Frisky Business (37 page)

It was working, Romy thought that evening as Kit took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

Stage one of the vanilla seduction was going brilliantly – no doubt aided by the hearts and flowers theme of the day. After all, if you couldn’t get off with someone at a wedding, when could you?

It had been a perfect day. The ceremony was lovely, the pews of the little chapel adorned with ribbons and flowers. Hannah was a stunning bride, and Colm beamed with pride as he walked her down the aisle. Tank was surprisingly emotional, his voice hoarse with tears as he took his vows, while Laura beamed and cried at the same time, glowing with happiness.

After a champagne reception in a lovely old galleried hall, they sat down to dinner in the sumptuous banqueting room. Romy and Kit were seated with Ethan and Sinead, and Peter, who they had met in reception, and his mousy wife Mary. The food was delicious, the champagne and wine flowed, and the company was fun. Even Kit had to admit that Wedgie made a very funny speech – with anecdotes from the stag do providing plenty of material – but he still smirked as Wedgie finished and lowered himself gingerly back into his chair with a pained wince as he passed the mic.

Romy felt lit from within. Kit had hardly been able to keep his hands off her all through dinner, constantly touching her leg, stroking her hair, or dropping little kisses on her cheek. Now he was pulling her into his arms and they began swaying softly to the music. She melted against him, breathing in the male
smell of him as he laid his cheek against hers, and sighed contentedly. Kit had passed the gay test with flying colours, and she felt sure that this lovely day was going to end with delicious, vanilla-flavoured sex.

As the band began playing a recent hit with a salsa beat, Kit began to dance properly, spinning her away from him and pulling her back to wrap his arms around her, twirling her around, his legs moving between hers, their limbs entangling and their hips bumping as they moved in perfect harmony. She had forgotten how nice it was to dance with someone who knew what they were doing. She felt graceful, elegant and sexy as she glided and spun. And she definitely felt turned on as Kit’s strong, hard body crashed against hers.

The party was winding down and many of the guests were starting to drift towards their rooms. Peter and Mary had already left when Kit and Romy returned to their table. Ethan had pulled Sinead onto his lap and they were wrapped around each other, kissing and talking, smiling into each other’s eyes. Ethan couldn’t seem to stop touching her, running the back of his hand down her bare arm, or stroking the hair back from her face while he gazed at her like she was the most fascinating woman in the world. They both seemed oblivious to the presence of anyone else. Was that really just sex? Romy wondered. She felt Kit’s hand on her shoulder and jolted. She turned towards him, and then he was pulling her into his arms, his lips descending to hers.

He was still one of the best kissers of all time, she thought, as their mouths moved together. Kit’s tongue ran along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to his, their tongues tangling as the kiss deepened. It was soft and wet, and luscious as chocolate, and Romy couldn’t get enough. She wanted more and more, her fingers clutching needily in the short hair at the nape of Kit’s neck.

Finally
, Kit pulled away gently, but only just enough so that he could speak. He was still so close she could feel his breath on her face when he murmured, ‘Do you want to go upstairs?’

‘Oh yes!’ Romy nodded eagerly, not caring if she looked desperate. She was!

‘Are you sure?’ He glanced across at Ethan and Sinead before bending to whisper in her ear ‘You don’t have to come up now if you don’t want to. If you’re not ready to leave the party—’

‘No, I am!’ she assured him, afraid he would change his mind.

‘You sure?’

‘Absolutely.’ She grinned and bent to kiss him again.

‘Okay, then,’ Kit said, standing and pulling her up. ‘We’re going to call it a night,’ he said to Ethan.

Romy had forgotten Ethan and Sinead were still there. She looked across at them now and found Ethan looking at her with a strange expression on his face that she couldn’t make out, but that appeared oddly like a mixture of bafflement and concern. She couldn’t understand why he would be staring at her like that, but it left her feeling off-kilter. Still, it only niggled at her consciousness for a fleeting moment as they said their goodnights. She was far too anxious to get upstairs with Kit to worry about it.

They took their leave of Hannah and Tank, Tank now obviously feeling that he knew Romy well enough to grab her in a half nelson and rub her head so vigorously that she felt her neck might snap.

‘It’s just his way of showing affection,’ Hannah said to her when Tank had released her and turned his attention to sparring goodbye to Kit. ‘It means he likes you.’

‘It was such a lovely day,’ Romy said. ‘Congratulations again.’

Hannah
pulled her into a heartfelt hug, but as she let her go, something passed across her face that reminded Romy of the look Ethan had just given her.

She brushed it aside as Kit took her hand, his fingers interlacing with hers as they made their way out of the room. She wanted to scream every time they were stopped by someone wanting to talk to them on their way to the door. Kit’s little touches were the only thing just about keeping her grounded, his thumb stroking over the back of her hand or his arm wrapping around her, squeezing her to his side as they made small talk. Still, she was in a frenzy of desire by the time they made it out to the lobby and were finally heading for the lifts, the throb of music fading behind them.

This was it, Romy thought as Kit pressed the button for the lift, his other arm going around her and pulling her closer as they waited. She knew something was going to happen, excitement curling deep in her stomach as they stepped into the lift. Kit pushed the button for their floor and she turned to him, expecting him to kiss her as soon as the doors closed. Instead, he released her hand as the doors swished shut and leaned back against the wall of the lift, putting a little more distance between their bodies.

Romy tried to quell the crushing disappointment she felt. He probably didn’t want to start shagging her in the lift like some movie cliché. He was right, she told herself, it was better to wait until they got to the room. Once they were safely behind closed doors, they could really let it rip. She was an adult. She could wait a few minutes to be ravished, though she was practically hopping from foot to foot as she counted off the numbers of the floors. Thank goodness it was a low building!

Kit walked ahead of her down the corridor and slipped the keycard into the door, and she followed behind, fully expecting him to grab her as soon as they got inside. Kit closed
the door and slid the keycard into the slot for the lights, then threw himself on the bed with a loud exhale.

‘Well, that went well, I thought,’ he said, leaning against the headboard with his hands behind his head, his legs stretched out in front of him. ‘Did you enjoy yourself?’

‘Yeah, it was great,’ Romy mumbled, thrown off by Kit’s sudden change of demeanour. Downstairs, he had seemed ready to devour her. It was like he couldn’t wait to get her up here alone and start ripping their clothes off. Now he was lying there on the bed and she was standing stupidly by the door not knowing what to do with herself, all worked up with nowhere to go. How did that happen?

‘Do you want to go to bed right away?’ he asked, sitting up to remove his jacket and slinging it on the end of the bed.

Romy hesitated, not sure how to answer that. There was nothing seductive in the way he asked and, somehow, she got the feeling that he wasn’t suggesting sex. She just wanted to get back to where they’d been before they came upstairs. ‘I’m not that tired,’ she said. ‘I just need to get out of these boots and into something more comfortable.’ Yes, that was it! She would ‘slip into something more comfortable’ – the oldest, corniest seduction trick in the book.

‘Great! Fancy something from the mini bar?’ Kit asked, getting off the bed and opening the little fridge.

‘Mmm, I’ll have a bottle of white wine if there’s one in there,’ she said, taking off her boots and sighing with relief as her feet sank into the soft, thick carpet. ‘Could you help me with the zip on this?’ she asked, going to where he was hunkered down by the mini bar and turning her back to him, sweeping her hair out of the way over one shoulder.

‘Sure.’ She felt him stand behind her, and then his fingers barely touching her as he slid the zip down, stopping at the small of her back, though it went right down to the top of her bum.

‘Thanks.’
She stood still for a moment, hoping to feel his hands on her bare skin as he turned her around and pulled her into his arms.

‘Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc?’

She turned to find him hunkered down again, peering into the fridge.

‘Um … Pinot Grigio, please,’ she mumbled. And a bucket of cold water, she added in her head. Maybe there would be some ice in there that she could throw over herself. ‘Well, I’ll just … get changed,’ she said, heading for the bathroom.

Once inside, she leaned on the sink surround, her head in her hands, and wondered where it had all gone wrong. Had she misread the signals? There was no doubt that Kit had been blatantly flirting with her all night, but maybe that was just how he was. Or was he simply doing it to keep up the pretence that they were a couple? Yet it had felt so real … she couldn’t believe she had imagined the desire in his eyes and the passion of his kisses. Then, suddenly, she remembered his promise that he would be a gentleman and keep his hands off her while they shared a room. Could that be what was holding him back? If so, she just needed to show him that she was up for it. There was only one thing for it.

She wasn’t going to let this hotel room or her sexy underwear go to waste without a fight. She had to give this vanilla seduction one last try. She stripped off her dress and looked at herself in the mirror, piling her hair up on top of her head and trying out a sexy pout. Damn it, she looked hot. And Kit was a man. He was hardly going to refuse sex if she offered herself to him on a plate, was he?

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked back into the bedroom. Kit was lying on the bed, flicking through the channels on the TV. He had removed his shoes and tie, and his shirt was open halfway down.

‘I’ve
poured your wine,’ he said, patting the bed beside him without taking his eyes off the TV.

Romy crawled onto the bed. ‘Thanks,’ she said, reaching for the glass on the nightstand. The wine was lovely and cold and she gulped a mouthful gratefully. Then she put the glass down and very slowly and deliberately leaned down and kissed Kit on the lips.

‘Oh.’ He pecked her lips in return and finally dragged his eyes from the TV and turned to look at her, his eyes widening as he took in her underwear. ‘Didn’t you bring anything to sleep in?’

‘Well, I …’

‘Why don’t you get in?’ he said, pulling back the duvet and patting the space beside him. ‘You’ll get cold.’

Romy got into the bed uncertainly and Kit piled up pillows behind her, smiling at her as he tucked the duvet around her until she was mummified up to her neck. ‘There, that’s better, isn’t it?’

He turned his attention back to the TV, oblivious to Romy’s dismay at suddenly finding herself bundled up like a toddler. ‘Oh look,
Friends,’
he said. ‘Want to watch that?’

‘Sure.’

As the familiar theme tune filled the room, he put his arm around her and pulled her close, snuggling her against him as he relaxed back against the pillows with a satisfied sigh. ‘This is just like old times, isn’t it?’ he said.

‘Yeah,’ Romy said weakly, returning his smile. But it wasn’t. It was nothing like old times.

Romy
woke early the next morning, feeling restless and edgy. After Kit had joined her in bed last night, she had lain awake for what felt like hours, twitching with frustration. She had slept fitfully, the events of the evening on a constant loop in her brain. Her mind raced as she went over what had happened again and again, and tried to figure out what it meant.

Kit was still sleeping peacefully beside her, snoring gently. She picked up her phone from the nightstand and checked the time. It was only seven-thirty, and it would probably be hours yet before anyone else surfaced, but there was no chance of getting back to sleep. She was too fidgety to stay in bed any longer so she decided to get up and go for a walk. She needed exercise to calm her thoughts and to work off some of her pent-up
energy and frustration. A shower could wait until later, she thought, pulling back the duvet and sliding out of bed – she didn’t want to risk waking Kit by rattling around in the bathroom. She dressed quickly in the dark, relieved to be back in the comfort of jeans and a sweatshirt after glamming it up yesterday. Then she let herself out of the room quietly and walked down the hushed corridor.

Outside, it was a beautiful crisp winter’s morning, the grass dusted with a light coating of sparkling frost that shone in the darkness. She set off at a fast pace across the lawn away from the hotel, feeling better already as she breathed in lungfuls of the fresh morning air. There was no one around and she relished the feeling of having the world to herself for a while. Her mind wandered as she walked, her thoughts soon drifting back to the previous night and Kit.