Luca nipped her shoulder lightly. ‘There you go.’
Aisling laughed and grabbed the apple from him.
‘Hey!’
‘Bite me!’ she said, and bit into it with a juicy crunch before handing it back to him.
Luca finished it and lobbed the core into the basket in the far corner of the room. Then he checked his watch. Itwas almost three. ‘I’m going to head off,’ he said, swinging out of the bed.
‘Don’t go.’ Aisling groaned pettishly, reaching for him, but he was already sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her. ‘Why don’t you stay?’ Her fingers stroked his spine.
Luca sighed. ‘I told you. I’m meeting my father for dinner later, and I want to get some work done before that.’
‘You mean painting?’ She didn’t try to hide the sneer in her voice.
‘Yes, painting.’
‘But that’s the beauty of being your own boss. No one can stop you skiving off for an afternoon whenever you want. I just told Nicola I wouldn’t be back for the rest of the day. I could tell she was livid, but there’s nothing she can do about it.’ Aisling owned a very chic and expensive bag shop in the Powerscourt Centre where, like her stock, she was more decorative than useful.
‘Well, unlike you, no one else can do my work for me.’
‘So take a day off,’ she drawled, in a bored voice. ‘Who cares?’
‘I care,’ he said, standing up and turning to her.
‘You could paint me.’ She spread her arms wide and looked up at him appealingly.
He studied her, his eyes slowly raking the length of her body. She was a beautiful girl, there was no denying that – she had a fit, toned body, soft, well-tended skin, great tits, regular features. But there was something vacuous and bland about her prettiness that held no aesthetic interest for him. There was no character in her face, no little quirk or irregularity to make it interesting. It was flawless, doll-like…boring.
‘Is this new?’ he asked, bending and reaching out withone finger to touch the tattoo at her hip – a cluster of small, coloured stars. He hadn’t seen it before, but it was a long time since they’d last slept together.
‘I got it a couple of weeks ago. What do you think?’
‘It’s cool,’ he said, sitting down beside her, his finger tracing lazily over the tattoo.
‘You’re the first person to see it.’
‘Really? Not even Philip?’
‘No.’ Aisling raised herself up on her elbow. ‘Philip and I are on a break.’
‘Yeah?’
‘You didn’t know?’ She sounded surprised.
‘Why would I?’
‘Well, I’d have thought it was obvious. I mean, do you honestly think I’d be here with you if I was still with Philip?’ she asked indignantly.
‘Honestly? I think you would, yeah,’ he said, with a smirk.
‘Fuck you!’ she said softly, but she wasn’t even trying to hold back her smile. Aisling liked her reputation as a ballsy man-eater. ‘Well, I wouldn’t,’ she said archly. ‘I may play around, but when I’m with someone, I don’t cheat.’
‘Very admirable. You’re almost up there with the Virgin Mary. Lucky for me, then, that I caught you when you were between gigs with Philip.’
‘What makes you think I’m getting back with him?’
‘Because it’s what you and Philipdo. You’ll probably still be breaking up and getting back together when you’re both ninety.’
