‘We should all go, and give Claire a break,’ Michelle said, smiling kindly at Claire. ‘You’ve been visiting every day, haven’t you?’
‘Yeah, but I don’t mind.’ She wanted to tell Michelle that spending time with her mother wasn’t an irksome chore on a par with grocery shopping or doing the ironing, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing.
‘Well, you can have a day off tomorrow,’ Michelle said. ‘We’ll take over and you can have a nice rest.’
Claire was relieved when the children started importuning her to play with them again, happy to let them pull her away to bounce with them on the trampoline.
She felt weary and ground down by the time she got to Luca’s. His friendly face and sweet, welcoming smile were balm to her battered soul, and she was sorry she hadn’t come back earlier. In fact, she was sorry she’d ever left his bed that morning. Now that she was there, she was desperate for him to put his arms around her, aching for him to hold her and kiss her. The longing to feel close to someone had become almost a physical pain.
‘Have you eaten?’ he asked, when they got inside. ‘Do you want to?—’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry. Could we just…’ She nodded to the bedroom.
‘Get right down to it? Sure.’
‘It’s just I haven’t had any time with you today so…’ She would scream if he didn’t put his arms around her in the next ten seconds, but she couldn’t exactly tell him that. ‘Do you mind?’
‘No, of course not.’ He frowned at her in concern. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ She had forgotten how intensely Luca looked at you – like he could see right into you. She was unable to hold his gaze. ‘I just don’t want to waste any more time.’
He continued to study her face for another minute, and she could only hope she didn’t look as close to the edge as she felt. ‘Okay, no problem,’ he said finally. Then he sauntered into the bedroom, and Claire followed him.
She expected him to pull her into his arms as soon as they went in, but to her consternation, he sat on the edge of the bed, leaving her standing by the window.
He leant back on his hands and gazed up at her. ‘Take your clothes off,’ he said.
‘What?’ she breathed, her voice barely audible.
‘Your clothes,’ he said, his eyes glittering. ‘Take them off.’
She drew a breath to protest, but checked herself when she saw the implacable glint in his eyes and understood. This was a lesson. It was what she was here for, after all, wasn’t it? Blushing furiously, she grabbed her top by the hem and pulled it over her head. She willed him to close the distance between them and do the rest for her.
‘Go on.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Keep going,’ he said, nodding at her bra.
Oh, shit. He wasn’t going to meet her halfway. She really couldn’t cope with this, today of all days. She felt dangerously close to tears. ‘I can’t,’ she said.
‘You can’t? How do you get undressed at night when I’m not there?’
She threw him an angry look. ‘You know what I mean. I can’t just stand here and strip in cold blood while you watch.’ She sighed, hanging her head. ‘I’m shy. What’s wrong with that? Why does everyone have to be sassy and?—’
‘There’s nothing wrong with it,’ he interrupted her. ‘I happen to find it really sweet – and quite a turn-on, actually. I like shy girls.’ He grinned. ‘It’s so much fun overcoming their inhibitions.’
‘Well, then?—’
He sat up, eyeballing her. ‘But whatIlike doesn’t matter, does it? What turnsmeon is neither here nor there. It’s not me you’re trying to impress.’
‘Oh. I suppose not.’
‘No. So…’ He looked at her expectantly.
Claire sighed. She would just have to get this over with – the quicker the better, like ripping off a plaster. It would be worth it to be wrapped in Luca’s arms again. And the sooner she got naked, the sooner she’d be there. She yanked open the button of her jeans and started hurriedly pulling down the zip as she kicked off her shoes.
‘Claire?’
