Page 18 of Love, Accidentally

‘Was that OK?’ he asks sheepishly. ‘I’m a little out of practice.’

‘Yeah, well, I think we’d better get upstairs before we practise anything else. Come on.’ I grab his hand and pull him towards the staircase, eager to get him into my bedroom and preferably naked as soon as possible. Mike’s at work, so we’ll have the place to ourselves, and I intend to take full advantage of that fact.

We pause on the landing, ostensibly for me to find my keys, but somehow we end up kissing again, hot and breathless, both of us evidently eager for the next step. All Luke’s shy formality and supposed lack of experience has gone out of the window; he certainly seems to know how to push my buttons all of a sudden. His hand is starting to snake inside my top now and, although I very much want it to go there, I am just about still aware enough to know that this isn’t the place.

‘Inside,’ I growl as I shove the key in the lock and open the door. ‘I have plans for you, doctor.’

‘Oh, yes?’ His voice is breathy. ‘Tell me more, nurse.’

‘Well, there’s a nasty swelling in your groin. I’m going to need to get a good look at that, for starters. We might need to perform a special procedure to help it go down.’

‘Oh, really?’ Lena’s voice says from the sofa with a laugh. ‘Do tell me more.’

Fuck!What the bloody hell is she doing here?

‘Not interrupting anything, am I?’ she asks nonchalantly as Luke and I frantically try to disconnect and look innocent.

‘I thought you were visiting your parents today?’ I say sheepishly.

‘I was, but then something went wrong with the washing machine, so I had to be around to let Dave here in to fix it.’

This just keeps getting worse. I turn to find a workman in the kitchen, eyeing me with evident curiosity. I can practically feel my libido draining away and, looking at Luke, it seems the same might be true for him.

‘Are you going to introduce me to your friend?’ Lena asks, evidently enjoying herself now.

‘Umm, fine. Yes. Luke, this is my flatmate Lena, and Lena, this is my friend Luke.’

‘Not being funny, but you two looked a little more than friendly when you came in,’ she remarks blandly. ‘You should have let me know you were expecting company. I’d have made myself scarce, although I’m not sure what I’d have done about Dave.’

‘I think I’d better go,’ Luke says, turning towards the door.

‘Nonsense,’ Lena tells him, patting the sofa beside her. ‘Any friend of Tilly’s is a friend of mine. Why don’t you come and sit down next to me, we’ll get Tilly to make some coffees in that ridiculous machine that no sensible human could ever be expected to figure out, and we’ll get to know each other, hmm? Would you like a coffee, Dave?’

‘Love one,’ Dave replies.

Luke looks at me, evidently unsure what to do. I can tell he’d like to leave, but I know I won’t see him for ages again if he does, and I’m keen to salvage something from this mess. Part of me considers just dragging him into my room anyway, but it would be obvious what we were up to, even if the lousy soundproofing didn’t mean Lena and Dave would be able to hear everything.

‘Stay,’ I tell him, before leaning in close. ‘Maybe she’ll go out once the machine is done.’

That seems to be enough to persuade him, and he reluctantly perches himself on the sofa next to Lena, who looks like a praying mantis getting ready to decapitate him.

‘Did I hear Tilly say you were a doctor, Luke?’ Lena begins as I reach into the cupboard for mugs.

‘Yes, that’s right. We work together in A&E,’ he tells her.

‘How lovely.’ Her voice is pure honey. ‘I’m a doctor myself, although most of my work is in field hospitals in the middle of war zones. There’s nothing like being on the front line of life and death to stir your libido. Some of the most passionate encounters I’ve had have been in the strangest places. There was this one time, in fact, where we were in a Land Rover, heading for a village, when we were attacked. We had to run and hide in some caves until nightfall. I was with this guy, Benjamin. Probably twenty years younger than me and terrified; it was his first time being shot at, you know? Anyway, he was a bit shaken up, so I put my arm around him to reassure him and it certainly woke the beast in him. We had an extremely happy few weeks together.’

‘What happened?’ Luke asks.

‘Oh, he was careless and ended up getting shot in the leg and invalided home. It happens. Nice boy though.’

‘And you didn’t try to keep in contact?’

‘No. What happens in the field stays in the field. It’s best for everyone that way. Some of these people are married. They’re not looking to wreck their relationships, it’s just a release in a hostile environment. The fewer people who know, the better.’

‘Was Benjamin married? Are you?’

She laughs dryly. ‘Good Lord, no. But it still wouldn’t translate. Take away the jeopardy and I’m just a forty-something woman and he’s a twenty-something baby. You need the danger to provide the glue.’

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