Chapter 8: Chapter 8: William makes his move

A small-chested, large-hipped woman with gelled hair and many rings had silently joined them, looking down a patrician nose at Noel. Nick stood and put his arm around her waist.

'Rescue,' he said, kissing her cheek. He winked at Noel, 'Ring me at the office and we'll talk. I may be interested. William's little friend, my dear, is in fact one of his account directors. We were talking work and you came at exactly the right moment.' He took her away without introducing them to each other.

Noel watched them go. Many of society's finest, she mused, were also its rudest.

She wished his wife had taken longer to find him. Damn.

And damn William's house when, with the luxury of an absent host, she went exploring. The house was two-storied and she made the mistake of thinking William's office would adjoin his bedroom for convenience. It didn't. It was on the ground floor, off the lounge, and she wasted time locating it. She also realised another mistake; that of thinking William would use the same system and password on his home computer as he did at work. Getting into the system was easy; it was another matter to penetrate the security. After ten minutes of trying she gave up, swearing, and switched her attention to searching for hard copy records. In a quick uneasy search she found nothing and, flummoxed, dropped into a leather chesterfield to study the room. Panelled wood, with one wall of floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with matching sets of encyclopedias, law books, the classics - she wondered if any of them came down for anything other than dusting. Maybe the mahogany filing case in the corner held everything she wanted, but without the keys to open it she wouldn't get any further than wondering.

She was getting up to attack the desk again when the door opened. She flushed, arrested in mid-movement.

William filled the doorway. 'I've been looking for you. What are you doing here?'

She lounged back and rubbed her sleeve over her forehead. 'I came looking for somewhere quiet and found this.' She waved her arm. 'It's a lovely room.'

He came in and stood over her. 'You're the loveliest thing in it.'

She smiled up at him. If she hadn't been trying to hide an adrenalin surge she might not have made it look so much like an invitation. He put his hands on her knees and sank down between them, his fingers tracing lightly under her skirt. He pulled her into him and leaned forward, his mouth stopping inches from hers.

Noel flung her head back and closed her eyes. She felt his mouth on her throat.

'We'd make a great team. Think about it.' He was breathing against her chin, wanting her mouth, his fingers kneading, his groin intruding.

'William,' she said, hands on his shoulders, 'I want Gem.'

'Not now,' he said, stretching.

'Yes, now,' she said, putting a hand on his mouth.

He straightened. 'Is it a condition?'

She pulled her hem down and sat up, away from his burgeoning crotch. 'No. I don't make conditions about going to bed.'

'Well?' he said, his hands starting their travels again.

Noel held them. 'I want Gem. Now's a good a time as any to settle it.'

He turned his hands up and imprisoned hers. 'And although going to bed with me isn't a condition, if I say yes, will you?' He was gripping her fingers.

'No,' she said, unblinking. 'Not tonight.'

'When?'

'When I'm ready.'

William freed her hands and took hold of her shoulders. 'It's not my decision to make. Even if I said yes, it's Nick Donaldson you'd have to convince.'

'Say yes and I'll convince him.'

'How?' William's hands bit into her bones. 'Like this?' Wrapping his arms around her he gave her no chance to avoid the kiss, pushing her against the seat, his weight holding her down, his hands roving. His mouth suctioned its way down her neck.

Breathlessly she said, 'I said I don't make conditions about going to bed. Stop it. William, please.'

Unexpectedly he did.

Struggling up she said, 'It's time I went home.'

He didn't argue and after collecting her bag walked her to her car and kissed her again, pinioning her to its side, before watching her drive away.

She drove to the beach wanting something clean against her skin, but despite the hour revelry-makers were thick on the ground. Sighing she did a U-turn and went home to a cold shower, finally taking a sleeping pill from a box she had not opened in over two years, heedless of its long-past use-by date, to blot out the sound and feel of William.

When she stirred around ten the next morning her first thoughts were of his hands and mouth. She barely made it to the bathroom where she retched herself limp before her stomach would stop heaving.

When she arrived at her parents the house was full of relatives. Slow still from the sedative she said hello to Pat and her mother before spending the next two hours in her childhood bed.

That night, back at her flat, she opened the diary she had bought a few days before, wrote for a few minutes, locked it and put it in her briefcase then spent a night punctuated by bad dreams.

In her office the next day she received a call from her mother.

'Hello darling. Guess what! We're flying out a week tomorrow. I can't wait now that I've actually made up my mind.'

'Great. Pat's pleased?'

'He said I have faultless timing.'

Noel laughed too. 'Nothing's going to happen. I'm really pleased. Next time maybe I'll come with you.'

'You're on.'

'Mum, I'm in the middle of something right now. Can I come over Sunday to wish you bon voyage?'

'You can come over any time, you know that. Make it for lunch. Bye love.'

Noel replaced the receiver and leaned back in her chair, breathing out heavily. One problem solved. Lucy and Pat would be out of the way during the coming weeks.

William had given her the Gem Techtronics file to study, at the same time pressing for another evening together. She had suggested dinner at a restaurant the following Saturday and had stood firm against his arguments to make it sooner.

comment 0 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY