Martine The Beginning (Cruising to Love, The Prequel) (10 page)

desperately wanted it inside her.  He sucked her breasts, flicking his tongue on her nipples, gently nipping them with his teeth, pulling them. 

He held her bum tighter and tighter, closer and closer.  The more she moved, the tighter he held her, until she exploded into a cloud of passion and collapsed on top of him.  He gently held her, then rolled her over onto her back, and lay on top of her, rubbing, thrusting, looking down into her eyes.

 
“Take your jeans off, Lucas, take me now…” she begged.  But Lucas just laughed down at her.

 
“Not yet, darling, but soon, soon.” His breath was ragged.                 

 
They lay side by side for a while, holding hands.  “I hope you’re satisfied, baby,” Lucas murmured in her ear.

 
Martine turned and smiled at him.  “More that satisfied, darling.  Sated.”

 
A bell rang in the kitchen.

 
“The potatoes,” explained Lucas. “The baked potatoes are done.”  He jumped up off the bed and went to his chest of drawers, pulled out a tee shirt and gave it to her.  “You can put this on, if you want to, it will be like a mini on you.  No need to dress again until you go home, my love.”  He went into the kitchen.  Martine could hear him preparing the rest of the dinner. 

 
She pulled on her tights and boots, and his tee shirt.  It was a mini on her.  Huge.  She made a very appealing sight, black tights and boots, and a white tee shirt.  No bra.  She walked out into the kitchen, and Lucas smiled at her…

 
“You have quite a sense of style, darling.”

 
“I was thinking you might let me wear this home, and I could sleep in it, sleep with you

wrapped around me.  Don’
t forget, I have to be at the bakery at four.”

 
“Darling, I love the thought of you sleeping in it…”

 
The steaks were done to perfection.  They ate slowly, and Lucas told her of his trip to Glasgow.

 
“The client has some major contracts with the British Government.  One of them has a few snags.  With the Ministry of Housing.  They need to fix the problem fast.  I spent a few days up there, going over all their procedures.  I think I found a quick solution.  We’ll see.  I have to go again next week, for a couple of days. Up Monday, back Wednesday. The company wants me to meet with the officials from the Ministry.”

 
“Do you pay your own travel expenses, darling?”

 
“No, sweetheart.  My clients pay all my expenses.  And the time up there this week used up their twenty free hours for the month, plus some.  So there will be a nice cheque come the middle of December.  Enough for us to go somewhere posh for Christmas dinner, if you would like to.”

 
“That would be lovely. My Granddad called me Wednesday.  His wife wants them to go to Spain for a month.  From the 20
th
of December.  And Penny and the band have a two week contract on a cruise ship in the Caribbean over Christmas and New Year.”

 
“Where would you like to go?”

 
“You know, darling.  I would just like to be with you.  Why don’t we just have dinner here, where we can snuggle, and perhaps have a bottle of champagne?  I’ve never had really good champagne, French champagne.”

 
“You don’t want to go to a posh hotel?”

 
“No, darling.  I think you should save the money…I’ll help you to cook Christmas dinner.  I do know how to do a turkey.  I used to help my mother every Christmas. And then we’d have turkey sandwiches the next day, and make turkey soup from the carcass.  I always made the soup….” Martine sounded wistful, for her mother and turkey…

 
Lucas smiled at her.  “We’ll cook turkey, here, darling. A small turkey.  And have French champagne. And Christmas pudding and hard sauce…

 
“Shall we do Alfredo’s tomorrow night?  Or would you like Chinese for a change?”

 
“Do you like Chinese, Lucas?”

 
“Yes, do you?”

 
“Yes.  Let’s go to King Louie’s.  It’s only five minutes away and it’s quite cheap.  About the same as Alfredo’s.  Penny and I have been there.”

 
“Gloria will miss our smiling faces,” said Lucas.

 
“Gloria will miss your smiling face, Lucas.  She doesn’t give a hoot about mine.”

 
Lucas smiled.  “I have noticed her interest me,” he admitted.

 
Getting up at three the next morning was hard.  Martine had to admit that juggling the bakery and the Gallery was manageable, but when she added in Lucas, well she just wasn’t getting as much sleep as she needed.  So…if she did close at seven, she would see him an hour earlier and get to bed by nine.  She was young and strong, but still needed her six hours a night of sleep.

 
She sat in the empty Gallery the next afternoon.  It was pouring with rain, and not a soul had come in.  Tomorrow was December 1st. She’d been open a year.

 
She hoped this quiet spell would pass, hoped it was not a sign of the month to come.

 
The door opened.  It was John, from the
Times.
He had a copy of today’s paper under his coat.  He pulled it out with a flourish.  The column he had promised was in there, praising the student artists and Martine herself. He’d even mentioned Belinda’s upcoming One Woman Show in January and the Charity Gala for the Friends of Conservation on January 16
th
.

 
“Oh, John, what a lovely surprise!  Thank you so much. This is wonderful.”

 
“I wondered if you’d like to call your husband and your friend Penny, and I would treat you all to dinner.  On my expense account.  I can justify it, follow up story, and then I could mention Penny and her singing career in passing, if you like…”

 
“Oh, let me call them.”  Martine dialled Lucas first.

 
“Hello, darling.  John is here from the Times. His story about the Gallery was in today’s paper.  So he wants to take us to dinner.  Us and Penny if she’s available.”

 
“Oh, would you like to go?”

 
“I think it would be very nice…”

 
“Right.  Does he still think I’m your husband?”

 
“Yes.”

 
“O.K.  Are you going to call Penny?”

 
“Yes, I’ll make all the arrangements.”

 
They rang off, and Martine dialled Penny.

 
“Hello, Penny here.”

 
“Hi, Penny.  Busy tonight?”

 
“No.  Is Lucas cooking again?” she said hopefully.

 
“No. Lucas isn’t cooking tonight, Penny. We’re going out with a friend of ours, John Brown.  I thought you might like to come with us.  He’s actually a fan of yours. Saw you at a concert a few weeks ago…”

 
“Is he nice?”

 
“Very.”

 
“What time, and where?”

 
“I’ll just ask John, he’s here now, hang on.”

 
She turned to John.  “Penny says what time and where?”

 
“How about that new restaurant, “La Bambina” in Soho?  Haven’t been there yet.  My colleague who does the restaurant reviews says it’s excellent.  How about eight o’clock?”

 
“Hi, Penny?  John suggests La Bambina in Soho, eight o’clock.  I think Lucas and I could

collect you on the way, say seven. In this weather, it isn
’t going to matter if I close early…”

 
“Right.  Sounds great.  Eh, call me back when he’s gone…”

 
John had a cup of coffee from Martine, and they chatted for a while.  “So, how long have you been married to Lucas?” he asked.

 
Martine blushed.  “Actually, we’re not married…yet,” she said.  Well, she hoped they would be one day, so it wasn’t really a lie.

 
“Oh, just living together?”

 
“Sort of, most of the time.” Martine smiled a wicked smile.  “I love his cooking,” she paused.  “And his other talents.”

 
John laughed.  “Well, it’s apparent even to a stranger like me that he’s very much in love with you.  And you with him.  Remember to invite me to the wedding.”

 
He went off.

 
Martine picked the phone up and dialled Penny.

 
“Hello, Penny, here.”

 
“Hi, Pen, Martine.”

 
“So tell me about John Brown.”

 
“He’s almost as tall as Lucas, very good looking, brown hair and blue eyes, about thirty.  He’s a reporter for the
Times
, wrote a review of the Gallery and it was published today.  So we’re on his expense account, as a follow up.”

 
“Good thing. La Bambina is the new hot spot in Soho.  Very trendy, and  very expensive. 

I’
m glad we’re not going Dutch.  It would have taken the best part of the money I’ve saved for a new pair of boots…what are you wearing?”

 
“It’s quite chilly, so trousers, I think, if you think that would be alright? Trousers and that pale green top you gave me for Christmas last year.  Lucas really likes me in that top.”

 
“I’ll bet he does…I’ll be Lucas likes to take that top off you, too.”

 
Martine was glad Penny could not see her blush.  “Eh, yes, he does.”

 
“So you and Lucas will pick me up at seven?  Are we taking the Tube?”

 
“I would imagine we are…maybe we’ll splurge on a taxi home, though.”

 
They rang off and she called Lucas again.

 
“Hello, darling.  We’re going to La Bambina in Soho for eight.  I said we’d pick Penny up on our way to the Tube Station around seven.  And I told John we aren’t married yet, just so we weren’t caught in a lie…He may have gotten the impression we live together, though.  I told him I love your cooking.  He laughed.”

 
“Good, darling.  Well, he certainly picked an expensive place for us to go.”

 
“So Penny said.  She said it’s the ‘in’ place now.  But we are on John’s expense account.  And he may write something about Penny, he said.”

 
“In that case, we’ll take a taxi home…”

 
“I’ll close at six, and get ready.”

 
“Would you wear that green top, darling?  I love you in that green top.”

 
“I know you do.  That’s what I had planned to wear.”

 
“I’ll be by to collect you.  How far to Penny’s from the Gallery?”

 
“About a ten minute walk.”

 
Lucas was at the Gallery at five to six.

 
“I thought you’d be by about quarter to seven,” Martine told him.

 
“I thought I’d come early and help you to dress,” he teased her. “For a change…”

 
They locked the door and turned the sign to
Closed
just as Belinda walked up with two paintings.  She knocked on the window and Lucas let her in.

 
“Hi, Lucas,” Belinda batted her long lashes at him.  “I didn’t expect to see you here.  I’ve just brought Martine two more pictures.  Nudes…”

 
“Oh, good,” said Martine.  She really did not like Belinda flirting with Lucas.  “Let’s have a look…”

 
She unwrapped the two paintings and put first one, then the other on the easel she used to display individual paintings to prospective buyers.

 
They were both very good.  Not brilliant, but very good.  Martine recognized both models.  They were Belinda’s fellow students.

 
Martine went into the back to change, leaving Lucas examining the paintings.

 
Lucas looked at them with interest.  “These are interesting, Belinda. I might have you do one of me…”

 
Belinda’s eyes lit up.  Oh, this was going to be easier than she had imagined.

 
“…to hang on our bedroom wall, so that my

fiancée won
’t forget me when I’m out of town.”

 
Her face fell.  Lucas wanted her to paint him nude to give it to another woman!  Well…once she got him in his bedroom, she’d give it her best shot!  She was sure she could make him lover number six this term…

 
“That’s a very intimate gift to give to your girlfriend, Lucas. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it very much.”