Page 74 of Knots About You
‘Of course you are, and I’m heading this way too, so we may as well get to know one another a little. I just wanted to say a quick word, woman to woman. I hate the thought of you… stumbling into the same little potholes I did.’
Potholes? What was she on about?
‘I’m fine, thank you.’
‘It’s just, well, you know how Owen is. So gentle. So thoughtful. It’s all so lovely. Until it’s not.’ Becky glanced at me, like we were conspirators. ‘Let me guess? He told you that I did something bad?’
‘You blackmailed him.’
Becky gave a tinkly laugh that dripped through me like acid.
‘As if that’s the lies he spun? Honestly, and I bet everyone believed him. Makes sense. I didn’t grow up here, just a lost soul who stumbled in one day and was saved by a hot kilted wonder. They make you feel like family, until they decide you’re not.’
My teeth scraped as my jaw tensed.
Just like me.
No. I trusted Owen. Becky was trying to freak me out. I walked faster, wanting to cut her off as soon as possible.
‘I bet he pretended he was all about pleasing you? And gawd he’s good with that tongue. Did he make you hold off on touching him, too, hmm? What better way to make a woman desperate to please than to make her feel like the only one who can get into his mind? He said the same to me…’
The sweetness cloyed in my throat like powdered sugar.
‘You don’t even know me,’ I said.
‘No, I don’t. I wish I’d known myself better back then, if I’m honest.’ Her voice softened, her face in a pitying mask. ‘Owen is very good at tenderness. It’s one of the things that makes him… addictive. The aftercare, the attention. So when you find yourself doing dirty things, you tell yourself it’s love, don’t you?’
‘Nothing we do isdirty.’ I enjoyed the rope and the power games. I might enjoy pleasing Owen, but I didn’t play the kinky gamesfor him. I played themwith him.
‘Well, isn’t that a relief? I only mean he probably framed things aswoe is me, Becky hurt me, I’m not like other guys. And before you know it, you’re on your knees proving what a good girl you can be for him.’
My face blazed. She was lying. Owen wasn’t like that.
Becky’s eyes dipped to my wrist as we turned down the lane toward the square, to the faint rope marks that lined my wrist. Her eyes glittered.
‘Oh, sweetheart, you don’t have to let him tie you up. If a man needs that to get hard around you, he isn’t worth it. It’s all fun and games until it isn’t.’
Heat crawled up my neck. Had Owen really said the same things to Becky? Was it all a charade?
A wave of nausea roiled in my stomach.
‘He’s not a monster. He… needs to be the saviour. And if you buck back, the stories come. A difficult woman. A misunderstanding. I’d hate that for you.’
‘You don’t get to insert yourself into what we have,’ I said with a quake in my voice.
‘Oh, Claire.’ She touched my arm lightly, like we were friends. ‘I’m warning you because I wish someone had warned me. I’m being blunt because Icare.’
I stopped in my tracks. She turned and placed her hands on my shoulders.
‘We all want to be wanted. It’s not a crime. Just take care of yourself, okay?’
‘You should go,’ I managed.
The look she gave me made me feel like a stupid child. ‘Welcome to Otterleigh, love.’
Anger filled me as she turned and tottered away, looking every bit like an absolute sweetheart. Around me, life continued. Someone shouted for a dog, a toddler sang an indiscernible song, and Trevor mocked me from Rose Cottage’s roof.
A series of images flashed in my head as I stumbled through the gate and let myself into the house.
