She shook her head. God, she was getting obsessed with sex! That was probably all that was wrong with her. She was frustrated because she and Richard hadn’t been able to sleep together for weeks now, and the unexpected kisses from Sam had reminded her just how long it had been.
She smiled again as she hurried towards Trafalgar Square, remembering his lips on hers, and wondered just how bad it would be if she misbehaved again and met up with him before the wedding. Immediately she dismissed the idea and mentally shook herself. That would be A Very Bad Idea. She was going to marry Richard—of course she was—and consequently she needed to keep as far away from Sam as was possible. She didn’t need anything else to sway her resolve.
As she passed the huge bronze lions that guarded the square, Kate found herself gazing around like a child at all the street performers and artists who were out enjoying the gorgeous weather and entertaining the thronging tourists. She paused for a moment or two to watch some jugglers. Then, since her stomach had been suggesting it might be lunchtime ever since she got off the train, she headed for the National Gallery with the intention of eating in their café.
Climbing the steps, she pushed open the heavy glass door and walked into the welcome coolness of the gallery entrance hall. She smiled to herself; she loved the gallery, and it had been several years since her last visit. Picking up a plan of the exhibits, Kate made her way straight to the café, where she found a table by the window and ordered a Brie and cranberry panini, a chocolate muffin, and a pot of tea.
She felt almost guilty having the tea and glanced furtively around, just in case her mother had followed her and was lurking in the corner. She would never let her live it down if she knew she had voluntarily had a cup of tea. She took a grateful bite out of the panini and planned the rest of her visit while she ate.
****
By the time Kate had finished her lunch it was nearly two thirty, so she left her overnight bag in the cloakroom and set off on a delightful wander around, rediscovering all her favourite paintings. If she hadn’t studied English Literature at Uni, she would definitely have done History of Art, and she was fairly knowledgeable about several periods. Her particular favourites were the Impressionists, and she spent a happy hour browsing those rooms before heading over to the Sainsbury Wing, where her second favourites, the Early Renaissance works, were housed.
Her mind completely absorbed by the art, she found she had no time to think about the wedding, or Richard, or Sam, or even sex, and by five o’clock she was once more starving and in need of a sit down.
She decided to go back to the café, have some more cake, then pop over to the Portrait Gallery next door for a quick look. She was fairly sure it closed at six, so she didn’t linger over her cake and more illicit tea before collecting her bag and walking the few yards to the gallery.
After a quick run around, she found herself being herded to the door with the few remaining tourists when it reached six, and she emerged into the still busy Trafalgar Square.
It was a beautiful evening, and since there were still a couple of hours before her train left, Kate sat on the wall by one of the fountains and soaked up the atmosphere. She realised that the day had actually done her a great deal of good. Although it hadn’t achieved her original purpose, that of an afternoon of passion with her fiancé, it had allowed her to relax and completely leave behind all her stresses and worries. She felt miles better, and actually fairly well disposed towards Richard.
She totally understood his annoyance at her arrival, and of course she shouldn’t really have expected him to drop everything on a work day and take her to bed. But it had been nice to see him and realise he was still just as good-looking.
She trailed her fingers in the cool water and gazed around her. It was so good to be away from home. Away from the little village where she seemed to spend her entire life. Where everyone knew her, and everyone knew each other’s business. She realised she had been pretty lucky that no one seemed to know of her trysts with Sam. That would really put the cat among the pigeons.
How could she have been so stupid? Just because she had had a crush on him back in high school, why had she behaved like a teenager when he returned? She really needed to grow up. In less than two weeks she would be a married woman.
A responsible married woman.
A tiny flicker of something fluttered in her stomach, and she stood up, suddenly determined to ignore it. Nothing must spoil her lovely day.
Glancing at her phone, she saw it was nearing seven and decided to head towards Paddington, ready for her train. She always liked to get to the station earlier than necessary. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she turned, and with a last look around the square, headed for the nearest underground station.
As she picked her way through the crowds and hurried across the busy roads, Kate couldn’t help glancing into some of the brightly lit restaurants, wishing she had left more time to go and get a proper meal. She would need to get something at Paddington to take on the train. That would be fun anyway. Bit like a picnic. That made her think of Sam, and she started walking faster in an attempt to banish his face—and lips—from her mind.
As she was forced by the sheer volume of pedestrians to slow down passing a very smart Italian restaurant, a familiar figure caught her eye, and she stopped in surprise. Richard was just disappearing through the door with a group of people. Not that surprising, since he had already told her he was out to dinner with some clients, but Kate stared after him, her mouth going suddenly dry. He had his arm around the waist of a woman. A tall thin woman with glossy, shoulder-length, dark brown hair.
Kate only caught a glimpse of her back view, but there was something slightly familiar about her. She started to move towards the restaurant, then checked. What was she doing? If she went in to confront Richard, what on earth was she going to say? And what would the outcome be?
Slowly she moved over to stand against the window of the next building, out of the way of the hurrying pedestrians. It could all be completely innocent. She could be a client and he was just putting his arm around her to guide her through the door. People did that. Didn’t they? Or he could be having an affair.
Kate leaned back against the window and closed her eyes. Whichever it was, if she charged in and accused him of anything, she could end up looking very silly. She really had to just walk away and talk to him about it as soon as she could.
Slowly she began to walk towards the station again, her head thumping painfully and her stomach in knots. Richard wouldn’t have an affair. He was far too boring and sensible. If either one of them was going to have an affair, it was going to be her.
And if she had managed to resist Sam Somerville, then there was no way Richard would succumb to some random woman. He loved her.
But they hadn’t had sex for weeks. Maybe she was a prostitute. Maybe he’d got desperate and couldn’t wait any longer.
Kate stopped walking again, and three people cannoned into her. She had to text him. Right now.
Standing stock still in the middle of the pavement, the commuters muttering as they were forced to go around her, she wrote a quick text and pressed Send.
I’m on my way to the station. Are you okay? What are you doing now?
She didn’t want to sound suspicious, but just wanted to see what he said. A few moments later her phone bleeped.
Travel safely. I’m fine, just tired. Out for that dinner now with a group of clients. Boring. See you Friday. Love you.
Kate started walking again as she read it. Well, he wasn’t trying to pretend he hadn’t gone out to a restaurant. And there had been a whole group of people with him. Not just the woman with the nice hair. She slipped her phone back into her pocket and picked up speed. Well, nothing she could do about it now; she had a train to catch.
It wasn’t until much later, when she was on the train tucking into a very large tuna baguette and a diet cola, that she remembered the man at the court who had thought he’d known her. Did tha
t mean Richard had been taking other women to parties? Or was the man just getting confused? He had been fairly old.
She took a large bite of her baguette and chewed thoughtfully. She would have quite a lot to discuss with Richard when he got back on Friday.
Chapter 12
Wednesday 15th July
“So where were you yesterday, Kate?” Holly turned round as Kate walked into the staff room. She carried on spooning coffee into four mugs. “Were you skiving?”
“Of course not.” Kate turned her face away in case it betrayed her. “I had a headache.”
“Oh, right.”
Kate glanced at the girl suspiciously. “Why do you say it like that? Don’t you believe me?”
“Well, you may have had a headache, but you certainly didn’t stay home all day.” Holly grinned at her as she slopped milk into the mugs. “My mum saw you at Tiverton Parkway last night. Coming off the London train.”
Kate sat down on the sofa and closed her eyes. “Oh, whatever,” she said wearily. “Are you going to tell anyone?”
“Course not!” Holly sat down beside her. “I wouldn’t dob someone in. I’m sure you had a good reason for skiving. Did you go to see your boyfriend?”
“Fiancé,” Kate corrected absently. “Yes, I did. He’s been in London all week, and we haven’t seen each other for ages.”
“So you went all the way to London just to see him?” Holly’s heavily mascaraed eyes were wide. “That’s soooo romantic! What did you do there? Did you go out for a meal? Did he take you dancing?”
“Nothing.” Kate gave a short laugh. “I hadn’t told him I was coming, and he was really busy and had to work all day. Then he had a business dinner in the evening.” She frowned as she remembered the girl at the restaurant. “So I went sightseeing and caught an evening train home.”
“Oh.” Holly looked disappointed. “So you didn’t go to a hotel and have an afternoon of passion?”
“You read too many romance novels.” Kate walked over to the kettle, careful to keep her face turned away from the girl. “That’s not real life.” She got two mugs out of the cupboard and placed them on the work surface, aware that her colour was higher than usual. How very perceptive of Holly to come up with that idea!
“I think real life should be like that. When I have a boyfriend—sorry, fiancé—we’ll do stuff like that. When we’re not in space.”
“Or exploring the Amazon?” Kate glanced over her shoulder.
“Or that.” Holly nodded. “My fiancé won’t be too busy to make love to me.”
“Holly, that’s enough.” Kate slammed the milk bottle down and took a deep breath. “Hadn’t you better take those coffees back before they go cold?”
Nervously Holly put the mugs on a small tray and backed out of the room, her eyes never leaving Kate. As the door slammed shut behind her, Kate let her head drop forward, and she supported herself on the work surface on her elbows. That girl talked too much, and now her words had done much to undermine the good the trip to London had done. With a sigh, Kate finished making the coffees and carried them back to her office. Her boss had disappeared, so she put his down on his desk, then carried hers over to the window.
It was raining for the first time in a couple of weeks, and the light drops pattered gently on the glass, trickling down and pooling on the windowsill. Kate stared down at the yard. The half dozen second-hand tractors that stood hopefully to attention were shiny from the unaccustomed shower and gleamed as the weak sun attempted to fight its way back through the clouds.
A large puddle had formed in the middle of the yard, and Kate had a sudden vision of putting on her wellies and jumping right into the middle of it. The thought brought a small smile to her face, and she turned away from the window. Richard would never do that. He might watch indulgently while she did, but he would make no secret of the fact that he thought the act to be childish.
Suddenly annoyed, Kate put her mug down none too gently on her desk and picked up her phone. She wrote a quick text.
When it rains I like to splash in the puddles. I always have and I always will. Deal with it.
She pressed Send, and the message winged its way to an unsuspecting Richard, still battling it out in court in London.
That’ll show him, Kate thought, scowling to herself. She was still going to be her, even after she was married. No one could take that away from her. Which, to be fair, Richard probably didn’t want to do. But she couldn’t afford to take any chances. This was her whole life she was putting on the line with this wedding. There needed to be some ground rules.
She sat down at her desk and moved a few papers around randomly. Her mind was definitely not on her work, and she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to be doing. To be honest, she wasn’t really being much use to anyone, and it would be better all round if she went home, but having skived the day before, she felt duty bound to stay and attempt to do some work. As of Friday night, she was on holiday for three weeks, so she really ought to try and leave the office in some semblance of order for the temp.
With a sigh, she picked up the pile of papers in her in-tray and began to sort through them. If she could just get rid of those, she wouldn’t feel so bad leaving the place for so long. Although why she felt bad at all she wasn’t sure. She didn’t even like the job, and once they were married she was definitely going to look for another one.
They would be living in his flat to start with, which was considerably further away from her job, and Richard had also mentioned they may need to move nearer to London, so she’d actually be forced to leave it in that eventuality.
She stopped sifting through the papers and stared ahead of her. Move nearer to London. She hadn’t really considered what that would mean.
She had always lived in Devon. She had always considered it her home, and imagined she always would. Going travelling for a period of time would be fine, like she had been going to do after school, but to move to London…that was different.
No. She mustn’t come up with more obstacles to her marriage. She really needed to man up, if the thought of leaving her home village freaked her out to that extent. It would be an adventure. Not quite like exploring the Himalayas, or canoeing through a rain forest, but an adventure nonetheless. The sort of adventure one would have with Richard. A sort of safe adventure, with lots of home comforts. Richard was not the type to want to rough it. He had been horrified when she had suggested a caravan trip a couple of years ago, and she hadn’t even dared mention the camping trip she really fancied.
No, Richard may be good in bed, but he wasn’t very adventurous out of it. She doubted he even owned a pair of wellies.
Now slightly annoyed, Kate gathered up her papers again and dumped them all back in the tray. Tomorrow would do for them. Right now she needed some food, and the canteen should be open. A nice bacon roll and a cupcake should do the trick. As she left the room and headed towards the stairs, her boss appeared.
“Kate, where are you off to?” He peered at her closely. “You don’t look well. Have you still got a headache?”
“A bit,” Kate thought quickly, and let her shoulders droop. “It’s still niggling.”
“You should go home. Take the rest of the day off so you’re better tomorrow.” He patted her on the shoulder. “I need you on top form tomorrow. We have that meeting with the directors.”
Kate smiled weakly at him. “Really? You think I should go home? Well, I do still feel a bit odd. Is it really all right?”
“Yes, now off you go, but make sure you’re back in full health tomorrow. No point hanging around here if you’re not on top form.”
Kate stepped back into the office, collected her bag, and scurried out and down the stairs before he could change his mind. She had got the rest of the day off without having to skive. She’d only had to tell a tiny lie, and in fact her head did feel a bit muzzy.
She walked out into the drizzle and hurried round to her car, still concerned lest he change his mi
nd and call her back. Two illicit days off in a row. She really was learning how to misbehave! She must think of something fun to do with the rest of the day in order to make the most of it.
****
As she drove back into the village, Kate had a sudden craving for nut chocolate, so she pulled her car alongside the pavement opposite the village shop. Grabbing her purse, she headed inside and scooped up a couple of bars of chocolate and two packets of crisps. That should keep her going for her afternoon of skiving. She smiled to herself as she left the shop and started back towards the car. She was really beginning to get the hang of this misbehaving. It was rather fun.
“Katy!”
Sam’s voice stopped her in her tracks, and she paused on the edge of the pavement. “Hi.” She watched as he approached her from the direction of the pub. He looked as hot as ever, and he flashed her a heart-stopping smile as he joined her.
“Where are you off to? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Got sent home.” Kate grinned at him. “My boss thought I looked ill.”
“But you’re not?”
“No. But he thought I was yesterday, so it was easy to make him believe it.”
“So you’re skiving?” Sam looked down at her, his head on one side. “Why did he think you were ill yesterday?”
“Oh. No reason.” Kate looked away, suddenly realising she didn’t want to tell Sam where she had been the day before.
“You skived yesterday too?”
“Never mind that.” Kate tossed her head impatiently. “What are you up to?”
Sam narrowed his eyes at her and took a step closer. “Hmm. Okay. Not much. Glad I ran into you. I was hoping to see you again soon.”
“You were?” Kate looked up at him, suddenly acutely aware of his proximity.
“Haven’t seen you at all since our picnic. I was hoping we were okay.”
“Of course we’re okay.” Kate looked at him in surprise. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
Breaking All the Rules Page 12
