Page 30 of Broken Hero
Chapter Six
Sophie
“You know this is a two-night thing, right?” He stares down at my bags.
I may have gone alittleoverboard.
“I can't help it. I’m wearing my travel outfit obvs, I need my casual outfit for tonight, dressy outfit for Saturday night - another travel outfit for Sunday, and there’s the whole spa thing - I have no idea - because you have no idea - what I’ll need. You are useless, by the way. So, I have packed my bikini, towel, cover-up, flip flops, and there’s all my makeup and hair stuff - so I need all this.”
He stares at me. “Have you just reeled off all the contents of your bag to me? Why do you think I would be interested in that shit?”
“Hey! You were the one complaining about all my stuff. I was justifying it!”
He sighs. “Fine. But I have this little holdall and my suit carrier, and you have all this - I don't get it.”
I motion up and down my body. “You think this takes no effort? This takes effortandaccessories. Now shut up and get on with loading the car.”
His eyes rake down my body. My body heats up under his stare. My outfit is spot on for travelling - it's light grey yoga pants that fit in all the right places, and a fitted black t-shirt, only simple, but it’s how it fits that's the key. I have my hair tied up in a messy top bun - the messy bun that took me an hour to perfect. It took me around the same time to apply my makeup to make it look like I'm not wearing any. This being a woman gig is exhausting. Of course, Icouldhave just thrown on leggings, slapped my hair up and not worn any makeup, but that is not me. That thought makes me want to come out in hives.
He clears his throat. “No, you look good - I’ll give you that.”
“Well, you know, my boyfriend for the weekend is hot, so I want people to think he’s not punching below his weight.”
I feel like an extra special effort needs to be made this weekend - I want to impress his boss so that he can get his promotion - if he decides he wants it.
He smiles a warm, genuine smile. “I don't think that would ever be in question somehow. So, you’re sure you want to go all out? Pretend that we're together?”
I shrug. It was me that suggested we go all-in on this. Might as well go the whole hog. It was why he was inviting me to this thing in the first place. One other guy from the station is going with his wife, and he knows the truth, but I figured if we look like we’re in a relationship, it’ll be more believable. I mean, jeez, we live together, eat together, I've gotten to know him well these last few weeks, so I think I’ll be able to be pretty convincing.
“Yeah, I want you to impress ‘Mr Chauvinistic’ boss man. Don't worry, I won't be too full on.” The thought of touching him, maybe even kissing him, makes my insides turn to liquid. I don't know how I'm going to do it without giving away the fact that I fancy the pants off him.
“It's not that...”
“What is it then?”
He looks like he’s going to say something but changes his mind. “I don't want you to be bowled over by my charm and end up falling in love with me.”
I roll my eyes. “I will try hard not to let my feelings run away with me, Big Guy.”
He’s joking, but he has no idea how close he is to the truth. Living with him for weeks is now torture. I’ve never wanted a man so much in all my life. I've never even seen him undressed - you would think in the weeks since I moved in that I would have gotten a glimpse of him in his boxers by now - but nothing. How long does a girl have to wait?
He smirks and picks up my bags as though they’re filled with cotton wool, the ones I had to haul down the stairs with all my might, I watch him carry them down the drive to his car. He bends over and I take in the view. Ah...heaven. The way his t-shirt stretches over his toned shoulders, wow, I want to run my hands over them.
I contemplate running upstairs and digging out my vibrator because I've got a feeling I'm going to need it. Hmmm, should I? I’m turned on watching him put my suitcases in the car, so I think I'm going to need it. I dash upstairs and look through my underwear draw until I find my little bullet vibrator. Yeah, that will do the trick when I have a shower, he’ll never know, and it will release the sexual tension. Bloody hell, I think I need to use it now. But no time for that, so I pop it in my handbag and head back downstairs.
He’s leaning on the car with his arms folded, eyebrows raised, foot tapping. “You forget something else?”
“Yeah, shut up. I'm ready now, let's go.” If only he knew what I’d been back upstairs for.
The drive to the country house consists of me talking my head off and my play-list - oh yes - we had Bon Jovi, we had dance tunes, we had many songs - most of which Dec hated, so I did relent after a while and put a few of his song choices on my Spotify playlist. I wouldn't admit it to him, but he has good taste. He's into Coldplay, Elbow and other bands that play similar music.
As we pull up to the country house, nerves start to kick in - for a fleeting second, I wish that Tom couldn't switch my shift. I'm a little daunted.
“Wow, this place is massive!”
“It is. I've never been before. I didn't realise how big it was.”
