Scott kissed her on the lips, biting her bottom lip as he moved away.
‘Maya, I heard what you said the other week.’
‘I don’t know what you mean?’ Though she knew exactly what he meant.
‘When you came just now, I wanted to say the same back to you. But I’d never tell you that or say it out loud, of course.’
‘Of course you wouldn’t.’ Maya felt a warmth flow right through her body.
‘You’ll have to give up one of your part-time jobs, though. I’ve never really liked that red underwear, to be honest.’
Oh God, Maya thought, he knew and hadn’t said a word.
‘I haven’t been enjoying it lately – so that would be fine by me.’
‘Good. Good.’ The professor looked down at Maya’s perfect naked body. ‘Turn over, let me see that dragon of yours.’ He fingered her tattoo, then gently massaged her back from top to bottom. She shivered.
‘Let’s get you warm, shall we?’ He undressed quickly and held himself above her on his forearms. ‘I honestly have never wanted to fuck somebody so much in my whole life. I will rephrase that – Maya Bakova, I want to make love to you.’
Maya had never experienced such tender, loving sex. Her orgasms were like honey through her veins; the feeling of Scott inside her made her want to cry. When they were done, they both lay back on the bed staring up to the ceiling. Scott reached for her hand and stroked her palm lovingly.
Maya snuggled into him. ‘So where do we go from here?’
‘How about nowhere and everywhere?’
They both laughed.
‘That’ll do just fine for now.’
Feeling an extreme peace wash over her, Maya kissed his chest and reached for her cigarettes.
FIFTY-SIX
Gracie felt like she was on the set ofPretty Womanas she entered the five-star central London hotel. The concierge took her up in the lift to the penthouse suite at the top of the building and let her in.
‘Mr Grant will be with you in thirty minutes. He said to help yourself to anything you require while you’re waiting for him.’ He smiled as Gracie’s jaw dropped at the room in front of her before heading back down the corridor.
Left alone, Gracie walked around the penthouse apartment. This really was how the other half lived. It was four times bigger than the flat she had shared with Lewis, full of sumptuous antiques and beautiful fresh flowers. The whole place oozed opulence. She went into the bathroom and gasped at the sunken marble bath. It was surrounded by speakers and two of the softest, whitest bath robes she had ever seen hung up to the side of the mirrored walls.
She checked herself out. She had thought plain was the best way forward, so she had chosen a black shift dress with a white collar and black, high strappy sandals. Her eyes were smoky and her lipstick bright red. Her St Lucia tan accentuated her green eyes and Noms had blow dried her hair so that it was sleek and straight to her shoulders.
She tried not to think about the text Lewis had just sent her, explaining that he hadn’t seen or heard from Annalize since the night they’d had sex. Gracie was trying very hard to put the whole thing out of her mind. She hoped that seeing Leo would be a sufficient distraction – much better than waiting at home, worrying and seething until she could face talking to Lewis properly.
Looking at herself now, she realised that she wasn’t even nervous. This wasn’t ‘a date’. She was by no means Leo Grant girlfriend material. Even the thought of having a casual sexual encounter – whether with a film star or anyone else – wasn’t something she could cope with on top of everything else.
She hadn’t given Ed much thought since the Cornish fiasco. She cared for him, but not enough to care that he hadn’t followed her home. She wasn’t angry; she hadn’t even cried. She obviously didn’t love him. She liked him, but it would be easy to say goodbye and she was sure that would be the outcome when they next met. A meeting yet to be arranged. And today, the shock of the Annalize ‘babygate’ situation had driven out most thoughts of anything else on the planet. Noms had been right, she needed to take her mind away from all that and throw herself into the fantasy world of a Hollywood actor.
She walked through to the bedroom and smiled at the size of the round bed in the centre. It was adorned in cream silk sheets and covered in sumptuous cushions to match the decor. There was a double bath at the end of the bed and French windows that opened to a magnificent view of the whole of the city.
Catapulting herself backwards on the bed she lifted her legs in the air and waggled them. Her laughter was matched by Leo’s as he appeared in the doorway.
‘Gee, my natural woman, that is quite a welcome.’
Gracie jumped up blushing. ‘Shit! I’m sorry.’
Leo mimicked her English accent. ‘Shit! I’m not.’
Gracie flattened down her dress. ‘I thought you’d be longer.’
