Pitch Black: A Romantic Thriller (Blackwood Security Book 1) (17 page)

“Maybe you should try joining in?”

“Not today. I’m still feeling groggy. I will next weekend.”

Next weekend? He was making a lot of assumptions about whatever was happening between us. What was stopping me from setting him straight? Maybe how sweet he was. When I staggered off the treadmill, he had a towel and a smoothie waiting for me.

“I put protein powder in it. You need it after that run.”

Then, despite me being all sweaty, he put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “Thanks for looking after me yesterday,” he whispered. “Nobody’s ever done that for me before.”

In the gloom beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, movement caught my eye. What was it? I tried to focus, but Luke blocked my view with his chest.

“Everybody needs a hand when they’re down.”

Or lips. Lips would do. He leaned down and softly kissed the top of my head.

A shiver ran through me, and my heart sped up. That was the first moment since I left home that I started to feel human.

Maybe the first moment ever.

Chapter 17

“DO YOU WANT to stay again tonight?” Luke asked once I’d rinsed the sweat off.

“Tempting, but I’ve got to start work at seven tomorrow. I’m better off going back to the farm.”

He groaned. “Don’t mention work. I’ve got a conference call with a Japanese supplier at eight. Last time the translator didn’t turn up, and it was a nightmare.”

I nearly offered my services, but I bit my tongue. “Sounds like it,” I said lamely.

“At least stay for dinner?”

I wasn’t going to say no to that. “Deal.”

Our pizzas arrived an hour later, delivered luke-warm by a dude on a moped. We skipped the formality of the dining room and opened the boxes at the breakfast bar.

“Ugh, Hawaiian?” I crinkled my nose in disgust when Luke flipped his lid back.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It has pineapple. Fruit doesn’t belong on pizza.”

“Tomatoes are a fruit, and yours is covered in them.”

“Okay, technically they are a fruit, but they’re not.”

“You’re using women’s logic.”

I grinned. “It’s the best kind.”

After we’d eaten, he offered to drive me home, and as I climbed into his car I almost changed my mind and stayed for the night. My trailer didn’t have a shower with three nozzles or a DVD player.

It didn’t have Luke, either.

“Can we do this again next weekend?” he asked as we sat in darkness at the bottom of the drive at Hazelwood Farm. I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to drop me right at my door. If Susie or Hayley noticed, I’d never hear the end of it.

“I’d like that,” I said quietly. It was difficult to admit to myself, but I liked him. He may have been different to any of the men I’d been with in the past, but he was kind and thoughtful. I needed that right now.

Despite the cold weather and the amount of mess the owners had left over the weekend for me to clear up, I was smiling on Monday morning.

“What’s made you so cheerful?” Hayley asked.

“I won fifty quid on the lottery on Saturday.” I held up Coco’s rug in front of me. “Honestly, how does somebody get lipstick all over a horse blanket?”

“Practice.”

I wouldn’t have been so cheerful if I’d known a steaming pile of horse shit was about to hit the fan. The day passed uneventfully, and even when Tia and Arabella showed up after school, dropped off by Arabella’s mum, it didn’t dampen my spirits. Had Luke spoken to Tia about paying more attention to her horses? She was still there at five when I went in to catch up on the news. I only hoped she didn’t cause too much chaos.

I’d underestimated her.

When I heard a knock on the door at seven, I expected Susie or Hayley. I got George.

Had he come to fix the shower? A glance at his expression told me the answer was no. He shifted from foot to foot, hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Um, I don’t really know how to say this. It’s not something I’ve had to deal with before, and I don’t take it lightly.”

Oh, spit it out, man. “Say what?”

“I’ve had a complaint.”

“About what?” Me? Was this about the Henry episode?

“One of the owners said she saw you hitting her horse.”

Of all the things someone could accuse me of that hurt the most. I’d never hit an animal. A person, sure, if they deserved it, but never an innocent animal.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“I was surprised, too, when they accused you. So were Susie and Hayley when I spoke to them about it just now. They said you were always kind to the horses. But the girl had a witness.”

The purpose behind Tia’s little visit earlier suddenly became clear. I knew she wasn’t my biggest fan, but I wasn’t aware that I’d pissed her off enough to want me fired. Because surely that was where we were headed?

“So you want me to leave?”

“I think that might be best,” said George, looking relieved that I’d suggested it.

I could try to clear my name, but with two witnesses against me it would be difficult. Plus George would be left in an awkward position—Tia and Arabella’s horses were worth several thousand pounds to him each month, so he needed to keep them happy. Not only that, I needed to keep a low profile. Singing the injustice from the rooftops would hardly help with that.

The easiest option was to leave. I could walk away from Lower Foxford and everyone in it and start over. I’d done it once, I could do it again. Sure, I’d miss Susie and Hayley, but they weren’t close friends. Luke flitted through my mind. He was the only cause for hesitation before I answered George.

“I’ll go tonight.”

“You don’t have to leave straight away. You’re welcome to stay in the mobile home until you get something else sorted.” The relief that I’d agreed to leave quietly was evident in his voice.

“No, it’s fine, I haven’t got much to pack, and I’d prefer to leave as soon as possible.”

Why hang around where I wasn’t wanted? I closed the door, leaving George on the lopsided step. It only took me a few minutes to stuff my belongings into a bag. Where should I go? Far from this village, that was for sure. Thanks to the rumour mill most people already thought my piano was a few octaves short, and this latest episode wasn’t going to help matters.

I glanced at my watch. If I got a bus to the train station, I might be able to catch a sleeper service up north. At least that way I wouldn’t have to find a hotel room.

I scribbled a note out for Susie and Hayley, thanking them for being so kind, and left it propped up on the table. They’d be thrilled when they realised they had to do all the horses between them tomorrow. Luke was probably still at work. I needed to let him know I was leaving, but I decided to call him in the morning. If he was in a meeting, I didn’t want to disturb him.

The thought of never seeing him again stung more than it should. Maybe we could have been friends if we’d met under different circumstances. Like at a point in my life where every other thing that came out of my mouth wasn’t a lie and my head wasn’t fucked. Those kind of circumstances.

I took one last look around the trailer that had been home, however briefly. It was the end of another chapter in my story. This one had been short and not particularly sweet, but it was one more stitch that made up the tapestry of my life.

My phone was running low on battery so I turned it off. I didn’t have anyone to call, anyway. My bag was a bit heavier than when I arrived, but I slung it over my shoulder and tramped off anyway. The bus stop wasn’t far.

The bus driver who took my money for the next leg of my journey was the same one who’d dumped me off in Lower Foxford a month ago. I might have considered that poetic if I’d had any light left in my soul.

But all that remained was darkness.

Chapter 18

LUKE’S DAY STARTED at six with a call about a server issue. He’d barely sorted that out before it was time for his conference call, which overran, and no sooner had he hung up from that, an admin assistant knocked on the door.

“Have you seen the Spires contract?”

“Try the filing tray.”

Before Luke could pick up his coffee, a developer poked his head in. “Do you know when Mike’s back from his holiday?”

“It’ll be on his calendar.”

And it continued—a succession of simple queries that could easily be solved by the people asking them if they’d only
think
.

Why did he have to do everything around here?

Because he let his staff walk all over him, that was why. He reflected on his conversation with Ash about delegation. Would it really be that difficult? Maybe it was time to find out.

He picked up the phone. “Blanche, I need you to arrange a meeting.”

As Luke made himself a coffee at lunchtime whispers followed him across the open-plan office.

“The control freak’s finally loosening his grip.”

“Some people will need to start pulling their weight round here.”

“Is Luke ill? He looks a bit…different.”

Was that really what they thought of him? The looks of shock on the managers’ faces when he started delegating tasks in the meeting earlier had been priceless. Yes, things would be changing round here. But what did that woman mean, he looked different?

When he got back to his office, he peered at himself in the mirror he kept in his desk drawer. He couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Except, maybe.… He peered closer.… Shit! Was that a wrinkle? Yes, adjustments to his lifestyle were definitely required.

At the end of the day, when he’d left on time for the first time in well, ever, it was with a tentative smile and no small amount of guilt. When he arrived home in time for the opening credits of EastEnders, he didn’t know what to do with himself. Maybe he should start watching soap operas? Did Ash like that kind of program?

The time spent with her over the weekend had made him see things differently. She’d had so many knocks over the past few months, but she’d stayed positive. And here he was with a seemingly perfect life—more money than he could ever spend, a huge house, his own company, girls falling at his feet—and let’s face it, he was miserable.

The steps he’d taken today may have been small, but they were heading in the right direction. Another turn he wanted to take led to Hazelwood Farm and a certain new stable girl. He was looking forward to spending more time with Ash this weekend. Maybe they could go out for lunch somewhere? He’d heard one of his colleagues raving about a restaurant in London where every dish was colour-coded. It was hideously expensive, but Ash was worth it. Although for someone with so little money, she’d so far seemed strangely unaffected by his. He wasn’t sure whether to be worried by that, or pleased.

She didn’t obsess over looks either—not his or hers. Hell, he’d never met a woman who could take a shower in thirty minutes. He recalled an ex-girlfriend who refused to stay at his house until he had a bigger hot water tank installed—that was just one of many reasons she’d become an ex. Even with no make-up, unfashionable glasses and a shabby haircut, Ash still necessitated a cold shower when she came downstairs in his T-shirt and boxers. Would what she hid underneath them live up to its promise?

Luke fetched a beer out of the fridge and went through to the den. With time on his hands, he picked up a pool cue. Did Ash play? If not, he’d teach her. Anything to see her cute ass bent over the pool table. His trousers tightened uncomfortably thinking about it. He’d just potted a red when the front door slammed. He jumped and then groaned. Only three people had a key—his housekeeper, his mother and his sister. Nora had gone home for the day, and either of the other two was bad news.

He considered escaping out the back door, but he left it too late. Tia walked in wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

“Why are you looking so pleased?” he asked.

“The gold-digging bitch from the stables is finally gone.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That crazy woman. I got her sacked.” Tia’s grin got wider, and she clapped her hands gleefully.

“What crazy woman?”

“Ash of course. How many other crazy women are there?