Sapphire (16 page)

‘I wouldn’t know as I wouldn’t have been going out with her,’ Sapphire tried to keep it light.

Luke pursed his lips, ‘You know what I mean. If a woman had been treated like that it would have been classed as a sexual assault, but Jay was fair game wasn’t he?’

Sapphire concentrated on chopping up the onions and tried not to get wound up. It was clearly Luke’s intention to provoke her. ‘Those women were bang out of order. And I’ve apologised to him.’

Jay walked over to Sapphire and put his arm round her. ‘Luke, you don’t have to give Sapphire a hard time. She didn’t mean it to happen. I know she’s sorry and that’s all that matters.’ He dipped his head down
and kissed Sapphire. ‘Good chopping, babe.’

Luke wasn’t finished. ‘You should have seen the state of Jay this week. He suffered from panic attacks, which he said he hadn’t had since school, he was really down.’

Jay shot him a warning glance, ‘That’s enough Luke; you don’t need to go on about it.’

Luke got up abruptly from the table. ‘I just think some people need to think about the consequences of their actions.’ And he marched out of the room.

‘Dinner won’t be long,’ Jay called after him.

‘I’m not hungry, I’m going out,’ came the reply. And a few minutes later the front door slammed.

‘Whoa, he’s touchy!’ she said. She had clearly had got off on the wrong foot with Luke.

‘Oh, he’ll be okay. He’s just split up with his boyfriend which doesn’t help.’

Jay’s attention turned to dinner. Sapphire wandered off to the bathroom, which was impressively clean and stylish for a boys’ flat. She decided to have a nosy at Jay’s bedroom. She opened the door to one room which was tastefully decorated in black and white – a black four-poster bed, white rug, white muslin curtains at the window. There were a few black-and-white photos on the wall but occupying pride of place directly opposite the bed was a poster-sized picture of Jay in colour sitting on Brighton beach, with his shirt off, the ruined West Pier in the background. He looked gorgeous.

‘Isn’t it vain of you to have a picture of yourself on the wall?’ she demanded walking back into the kitchen.

‘That’s Luke’s room.’

Sapphire frowned, ‘Well then, isn’t it a bit strange for him to have a picture of you on his wall?’

Jay shrugged, ‘He took it for his photography portfolio, so not really. He’s got other pictures in his room.’

‘Okay now I need to check out your room,’ Sapphire replied.

‘No! I haven’t tidied it!’ Jay protested.

‘I have to see it!’ Sapphire exclaimed and made a run for it before Jay could stop her. His bedroom was at the end of the corridor. It was a complete mess – clothes, copies of
Men’s
Health
and
FHM
and his iPod were strewn across the floor, the bed unmade, and about five mugs on the bedside table.

‘I told you not to look!’ Jay ran in after her.

‘Jay you are a total scumbag! I thought your room would be tidy!’

Jay laughed and pulled her onto the bed with him, ‘I can’t be tidy, a good cook and good in bed.’

Sapphire enjoyed the feel of his body lying on top of hers. She wriggled into him suggestively. She had really missed him.

‘Are you good in bed?’ she asked coyly. ‘I think I’ve forgotten; it’s been
so
long.’

‘It might be time to jog your memory, then,’ Jay replied and this time when he kissed her it was deep and hard and there was no going back.

After a very satisfying reminder of exactly how good Jay was in bed, the acrid smell of burning coming from the kitchen reminded them too late about dinner. ‘Shit! It’ll be ruined!’ Jay leapt out of bed and, quickly wrapping a towel round his waist, sped into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later holding his phone. ‘What kind of pizza do you want?’

Sapphire had no hen party booked in for the weekend and fully expected to chill out with Jay on Saturday. They both slept late, then stayed in bed until lunch time, catching up. Sapphire had
really
missed Jay. ‘So how about I take you for lunch?’ Sapphire said afterwards, snuggling up to him.

‘Well, I did promise Luke I’d do something with him.
I know he feels gutted about his ex. So why don’t we all go for lunch and then I’ll hang out with him. Then you can come round tonight and we can all watch a DVD together.’

Three was not the magic number, especially where Luke was concerned. But Sapphire felt she had some serious making up to do and simply replied, ‘Great, shall we go to Browns then?’

Lunch was a disaster. Luke continued picking at her from the moment they sat down together, ‘So do you think it’s acceptable treating men like pieces of meat to satisfy drunk women?’

Jay rolled his eyes while Sapphire shrugged and said, ‘Luke, I’ve already told you it never should have happened, what more do you want me to say?’

‘But you’d employ a stripper again wouldn’t you?’

Sapphire sighed. Luke was giving her a headache. ‘I don’t force men to become strippers, Luke! I pay them good money, they do their act and that’s it. What happened with Jay was a one-off, it will never happen again.’ She picked up the menu and put her hand over Jay’s. ‘What do you fancy, babe?’

As she did so she was aware of Luke giving her another of his filthy looks. Was he jealous of her because he had feelings for Jay? Whatever, there was a tension between them that could have been sliced, diced and served on a plate. Sapphire did her best to ignore the looks and continual barbed comments about drunk women and how unattractive they were. ‘Drunk men aren’t exactly a thing of beauty!’ Sapphire shot back, heartily sick of his jibes.

She looked around the restaurant and her heart sank when she saw Simone walk in hanging on to Ryan’s arm. Oh God, of all the people, why did it have to be them! Sapphire pretended not to have seen them but Ryan had
spotted her and was walking over. As he kissed her cheek Sapphire regretted not making more of an effort that morning. She’d gone for the casual look, which Jay loved – skinny jeans, Uggs and a big grey cashmere jumper – and was wearing hardly any make-up. Not so Simone, who was glammed up to her eyeballs in a brown silk leopard-print dress, killer heels and full make-up. And Ryan looked particularly handsome in a charcoal grey suit.

Sapphire quickly made the introductions, all the while aware of Ryan’s gaze lingering on her, and Simone giving her the once-over. She felt Jay tense up when he recognised Simone from the hen party and she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

‘Oh Jay! I hardly recognised you with your clothes on!’ Simone exclaimed. ‘Not that I had anything to do with what happened, I can assure you.’

Jay simply nodded. What was he supposed to say? Sapphire thought bitterly. Clearly picking up on the tension Ryan changed the subject, ‘I saw you on
Morning
Edition
– very impressive performance, Sapphire; you could make a career of it.’

Sapphire could feel herself blushing – God, why did he have this effect on her! She was like a giddy teenager around him.

‘I just wanted to set the record straight. We had so much flak about what happened with Georgia.’

‘So the unfortunate incident might turn out to be to your advantage after all?’ Simone put in, a sly smile on her face. ‘All publicity is good publicity – isn’t that what they say?’

God, she really was unbearable!

‘Believe me, I’d rather have no publicity than that,’ Sapphire said grimly.

Before Simone could goad Sapphire anymore the waiter signalled that their table was ready and the pair
sauntered off. Simone hung on to Ryan’s arm as if she owned him. Sapphire couldn’t imagine that little fling lasting very long.

‘Is that your ex-husband’s business partner then?’ Jay asked as soon as the couple were out of earshot. Sapphire nodded. ‘Bit flash isn’t he?’ Jay continued.

Sapphire shrugged. She just wanted to change the subject. ‘He’s okay,’ she managed, pouring water into her glass to avoid meeting Jay’s searching gaze. ‘Put it this way, he’s better than dealing with my ex-husband.’

Luke had been silent for a while, but all the time Sapphire was aware of him either looking at her or at Jay. After lunch Jay and Luke hit the shops while Sapphire went to the boutique. It was completely empty. Vanessa was leaning against the counter filing her nails and looking bored.

‘Shit!’ Sapphire exclaimed, ‘Has it been like this all day?’

Vanessa shrugged, ‘I’ve seen about ten customers, I guess. It’s been quiet.’

This was not good news. On a Saturday, just a few weeks away from Christmas, Sapphire would expect the boutique to be buzzing. She went upstairs; at least Jazz and Kiki were busy doing manicures. But that wasn’t exactly going to keep the wolf from the door. She’d been so busy planning Georgia’s hen weekend that she felt as if she’d let the rest of the business slide.

She spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in her office and working out various promotional ideas to entice customers into the boutique. She’d hold a champagne night where all the red lingerie was discounted and free beauty treatments were on offer and she’d try a men-only night too where they could buy lingerie – expensive lingerie – as Christmas presents. She figured she’d get Vanessa and Kiki to model the lingerie, but Kiki was having none of it, ‘No fucking way, Sapphire! I want the
business to do well and everything, but I’m not getting my kit off for a bunch of dirty old men.’

‘I take it that’s a no then,’ Sapphire replied drily.

‘Well, would you do it?’ Kiki demanded.

‘Looks like I’m going to have to. I can’t expect Vanessa to do it on her own.’

Jazz waited until Kiki was out of the room then asked, ‘We’ve never done anything like this before. Are you worried about business, Sapphire?’

‘A little bit I guess,’ Sapphire downplayed her fears; she didn’t want her anxiety rubbing off on the staff. ‘But I’m sure it will be fine.’

‘I’m sure it will,’ Jazz echoed. ‘Those promo ideas of yours are great and if there’s anything I can do to help, bar taking my kit off, let me know.’

Sapphire smiled gratefully at her friend, then returned to her office to write up the copy for the promotional leaflets she was going to have printed off, and updated her website to flag up the promotions there. It was after seven by the time she’d finished and the last thing she felt like doing was spending her Saturday night with the poisonous Luke. She called Jay, hoping to persuade him to come over to her place.

‘Babe, I’m sorry but I promised Luke.’

Sometimes Jay was just too damn nice! Sapphire was all set to say that she would leave them to it but then Jay murmured, ‘Please come over, I really want to see you. I’ll do whatever you want in bed.’

That did it, lust won the day.

The moment Sapphire saw Jay that night, all she wanted to do was get him on his own. She snogged him passionately when she arrived, then suggested sneaking into the bedroom, but Jay resisted. ‘Come into the living room, I’ve made fish pie and we’re going to watch
Black
Hawk
Down
.’

‘Isn’t that a war film?’ Sapphire asked, her spirits sinking.

‘Yeah, Luke chose it. He doesn’t want to watch anything romantic right now.’

Sapphire followed Jay into the living room, sulky as a teenager. Luke was sitting on the sofa. Jay sat next to him. There wasn’t enough room to sit beside him, so Sapphire went to sit on his lap.

‘Babe, sorry, my knee’s playing up and I’ve got football tomorrow. Can you sit on the chair?’

Sapphire was sorely tempted to give him the finger and say, ‘Can you sit on this’, but no doubt that would give bitter little Luke far too much satisfaction. So she simply smiled sweetly, then leant down and whispered, ‘Your loss – I’m not wearing any underwear.’

‘I heard that,’ said Luke. ‘Don’t you think it’s really unhygienic?’

‘I’ve had a shower,’ Sapphire snapped back, stalking across the room to the armchair. God this was going to be a long night. The film was so disturbing that Sapphire’s spirits plummeted still further and not even the lovely Josh Hartnett could cheer her up. She sipped her wine moodily and flashed her best sultry, come-and-get-it looks at Jay, but he was totally engrossed in the film. Over two and a half hours later as the credits rolled Sapphire made a big show of yawning. It was after midnight, surely Jay could leave Luke on his own now.

‘Babe, I’m knackered,’ Sapphire told Jay. ‘I’m going to bed.’ She walked over to him, expecting him to come with her.

‘I’ll be with you in a minute, just let me tidy up.’

God, it was like being with Aggie and Kim! ‘I’ll help you,’ she replied, not wanting to one little bit but desperate to get him alone.

‘No, it’s okay, you get to bed.’

Sapphire wanted to say something suggestive, but Luke was giving her the evil eye, so she simply sauntered out of the room. By now the heating had gone off and Jay’s bedroom was freezing. Instead of lying seductively spread out on the bed Sapphire was forced to wrap up in Jay’s black hoodie, put on a pair of his football socks and dive under the duvet. Ten minutes went by. Just how long did it take to clear up a few plates? Another ten. Sapphire could feel herself getting more and more wound up, but she’d only just got warm, she didn’t want to get cold again by seeing what Jay was up to. She’d give him a few more minutes, then she would seek him out. And that was the last thought she had before falling fast asleep. She woke up to sunlight streaming through the curtains and Jay pulling on his football shirt.

‘Hey, sleepyhead,’ he said, leaning over and kissing her.

Fearing her early morning breath might be minging rather than minty she pushed him away, and leapt out of bed, ‘I have to clean my teeth!’ She raced to the bathroom and raced back. Jay looked ready to go. This would not do! She had needs. She pulled him back onto the bed with her and wrapped her arms tightly around him, ‘What happened to you last night?’

Jay sighed. ‘I was all set to come to bed and Luke broke down. I couldn’t leave him.’

Cunning bastard! No doubt if he wasn’t having any fun, he didn’t want anyone else to either.

‘Poor bloke,’ she managed. ‘But at least you’re here now.’ She wiggled into him.