Games Lovers Play (5 page)

‘Good morning, Connie, how are you today?'

She studied him intently. He was smiling warmly and seemed genuinely pleased to see her.

‘Good morning, Mr Baker,' she said politely. ‘Did you have a nice holiday with your family?'

He frowned at the distant tone in her voice. ‘Thank you, I did. Susan loves playing on a beach, and as you know –' he paused – ‘my one concern is to please my daughter.'

She met his gaze coldly. ‘No doubt Mrs Baker enjoyed it too!'

He stiffened and, staring behind her at the shelves displaying various items, he said sharply, ‘You need to replenish your stock, Connie, before the morning rush. You'd better come with me to the stockroom,' and he walked away.

She had no choice but to follow him.

She waited for him to unlock the door and followed him inside, where he promptly slammed the door shut behind them. Grabbing her by the arm he asked, ‘What on earth was all that about?'

‘I don't know what you mean,' she protested, her heart beating wildly. She'd never seen him so angry.

‘Of course you do! What are you on your high horse about?'

All her inner torment poured forth. ‘You take me away to Bournemouth, you make love to me, dump me at the station like an old rag and go off on holiday without even mentioning it to me! What am I supposed to think?'

He began to relax as he loosened his hold. ‘I didn't mention it to you, darling, because it would have spoilt the wonderful time we were having, and I wanted it to be special, that's all, and as for leaving you at the station, if our relationship is to survive, we can't possibly be seen together. I'm well-known in the town, Connie. I didn't want to put you in a compromising position, because I care about you.'

‘You do?' This took her by surprise, and now she was confused.

He took her into his arms. ‘Of course I do, darling. You are something very precious in my life.'

‘Really?' She couldn't help the note of sarcasm in her voice.

He tilted her chin upwards and softly kissed her. ‘How could you ever doubt it?'

Before she could answer, he put his hand in his pocket and withdrew a small jeweller's box. ‘I bought this for you.'

She was shocked into silence as she looked at it.

‘Don't you want to know what's inside?'

She took the box from him. Opening it she saw a gold chain with a locket shaped like a heart. She gazed up at him, speechless.

Chuckling softly, John took the chain from the box and said, ‘Here, let me put it on for you.' He turned her round and fastened the clasp then softly kissed the back of her neck.

‘Come on,' he said, ‘let's get the stock or people will begin to wonder, and we don't want that, do we?'

‘No,' said Connie, ‘and thank you, it's beautiful.' What else could she say? She could hardly hand it back, that would have seemed so rude.

As they returned to the counter with the goods to be stacked she was in a state of flux … So he did think about her and … and he wanted a relationship! So she did mean something to him after all! But did she want to carry on with this affair, now she had met Sam, who was so different and who didn't have a wife and child in the background? She couldn't think straight.

For the rest of the day, she kept fingering the heart, trying to make up her mind, until Betty commented, ‘For God's sake Connie, will you leave that bloody thing around your neck alone? You'll wear it away, and where did you get it, anyway? I've never seen it before and I know all your bits of jewellery.'

‘I treated myself to it from my wages,' she replied quickly and moved away.

Connie was unaware that the whole morning scenario had been carefully noted by Gillian Spencer, the manageress of the fashion department, situated on the opposite side of the same floor. Her eyes had narrowed as John had led the young assistant away. Now what was he up to, she wondered. But when she saw them return, carrying various items, she was in no doubt. The stock room had been a place where she and Baker had sneaked into on occasion when she had been his ‘flavour of the month'.

Their affair had been a torrid one, and as she had her own flat, meeting with him had been easy; working late had been a simple excuse for him to give to his wife. Then when Kay had given birth to his daughter, Gillian realized that any hopes of a future with this man were never going to materialize. When he started to cool off and had put an end to their relationship, she put the whole thing behind her and moved on, and when, sometime later, he'd approached her again, she'd had the willpower to refuse his advances.

‘But we were so good together,' he'd said.

For a moment she'd been tempted, remembering how he'd made her feel when he held her in his arms and made love to her. Oh, he was so accomplished between the sheets. He made her lose all of her inhibitions, and she had thrived on his attention. But, looking at him, she also remembered how cold he was when he'd told her it was over.

‘Yes we were good together, but that was then,' she told him. ‘Now I'm not interested. You were just an experience!'

How good it had made her feel to see the anger in his eyes just before she walked away from him, feeling triumphant at his discomfort. Nevertheless, knowing all this didn't stop that small part of her wanting him still. Now he was working his charm on the young girl working in the haberdashery department. A mere child! Should she have a quiet word with her? Warn her that John was a known philanderer? She tried to put herself in the girl's place. If someone had done that to her at the time, she knew it wouldn't have made any difference. This man had too much charisma, and this girl wasn't as worldly at her young age, but she knew eventually John would tire of the girl and move on. He always did. She turned away as a customer approached her.

Towards the end of the day, John stopped by Connie's counter and quietly said, ‘Meet me in the park by the big rockery. I've missed you so much, I need to see you,' and he walked away. She didn't have a chance to answer so she felt obliged to do as he asked. She thought if she did see him, it would help her decide what to do in the future. She didn't want to risk losing her new boyfriend, but John only had to touch her and she felt helpless. He was the first man she'd slept with, and somehow that felt almost as if she was bound to him in some way.

After leaving work, she walked slowly to the park, her mind in turmoil. Common sense told her to stop this liaison, it could only end in tears, someone would end up getting hurt, so was it worth the risk? Yet she still remembered how John made her feel when, in Bournemouth, he took her to bed and introduced her to sex. She'd loved to feel his hands, his mouth on her body. It had been an amazing experience, and if she was honest, she wanted it again and again. The very fact that it was illicit only added to the excitement of it all. How wicked was that, she thought. But at the same time it was rather delicious! She waited.

John arrived shortly after and, taking her by the hand, led her to a bench behind the rockery which hid them from sight of any passers-by. He took her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.

‘God!' he muttered. ‘You feel so good.' And he kissed her again.

Connie lost herself to all the physical sensations that flooded through her. Oh, it felt so good to be in his arms again, and she wished they were in a bedroom somewhere where they could take this further. She closed her eyes as he caressed her and kissed her again and again. All doubts left her. She couldn't let him go, she couldn't!

In the Chapel area of the town, Sam was facing his own problems. Someone had tried to break into the garage overnight. The locks had been tampered with, and there were marks on the door where, fortunately, it had withstood whatever tool had been used to try and force it open. He and his men had no doubt who was at the root of all this. The thing now was – what to do about it?

‘We can go round there mob-handed and break their bloody legs,' raged Harry.

‘Cool down, for goodness' sake,' Sam urged. ‘We have no proof it was Jake and his boys, and anyway that wouldn't solve anything and would only get us into trouble with the law. We have to think of something constructive.'

‘Well, I suggest we move the car to a different venue – under cover, of course. Let them believe it's here. At least that will give us a place of safety, because it's obvious this isn't any more,' Tom said.

‘Got anywhere in mind?' Sam asked.

‘As a matter of fact I have. A mate of mine has an empty garage in Shirley. We could hire that from him.'

‘Would he keep his mouth shut? Otherwise there would be no point at all in moving.'

Tom grinned broadly. ‘You could trust him with your life, Sam. You are his hero. He follows every race you've ever entered. He'd feel privileged to help you.'

Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Sam said, ‘Really? Have I ever met him?'

Shaking his head, Tom said, ‘No. He's been too shy to approach you, but I know he'd be only too pleased to help out. He's not a bad mechanic either. He's into motorbikes himself.'

‘Then have a word with him today. I think we'd better keep a watch on this place tonight. I don't want to leave the car unprotected, and I'll have a word with the local bobby to keep his eyes open when he does his rounds.'

Young Jimmy Murphy was delighted when he was asked to come to Sam's aid. So, in the dead of night, the car was moved to its new home. The streets were empty as the Riley Pathfinder was towed away, and Jimmy was waiting, overcome with excitement, at his garage. He'd cleared and cleaned the interior, all ready for the arrival of Sam and his vehicle.

Sam shook his hand and thanked him profusely for helping them out.

The young man was so overcome with having his hero there, he stumbled over his words. ‘That's fine, just fine.' He pranced on the spot, unable to keep still. ‘If you want an extra pair of hands, Mr Knight, I'll be happy to help you out.'

‘Please call me Sam, and thanks, Jimmy, we can always use a good mechanic.'

Jimmy was in seventh heaven and, scratching his head, he muttered, ‘Bloody Hell!'

They locked up the garage after a full inspection. It was sturdily built and with new locks was deemed safe. They all left to go home and sleep.

As Sam climbed into bed, he realized that he had to decide whether to tell Connie what had transpired and let her into the secret. He'd wait a while, he thought, and see how things went. He didn't want her involved at the moment, knowing how devious Jake Barton could be. No, it was probably safer to keep her out of the loop for the time being.

To Connie's surprise, Sam called into Tyrell and Greens the following day and found her department.

‘Hello,' he said, smiling at the shocked expression on her face when she saw him.

‘Whatever are you doing here?' she asked.

‘I had some business to attend to so I thought I'd give you a surprise. Are you free this evening? Only, I thought we could go and have a meal somewhere.'

She beamed at him with pleasure. ‘I'd love to.'

‘Good, I'll wait for you at the staff entrance. What time do you finish?'

‘About a quarter past six.'

He gazed around the shop floor at all the displays and then back at her, taking in her neat white blouse and black skirt. ‘It's strange seeing you in your workplace, it's as if I'm looking at a different girl,' he teased.

‘Which one do you prefer?' she asked with eyes twinkling.

‘I'll have to compare the two and let you know.' He grinned at her. ‘I'll see you later.'

Betty, who had been watching the encounter, sidled up to her friend. ‘Don't tell me. That was Sam, yes?'

Connie nodded. ‘He's taking me out for a meal after work.'

‘Very nice too! It's time you found someone decent.'

As she went about her work, Connie knew that her friend spoke the truth, but she was torn between her conscience and lust. She was playing a dangerous game, she was aware of that. She risked both John's wife and Sam discovering her guilty secret. Strangely, the latter bothered her more than the former. In her heart she realized she wasn't the first conquest of the floor manager – she'd heard the rumours about his roving eye when she first joined the staff, and if they were true, Mrs Baker would be an idiot not to suspect – but once she'd foolishly accepted his first invitation and been held in his arms, she shut her mind to anything else. But Sam … Sam was a decent, honest man, and she felt he'd be appalled if he were to find out about her sexual encounters. He'd kissed her passionately but he'd never caressed her too intimately, which showed his respect for her as a young woman. Not that she thought for one moment he was without experience. The way he kissed her was certainly not the kiss of a novice.

Just before the store closed, John Baker wandered over to Connie and asked, ‘Are you doing anything this evening?'

Betty, who was standing nearby, intervened: ‘She's going out with her boyfriend!' She walked away grinning broadly.

John's face was like thunder. ‘Boyfriend! What boyfriend?'

Connie suddenly felt empowered. For so long she'd been at this man's beck and call, meeting him whenever he demanded, going willingly to him. Enjoying the excitement of this extramarital relationship. It had made her feel daring and mature. However now someone else wanted to be with her, a man without baggage, a man who treated her tenderly. For once, she had the upper hand.

‘My boyfriend. He's a racing driver, and he cares about me!'

‘I care about you,' he said quietly.

‘So you say, but after all, John, you can't expect me to just sit about and wait for your call. You go home to your wife, so why can't I have a boyfriend?'

His face flushed with anger. ‘Leave my wife out of it.' He was called away at that moment, which put an end to their conversation.