‘Yes,’ was all I could manage. ‘Please.’
He curled his fingers against my G-spot and stroked. I shrieked as his thumb found my clit, a sound he swallowed with a kiss. ‘Like this?’
‘Yes.’ It was more a mess of sounds than a word, yanked out of my throat as he found a rhythm. ‘Yes, yes, oh – oh – yes – yes—’
‘Satoshi?’
The knock at the door was like someone had emptied liquid nitrogen over our heads. We both froze, stiff and still as statues.
‘Satoshi?’ Charlotte called again. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but Mr Richardson’s here and—’
‘No worries,’ Satoshi called back. ‘I’ll be right there. Just a second.’
His fingers made a sound that could only be described as a squelch as he took them out of me. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, leaning his forehead against mine. ‘I’m doing a cellar appraisal for this guy. He’s got thousands of bottles – a big spender. I need to—’
‘It’s fine,’ I managed to say. ‘Go, go.’
He kissed me quickly, tugging his shirt hurriedly straight with his left hand. ‘Stay here. Wait for me. I’m not finished with you yet.’
He was out the door before I could reply. I heard water running in the bathroom across the hall as he washed his hands, then the sound of his footsteps echoing as he stepped onto the bar floor.
I took a long, shaking breath.
A second.
A third.
For a few moments, my mind was perfectly, entirely clear, empty of everything except the wordsI’m not finished with you yet.
And then suddenly, like I was a cartoon character standing under a piano, the world crashed back down on my head.
What theactual fuckhad I just let happen?
This was Satoshi.Satoshi.I had let sweet, kind,youngSatoshi Tsukamoto, who could probably sleep with anyone he wanted – who I’d once seen practically crush his boyfriend against an alley wall with the force of his passion – methodically, meticulously catalogue my body to work out what got me off. I’d let him take pity on the poor, sad sex-deprived single mother he’d befriended – no, adopted, like a stray cat – and selflessly slide his hand up her skirt in a gallant act of service so he could give her one second of pleasure in her otherwise miserable existence.
Dots started swimming in front of my eyes, the same way they had in the mediation meeting. I had to get out of here before I died of embarrassment.
I managed to put my underwear back on, but my pantyhose laddered almost instantly. I stuffed them into my handbag with shaking hands.
They weren’t the only thing that was shaking. My whole body was trembling violently, worse than it had been when he’d traced circles around my clit. I could barely stand, but I had to go,I had to go, I had to hold it together long enough to get out of here before he came back and smiled at me with eyes full of well-meaning kindly compassion and said something like,Now, where were we?
‘Got to run!’ I announced as I almost sprinted past the tables, Satoshi and Charlotte’s faces a blur behind the bar (oh fuck,Charlotte,what had she heard?). ‘Thanks so much for tonight – I really appreciate it!’
‘Fiona—’ Satoshi began.
But I was already out the door – and I didn’t know how I could ever go back inside again.
Chapter FourSatoshi
Tasting today: 2019 Etna rosso, Mount Etna, Italy.
Made from nerello grapes grown in volcanic soil, this light red wine can be explosive on the palate. Drinking well now, but its peak is still to come.
‘This isn’t what I ordered,’ the woman said as I set the Aperol spritz down in front of her. ‘I wanted green tea.’
I blinked. Of course. The spritz was for the women at the table near the classics shelf – and there should have been three of them, not just one. ‘My apologies. I’ll sort this out for you right away.’
She didn’t seem particularly offended, but of course, Isamu chose that moment to walk in. ‘Problem?’ he asked, joining me behind the bar.
