Page 90 of For Love or Money
‘It’s only nine o’clock!’ Scott said, looking at her in astonishment.
‘Yes, but ... we have an early start in the morning. I need to marshal my strength for the big hike.’
Scott grinned. ‘You just can’t wait to get Al into bed.’
‘Okay, you got me,’ she said with a laugh.
‘I’ll find those boots for you,’ Jane said, getting up.
‘I’ll follow you up shortly,’ Al called after her.
‘Oh!’Al froze in the doorway of their bedroom, eyes widening. ‘Um ... Lesley, you know I was joking about that look, right?’ He nodded at her as she paraded up and down their room in her bikini and Jane’s walking boots.
‘You don’t like it?’ She struck a pose in front of the full-length cheval mirror.
Al gulped. ‘Um ... I think it looks great. You should definitely wear that outfit tomorrow.’
Lesley laughed. ‘Dream on! Jane just said I should walk around in the boots a bit to wear them in.’ She’d been getting undressed and had already stripped down to her bikini when Jane had turned up with the boots, so she’d decided to walk around the bedroom a bit to break them in.
‘Good idea,’ Al nodded, not taking his eyes off her. ‘You were wrong about it not looking good, by the way.’
‘You think?’ Lesley turned to him, her hands on her hips.
‘Absolutely! You look fantastic. But then you’d look good in anything.’
Lesley blushed, but felt a little curl of pleasure at the compliment. Rob had never said things like that to her. But sometimes the way Al looked at her made her feel quite hot and bothered.
She started pacing again. ‘So you know why I was so keen to get you up here?’
‘Unfortunately, I am all too aware that it’s not because you couldn’t wait to ravish me.’ Al sat down on the bed. ‘You walk, we’ll talk.’
‘What do you think that was all about today?’ she asked. ‘Do you think Stella really is Joanna?’
‘It seems possible,’ Al said. ‘Sheisvery cagey about her past.’
‘And she seemed a bit shaken up by the whole thing.’
‘I don’t think that Adam guy was really convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity.’
‘No,’ Lesley said, ‘but it was strange the way he backed off. It was like he was in on some secret that he realised Stella didn’t want us to know.’
‘But why would she have changed her name? I mean, that’s pretty radical, isn’t it?’
‘Usually when people change their identity, they’re either running away from a bad situation or—’
‘Or they’ve done something they need to distance themselves from.’
‘What if she’s already married and she’s planning to be a bigamist with Peter?’ Lesley had a brief image of herself coming up with the crucial evidence just in time to stand up at Peter and Stella’s wedding and declare the existence of an impediment, like inJane Eyre. But exciting as that would be, she wouldn’t like to do that to Stella on her wedding day, even if shewastrying to marry Peter under false pretences – not without at least giving her a chance to explain herself.
‘It could be even more sinister than that,’ Al said.
‘Like being a black widow,’ Lesley said thoughtfully. ‘Maybe she’s done this before – married some rich old geezer and bonked him to death.’
‘Or she could be on the run from an abusive ex.’
‘She did tell me she’d deleted all of her social media accounts because an old boyfriend was stalking her.’
‘Oh, that’s good,’ Al said. ‘As a lead, I mean,’ he added as Lesley threw him a disapproving look.
