeah, I guess.’ Cait’s cheeks flushed red, as was usual when we discussed anything remotely linked to men, relationships, or sex. Deciding to get to the crux of the issue, I sat up, placed my beer down and eyeballed my best friend.

  ‘Come on. Out with it, what’s making you hesitant?’

  Shifting on her sunbed, I watched as Cait’s hand drifted towards her wrist and began to play with the elastic bands. Narrowing my eyes, I began to wonder if her hesitation had anything to do with a certain tall, dark-haired actor that my friend had had several run-ins with recently. Literally. It seemed completely illogical, but something in my gut was screaming at me that it might be the case, so, not pulling any punches, I decided to just come straight out with it.

  ‘Does this have anything to do with Jack Felton?’

  EIGHT

  Cait

  ‘Does this have anything to do with Jack Felton?’

  My entire frame stiffened, because while Jack was a bit of an issue (quite a big bit of an issue, if I was being honest), there was also the matter of Mum’s phone call that was playing on my mind. Allie didn’t know about the letters I received from Greg, nobody did, apart from my parents and the police. I’d never told Allie because even though she was my best friend and I knew I could trust her, I hadn’t wanted her to worry about me while I was travelling. Well, we were together again now, hopefully for quite a while, so after rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands I made the decision to confide in her.

  ‘Actually, there’s something I haven’t told you.’ I paused and cleared my throat in preparation. ‘Something about Greg.’

  Frowning at my mention of him, Allie looked briefly confused, and then leant in closer.

  ‘He still sends me letters.’ Her eyes widened and her mouth popped open to speak, but I beat her to it, wanting to get my bombshell out in the open. ‘I found out today that another one arrived this week, so I’m just feeling a bit jittery.’

  ‘Oh my god, Cait … this is crazy. How does he know where you are?’

  ‘He doesn’t.’ At least I hoped he didn’t. ‘They go to my mum’s house, some have worldwide postmarks and some are hand delivered. They’re basically disguised threats. Postcards saying stuff like “I can’t wait until we’re together again” and letters …’ I had to pause, remembering how upset my mum had been when she’d opened one by mistake. She’d been near hysterical on the phone, ‘… really graphic letters about what he wants to do to me. Except he makes it sound like a kinky love letter.’

  ‘Fucking hell. Have you told the police and got a restraining order?’ Allie looked so mad she was practically frothing at the mouth.

  Drawing in a breath through my nose, I
nodded. ‘We’ve told the police, but they can’t file a restraining order without some solid evidence, and there isn’t any. When it first started happening he went in for questioning willingly, but denied everything, and once he was released he just seemed to vanish. Besides, they can’t prove the letters are from him. The handwriting isn’t a match for a sample that his parents provided, and there isn’t any DNA evidence on the paper to implicate him. He was really careful.’

  Seems he’d always been careful, because he was really careful to clean up the night he attacked me too. The police said his house was drenched with bleach, which Greg claimed was just from a thorough spring clean, but there wasn’t a single scrap of evidence to prove I’d even been there.

  Licking my lips, I picked up my phone and absently fiddled with it. ‘I know it’s him. It’s obvious to me, even if it’s not to the police.’

  Expelling a sharp breath, I shrugged. ‘So, basically that’s why I never came back to the UK. It’s also why I don’t do social media and haven’t stayed anywhere for very long, just in case he somehow finds me. But I doubt he’s really looking for me. I’m sure he has a new woman to order around now. He probably just enjoys playing with me.’

  It seemed that with this news I had achieved the impossible – my chatterbox of a best friend appeared totally lost for words. ‘Bloody hell. He’s even more of a fuckwad than I thought,’ she finally murmured after nearly a full minute of silence, making me smile weakly at the unfortunate nickname she always used for him.

  Allie

  I was completely gobsmacked. Fucking Greg. It was bad enough that he had put her through all sorts of shit in the past, how dare he still be haunting her? If I ever saw him again I swear I would rip him a new neck hole.