‘How big are we talking?’
‘I’m not answering that.’
She heaved a resigned sigh. ‘Fair enough, so you’re gonna tell him that it was a one-time thing?’
I nodded resolutely. ‘That’s all it was. One moment of temporary insanity. So hopefully everything can go back to normal now.’
Rosie’s expression told me she didn’t believe a word out of my mouth.
‘Is that what you want?’
Forcing a confident smile, I said, ‘Yes.’
A bored voiceannounced over the loudspeaker that the shop would close in fifteen minutes. I looked down at my half-empty basket, trying to remember what else I needed to get.Everything. I needed to get everything because I had no food at home.
Food shopping at night was bad enough, but food shopping on an empty stomach was a terrible idea. As I dashed down every aisle, the growling in my stomach grew loud enough that an elderly lady with curly white hair flashed me an odd look as I passed.
I was searching through the frozen section, staring at the ready meals, when my phone buzzed. The deep bass of Taylor Swift’s The Man sounding from my pocket.
Grimacing, I took my phone out, already knowing who I’d assigned that ringtone to.
Avoidance could only work for so long. And apparently, three days was Oliver’s limit to the silent treatment. Afterthis call clicked off, with me still staring at the screen, it flared to life again.
I took a deep breath and clicked the green button. Anticipation making all the muscles in my body tighten.
‘Has there been a death in the family?’ Came Oliver’s immediate response. My mouth turned as dry as sandpaper at the sound of his voice. The voice that only days before I’d heard panting in my ear, telling me all the dirty things he wanted to do to me.
Keep your head.I needed this job. I couldn’t afford to get sidetracked. Not by family, friends and especially not by Oliver Blake’s dick. Forcing confidence into my voice, I said, ‘Uh, no.’
Without missing a beat Oliver continued, ‘Did you suddenly find religion and decide to go on a three day silent retreat?’
I could tell from his tone that he was frustrated and the band of guilt that had wrapped around my lungs squeezed tightly.
‘No,’ I sighed.
‘So, if neither of those things has occurred, I’m going to assume that you’ve been ignoring me.’
I didn’t have it in me to lie. But aside from that, I knew he didn’t deserve that. So as much as it pained me to admit, I uttered a soft, ‘Yes.’
My acquiescence seemed to lift the lid on his frustration, ‘I know it’s not because of my skills in bed. Three orgasms told me that I was doing just fine.’
‘I could have been faking.’ That thought was laughable. Oliver had given me such mind-blowing orgasms the other night, he had me questioning whether I’d ever actually come with a partner before.
‘Were you?’ His voice dipped low, daring me to lie to him. My silence told him enough. He huffed out atriumphant laugh. ‘See. You can call me a sex god if you wish.’
I groaned, ‘I’m really regretting answering the phone now.’
‘Come on, Pooh. Why have you been ignoring me?’ It was the tenderness in his voice that made me pull up short. Reminding me why I couldn’t get caught up in this… caught up inhim.
‘I don’t want to fuck this up,’ I said desperately. ‘Ican’tfuck this up Oliver. That night was great-‘
‘Great?’he shrieked, as if the mere idea that a night with him could be anything less than life-changing was offensive.
‘Fine. It was incredible. Amazing. Your dick should be classified as a secret weapon.’
The lady who had heard my stomach rumble loudly a few aisles ago, unfortunately happened to wander past as those words left my mouth. Her lips pursed in distaste and she tutted, giving me a wide berth as she passed. I smiled sheepishly at her before ducking my head, pressing the phone closer to my ear.
‘That’s more like it.’
