Stanton Unconditional (16 page)

He puts his lips together. “Yes, we were. Are,” he corrects.

I screw up my face as tears threaten. “You know what. Forget it. I don’t need your fake friendship, Cameron. When I texted you on New Year’s and you sent me that nice reply I thought we were ok. I guess I didn’t realise you are so shoved up Joshua’s ass that you can’t even think for yourself.”

“Don’t start your crap with me. You didn’t even text me on New Year’s, so how would you know I wasn’t angry with you?” he spits.

I screw up my face again and shake my head. “You must have been drunk. You called me baby and told me you loved me. I was sober Cameron, I remember.”

He steps back and narrows his eyes. “I never wrote you a text, Natasha. I have had no contact with you since we left that coffee shop that night.”

I put my hand on my hip. “Then who wrote it?” I snap.

He narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “A fucking idiot that I know too damn well.”

He storms off in anger. I stand and watch him walk back up the corridor and around the corner. My mind is in overdrive. If he didn’t write the text, who bloody did? Please tell me it was Joshua.

Chapter 13

T
oday was my
first day back at work since we found out about Gran. I worked from eight until four and have just arrived at the hospital to see her. I have purposely worn my black high-waist skirt and my cream silk blouse, sheer stockings, patent pumps. Hair up, glasses on. Going for the secretary thing I know he likes so much. If he’s going to hate me anyway, I may as well look good and rub his damn face in it
.

Last night I wracked my brain all night about that text on New Year’s. Did he send it from Cameron’s phone? Is that true, does he still love me? Maybe Adrian sent it playing match-maker. Only one way to find out. Test him and, boy, is he going to be tested. I undo my top button. I’m feeling more myself today, more confident. I think I had an epiphany in the shower this morning. Finally—it’s only taken six painful months. I have had enough of trying to hold us together. If he really doesn’t care, why should I? Next time Jesten asks me out, I’m going. Stuff it, stuff him.

I walk down the corridor and see everyone sitting in a group, their backs to me. Bridget turns and sees me first, her eyes widen and she smirks a knowing smile. You got it sister, I’m back.

I walk up gracefully and take out my phone. “Hi,” I smile at the group.

Cameron smiles. “Hi Tash.”

“Hi,” the others collectively say.

Joshua looks up the length of my body and snaps his eyes away angrily.Robert walks over and puts his arm around me. “How is my beautiful Natasha today?” he smiles broadly.

I smile. “Good thanks, back at my new job today. Glad to return to some normalcy.”

“New job?” He frowns. “Where are you working now?”

I smile and from the corner of my eye see Joshua’s head snap back to me. “I have left the Sexual Psychology Clinic. I now work in the hospital system, just regular psychology.”

He smiles. “Really.”

Cameron butts in. “Wow Tash, big move. What made you move from what you were doing?”

I shrug. “Sick to death of dealing with infidelity and broken relationships.”

My eyes flick to Bridget and she winks at me. Take that, asshole.

My phone rings.
I got one less problem without you. I got one less problem without you.

“Excuse me Robert.” I pull away to answer my phone as I look at the screen. Abbie, let’s play one of her charades. Game on.

“Hello, Natasha Marx,” I purr as I hold my finger up to Robert.

I walk away from the group and fake laugh.

“What are you doing?” Abbie snaps.

“Being you,” I smile.

“What?”

“I’m doing a little market research, seeing if you know who is still interested or not,” I whisper as I turn away from the group and face the window.

“Oh my god. Loving it sick. Fake laugh, make him think you are talking to a guy.”

I frown. “Oh god, so desperate,” I whisper.

“Trust me, this shit works.” She giggles. I laugh out loud. “Now make sure he can hear you and say yes you will see me on Saturday night if you’re there because you don’t know what you are doing yet, but thanks for the invite.”

“What, that’s ridiculous,” I whisper as I frown.

“Just say it,” she snaps.

I turn and walk back to the group, on the way saying, “I’m not sure yet. I might see you Saturday night. Thanks for the invite. Bye.” Oh shit, I stuffed it up. My phone immediately beeps a text and I stop mid-step to check it.

It’s Bridget.

Joshua just cracked his neck at you.

I smirk and take a seat. One can never underestimate the power of a naughty secretary outfit. I sit opposite Bridget and she smirks at me. I look away so I don’t laugh or high-five her or something equally ridiculous.

Robert stands. “This weekend all of Mum’s friends are coming from everywhere, so you kids have the weekend off. We can’t take up the whole waiting area, go out and blow off some steam. After you see her tonight, don’t come back until Monday.” Everybody nods solemnly. My heart drops—I won’t see him all weekend. Bridget must be able to read my mind.

“Tash, Abbs and I are going to the Ivy tomorrow night. Why don’t you all come?” she asks innocently.

Cameron and Wilson nod. “Yeah, ok.”

“I’m busy,” Joshua snaps.

This is backfiring. I pretend not to care and take out my wallet and for a distraction I walk over to the coke machine to get a bottle of water. Joshua leans back on his chair and throws his arm along its back in annoyance. His eyes scan down the length of my body and he cracks his neck again.

Ha, got you. You are still attracted to me. I take the lid off my water, put my hand on my hip and put my head back to take a sip, deliberately licking my lips. Yep, now I’m acting like some loser off a coke ad, but who cares? Joshua’s eyes run down the length of my body again and back up to my face. This time he doesn’t even pretend not to be aroused. His eyes penetrate mine—he’s giving me that look. The one I love, fuck me it screams, and boy it’s smoking hot. I can start to feel the heat from his stare burning a hole in my shirt, through my underpants. Oh god, I need some serious … it’s been a long time. I start to hear my pulse in my ears.

Everybody else in the room has disappeared and just as I picture myself walking over, hitching up my skirt and straddling the magnificent beast, I am brought back to the present.

“Tash, Gran wants to see you and Joshua together,” Mum smiles. My eyes snap to her as I pull out of my fantasy.

“Huh?” I frown.

“She specifically asked to see you two together.”

My eyes shoot to Joshua and he runs his tongue over the front of his top teeth, his angry sign. He stands in a rush and walks to the door.

He turns to me. “Coming,” he snaps as he raises his eyebrows.

Oh shit, I swallow the lump in my throat and we walk together tentatively into Gran’s room where she lies peacefully in her bed surrounded by flowers. She smiles when she sees me and holds out her hand affectionately. I grab it and smile as I kiss the back of it.

Oh Gran, I love you. My eyes fill with tears at the reality of this situation. How many more times will I get to see her? Spend time with her, laugh with her?

We both gently kiss her on the cheek.

“Are you ok Gran?” I whisper.

“I want you two to make an old lady happy,” she whispers as she smiles.

I nod. “Yes, Gran, of course.”

“I know you two are desperately in love. I want you to both stop this ludicrous charade and get back together.”

My eyes widen and Joshua shakes his head. “Gran,” he whispers.

Oh no, what’s he going to say? He might upset her. I can’t stand it. I butt in. “It’s ok, Gran. Joshua and I are working it out—we are trying to get back together.” He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head.

She smiles broadly. “Really, I didn’t know. This is great news. I knew it. I always knew you would find your way back to each other,” she whispers.

I walk over to Joshua and put my arm around him to cement my story. Crap, he feels good. Why does he feel so damn good? Warm and hard, I feel my body soften with arousal.

His eyes flick to me in contempt. He grabs my hand, picks it up and kisses the back of it. I’m half scared he’s going to bite my finger off in anger. Oh shit, what am I doing? My eyes widen in fear. The door opens and two nurses walk in with a doctor and a trolley. “Sorry to interrupt, we will just be five minutes,” the doctor smiles.

Joshua and I smile politely and move to the back corner of the room, and he stands behind me. We both watch silently for a minute, and then I feel it. Joshua runs his finger from the base of my neck down my spine to my bottom where he grabs a handful of my behind. Holding onto my hips tightly, he slowly pulls my hair around my neck and he moves so he can whisper in my ear.

“So you want to play happy families, do you Natasha?” He gently nips my ear from behind and goosebumps scatter up my arms.

My eyes close as I am filled with desire.

“Do you want to go to pound town, baby?” He bites me gently again.

Oh, yes I do. Yes I do. He pulls my hips back so I can feel his erection digging into my behind and he gently bites my neck again.

“Are you aching to be filled, beautiful girl?”

YES. YES. YES. My body starts to pump with arousal.

“Answer me,” he whispers.

My eyes close as I lose all coherent thought.

“Yes,” I whisper.

“What do you want?” He kisses my neck again as he grinds his hips into me. Oh shit, I lose control as goosebumps scatter across my skin.

“You. Everything,” I whisper as I turn to kiss him.

He pulls back and smiles at me, as he raises an eyebrow.

“You are like liquid nitrogen, Natasha,” he whispers. “Burning hot on the outside. Freezing cold on the inside. Christopher was right—you are the fucking ice queen,” he sneers.

My eyes widen at his harsh words and I immediately step back from him in shock. He pulls away from me and rushes out of the room. My fury ignites. What!

“We will be back later, Gran,” I snap.

“Ok dear.” She smiles as she looks at the nurse, oblivious to her asshole grandson and his bastard antics.

I storm out of the room and see Joshua standing over near the coke machine. I storm over.

“What the hell was that?” I snap.

“Shut up,” he sneers.

“I will not shut up. Who in the hell do you think you are?”

“Who in the hell do you think you are?” he snaps.

“Over it,” I yell.

“Stop this immediately.” Robert’s voice cracks through the room. Oh shit, we both look around to see we have an audience. Joshua narrows his eyes and pulls me by the arm into the fire escape stairway door.

“I’m not finished this conversation,” he yells as the door slams behind us.

“I am,” I yell.

“Listen here, you spoilt little bitch. You will not tell me you are over it, because I am the one who is fucking over it.” He jerks me with his grip on my arm so I am up against the wall. He leans into my face. “I will not lie to my dying grandmother about our fucked-up relationship.” He jerks me closer again.

His proximity steals my ability to speak and my eyes flick to his lips.

He jerks me again but says nothing; his eyes widening, he feels it too. I can feel the heat emanating from his strong body. I put my head back up against the wall as I am filled with want, want for him and what his body can give to me. I’ve so missed this beautiful man. He bends and, starting at the base of my neck, licks up to my jaw. His hand is still painfully tight on my arm, his other hand moves up to my breast and he kneads it as he bites again. His lips linger on my neck. Oh boy, mechanical meltdown. The sound of our heavy breathing echos through the space. He bites me again and a whimper escapes my mouth. And then he is on me, his strong lips take possession of my mouth, his tongue swipes against mine. He pushes his hips into me and I am rewarded with the feeling of his large erection up against my stomach. His hands move down to my behind where he grinds me onto his hips as he kisses me aggressively. He’s so big, so hard. So fucking perfect. I’m like putty in his dominant hands. His hands run up and down my body as if he can’t get enough, as if he doesn’t know where to feel first. I can’t help it, I need to feel him. It’s a need, not want. I run my hand down over his chest where I feel his heart going crazy, down over his rippled abdomen. I have missed this man and his perfect body. He puts his head back as his eyes hold mine and I keep going lower, lower. Oh shit, I am instantly rushed with a wave of wet arousal and my knees nearly buckle from under me. I run my hand over his huge throbbing erection through his pants, and his eyes close at the contact. I gently stroke it upwards as I lean forward and bite his neck. I kiss him again and this time I don’t hold back. I kiss him with everything I have as I stroke him again.

“Does that feel good, baby?” I whisper. I am desperate to please him.

His eyes snap open in realisation. He pulls away from me in disgust and my body cries out in withdrawal. “I’m not your baby,” he snaps, as he stands still looking at me while panting. With that he opens the door and leaves the stairwell in a rush. Huh …what the hell happened? Come back. Oh shit, how embarrassing. I can’t go back out there now. My heart is still racing, and I’m so aroused that if the wind blows and hits me I will burst into orgasm any second. Damn that robber taking my vibrator—this is all his fault. I’m like a dog on heat. With security following me every minute I haven’t been able to replace it—six months without an orgasm is unfucking natural. I rub my hands over my face as I think: what am I going to do? I look up and then down the stairwell. I will go downstairs, then outside and get some fresh air. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at what just happened. In excitement I start running down the stairs as adrenaline pumps through me. He’s still attracted to me. This outfit is fabulous—I’m wearing it all week.

When I get to the bottom I open the doors tentatively, as I don’t know where they are opening up to. I peek around the door. Oh good, around the side of the hospital. I exit and start to walk around the front of the hospital. There is thick hedging that surrounds a path along the side of the building. I turn the corner to the front of the hospital. Up in front is the large staircase leading into the main entrance and on the other side of the hedge is the grass going down to the road and car park. I am walking along the path back to the front steps when I see Joshua leave the hospital in a rush. Cameron is hot on his heels.

“What in the hell is the matter with you?” Cameron asks as he follows Joshua down the steps. Ben is just behind them.

“I’m a fucking idiot. Glutton for punishment,” Joshua snaps as he runs his hands through his hair in frustration.

“What happened?”

“I just kissed her, actually more than that I dry humped her up against the wall.”

“What!” Cameron squeaks.

They get to the bottom of the stairs.

“Where are the cars?” Joshua angrily snaps at Ben as he looks around.

“At the back of the car park. I will ring them now.” He pulls out his phone and starts dialling.

Oh shit, this is bad. I’m on the path minding my own business and now I find I am a Russian spy hiding in the hedge. My eyes bulge—what if they see me? Joshua will go feral. I sink deeper into the bush. Shit, shit, shit.