Page 26 of Fool Me Twice

“Don’t be silly.” Bex ran her eyes appreciatively over his body without shame. “You’re in much better shape than a lot of twenty-five-year-olds, I know. And I’m sure you’ve still got plenty of...” She paused meaningfully, nibbling at her bottom lip. “...stamina.”

Oh God, I walked right into that, didn’t I?

“But they’re all so immature.” She patted down her body with a towel, lingering a little longer than necessary over her breasts. “Only interested in going out and getting piss— drunk with their friends.” She reached up and unclipped her hair, shaking out the golden mass. “I prefer men who are more mature, more sophisticated and worldly.” She flicked her head from side to side, her hair flying around her like honey. “But I bet you were a bit of a boy in your time, eh?”

“Me? No.” Peter shook his head. “I wasn’t into all that rock-star wild-living bullshit.”

“No?” Bex seemed disappointed. “But I bet someone like you had girls throwing themselves at you wherever you went.”

“Not really. I was married by the time we made it big.”

“Aw.” She inclined her head sadly. “So, you missed out on all the fun? Stuck at home with the wife and kids.”

“We didn’t have any kids.”

“But I thought Jaxon was your son. Ah.” Her eyes widened with realisation. “So, you weren’t such a goody two shoes after all.” She smirked. “Is that why your wife left you? Because she’d found out you’d been a naughty boy?”

“She didn’t leave me.” Peter took a deep breath. “She died.”

“That’s a shame,” she said, fluffing out her hair as she admired her reflection in the window. “Still, I bet you made up for lost time afterwards.”

Seriously? Was this girl for real? He’d just told her about his wife dying, and she hadn’t missed a beat, just kept on with her self-serving fishing expedition. If he didn’t get away from her soon, he felt like his head might explode. “I’d better go. It’s time for my meds,” he lied. He had no idea what time it was; he felt like he’d slipped into a parallel universe where time had stood still.

“Okay. Do you want me to help you back to your room?”

“I can manage.” Peter winced as he picked up his towel.

“Are you sure? I can give you a quick massage, get rid of those kinks in your shoulder if you like.”

“No.” Peter backed away. “I’m good, just a bit stiff, that’s all.”

Bex smirked. “I’ve got something for that as well.” She winked.

Peter felt his cheeks burn. Did she just proposition him? Or did she just mean she had some ointment or oil? He wasn’t going to hang around to find out. “No, honestly. I just need to take my medication and have a nap.” He’d deliberately used the word “nap”, hoping to head off any offer or comments she might have made if he’d said he was going to bed or for a lie-down.

“Okay.” She bent down to retrieve something from her bag. “This is my private mobile number, in case you need anything,” she said, slipping what looked like a business card into the waistband of his swimming shorts. “And I mean anything.”

“Er, will do. Right, I’ll...” He pointed to the door.

“Same time next week?”

“Yes, fine.” He limped away as quickly as he could, the jerky movements jarring his knee. As soon as he was inside and away from Bex, he slowed down and hobbled more gently back to his room.

How the hell am I going to get out of that?

Chapter fifteen

“Good session?” Evie asked when he joined her for lunch.

“Yeah, great,” he said, avoiding her eyes as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

“You two seem to get on well together.”

“Hmm.” He nodded, not wanting to give Evie that satisfaction of admitting he was having second thoughts about hiring Bex and that maybe he should have listened to her. “She’s a nice girl.”

“She’s very pretty.”

“Is she?” he replied offhandedly, aware that Evie was watching him. Did she really think he was stupid enough to fall for that? “I hadn’t really noticed.” He shrugged, wincing at the burning sensation shooting across his back.

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