Unfaithful (58 page)

Jackie woke and stretched languorously. The bright winter sunshine streaked through a crack in the curtain, forcing her from her erotic dreams. She burrowed under the duvet and smiled at the memory of the previous night. Colm had set her entire body on fire. He'd awoken the deepest part of her, which she'd buried for too long. She'd never seen that passionate side to him. It was quite a revelation. She thought she knew everything about him, that there was nothing left to learn or discover, and then he went and did something so completely unexpected and out of character. She'd resigned herself to a boring sex life with her husband, but boring was the last word she could use to describe last night.

Afterwards, they'd lain together in each other's arms. Neither of them had spoken. There'd been no need for words. They'd drifted off to a peaceful sleep. She felt safe and loved and protected for the first time in a very long time. She was glad she'd decided to stay. So many times she'd wanted to pack her bags and leave. She hadn't known how much more she could have taken of Colm's cold and distant behaviour towards her, but she'd forced herself to stay, knowing it was the right thing to do. Some part of her couldn't even begin to imagine her life without him. They'd loved and known each
other for a lifetime, and now that he'd finally forgiven her the only way was forward.

She sighed deeply. T
he pressure and tension had finally been released. Every part of her body ached deliciously. She touched her lips which were swollen from his kisses. Reluctantly, she reached out to check the time. It was quarter past eleven! It had been ages since she'd slept so late. The children were rattling downstairs so clearly she was the only one still in bed. It made a refreshing change. Colm must have gotten up early with them. Emmett was a demon; even at the weekends he'd still get up at the crack of dawn to watch television or play endless games on his Play Station. Charlotte loved her lie-ins. Every morning was a battle to get her up and ready for school on time. The tantalising smell of strong coffee and bacon and eggs wafted their way upstairs to her, making her mouth water. Their bedroom was directly over the kitchen and she could hear Colm banging about in the kitchen. He was quite a talented chef, on the rare occasions he actually cooked anything!

She jumped out of bed, deciding to grab a quick shower before facing the day. The warm water soothed her decadently aching muscles. She reached for her shower gel and rubbed the soapy suds into her sensitive skin, massaging her breasts, down her stomach and between
her thighs. Closing her eyes, she remembered with pleasure how Colm had touched her last night.

She blasted herself with cold water for a few seconds to clear the dirty thoughts from her mind and raised her
face to the invigorating water. Eventually she forced herself out of the shower and dried herself with a big, fluffy towel, enjoying the tingling sensations as it rubbed against her tender flesh.

“Good morning, lover,” she wrapped her arms around her husband and stood on her tip-toes to kiss him.

“Good morning, sleepy,” he grinned, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. “I take it you slept well?”

“Never better.” She ran her hands through his tousled, untidy hair. It had been forever since she'd noticed how handsome he was.

“I've got some breakfast warming under the grill for you.” He ran his finger thoughtfully down her cheek and she shivered involuntarily under his expert touch. His eyes darkened for the briefest of moments before he pulled himself away from her.

“Thank you, darling. I'm absolutely ravenous.”

“Well, we did work up quite an appetite last night.” He playfully smacked her bum.

She giggled and tucked into a bite of warm, buttery toast. “I love you,” she touched his hand as he poured her a large mug of steaming coffee.

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he replied, looking deep into her eyes. “More than you'll ever know.”

Chapter 9

“Wow!” Penelope stood back dramatically to admire her friend. “Why are you dressed up? Have you got a hot date after work you haven't told me about?”

Shona blushed under her steady, appraising gaze. “Can't a girl make an effort sometimes?” she retorted, trying to sound as breezy as possible. She'd been up since the crack of dawn; showering, fake tanning, blow-drying her hair and applying her make-up. She'd tried on a million different outfits until her bedroom looked like a bomb had hit it. Clothes were scattered everywhere. “Typical,” she'd muttered under her breath. “A million different outfits and I still have nothing to wear.” Eventually, she'd settled on a tight, black, figure-hugging, knee-length skirt which emphasised her narrow waist and shapely hips. She wore her favourite red blouse which tied in a bow just under her chin and after all that blow-drying she'd ended up tying her unruly curls in a ponytail. Black stiletto heels completed the outfit. “Not bad, not bad at all,” she'd finally smiled at herself in her full-length bedroom mirror, studying herself from every angle and hoping that Adrian would appreciate the effort she'd made. It was his first day working at M&R Photography and she really wanted to impress him.

“Our new photographer starts today, doesn't he?” Penelope asked innocently as they walked to the office.

“Does he?” Shona shrugged nonchalantly.

“You look beautiful,” Penelope pulled her ponytail.

Shona grinned as she unlocked the office door. “Am I really that obvious?”

“Only to me.”

Shona glanced at her watch. It was twenty to nine. It wouldn't be long until Adrian arrived. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing him again. Of course he'd gotten the job. Rebecca and Penelope hadn't taken much persuading, especially after the way she'd gushed about him.

“Speak of the devil,” Penelope smiled as Adrian walked through the front door. “We were just talking about you.”

“All good I hope,” he winked cheekily at her.

“Of course.”

“Good morning, Adrian,” Shona interrupted. She didn't want Penelope getting her claws into him. Penelope seemed to have all the luck with men. Maybe it was her “love 'em and leave 'em” attitude that got their attention. She'd turned into quite a man-eater since Mark, determined not to give her heart away again. They'd had many chats about relationships and Penelope's approach was to think and act like men. “Use and abuse” was her mantra. Shona had tried to convince her on numerous occasions that not all men were like that and that she'd never find true love with her cynical attitude.

Penelope just laughed at her, saying that she didn't have much to show for her positivity. “Where's your positive mental attitude gotten you, Shona?” she’d sneered. “Dumped; again. Why don't you face facts? There's no such thing as happily ever after.”

Shona didn't care what her friend said. She knew her future husband was out there somewhere and one day they'd find each other and live happily ever after. All she'd ever wanted was to get married, live in the countryside in a little house with a big garden and have two children; a boy and a girl, ideally. She'd already chosen their names; Annabelle and Shane. One day she'd find him, all she had to do was keep the faith.

Shona hated to admit it, but Penelope was right about one thing; she hadn't had much luck with men. She'd had a few casual relationships but nothing serious until she'd met Mark McNamara. He'd been her first and only serious relationship; serious for her anyway. She'd resisted his advances for months but he'd insisted that his marriage was over and they were only staying together until his son, Christopher, finished his final exams before university. Eventually, she'd given in, truly believing that he’d leave his wife for her. He'd made her feel that he adored her, but she’d learned the hard way that their relationship had been a lie. He'd broken her heart but not her hope.

When she'd finally begun to get over Mark she'd thrown herself into the dating scene with a vengeance. Her biological clock was ticking and like her mother said she wasn't getting any younger. She'd signed up to online dating, introduction agencies and nearly every blind date event in Dublin! If anyone suggested setting her up on a blind date with one of her friends she immediately agreed, but despite her mammoth efforts, she'd never met anyone who gave her butterflies like Mark. “The butterfly” test was her way of knowing if she’d met someone special. She wanted to meet a man who set her heart racing, someone to share her life. She was lonely being single. It was enjoyable for a while, but she'd had enough. There was only so much dating and disappointment one woman could take. She was exhausted from constantly hoping and praying, only to be crushed time after time.

Her sister, Jackie, recommended that she stop her mad man-hunt for a while because that's exactly when the love of her life would show up. So for once she'd taken her sister's advice, even if she was a smug married, and she'd shut down her online dating account and stopped “proactively” dating. It seemed Jackie had been right, because less than two weeks later, Adrian had walked into her life and he'd given her butterflies from the first moment she'd set eyes on him.

She hadn't told anyone how she felt about him yet even though they'd probably guessed, especially after the way she'd gushed about his interview. Penelope had already started teasing her about him.

“Good morning Shona. It's nice to see you again,” Adrian smiled politely at her.

“This is my colleague, Penelope Garrett, she handles our models' portfolios and photograph proofing. Rebecca will be along shortly, she's probably stuck in traffic after the school run. She deals with new business. You’ve already met me, I'm the office manager.” She laughed nervously at her own joke.

“But we all get stuck in whenever we're needed,” Penelope interjected. “Our roles aren't set in stone. We'll probably be working quite closely together from time to time.”

Shona could feel her blood beginning to boil at Penelope's blatant flirting. “You can shadow me today, Adrian, so that you get a general overview of how everything works around here.”

“That sounds good to me. Have I got any assignments yet?”

Shona scanned her diary quickly. “Everything is pretty much up to date. We've been outsourcing our work to freelance photographers until we found someone more permanent. There's a twenty-first birthday party scheduled for the end of the month, but that's fairly standard.”

“That shouldn't be a problem for you, Adrian. I'm sure you're used to handling lots of young, pretty women,” Penelope piped up. Adrian grinned.

It was all Shona could do not to scream at her to shut up! “Have you ever photographed a twenty-first before?”

“No. I've done weddings, christenings, sixtieth birthday parties and lots of commercial work, but never specifically a twenty-first birthday party. I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll try to blend in and stay in the background, taking some unexpected shots. I love those photos when nobody is formally posing. They really capture the moment.”

“I couldn't agree with you more,” Shona smiled dreamily at him. It was wonderful to be working with someone who was clearly passionate about his work. “Anyway, moving on, today I'll show you what I do. I cover the general office administration; replying to clients' emails, pricing, setting up meetings and book-keeping. It's a mixed bag for me but I enjoy the variety.”

“Maybe tomorrow you can shadow me for the day Adrian,” Penelope said suggestively, smiling flirtatiously at him.

“I think Adrian is quite used to proofing photographs,” Shona replied disparagingly.

“I'd be interested to know what everyone does,” he insisted.

“Oh, okay, well maybe you could sit with me this morning and Penelope in the afternoon.” There was no way she wanted to leave him in her friend’s clutches for an entire day.

“Sorry I'm late again girls, oh, and boy,” Rebecca arrived into the office. “Traffic was atrocious, as usual.”

“No problem,” Shona and Penelope said in unison.

“You must be our new photographer,” Rebecca held out her hand in greeting.

“Yes, I’m Adrian
Rowan. It’s nice to meet you, Ms. McNamara.”

“Likewise, I'm sure. It will be such a relief to have a regular photographer we can depend on. The last few months have been very stressful with the amount of people we've had coming and going.”

“I'm looking forward to starting and getting to know everyone.”

Chapter 10

“Calm down,” Penelope handed Shona a large glass of white wine. “You're behaving as if he were the last man on the planet. He's just an ordinary guy.”

“Easier said than done,” Shona took a grateful sip of her wine. “Besides, he's not just an ordinary guy to me. I really like him. I know I'm being ridiculously nervous but I can’t help it.”

“Picture him in his underwear,” Penelope winked mischievously.

Shona almost choked on her drink. “That's the problem!”

“I'm appalled,” Penelope teased. “He's not a piece of meat, you know. Are you after his body or his mind?”

“A bit of both act
ually,” Shona grinned, beginning to relax. The wine was starting to have the desired effect. “Refill please.”