Strangers (25 page)

“What the hell did you do that for?” Kate asked.

“Keep your hands off my dad.”

“What?”

As people began to gather around them, Charlie appeared at Kate’s side.
He took her elbow and pulled her out of the room.
Ethan caught hold of the blonde girl by the wrist and the four of them ended up in the corridor Kate had just left.

“He told me what you tried to do,” the girl shouted, struggling to get away from Ethan to reach Kate.

“Hey, calm down,” Ethan snapped.
“What are you talking about?”

“Bitch,” the teenager snarled.
“She’s a slut.”

Kate’s face and chest were streaked with wine.
Her top was ruined.
The front of her jeans felt wet and sticky and when the girl next opened her mouth, Kate’s heart developed the hiccups.

“She tried to get my dad to have sex with her in the toilet.”

Everything became clear.
This was Nick’s daughter.

“That’s not true,” Kate said.

“Are you calling my dad a liar?” The girl was crying now, dirty streams of mascara running down her face.

“Where’s your dad?
Let’s go and find him,” Ethan said.

“Make her promise to leave him alone.”

“What’s happening?
Gemma, what’s going on?” Nick strode down the corridor.

How convenient to appear now, Kate thought, realizing he’d probably orchestrated the whole thing.

“Daddy, she’s the one, isn’t she, who tried to get you to have sex with her?”

“This is ridiculous,” Kate said.

“What’s all this about, Kate?” Nick glared at her.

Nick had ambushed her.
He knew Kate wouldn’t want to say what she’d seen in front of his daughter.
She felt as though she’d been hit by a train that was now shunting her along the tracks at high speed.

“Do you know him?” Charlie asked.

He stood in a loose-limbed slouch, but Kate heard the chill in his voice.

“Yes.”

“Were you in the loo with him?” Charlie sounded different.
Detached.

“He was in there when I went in, but there’s been a misunderstanding,” Kate said.

“You’re the one who’s made the mistake,” Nick snapped.
“Come on, Gem.
Let’s get you home.”

“I’m going to tell everyone about you,” Gemma cried.

“Nick?” Kate called as they walked away.
“So will I.”

Nick glared, but steered his daughter toward the exit.

“Thank God no one else saw that,” Ethan said.
“Kate, you should leave.
Here’s the money for a cab.” He pushed two twenty-pound notes toward her.

Kate ignored the money and turned to Charlie.

“That was Lucy’s lover.
Lucy knows Nick’s married, but I think she thought their relationship was a triangle, with his wife at the other corner.
She has no idea she’s part of a square or, knowing what’s Nick’s like, a hexagon.
I walked into the ladies and heard Nick and a woman fucking.
I wouldn’t promise not to tell Lucy.
I guess Nick just got his own back.”

Kate saw Charlie relax, the relief on his face as he accepted what she said.
She glanced at Ethan and wasn’t sure what she saw on his.
He looked at Charlie and then put the money back in his wallet and walked off.

“More like getting the retaliation in first,” Charlie said, fingering the wet ribbons on Kate’s top.

Kate was disgusted.
“I’ve had enough.”

Charlie put his arm over her shoulder.
“Me, too.
Come home with me.”

“You sure you want me to?”

“Yes.”

“Better find me a blanket or a brown paper bag.”

He looked bewildered.
“What for?”

“You don’t want to be seen with me, do you?”

Charlie winced.
“Well, it might be a good idea if you go first and wait round the corner.”

Kate tried to shrug off his arm, but he pulled her closer.

“Please, don’t.
I’m trying to protect you.
The press are out there waiting, slathering like dogs hoping to get tossed a bone.
You want them to tell everyone your life story?
If they see us together, they’ll dig up every boyfriend you ever had, every mistake you ever made.
Your enemies will be queuing up to stab you.
And all the friends you thought you had will turn out not to be friends at all, because they’d sell you out for a flat screen TV or a holiday.
The people outside don’t care whether they print lies or the truth.
They just want to sell a photo or a story.”

“They weren’t in here, though.
You didn’t need to ignore me in here.”

His shoulders slumped.
“I’m sorry.
Sweetheart, you just don’t know how bad this can get.
It’s you I’m thinking of.
They’re fucking vultures.” He twisted a lock of her hair.
“Come on.
Let’s go home.”

Chapter Fifteen

As Kate stepped outside, a flash went off in her face.
She scurried down the street on her own.

“Go or stay?” asked Mike Fry, Simon Baxter’s photographer.

“Stay,” Simon said.
“Let’s have a look at that one, though.”

Mike changed the setting, checked the image and gave the camera to Simon.

“I don’t recognize her,” Mike said.

“Fuck-a-duck.
It’s Kate.”

“Moss?”

Simon gawped at the image.
“No, Kate Snow.”

“Who’s she?”

“No one we’re interested in.
She used to go out with a mate of mine, Richard Winter.
I didn’t expect to see her coming out of Armageddon.
What’s that on her top?
She had an accident?”

“Looks like she spilled something.
Sure you don’t want her?”

“No.
I told you, she’s no one.”

Not quite no one.
Simon glared as she disappeared round the corner.
The stupid bitch had cost him two thousand quid.
He couldn’t believe she’d said yes to Richard.
Who’d want to marry that wanker?
What the hell was she doing in Armageddon?
Maybe the photo wasn’t entirely useless.

“I’ve changed my mind.
Keep it,” Simon said.

“Too late.
Hey, eyes left.
Isn’t that Charlie Storm?” Mike lifted his camera and snapped him.
“Worth following?”

“Yeah, there’s fuck-all happening.”

“He’s alone though,” Mike said.

Simon snorted.
“Not for long, I shouldn’t think.
Get the car.”

When the black cab pulled up next to Kate, the door swung open and Charlie grinned at her from the backseat.

“Need a lift?” he asked.

“I need your jacket.”

“I’ll warm you up.”

The moment she got into the cab, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
It was hopeless, Kate thought.
She was incapable of resisting.
It made her realize what it was like to be addicted, to feel yourself unable to survive without a fix of whatever you’ve grown to love.
Charlie’s soft and gentle lips nibbled at hers as though she were a divine delicacy to be slowly savored.

“You smell fabulous.
Soap and wine,” he whispered.
“What a combination.
Tastes interesting too.”

“You’ve been smoking.”

He groaned.
“One cigarette.”

“I don’t want you to smoke.” Kate stared straight at him.
“That’s killing yourself in a very stupid way.”

“I’ll never do it again.”

She smiled and pressed her lips against his, diving into his mouth.
Charlie’s arms slid round her, pulling her closer.
This time, the kiss was long and hard.
By the time they broke apart, she was gasping.

“I’ve wanted to do that all night,” Charlie said.
“Every time someone talked to you, I wanted to hit them.” He buried his face in her neck and licked her skin.
“I’m sorry if you thought I was ignoring you.
I didn’t want to.
Oh God, I’m paranoid the press will wreck this.
I’m sorry.
Do you forgive me?”

He clutched her hand so tight, it hurt.

“Yes.
I forgive you.”

“Good, so can we watch that film you’re in when we get back?
What was it called?
Crispies?”

Kate thumped him.

* * * * *

“I’m not fucking climbing up there,” Mike snapped, staring at the wooden framework that covered the parked cars.

“Yes, you are,” Simon said.
“We’ve climbed over the gate.
How much more difficult is this?
You’ll be able to see straight into her apartment.”

“How do you know it’s the right apartment?”

“It is, trust me.”

“We’re on private property, Simon.”

“Don’t worry.
It will be worth it.”

Mike sighed and put down his camera.
“Give me a leg up.”

* * * * *

Charlie almost dragged Kate’s arm out of its socket as he tugged her to her bedroom.

“Slow down,” Kate said.

“Can’t.
How is it you make me unable to think?” Charlie whispered as he slid his hand inside the front of her jeans.
“Oh God, you’re all wet.”

“Red wine.”

“No, it isn’t.
It’s you, you little minx.”

He moved his hand lower and Kate’s head tipped back.
She gasped and clutched at his shirt.
His fingers shifted inside her thong, touched her clit, rubbed it fast and she almost passed out from the explosion of pleasure that swept through her.

“I love how I can do that to you,” he groaned.

Click

Charlie unfastened the little buttons on her top and pulled it apart to expose her breasts.
He lowered his head and fixed his mouth around her nipple, teasing it with his teeth.
Kate drew in a swift breath.
The top fell to the floor.
Her jeans and pants followed.

Click

Her fingers slid down to unfasten his trousers.
It wasn’t easy because his erection made them tight.
She dropped to her knees and eased trousers and boxers down together.
Charlie groaned when she tucked her head under the bottom of his shirt and kissed the inside of his thighs.
As she took his balls in her mouth, he sank his fingers into her hair.

Click

“Oh fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck,” he moaned.
“Kate, you’re playing with fire.”

Clickclickclickclickclick

* * * * *

Nick launched an attempt at damage control as he drove his daughter home, though Gemma was so drunk he wasn’t sure how much was getting through.

“You know, Gem, I think I might have made a mistake,” he said.
“Kate’s a friend of one of my colleagues.
I think it was a wind-up.
Kev paying me back for a prank I pulled.
Better not tell your mum, she’ll just get upset.”

“Mum’ll fink it’s funny,” Gemma slurred.

“The same sort of funny as throwing a drink over someone?
And the glass?
You could have cut her face.”

Silence.

“Tell you what,” Nick said, hoping this would work.
“How about I don’t tell Mum about what you did?
It was a miracle she let you come with me tonight.
If we keep quiet, you’re not going to get barred from any more nights out for the foreseeable future.
What do you think?
Do we have a deal?”

Gemma didn’t respond.
Her head was up against the window, her mouth hanging open.
She’d fallen asleep or maybe passed out.
Nick sighed.

Nick received an earful of hell from his wife Debra anyway, because the moment Gemma walked in the front door, she threw up on the Persian rug.

“How could you let her get drunk?” Debra screeched.

“She must have been sneaking drinks.
I couldn’t watch her all the time.”

“In a minute you’re going to tell me it’s my fault for letting you take her,” Debra yelled.

Yes, it fucking was
, Nick thought.

After Gemma went to bed and Debra made it clear sex was off the menu, Nick pretended to discover he’d lost his wallet.
He made an imaginary phone call to the club, and set off in the wrong direction to get it back.
He needed to speak to Lucy before Kate did.

Nick thought he noticed a bright flash as he rang Lucy’s buzzer, but when he looked around, he couldn’t see where the light had come from and it didn’t happen again.
Then Lucy opened the door in her tiny see-through nightie and his brain turned to mush.

“I thought you were taking Gemma out?”

“I did, but I missed you.” Nick pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

“Mmm.
You look so sexy in your tux,” Lucy whispered.

“Not as sexy as you.” Nick kicked the door closed behind him.

He slid his hands underneath the slinky material, up her thighs and onto her bare bottom.
“Lucy, I had a bit of a problem tonight.
I was buying a wrap of coke from some bird in the ladies at Armageddon and Gemma got hold of the wrong end of the stick and thought I was after something else.”

Lucy stiffened in his arms and he kept her tight against him.

“Hey, babe, course I wasn’t, but Gemma ended up throwing a glass of red wine at Kate.”

“Kate?” Lucy’s eyes opened wide.
“What was Kate doing in Armageddon?”

“I’ve no idea, but I let Gemma think Kate was coming on to me to distract her from what I was really doing.
Only, I had no idea she’d chuck wine in her face.
So if you get a vitriolic neighbor banging on your door, telling you I’m a complete wanker, I’m sorry.
Things got out of hand.”

Nick thought that sounded reasonable.
He slid his hand over Lucy’s nipple, but the unoccupied one percent of his brain started to wonder what Kate
was
doing in the club.
How the hell did she know Ethan Silver and Charlie Storm?
What had he missed?

“We need to do something about Kate, because when I bring Gemma over here, she might bump into her,” Nick said.
It had seemed such a good idea for him to commission Dan to paint his daughter.
While Gemma was posing for Dan, Nick would get to spend an hour in bed exploring positions with Lucy.
“I told Gemma I’d made a mistake, but I know I upset Kate.”

Lucy moaned as Nick rubbed her breasts.
“Can you stay the night?”

“Oh baby, I’d love to, but I have half an hour, tops.”

Lucy slipped her arms out of the slinky red nightdress, letting it slide over her hips and drop to the floor.
“Better not waste any of it.” She took hold of Nick’s hand and pulled him into the bedroom.
“Have you brought the coke?”

Oops.
Nick thought fast.
“I chucked it.
I was so worried about Gemma finding it.”

“We shouldn’t anyway.” Lucy unfastened his shirt.