Frisky Business (41 page)

Just then, the doorbell rang.

‘That’ll be the taxi,’ Sarah said, getting up.

Ethan stood and grabbed Sarah’s coat from the back of a chair, holding it open for her like a waiter in a restaurant.

‘Jesus, Ethan,’ she said, snatching it from him, ‘just because I have a vagina doesn’t mean I’m completely helpless. I’m quite capable of putting my coat on all by myself.’

‘Sorry,’ Ethan said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. ‘I’ll just see you out.’ He followed the two girls out to the front door, and they could be heard saying their goodbyes.

Romy raised her eyes questioningly at Kit. ‘What the hell?’

‘They’re
both exes of Ethan’s,’ he said.

‘Oh, right.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Do you think he …?’ It was obvious both girls had spent the night, but surely Ethan hadn’t, not in his parents’ house.

‘Shagged them both? Wouldn’t put it past him.’

Before they could say any more, the front door closed and Ethan came back into the kitchen.

‘Now that you’ve got rid of your harem, are you ready to go?’ Kit asked him.

‘Sure.’

‘We don’t have to leave right away,’ Romy said. ‘You can finish your … breakfast.’ She glanced at the bowl of chocolate sponge.

‘Great!’ He grinned, sitting back down at the table. ‘Would you like some of my welcome-home pudding?’ he asked, holding out a piece to her on a spoon. ‘This is the last of it.’

‘No, thanks.’ God, he was incorrigible. Those girls were barely out the door and he was flirting with her.

‘And it’s not pudding, it’s cake,’ Kit told him.

‘Whatever, it’s amazing!’ Ethan spooned the last bite into his mouth.

‘You’ve spent too long in the jungle,’ Kit said dryly.

Ethan yawned widely and laid his head on his arms on the table.

‘Tired?’ Kit asked.

‘Mmm. I didn’t get much sleep last night.’

‘I bet you didn’t,’ Kit said.

‘No rest for the wicked,’ Romy said tartly.

‘What?’ Ethan said, lifting his head. ‘Why are you both looking at me like that?’

‘We just can’t believe you had both those girls spend the night.’

‘They
didn’t give me much choice. I couldn’t get them to leave.’

‘Oh, right – so you were just doing them a favour.’ Romy cringed at how bitter she sounded when she had no cause to be.

‘Look, what you get up to is your own business,’ Kit said, ‘but while you’re living here, you should be more respectful. Whatever about having one girl sleeping over, two is really pushing it. It’s not fair on Mom.’

‘Mom doesn’t mind,’ Ethan said, shrugging. ‘And I cleared up after us and made them breakfast, so—’

‘Christ, I don’t believe you!’ Kit fumed. ‘It’s not about who made their breakfast – it’s about what you were doing last night.’

‘We were just hanging out,’ Ethan said, shrugging innocently. ‘What’s the big deal?’

Hanging out, Romy thought, like he ‘hung out’ with Sinead? Kit seemed to have been rendered speechless, so she answered for him. ‘He just can’t believe you think it’s okay to … to
hang out
with two girls right under your parents’ noses,’ she sputtered.

Ethan looked at her, frowning in confusion. Then his eyes widened. ‘Oh my God! You think – you think I
slept
with both of them?’ He seemed torn between amusement and outrage.

‘You mean you didn’t?’

‘No! Jesus!’

‘Sorry, I thought—’

‘God, I can’t believe you think I would do that.’Ethan looked genuinely hurt, and Romy felt bad for having misjudged him.

‘Well, you had two half-naked girls vying for your attention, who’d obviously spent the night,’ Kit said. ‘And we know what you’re like. What were we supposed to think?’

‘You could have given me the benefit of the doubt.’

‘We
could,’ Kit said, ‘but where’s the fun in that? So which one
did
you—’

‘Which one did I what?’

‘Which one did you sleep with?’

‘Neither!’ Ethan huffed, rolling his eyes. ‘Christ! They only stayed over because I couldn’t get them to leave. A few of us came back here after the pub, and eventually it was just the two of them, and they just wouldn’t go. In the end, I said they could crash here because it was the only way I was going to get to bed. Sarah slept on the couch and Fiona slept in your room. Okay?’

Kit laughed. ‘They were cock-blocking you,’ he said.

‘What?’

‘Obviously they were both afraid that if they left first, you’d

take the other one to bed as soon as they were out the door.’

‘Hmm. Possibly,’ Ethan mumbled reluctantly.

‘And were they wrong?’

A sheepish smile twitched at the corners of Ethan’s mouth. ‘Possibly not.’

Romy rolled her eyes. ‘You’re disgusting!’

‘Hey, you’re the one thinking about threesomes. According to you two, I didn’t even have to wait for one of them to leave.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe you thought that. I mean, apart from anything else, can you honestly see those two sharing … like that?’

‘I can’t even believe they got in a cab together,’ Romy said. She felt light-hearted, almost giddy with relief that Ethan hadn’t slept with either of those girls – even if it was only because he didn’t get the opportunity.

‘I thought maybe they were having an attack of morning-after remorse and that’s why they were being so stroppy,’ Kit said. ‘Actually, they’re usually not like that.’

‘Sarah is. Sarah’s
always
like that.’

‘She’s
feisty,’ Ethan said, shrugging. ‘I like that in a woman.’

‘She’s not feisty, she’s mean.’

‘That’s a mean thing to say,’ Ethan said.

‘That’s a true thing to say. Jeez, you were just being polite helping her on with her coat, and she savaged you.’

‘She just has this idea that people are always treating her differently because of her vagina,’ Ethan said, smiling. ‘It’s a sore point with her.’

‘Who has a sore vagina?’

Their heads all spun to the back door, to see Colm sticking his head in. ‘Are they gone?’ he asked, his eyes darting around the room.

‘Yes, the coast is clear,’ Kit told him.

He came into the kitchen and closed the door behind him. ‘So who has the sore vagina?’ he asked.

‘No one,’ Ethan said, at the same time as Kit answered, ‘Sarah.’

‘Ah, poor girl,’ he said, nodding understandingly. ‘That would explain it.’

‘Explain what?’ Ethan asked.

‘Why she was in such a temper this morning. I mean that can’t be much fun, can it?’ He winced.

Ethan rolled his eyes. ‘She doesn’t have a—’

‘I’ll stop you there, son,’ Colm interrupted, holding up one hand in a halting gesture. ‘I don’t want to know how she got it or what it has to do with you. That’s on a need to know basis, and I do not need to know.’

‘But there’s nothing to—’ Ethan began.

‘God, it was like
High Noon
in here this morning, Romy,’ Colm interrupted, rubbing his hands together and seeming hugely amused by the situation. ‘You should have seen the pair of them squaring off against each other. I wouldn’t like to bet on who’d come out on top in that fight.’

‘My money
would be on Sarah,’ Kit said.

‘She’s a scary woman, isn’t she?’ Colm said admiringly. ‘Though, in fairness, the other one’s not to be underestimated either.’

‘I saw a cab pulling away,’ Laura said as she came into the kitchen. ‘Are those girls gone?’

‘Yeah,’ Ethan answered.

‘Did they share a cab?’ Colm asked. ‘Is that wise?’

‘They’ll be fine,’ Ethan said, shrugging. ‘They’re friends.’

‘Friends!’ Kit exclaimed. ‘They looked ready to tear each other to pieces.’

‘They were like something out of a David Attenborough programme,’ Colm said. ‘Two lionesses circling each other around a carcass on the Serengeti.’

‘And what am I in this scenario?’ Ethan asked, laughing.

‘You’re the piece of meat they’re fighting over,’ Kit said. ‘Well, they usually get on fine. I don’t know what got into them.’

‘Not you,’ Kit murmured under his breath. ‘That’s why they were so pissed off.’

‘Have you guys got time for coffee before you go?’ Laura asked as she switched on the machine.

Before anyone could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of Luke’s crying from the other room.

‘We might as well stay for coffee,’ Romy said to Kit as she jumped up. ‘I’ll change Luke and feed him before we go.’

As she changed Luke in the living room, Romy took advantage of the time out to give herself a talking to. She had been shocked by how jealous she had felt of those girls. She hated thinking that Ethan had slept with both of them – or even one of them – and it had made her stupidly happy to discover he hadn’t. It was ridiculous because who Ethan did or didn’t sleep with was nothing to do with her – and never would
be. She fancied him – who wouldn’t? He was gorgeous. But she mustn’t let it get out of hand. He was too young for her, he was out of her league, and besides, as far as he was concerned, she was his brother’s girlfriend. She had to stop thinking about him in that way.

When she had dressed Luke again, she carried him back to the kitchen, clutching him in one arm while she took one of his pre-prepared bottles out of the fridge.

‘So this is Luke – finally,’ Ethan said, jumping up and coming over to her. ‘Can I hold him while you’re doing that?’ he asked, holding out his arms.

‘Um … sure,’ Romy said, surprised by his eagerness.

‘You can trust me, I’m a doctor,’ Ethan said, when she hesitated to hand Luke over. ‘I know how to hold a baby.’

‘Oh, okay,’ she said, passing Luke to him carefully.

Ethan’s face lit up as he grinned down at Luke, cooing at him as he chucked his cheeks and played with his fingers, while Luke gurgled happily. He walked back to the table and sat down with Luke on his lap, and soon they were making each other laugh.

‘He’s great!’ Ethan called across the kitchen to her.

‘He is, isn’t he?’ she said, smiling as she placed his bottle in the microwave.

‘And that’s an expert opinion,’ Kit said. ‘Ethan’s doing paediatrics, so he knows his babies.’

Romy turned towards them while she waited for Luke’s bottle to heat up, and she felt her heart melting as she watched Ethan playing with Luke, clearly delighted by him. Damn him! How was she ever going to avoid a full-blown crush with him behaving like this? These days, the surest way to her heart was through her son, and Ethan seemed to have found the path with the unerring instinct of a Sherpa.

By the time Luke’s bottle was ready, Laura had placed a tray of coffee and mugs on the table.

‘Why
don’t I feed him while you have your coffee?’ Ethan asked, holding out a hand for the bottle.

‘Oh, no – it’s fine,’ Romy said, sitting down.

‘Come on, please? I’d really like to. And I don’t want more coffee.’

Looking at his eager face, Romy softened. He seemed to genuinely want to feed Luke – and she still felt bad about accusing him of having a threesome. ‘Okay, thanks,’ she said, handing him the bottle.

‘Cool!’ Ethan grinned as he settled Luke in his lap, laying him back against one arm and pressing the bottle to his lips. He laughed softly as Luke began to drink enthusiastically, with loud sucking noises. ‘Aw, he’s so cute. I wish he was coming away with us for the weekend.’

‘I told you he was weird,’ Kit said to Romy.

Later, Danny and Lesley met them at Romy’s house, and when Romy had introduced everyone, they all helped load the van and Danny’s Land Rover. It was a bright, frosty day, the cold snapping at their faces as they moved between the house and the cars with tools, camping equipment, and boxes of food and booze.

‘So that’s the brother,’ Lesley mumbled to Romy while they retraced their steps to the house to collect another load of supplies. ‘I can’t say I blame you for going all goo-goo over him. He’s gorgeous.’