‘Okay.’
‘Do you have any questions? Any rules you’d like to add – apart from not getting hung up on you?’
‘Just one question – what’s the name of your blog?’
‘My blog? Why?’
‘I think I should have a look at it, don’t you? So that I have an idea of what we need to cover.’
‘Are you going to make a lesson plan?’ she asked, giggling.
‘Maybe I will. I’m a conscientious worker.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. It’s called “Scenes of a Sexual Nature”.’ She stood up, brushing the creases in her trousers. ‘Well, I’ll see you on Thursday,’ she said, holding her hand out to him in a formal gesture.
He stood, taking it. ‘I still think we should do it now,’ he said softly, his index finger stroking her palm. ‘Just a quickie – to get it out of the way.’
‘Why do you think we should do that?’
‘Because you’ll build it up into a big thing in your head, and then you’ll be nervous on Thursday. If we did it now, you wouldn’t have time to get all worked up about it.’
‘I couldn’t be much more worked up than I already am,’ she said, with a panicky laugh.
‘Relax, Claire,’ he said, as he saw her to the door. ‘There’s nothing to worry about. Learning can be fun – you’ll see.’
Well, that was weird, Luca thought, as he closed the door behind Claire. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her bizarre proposal, and he still couldn’t quite believe he’d agreed to it. But she’d been kind to him the other night when she didn’t have to be and he felt he owed her. Besides, he needed the money. And it would be no hardship to him, having regular no-strings-attached sex with her.
He just hoped he could rely on Claire not to start wanting more – because that never ended well. If he’d learnt one thing in life it was that you couldn’t rely on other people for your happiness, and he certainly didn’t want anyone relying on him – he would only let them down.
He and Ali had been to enough therapists and shrinks throughout their childhood for him to know he had attachment issues. But he was sick of girls who thought they could be the one to cure him of them. He knew he was a bit fucked up, but he was fucked up in a way that worked for him. It was a survival mechanism and it kept everyone safe. Because bad things happened when you started wanting more.
12
The following day was mild and sunny, and Claire met Catherine for lunch in the park. The shop was quiet, so Tom had told her she could take her time.
‘How did it go with Mark?’ Catherine asked, pulling a foil-wrapped roll and a bottle of mineral water from her bag. They were sitting on plastic chairs at the edge of a group of mothers and wriggling, squealing toddlers, who were watching the end of a puppet show. It was part of an all-day children’s event in the park that Catherine was attending as research for a piece she had been commissioned to write on sponsored children’s activities. Paddington was parked beside her in another brand-new state-of-the-art buggy.
‘Great,’ Claire said, as she unwrapped her sandwich on her knee. ‘It went really well.’
Catherine turned to look at her closely. ‘Really?’ she said, her eyes lighting up, and Claire knew that her smile spoke volumes. ‘So, is he as nice as he seems on Twitter?’
‘Yeah, he’s lovely. And it’s official – I have a book deal.’
‘Oh my God, next time wehaveto have champagne.Anyway, congratulations!’ Catherine picked up her bottle of mineral water from the grass and bumped it against Claire’s.
‘Thanks.’ Claire took a bite of her sandwich.
‘And was there flirting?’
Claire smiled and nodded as she chewed. When she had swallowed, she said, ‘There might even have been some kissing.’
Catherine’s eyes widened. ‘Wow, get you!’
‘We met up again on Sunday and hung out until it was time for him to go. It was really nice.’
‘So you managed to pull off the sassy thing, then?’
‘A bit. Yvonne gave me lots of flirting tips, but I didn’t use them much. Mostly I was just myself – or maybe a slightly pimped-up version of myself.’
