The Seduction of Suzanne (26 page)

The very thought made her shudder with embarrassment. If it were possible, she would have stayed shut in the bedroom forever. Yet as things stood, it seemed an even greater evil to be still there when Justin awoke. Carrying her shoes, she crept across the room, silently eased the door open, and closed it just as silently behind her. On the stairs she sat down to put on her plain, black sneakers, wondering where everybody was. The house was quiet.

Once both shoes were on, she proceeded down to the ground floor. To her left she could very faintly hear music playing, so she set off in that direction. The music became louder, resolving itself into the sounds of early jazz. As she stuck her head through an open doorway, she saw Justin’s father, Geoffrey Walker, sitting behind a large desk and thoughtfully contemplating a computer screen. He immediately caught sight of her, and beckoned her to come in with a welcoming smile.

“Did you have a good sleep?” he asked in his rich voice. He sounded almost exactly like Justin. If she’d heard his voice on the telephone, she would have thought she was talking to his son.

“Sleep?” she asked, wondering how he knew what she’d been doing.

“Ollie said that when she knocked on your door at ten there was no answer, so she assumed that you two were having a snooze. She thought that you’d
probably not want to be woken, so she came away again. I’m surprised you didn’t meet her on the way in here. She’s been hovering in that hallway all morning, waiting for you to come out. Just like a kid with presents under the Christmas tree, which she has to wait to open. She’s so delighted he’s finally brought a woman home to meet us.”

He grinned at her, and
Suzanne smiled stiffly in return. She felt like a liar, letting these people make her welcome as if she was an honoured guest. Justin had been disgruntled about Wilson at the airport, had never planned to bring her to his parent’s house. So she wasn’t a treasure he was sharing with them. She was their son’s unwilling stooge, heaving with enmity towards him.

“Do you know where I
’ll find her?” she asked.

“If she’s not upstairs, she might be in the kitchen,” he replied. “That’s where the music is coming from. It’s just down this corridor to the right.”

“I’ll go and have a look. Thank you.”

Following his directions, she quickly found the large kitchen. Olivia was indeed there, watching a woman
Suzanne had not met, who was rolling out pastry. She stopped hesitantly in the doorway. After a moment Olivia looked her way.

“Oh,
Suzanne,” she said happily, “you’re awake.”

Although she looked,
Suzanne could see no sign in the woman’s open expression that she might have entered Justin’s room and seen the two of them naked and dishevelled together. She smiled with relief, and apology.

“I’m sorry that I fell asleep like that. I certainly didn’t mean to,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Olivia firmly. “I’m sure it’s done you a world of good.” She gestured to the busy cook. “Let me introduce Constancia. She’s been cooking for us since before the children were born.”

Suzanne
exchanged greetings with the rotund Hispanic woman, who looked her over in brisk assessment before giving what seemed to be an approving nod. Then, belatedly registering what Olivia had said, she repeated, “Children? Does Justin have siblings, then?”

“Didn’t he tell you? That boy!” she rolled her eyes. “He has two brothers and a sister. Graham is the eldest, then Justin, then Amanda and Adam, who are twins. Adam’s the younger. You wouldn’t think it matters, but to those two, it’s all-important.

“They’ll all be coming tonight. Graham was flying in from New York next week for his dad’s birthday, but he’s moved the visit up a few days to make the most of us all being here. And take in the party.”

“It’s nice his work allows him to be so flexible,” she murmured.

“One of the benefits of running the company. Speaking of the party, are you ready for us to go and get you something special to wear?”

“Uh, I’ll need to fetch my wallet,” she said hesitantly, thinking of the credit cards in it, but
reluctant to return to the bedroom.

“Oh, no nee
d for that,” said Olivia firmly. “It’ll be my treat.”

“But I-”
Suzanne started to protest, but she was ruthlessly cut off.

“I won’t hear any objections,” the older woman said, in a tone which brooked no argument. “I want to enjoy myself, and I won’t if we have to take hours comparing prices to find the cheapest frock. You just trust me to pick out something nice.”

This was too much for Suzanne’s feeling of abusing the hospitality offered to her. Not to mention the slur implied by ‘cheapest’.

“That’s very generous. Thank you. But I’m not a charity case, you know. I can afford to pay-”

“Oh darling, darling, don’t be offended,” said the older woman, switching tack. “I just want to have a good time. Justin never brings his girlfriends home with him. I want you to like us all. And he says you’re a schoolteacher.

“Well I know what that means. Very worthy, but as poor as a church mouse. You want to fit in with this crowd, with Justin’s friends, don’t you? And I’m sure they’ll all love you when they get to know you, but it helps to look the part. Trust me, you’ll feel better if you do.” She smiled mechanically, a slight furrow in her brow and her hands fluttering in a smoothing gesture as she tried to disarm
Suzanne.

Suzanne
didn’t feel she could graciously refuse again. Olivia made refusing an expensive dress into more of an abuse of hospitality than accepting it. She sighed, smiled, tried to look grateful when she felt uncomfortable with gifts and help. “Sure. That sounds like fun.” And Olivia visibly relaxed.

“Good girl. How lovely. Let’s get going then, shall we? Or are we taking Justin too?”

“I don’t think he was planning on joining us. He’s still asleep, anyway,” Suzanne hurried to reply, wanting only to escape the house before he emerged from the bedroom.

Enthusiastically Olivia agreed, bidding Constancia a cheerful goodbye and leading
Suzanne through another door and out to the back of the house, where they found Wilson waxing a Porsche.

Suzanne
couldn’t help grimacing at this new evidence of wealth. Even she knew how much a car like that was worth.

At the sight of them he left off his chore, asking if he should bring out the town car. Olivia agreed with a casual: “Yes please, Wilson.”
Suzanne wondered if that was his first name or surname.

They went to Rodeo Drive. With Olivia at her side, it didn’t take long to find the perfect outfit: a dress which was both sexy and stylish, showing off her trim figure to advantage.
Suzanne had to admit that it was beautifully cut, and the rich, deep green colour made her pale skin glow as if lit from within.

She stoically refused to look at the price tag. She had only been in the store for moments when she realised she didn’t have the stomach to see that many digits attached to a single item of clothing. If Olivia wasn’t worried, then there was no need for
Suzanne to get worked up about it.

Matching shoes were also bought, the two women arguing good-naturedly over the merits of several pairs, before finally emerging triumphant with an elegant compromise between comfort and fashion.

Suzanne thought that would be the end of the outing. However Olivia insisted on a manicure and pedicure, and dragged Suzanne along for the same. Not that she put up much of a fight. She saw the slight wince the older woman gave at the first sight of Suzanne’s unpolished toenails. She had never had her toenails done by someone else before. It might be interesting.

Olivia snagged a make-up artist and hairdresser at the salon, and set them to work on
Suzanne. It was a bizarre experience: several people hovering around her limbs and face, buffing, polishing, trimming, plucking, exfoliating, rubbing in oils and creams and God only knew what else. She tried not to move after she was scolded for smudging something. She wasn’t sure what she’d smudged, since she didn’t know what part of her the scolder was in charge of.

There was no mirror in front of her, so she couldn’t check their progress. But eventually one by one they finished their appointed tasks and wandered off until she was sitting alone in her chair. The last woman to leave checked her over from top to toe, nodded a brisk approval and gravitated back to Olivia, nearby with her own
coterie of attendants.

Suzanne
waited a moment, but no one returned. Apparently she was now free to move again. She sat up and looked around for a mirror, found one and walked over to examine herself.

She was shocked. She’d never imagined it was possible to look like this.

With a skilful hand the hollows under her cheekbones had been subtly accentuated, her eyes made to look huge, deep and mysterious under delicately arching brows. Her lips were a soft, petal pink, only a little darker than their natural colour. Her clear, white skin was flawless and had a faintly iridescent sheen on the upper planes of her cheekbones, a slight flush on the apples of her cheeks. Her face glowed like a pearl in the setting of her dark hair, which was smooth and shiny as water.

This unfamiliar woman was the kind of person who belonged with a man as handsome as Justin. Someone beautiful and otherworldly. Feminine and ethereal. Fragile. She could have stepped out of the pages of a magazine.

She stared and stared.

“There. See? I told you you’d like it. You and Justin will make the perfect pair.” Olivia laid her hands on
Suzanne’s upper arms as she came to stand behind Suzanne, surveying the outcome of her efforts proudly.

“I don’t look like myself at all.”

“It’s amazing isn’t it? Now you look just right for him. It’s the best way to make a good impression on his friends. You’ll fit in beautifully.”

When they finally emerged back onto the street, Suzanne was wearing the dress and shoes as well.

“We’ll get home just before the first guests arrive. Perfect timing,” said Olivia with satisfaction.
Suzanne was quiet, feeling foreign in her own skin, scared to touch her face or hair in case she messed up something. She examined the elegant French manicure she’d been given.

No one would guess those smooth, soft hands – they’d been soaked and the calluses filed away – had ever done a day’s work in their lives.
Suzanne usually liked her capable, skilful hands. But these didn’t look like hers. A stranger’s hands. And those long, bare slender legs in their strappy high heels – not as high as Olivia had wanted, but inches higher than Suzanne had ever worn before – were foreign too as they emerged from under the slippery green fabric of her dress.

She felt like a doll. A person who belonged in a box and was only taken out for special occasions. As she stepped out of the car at the house, she had to adjust her long stride before she stumbled and tripped in those shoes. So she minced, hips swaying, across the courtyard and up the stairs to the house.

All the windows were brightly lit, and as Cathy opened the door, Suzanne could hear boisterous laughter coming from the direction of the kitchen. Olivia smiled fondly.

“It sounds like the rest of my tribe are here. Come straight through and meet everyone.”

She followed Olivia, getting the trick of managing the shoes by walking only on the balls of her feet and keeping the heels off the ground entirely so she could lift her head and watch where she was going. Thank heavens for all the cycling. This was going to be murder on her calves and glutes.

As the noisy conversation and laughter increased in volume, nervous dread began to churn in her stomach. Not so much at the prospect of meeting the strangers, but of seeing Justin again. What did he think was going on between them, what with her anger and then the explosive sex?

As she came into the laughter-filled room, the first thing she saw was him. He looked up at the same time, and their eyes met with an electricity which was almost palpable. He scanned her up and down in a flash, eyebrows rising slightly in surprise at her altered appearance, a fire lighting in his gaze. Immediately he started towards her, his features arranged in a welcoming expression. As she instinctively halted then retreated a step, a frown chased quickly across his face.

It was gone in an instant. He wrapped an arm around her waist, turning back towards the others as he pulled her into his side. She was limp and unresisting.

“I would like you to meet my Suzanne,” he said jovially to the room at large. There was a chorus of hellos, and the tall figures which had been casually leaning against the kitchen counters, talking, laughing and stealing finger-sized pastries from under Constancia’s nose, straightened and came quickly towards her. As she focused on them, she saw that there was a marked family resemblance. All three of them towered over her, and with Justin at her side, for the first time in her adult life she felt physically dwarfed. The woman among them, who Suzanne guessed to be Amanda, must have been just over six feet tall. She took Suzanne’s hand warmly in her own, then laughed huskily up at Justin.

“Let her go, you possessive creature,” she teased. “I want a hug too.”

Suzanne felt his hand reluctantly slip away from her hip, and then she was enfolded in the unabashed embrace of the gorgeous, gilt-headed Amazon who was claiming her.