Rubbing the area, he turned away, ‘OK, let’s see you practise that with your partners. Gently,gently!’
Hughie strolled away to correct someone’s perception of where the vital point was and Honor glanced over to Martyn, who had propped his elbow on his knee and propped his chin in his hand. Even across the hall, his dark eyes were intense. She could see why advertisers loved him smouldering out at women from moody images. One corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smiles and her heart gave a greatboingggg—
‘Now, Honor,’ boomed Hughie, right beside her. ‘I’m going to grab you by your hair.’
Honor, her eyes still locked to Martyn’s, felt her gaze turn into an accusingWho got me into this?Martyn’s smile widened into a boyish grin. And Honor had the feeling that she wasslipping sideways, even though she could tell that her feet were planted on the floor.
* * *
Climbing back into Martyn’s big black BMW, it seemed that Rufus had discovered enthusiasm for self-defence. ‘That was wicked! That button at the base of your throat kills if you press it, doesn’t it, Honor?’
‘It really does.’
Ru gloated over his new power. ‘I hope Frog tries something soon so I can press his button.’
Honor turned to look at him over the seat. ‘Have you had trouble with him, this week?’
Instantly, Ru switched his gaze to the view from the side window. ‘Not really. He’s said some stuff, y’know, that he’s got his eye out for me. I said that he nearly had his eye out — when you poked him with a chip. I told everyone at school about you beating him up with fish and chips, so he’s been ripped a bit.’
‘I didn’t exactly beat him up,’ protested Honor, uneasily. ‘I just kind of . . . stopped him. What does it mean to rip someone?’
‘To tease,’ said Martyn. ‘That’s the clean version. Ru, I agree it’s good to stand up to bullies but do you think it’s the best thing to do, to get people ripping Frog?’
‘Yeah,’ said Ru, dreamily. ‘So he knows what it feels like.’
Martyn dropped Ru in Saltdean to meet up with one of his few mates from school, which, handily, meant that there was little risk of Robina seeing Ru with Martyn.
Then he drove the big vehicle up to the bungalow and parked in Honor’s drive. It was darkening early, this evening, as inky clouds marched in from the ocean. His face was lit by the various dials on the dashboard, making him look like the cover art for a paranormal novel.
He got out of the car.
Honor slid out on to the drive, and shut the door. ‘I guess that as you were so kind as to drive me to that scary class it would be remiss of me not to offer coffee. But I don’t have decaff.’
‘I’m not religious about decaff. Why was it scary?’ He stood back to allow her to go first up the steps.
She began to fish for her key. ‘Hughie may be one of the good guys but I don’t warm to someone who says he’s going to choke me. I wish I hadn’t been the smallest person in class, I would much rather have hung out at the back and been less noticeable.’
‘Funny how the smallest person there was also the prettiest,’ he observed, drily.
‘He chose me because I’m lightest.’
He laughed, softly. ‘If I had the choice between getting up close and personal with you or with those lumpy pensioners, I’d find some reason to choose you, too.’ And then, when she didn’t answer, ‘Funny that you’re freaked by the classes but you dealt with Frog without batting an eye.’
‘Anger can do that. It’s been said that I have anger management issues.’ Stef had said it, as she’d hurled stuff at him. She veered away from the memory of that ugly scene, of Stef trying to laugh off his own unbelievable stupidity and tell her that she was overreacting to a joke. Pretty serious joke!
* * *
Martyn followed Honor up on to the patio and waited whilst she unlocked the front door to the bungalow and stepped through the hall and into the kitchen, flicking on lights, whizzing the kitchen blind down, filling the tall, white kettle. She’d gone all silent and abstracted, but there was something satisfying about watching her go through the cosy rituals of coming home, sexy in her combat trousers.
To distract himself from the velvet glide of desire he broke the silence, propping himself against the wall, arms folded and legs crossed. ‘Where do you think of as home, these days? Here or America?’
She paused in reaching for two tall, white china mugs. Taking down a jar of coffee, she shrugged and frowned. ‘Good question.’
But just as she opened her mouth to say more, the front doorbell wentbing-bongand she looked relieved. ‘I have a visitor.’ And before he could unwind his limbs and suggest that he do the big butch man thing and check out who was ringing her bell as the clock rolled around to ten at night, she’d skipped past him.
‘Wow! Hello,’ he heard. ‘Of course it’s convenient — come on in.’ Then his heart sank. ‘I’m just making coffee for your brother, who was kind enough to drive me home. Maybe you’ll join us?’
And before Martyn even had time to curse about it, Clarissa, Zoë, Beverley and Nicola came crowding into the kitchen, each distinguished from the others mainly by the style in which she wore her mouse-brown hair. They milled around him like unsteady Munchkins, giving him the opportunity to see that Honor, although daintier, actually stood more than half-a-head taller than any of them. Pink and grinning, his sisters hugged him enthusiastically, yanking down his head to plant alcohol-rich kisses on his cheeks, ‘Hi, Martyn!’, dragging out kitchen chairs and making themselves at home. Which Clarissa was, kind of, he supposed.
