Target (An erotic romantic novella) (8 page)

“Come on, let’s go, we’ll get breakfast out.”  He took up her hand, and without another word, they made their way back down to his Landrover.

As they wound down the country lanes, with their windows down Sarah inhaled, the air was so clean and sweet.  She put on her sunglasses; Rick was already wearing his.

“God it’s so beautiful here,” she said, admiring the view as they drove along the coastal road.

“Yeah I know, I love it here, I mean I like London, but it’s always great to come back to the peace and quiet of the country.”  She glanced at him and gave him a smile,
he placed a hand on her knee, and she covered it with her own, and then looked back out the window.

She would tell the man she could not do it, and then she frowned worried.  If she did not do what he wanted, would that mean they would send someone else?  Should she tell
Rick, should she warn him?  She did not want to lose him; he might hate her for even thinking about doing it.

“Are you okay Sarah?” he asked,
as he pulled his hand back from her knee, and lifted it to her face.  She turned to him.

“Yes fine, why?”  He shrugged.

“You just looked a little sad then,” he said.

She smiled, “No I am fine, just thinking of Skye,” she lied, and then she felt guilty, she had not actually thought of Skye since yesterday.  Rick’s eyes returned to the road, he would tell her tonight, he wanted to enjoy today and forget everything.

Twenty minutes later, they were parking up.

“We’ll head down the front,” he said, taking up her hand.  She let him lead her into town.  It was already warm
and the sky was a clear deep blue.

“Oh rats,” he said, looking at the closed arcades.  “I forgot they don’t open until eleven.”  He looked at his watch it was only nine thirty.

“So what now?” she asked.

“
Are you hungry?” he asked.

“No not really,” she replied
, her earlier hung pangs having dissipated.

“
Come on we’ll go for a walk, up to the top, you never know we might see some dolphins.”

“Dolphins, really?” he nodded.  Following the winding path,
it took them half an hour to reach the viewpoint.

“Wow,” she remarked as they reached the top
, she did not see any dolphins but it was still spectacular.  She leant against the wall and stared out into the sea.  “It beautiful Rick,” she said, glancing to him as he placed his arms around her and snuggled into her neck.

“It sur
e is,” he replied, as they both gazed out to the sea.

“
No loitering on the sea front,” a deep voice boomed from behind them.  Startled, Rick and Sarah spun around.  Sarah looked at the two policemen with a little concern.

“Dave, how are you,” Rick said, cheerily, holding out his hand. 

“Good Rick, you?” he asked, shaking it.

“Yes thanks.  Oh Sorry, this is Sarah, she is a friend of mine,” he introduced.  “Sarah, this is Dave, he’s an old school friend.”

“Hi,” she said, holding out her hand, he shook it.

“This is Steve,” Dave said, thumbing to the other
policeman.  They nodded to each other.

“So staying back at the Manor?” Dave asked.  Rick nodded, hoping that he would not say anymore.

“Yes for a few weeks,” Rick replied.

“Another kids group?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Rick confirmed.

“Cool, give me a call if you want me to pop over and give a talk, and if you get t
ime, maybe we could go for a pint?” he asked.

“Sure that would great Dave,” Rick agreed.

“Okay, better be off, catch you later.  Nice to meet you Sarah,” he said, tipping his head to her.

“You too,” she replied.

“Rick,” he said, and raising an eyebrow towards Sarah, he grinned.  Rick grinned back catching his meaning.

“
See you later, Dave,” he replied.  Sarah gazed at him thoughtfully; he really did have a policeman friend.

“Did you g
o to school around here then?” she asked, as they began walking back down the hill.

“Yes, well boarding school for a while,
Dave was a day pupil.”

“You went to boarding school?” she said surprised.

“My father was big in the city Sarah, it was what they did, people in his circle.  They sent their kids to boarding school.  I went home during the holidays.”  She looked at him; so much about him fascinated her and she wanted to find out more about him.

“I grew up in London, my father was a Lord,” she told him.

“Really, so does that make you a Lady?” he asked, with a smile.  She shook her head.

“No that title was my mother’s.  I went to a private school too, but it was a day school.  My father refused to send us away, I was a bit of a daddy’s girl I
am afraid, he used to spoil me rotten.”

“I can understand that Sarah, if you were mine, I
would spoil you rotten too,” he said, his eyes lingering on her; she felt herself blush.  As far she was concerned, she was his, for as long as he wanted her.

“When my mother was pregnant with S
kye, I really was quite jealous; I did not want to share my father with a new baby.  I think I was pretty horrible to my mother, a spoiled little brat springs to mind.”

“I could never imagine that of you Sarah,” he said, stopping beside an ice-cream van.

“Rick, believe me I can be a nasty bitch when I want to be.  I got over it though, when Skye was born.  She was so sweet, so tiny and I loved her from the moment I saw in my mother’s arm.  As it turned out she was more of a mummy’s girl, so I never did have to share father with her in that way, I was still his special girl, right up until the day he died.”  He pulled an arm around her, and kissed the top of his head.

“How about that ice-cream I owe you?” he asked.  She smiled up at him, and nodded.

“Yes please.”

“What flavour?”  Sarah perused the list of different flavours.

“Chocolate chip please,” she said.

“One mint chip and one chocolate chip please,” he said, placing a fiver on the counter.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it from him.  They wandered to a bench and sat down, looking out onto the harbour.

“God it’s so nice here,” she
again, licking her ice cream.  Rick slung and arm around her shoulder and she snuggled into him, his scent sending happy shivers through her body.

“Hey, look that boat
is called Hemmingway, how funny,” she remarked, pointing to a rather luxurious looking speedboat tied up in the harbour.  Rick swallowed, and took a bite of his ice cream.

“Yes, how funny,” he agreed,
knowing full well, that it was his.  It was okay, he was going to tell her tonight.  Just this one day, it was all he wanted, one full day of her thinking he was someone else.  Maybe, he hoped she had fallen in love with him and then when he told her, she would not care, what or who, he used to be.

“Rick, thank you, for everything,” she said, sighing happily.

“Sarah you don’t have to keep thanking me.”  She leaned back from him and he removed his arm.

“Rick I do, you don’t understand.  My life was hell, not worth living.  The night before you found me at the river, I almost had sex with a man for money.  I now, it’s disgusting but I was so hungry.”  She felt tears well up in her eyes.
  “When he touched me I wanted to throw up, and I knew I could not do it, I knew I would rather die than have sex with that man, so I ran, I just ran and ran.”  He pulled her to his chest and held her.

“I am sorry Sarah
that I did not find you sooner,” he whispered.

“Rick, how could you have, it was by chance you saw me in town and I am so glad you did, really truly I am,” she said,
looking up into his deep dark eyes.  I love you Rick, she wanted to tell him, but she was scared he would push her away; she was scared to tell him what she was supposed to do.

“Come on,” he announced, pulling her to her feet.  “Today we forget the past and we have some fun, agreed.”  She nodded, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“Agreed,” she said.  Lifting a finger to her chin, he added.

“And, you have to let me spoil you, without
any mention of paying me back, agreed?”  She went to protest, but he held a finger to her lips.

“Sarah please, I can afford it and I want too.”  She laughed and nodded.

“Agreed,” she said, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her.

“Okay, amusement arcade next,” he announced, walking her towards the flashing lights ahead of them.
  Approaching the kiosk Rick slapped a hundred quid in front of the teller.

“Change please,” he said.  The man lifted an eyebrow as he counted Rick’s cash.  Then he smiled.

“There you are Sir,” he said, pushing a ton of change towards him.  “Have a good day.”

“We will,” Rick replied, grabbing the cash and shoving it into his pockets.  He turned to give some to Sarah.

“I don’t have a pocket or a bag Rick,” she said.

“Serio
usly, a woman without a handbag.” He shook his head, and rammed his pockets with the rest of the change until they were bulging.  “We will have to do something about that later,” he announced, walking her over to a fruit machine.

An
hour or so later, they emerged, Rick was a hundred pounds lighter, and clutched tight to Sarah’s chest, was a teddy bear with a bright red bow.  Sarah had never laughed so much in her life.  The amount of money he had pumped into that machine insisting on winning her a prize, he might have well have gone to a toy shop and brought her half a dozen.  But he did not care, he wanted to win her a prize and finally after much yelling, laughing and cussing at the grabbing machine, he succeed.

“Okay town next,” he said, swinging her hand in his.  He had never felt happier in his
life; it was as if he had found his soul mate in Sarah.  She was funny and she had the most wicked sense of humour, she was smart and well educated, so they had had some serious discussions about art, artists and the property market.  They just got along so well, and he wanted to spoil her.

“In here,” he said, leading her into a small boutique.

A woman in her fifties glanced up from the counter, a smiled beamed across her face as she saw him.

“Rick Hemmingway, what a lovely surprise,
are you back for long?” she asked, moving towards him.

“For a while Mrs Crocker,” he said, giving her
, a respectful kiss to each of her cheeks.

“And who is this beautiful young lady may I ask?” she enquired, smiling at Sarah.

“This is Sarah, a special friend of mine.” He introduced.

“Hello,” Sarah said, giving the woman a smile back.

“Now what can I do for you?” she asked.

“Sarah needs some sandals and a bag,” he said.  Sarah went to protest but Rick lifted a finger.

“We agreed,” he said in a whisper.  She twitched a smile back at him, but then nodded.

“This way, now heeled or flats?” she asked.

“A little heel please,” she replied, following her over to a selection of sandals.   Rick perused the rack of shoes and sandals.

“These are nice,” he said, lifting out a pair of white ones, with a dash of colour across the toe bar.  He passed them to her.  Sarah hooked her long hair behind her ear and took them from him.

“Those are gorgeous,” she agreed.

“Do you have her size?” he asked.

“Six,” Sarah told the woman.

“Yes, we do, I’ll just pop back and get them for you.”  Sarah turned them over and then gasped at the price.

“Rick they are
a hundred and eight five pounds,” she said in horror.

“Does not matter,” he said.

“Rick.”

“Sarah you agreed.”

“I know, but a hundred eighty five pounds,” she said turning to him, and as she caught the smile in his eyes, her mouth ached to kiss him.  For a moment they gazed at each other, the look in both their eyes was hunger, not for food but for each other.

“There you go, try these on for size,” Mrs
Crocker said, interrupting their moment.  She passed them to her.  Sarah sat down on a stool and took off her trainers.  As soon as she slipped them on, she could feel the designer quality.  She had not worn designer shoes since she and Skye had run away from home, and left everything behind them, including their designer wardrobes.

“Sarah they look
amazing,” Rick, said, they made her long legs look even longer.  “Do they feel comfortable?” he asked, watching her as she walked up and down the shop.

“They feel fantastic, but …”

“We’ll have them,” Rick interrupted before she had the chance to say they were too expensive.

“Rick,” she implored
.

“Sarah,” he replied, grinning at her.  She gave in
, who wouldn’t, with that puppy face looking at them.