Apparently, I was wrong.
Striding toward the house, I glanced down at my T-shirt that was smeared with mud and damp with sweat. I should really head upstairs for a shower first, but my priority was to check in on Allegra. Rounding the house, I headed toward the mudroom. The sound of music hit my ears before I even opened the door. A song blared in the kitchen and my first feeling was agitation. Anyone could catch my wife unaware when she was listening to music that loudly.
I stifled the irritation because tomorrow it wouldn’t be an issue. We’d have the security system in place, and I was going to insist she arm it when she was home alone. Just until this whole strange mess had blown over.
Toeing off my boots, I cocked my head as I realized she was listening to what sounded like jazz. It wasn’t her usual thing. We shared a taste for a decent amount of the same bands. As I walked through the mudroom, Allegra came into view at the kitchen counter. She was washing dishes, her perfect heart-shaped arse swaying in exaggeration as she crooned along with the woman singing out of her phone. Instead of her usual tee and shorts, she wore a short summer dress. A strappy wee number that was sexier than I think she probably realized. Allegra had gorgeous fucking legs that went on for days. The hem of her dress fluttered with her movements, dangerously close to flashing her knickers.
The song was a jazz version of “Creep” by Radiohead.
Leaning on the doorframe with my arms crossed over my chest, I let my gaze roam over my wife as she sang, with not a bad voice, actually, along with the woman. I was relieved to see her enjoying life amid the madness. Yet I also sensed that familiar hunger no amount of sex with her seemed to satiate.
“I’m a weirdo!” Allegra yell-sang turning on the balls of her feet, hair flying. “Whahhh!” Her hand flew to her chest as she caught sight of me.
I chuckled as she shot me an embarrassed glare that immediately turned into laughter.
“How long have you been there?”
Walking over to her phone, I tapped the screen to switch off the song. “That’s something you’d know if you could hear anything.”
“I thought I was alone.” She huffed, turning back to the sink.
With a gentle touch on her arm, I stopped her from turning away from me. I kept my tone soft. “Exactly. I just want you to be safe until we know who is behind the animal attacks.”
Her eyes shone as she nodded. “I get it.”
Brushing a soft kiss across her cheek, I stepped past her to wash my hands at the sink. Amusement bubbled on my lips. “So, apparently, sex with me is mind-blowing.”
There was silence at my back for a second, so I glanced over my shoulder.
Allegra gaped at me comically. “Who told you?”
Shoulders shaking with laughter, I turned to lean against the counter. “When are you going to realize that you can’t say shit like that in public here and have it not get around the entire village by the end of the day?”
“Seriously?”
I nodded, grinning. “So …?”
She threw her hands up, a faint flush of red on the crests of her cheeks. “Okay, so, Sadie … such a cool person and I can totally see why you went there. But her friend Ursula. Ugh. You should have heard what she said to me. I am not one of those catty women, getting into bitch fights. I avoided mean girls at school like the plague, but she wasrude.” Allegra gestured dramatically. “Like, so rude.”
Annoyance cut through my amusement. I’d never liked Ursula. She was married and had come on to me multiple times behind her husband’s and Sadie’s backs.
Sadie was a different story. I’d first slept with her maybe a year after moving to Ardnoch. She was ten years older than me, a single mum, and she’d made it clear she didn’t mind a hookup. I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea, so I’d never gone back for thirds. We’d remained friends, though.
Then five years ago, on the night I met Allegra, I went home with Sadie. I’d done it to prove to myself I just needed to get laid,that whatever spark I felt with Allegra was nothing but lust. All I’d proven was that I was an arsehole for using one woman to forget another. I never slept with Sadie again, and she was cool with it. Ursula, however, had acted pissed ever since, like she somehow had anything to do with it. “What did she say?”
That Allegra wouldn’t meet my eyes was cause for concern. “Just what I already knew. That you’d been around. I didn’t … I didn’t know you were interested in ReganandEredine, though.”
Fucking Ursula. This fucking village. I huffed. “I flirted with them. Years and years ago, before either of them got with their husbands. What the hell is Urs doing bringing that shit up?”
She finally met my eyes and some of the tension drained out of me at the warmth in them. “She … she’s jealous. Of me. Maybe even of Sadie.”
I grimaced. “Aye, she might have made her interest in me clear in the past. But I don’t sleep with married women, and even if she weren’t married, I wouldn’t touch Ursula if my life depended on it. She’s always been one of these people who covets what others have and is really fucking angry about everything.”
“Well, maybe she took your rejection out on me because she certainly wanted to bring me down a peg. Apparently, you only married me for my money.” She smirked, but I noted a hint of uncertainty there.
Fuck.
Fucking Ursula.
