Page 142 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

I peered unhappily at the side of his face, he hadn’t broken his gaze from the screen. I gave it five minutes then tried again.

“It feels like you’re mad at me.” I muttered.

Matt sighed, loud and hard. “I’m not.”

“Feels like it.” I shot back.

This time he didn’t bother to respond, he simply pressed the volume control on the remote which I’d failed to wrest from him an hour ago. The circles on my back changed to sweeping up and down caresses. My chin rested atop my crossed arms on top his chest, giving me a clear view of his profile.

“It’s the orchid, right?” I threw it out there. “You’re mad because I kept it.”

His jaw clenched for a split second before he replied, “Don’t be silly, Madi. Can I finish watching the program please?”

Yeah. That was the nail which I’d just hit on the head. If I had known keeping the damned thing would’ve caused Matt to be so infuriatingly detached these past three weeks, I would’ve sent it back with the diamond necklace. But it was so beautiful and rare. And the last form of contact between Dougal McGregor and myself.

Kiss-ageddon. The kiss between Dougie and myself that Matt had happened upon. The kiss that had fractured my friendship with Dougie and sown seeds of doubt in my husband’s piercing eyes whenever he looked at me. Two days afterthekiss, we had received a delivery from one of Dougie’s minions. A caseload of McGregor’s finest aged whiskey for Matt, and an exquisite diamond necklace for me, plus that frigging orchid. I loved my orchid, though.

Matt had taken one look at the necklace and released a stream of expletives that would make a sailor blush, posh voice notwithstanding. Naively, I had pointed out that rich men similar to themselves did crazy things like that as a form of apologizing. I mentioned that Matt himself had bought me jewellery to say sorry.

Matt had glared at me and retorted yes he did, but as he was shagging me it was perfectly acceptable for him to do so. Then he asked, quite coldly, why would McGregor, who wasnotshagging me, think it would be acceptable to send me such a thing? I had shut up then, unable to think up an answer that wouldn’t land me in trouble.

And my orchid. Cymbidium Kiwi Midnight. My black orchid. I knew the name due to Matt’s surprising knowledge of plants. He had taken one look at it before stating resolutely I would no longer be in contact with that ‘piece of shite Scottish bastard’; Matt’s words not mine. I thought it was beautiful. Matt then gave me a little lesson on how orchids have been long thought to provoke and stimulate thesexual consciousness of humans. Again he questioned why Dougie would think it appropriate to send me such a thing. The card which accompanied my gifts had said:a rare flower for a rare lass, forgive me, my wee wild cat.Matt had read the card, arched one eyebrow at me and said, “Wild cat?”

I kept the orchid, used my quick thinking to reason that plants helped the environment by changing Co2 into o2. Matt had shook his head and repeated I was to have no future interactions with Dougie. Honestly, I didn’t want to speak to Dougie; he’d crossed the line and brought a whole lot of unnecessary drama into my home life.

Three weeks later and it continued to feel as if Matt was punishing me for something that wasn’t really my fault. The most hurtful dose of punishment to date had been his absence at the recital we held for our juniors. It had been important to me and I wanted him there but he had missed it. That was the moment I knew things weren’t right between us. Oh, he had a valid excuse. There was a meeting of epic proportions to address their projected annual profit margins, a meeting that had run later than he’d expected. By the time he realised how late it was, well, it was simply too late. I knew his workload pressures had increased to the stage where sometimes he stayed working through the nights at his offices. Adam and Nathan were also burning the candles at both ends. Just yesterday I spoke to Bella and she was not a happy pregnant bunny. But for Matt to not be there when I’d asked him to come? That shit hurt. I had waved his apologies away when he’d returned home and smiled brightly at him as he vowed to make it up to me. A tiny part of me suspected he chose not be there, to punish me because he had yet to forgive me for that stupid kiss. I should have listened to Matt from the very beginning, I should have never been friends with Dougie. He had warned me and I hadn’t listened. Hindsight was always frigging 20-20.

My cell rang from where I left it on the table next to the sofa. Crawling up Matt’s body I reached for it.

“Lovely,” Matt murmured in appreciation as he nuzzled his face in my bosom.

“Urgh.” I groused when I saw the caller id. “It’s your mother.” I slid back to my original position and handed him the phone.

“Soul Sucker?” he drawled in amusement when he saw the name flashing on the screen.

“It was either that or She-who-hates-my-guts.” I laid my head over his chest and closed my eyes. The dull thud of his heartbeat always made me feel safe and warm.

“Hello, Mum,” Matt answered the call, then paused before, “Yes, I know it’s Madi’s mobile – (pause) – she’s somewhere about, on the loo I think,”

I’d been about to kiss his chest in a show of gratitude for him covering for me, but that loo comment stopped me.

“No, she hasn’t mentioned it to me-” Matt gave me a dirty look and I shrugged, already knowing where the conversation was heading. “Yes, I’ll remind her how much time and effort it took to make her a member of your group-”

I mimed shooting myself in the head and Matt mouthed ‘behave’ to me.

“Yes, well, she’s quite busy, Mum-”

I nodded in agreement with his words.

“She works full-time. Where is she going to find the time between running her studio and taking care of me?”

I stifled my laughter in his broad chest and Matt’s free hand stroked my hair before he wrapped a curl around his finger.

“Mum-”

I couldn’t make out what my mother-in-law was saying, but the volume of her voice increased. Matt grimaced and started toying with not just one of my curls but wantonly running his hand through all of them. Did he not understand how easily it could get tangled?

“I’ll tell her, but I know she’s got a lot on her plate at the moment-”

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