City Woman (7 page)

Dinner was a great success and, after reading her figures, Luke gave a cautious go-ahead to further work on the Belfast plan. Devlin was pleased; she knew Luke wasn’t
doing it to humour her. He was a hard-headed businessman and recognized a good opportunity when he saw one.

Nevertheless, she lay wide-eyed, unable to sleep. The nap earlier on had been a mistake, she conceded, but there was more to it than that. When she decided to fly over to London, she had wanted
to safeguard their friendship. But more than that, much more, their row had focused her thoughts on what she wanted and needed from Luke and what he wanted and needed from her. For the first time
they both wanted the same thing. And for the first time since her encounter with Colin, she finally felt she wanted to commit herself to a full and loving relationship. The only thing was: she was
so nervous about it all. Beneath the veneer of sophistication she was very inexperienced. She had lost her virginity to Colin in a quick, furtive and painful encounter that had resulted in
pregnancy. She had never had sex with a man since and she was a bit scared; scared that she wouldn’t be any good at it, scared that it would be like the first time, painful and terribly
disappointing, and not at all like the wonderful thing it was supposed to be. The only man she trusted enough and wanted enough to try again with was Luke.

She slid out of bed, slipped into the bathroom and washed her teeth. She caught sight of herself in the mirror, eyes as big as saucers, and smiled. God, people at home wouldn’t believe it
if they could see the self-confident sophisticate now.

She walked down the hall to Luke’s room, padded over to the bed and slid in under the sheets beside him.

As he stirred and turned she whispered hastily, ‘It’s OK, Luke: it’s only me.’

‘Devlin!’ He shot up in the bed and switched on the light. ‘What’s wrong?’ He squinted in the glare. ‘Are you afraid of the thunder?’

Devlin laughed. ‘No, I’m not afraid of the thunder.’ She met his puzzled gaze and said hesitantly, ‘I . . . I . . . um . . . well actually, Luke, I came to seduce you.
But I’m not very good at this kind of thing, and now I feel a bit daft.’

Luke lay back against the pillows and stared at her. ‘You are daft, as daft as a brush, and that’s why I love you, you mad nutter.’

‘That’s not very romantic – calling me a mad nutter.’ She grinned back. ‘Do you really love me?’

‘What would you think?’ He leaned up on one elbow and smiled down at her.

Devlin shook her head. ‘Well, I guess if you’ve put up with me this far, you’ve got to feel something for me,’ she teased, feeling suddenly very happy.

Luke leaned over and kissed her on the lips. ‘I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. I don’t want to make you feel . . .’ He hesitated and his gaze
softened. ‘I don’t want you to feel emotionally blackmailed. I won’t pull out of our partnership now or ever, no matter what.’

She silenced him with a kiss, a fierce passionate kiss that surprised him. ‘I didn’t mean it when I said that. I’ve regretted it ever since. I love you too, Luke,’ she
whispered. ‘I want us to make love. And you don’t have to worry about Aids or anything. I’ve only ever had sex with Colin and I had a test and I was fine,’ she assured him a
little breathlessly.

‘And you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve been tested too and I’m fine. I’m not promiscuous, Devlin,’ Luke said gently. ‘I’ll wear a condom, of
course.’

Devlin reached up and caressed the long lean line of his jaw. ‘You don’t have to: I’ve been on the pill for years because of my periods.’

‘Don’t talk to me about periods: mine are so irregular,’ he said in an accent that was suspiciously like Dianne’s. Devlin giggled.

‘When did you find out you loved me?’ Luke wrapped his arms about her and the heat from his naked body came through the thin silk of her nightdress.

‘I suppose I’ve loved you for ages and didn’t realize it. But when I thought everything was finished between us, I was scared of losing you and that’s when I really knew.
It’s a bit of a shock!’ She buried her face against his chest, loving the feel of his rough black hair against her cheek and lips.

‘I’d better resuscitate you then,’ he murmured, raising her face and bending his mouth to hers. He kissed her slowly, exploring the velvet softness of her mouth, his tongue
caressing hers so erotically that she felt a flood of desire, the like of which she had not experienced for years. His kiss deepened, became more passionate and her body responded instinctively,
arching against him, feeling his need for her. Her fingers caressed him, touching tentatively at first and then more confidently as his breathing quickened and she could see how much she was
arousing him. Gently he lowered his head and brushed away the wispy straps of her nightdress as his mouth sought the hard pink tips of her nipples.

‘Oh Luke, this is lovely,’ she breathed, her hands holding his head tight against her as he teased and touched and caressed her breasts. For a long long time he kissed and explored
every inch of her, gaining her trust, exciting her body until she was calling his name out in pleasure. He was so gentle when he entered her that for a brief moment it was the most exquisite
sensation she had ever experienced. Then all of a sudden she froze.

‘Luke, Luke, stop!’ she cried out in panic, her hands pushing him away as she struggled to sit up.

‘God! What! What is it?’ Luke exclaimed in alarm, his voice harsh with passion as he drew away from her.

‘Oh Luke!’ Devlin covered her face with her hands and burst into tears. ‘I’m sorry . . . I’m sorry,’ she sobbed.

‘It’s all right. It’s all right. Tell me what’s wrong. Did I hurt you?’ Luke didn’t know what was going on, but he reached out and drew her close and stared
down at her bent head in confusion as a flood of tears bathed his chest.

‘No, you didn’t hurt me. It’s not you: it’s me! It’s me!’ she wept, feeling ashamed of herself for being such a failure.

‘Tell me about it,’ he said gently.

‘Oh, I feel so mortified behaving like this at my age,’ Devlin muttered in embarrassment. ‘You must think I’m terribly gauche.’

‘I don’t think anything of the sort.’ Luke kissed the top of her head and his arms tightened around her. ‘All I want is to make you happy and if you don’t feel
you’re ready for a physical relationship yet, that’s no big deal, Devlin.’ He cupped her face in his hands and made her look at him. ‘Sex is just one part of a relationship;
it’s not the be-all and end-all. It’s not for the sex that I wanted us to become involved. The love and the friendship are just as important.’

‘But aren’t you frustrated?’ Devlin asked, pink-cheeked. All she knew of men’s sexuality was what she had read in romantic novels. She knew even less about her own.

‘Oh Devlin!’ Luke chuckled. ‘Sure that’s easily fixed. You wouldn’t want to let any feminists hear you asking questions like that. They might picket City
Girl.’

‘Oh, you mean I should be concerned about my own satisfaction,’ Devlin said glumly. ‘I think I’m a bit of a disaster in that area.’

‘Well, we were doing pretty well for a while,’ Luke smiled at her. ‘What happened?’

She bit her lip.

Seeing her discomfiture Luke said firmly, ‘Look, we can talk about this another time – Devlin, please don’t get into a tizzy – and don’t get things out of
proportion.’

‘Luke . . . I lost my virginity to Colin Cantrell-King and that was the first and only time I had sex . . . I’ve never been with anyone since. When we were making love . . .’
She sighed deeply. ‘I know it’s irrational but all of a sudden I just felt this awful fear that I would get pregnant . . . I can’t really explain it.’

Luke lay back against the pillows and pulled her down beside him. ‘I feel very sorry for women: they really get the rough end of the stick. I wouldn’t presume even to try and imagine
what you went through, or to try and imagine what it’s like to wait and find out if you’re pregnant after sex. And it’s something women have to face all the time. Devlin, I know
this sounds selfish but I’m so glad I’m a man. I’m not going to have you under this pressure. Let’s forget about sex for a while. If you want to go for counselling or
anything, I’ll be more than willing to go with you. I just want you to be happy.’

‘I love you, Luke,’ Devlin whispered.

‘I love you too. We’ll work this out, don’t worry,’ he assured her, switching out the light and putting his arms around her.

She lay, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat while her eyes grew heavy. Her last conscious thought was that Luke Reilly was the best thing that had ever happened in her life. She knew
he was right when he said they would work it out. She wanted to work it out. She wanted to experience the pleasure she had felt with Luke until she had panicked. She had suppressed her own
sensuality for so long, probably as a form of self-protection. Well, she trusted Luke implicitly. And because she loved him she wanted to give him great pleasure too: the next time would be
different, she promised herself as she fell asleep.

Devlin slept really well that night. She had been pretty shattered, what with being up at the crack of dawn to get her flight, and then the shopping expedition, not to mention the emotional
upheaval of last night. It was the first night she’d slept properly since her row with Luke at Dublin Airport and when she woke she felt totally relaxed, wondering sheepishly how she had got
herself into such a state the night before.

Luke was still asleep, and she leaned on her elbow and studied him as he lay there beside her, limbs sprawled all over the bed. His crisp, dark hair, tousled in sleep, gave him a faintly boyish
air that made her smile. She gazed at the long sweep of his lashes and his straight well-shaped nose, down to his mouth, usually firm, now relaxed in sleep. He had a nice mouth, she thought,
remembering his kisses of the night before. He had a nice body, too, she thought with a tingle of pleasure, looking at the broad expanse of his chest with its tangle of dark curly hair that
narrowed to a thin line over his lean stomach and disappeared under the sheet that covered them. The pressure of his thigh against her own was intimate, and Devlin decided that it was lovely to
share his bed.

Luke’s eyes flicked open and Devlin smiled down at him. ‘Good morning, lazybones.’ She bent her head and kissed him. ‘I’m feeling terribly frustrated,’ she
murmured against his lips, as her hand ran down the thin dark line of hair, past his waist and under the bedclothes. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

Luke’s hands slid down to her waist and then to the curve of her hips, as he moulded his body against hers.

‘What would you like me to do?’ he asked huskily, his eyes warm as he stared up at her.

‘You’re the expert. I’m just learning. Remember?’ Devlin teased, as she kissed him again, a long, slow, satisfying kiss, that left him in no doubt as to what she wanted
him to do.

‘Are you sure?’ Luke was still a little concerned. ‘Don’t feel you have to force yourself to do it again so soon, Devlin.’

‘Do I look as if I’m forcing myself?’ Devlin rubbed the tip of her nose against his. ‘Luke, I really want to try again. I’ve missed out on so much; I’ve a lot
of catching up to do. So stop playing hard to get . . .’

This time, because she was relaxed and knew that Luke was aware of her hang-ups, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to welcome him into her body. She gloried in every precious moment
of it. Afterwards, they lay smiling at each other until Luke glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table and said, ‘Well, Mata Hari, just as we were taking off, so was your flight from
Heathrow.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Devlin happily. ‘I’m starving. What’s for breakfast?’

Five

For about the tenth time, Devlin rearranged the centrepiece of freesias on the table she had set for the lunch with her mother. She stood back and surveyed the effect. It did
look nice, she had to admit, with its crisp fine linen tablecloth and starched napkins, and the silver and crystal sparkling in the mid-morning sun. It was such a beautiful day she had decided to
have lunch outside on the big wide balcony that surrounded her penthouse on three sides, giving her a spectacular view of Dublin Bay and Howth. Big terracotta pots that matched the glazed Italian
tiles were filled with a luscious variety of flowering shrubs, bedding plants and trailing ivies. Devlin loved her balcony: she always found it very therapeutic to slip into a tracksuit after a
hard day at work and go out with her trowel. She would plant and feed and mulch and weed her pots, hanging baskets and window-boxes.

This was her little haven, her refuge from City Girl and from the fairly hectic social life that she was leading as a result of all the invitations that arrived on her desk, now that she was a
celebrity of sorts. More than anything, Devlin had come to enjoy Sundays. No matter what the weather, whether wild and stormy in the winter or warm and balmy as it was now, she went for brisk walks
along the length of the Bull Island or by the Bull Wall, enjoying the tangy sea breeze. Devlin had grown to love living in Clontarf. She had all the enjoyment of living on the seafront close to
Howth and Malahide, the loveliest parts of the north County Dublin coastline, and yet she was only ten minutes away from the city and work. Back from her walk, she always bought the Sunday papers
and after a long lazy brunch would settle down to read them. In winter, she would curl up on the sofa in front of the fire and listen to the rain beating against the big ceiling-to-floor patio
doors but in summer, she loved to lie on her lounger, feeling the heat of the sun. It was bliss to have those few precious hours to herself after the frenetic pace of her life during the week.

It was Luke who had warned her that she was heading for a bad case of burn-out if she didn’t take more care of herself. He had watched her work non-stop seven days a week, morning, noon
and night, before, during and after the opening of City Girl. The excitement of it had kept her going for the first few months and then she found it had become very difficult to relax. She had
become thoroughly immersed in the business.