Doing the Right Thing (22 page)

Will thrust two fingers gently inside her while he massaged her clit with his tongue.

The rhythmic stimulation both calmed and excited. Addie’s muscles tensed and relaxed.

“Oh God, could you just…keep doing that until I pass out.”

She felt Will laugh, then his fingers tilted up inside her and Addie’s eyes sprang open. She needed to wee. Now.
Shit.

“Will.”
Oh God, how can I tell him that?

Addie wasn’t sure he’d have heard anyway. His mouth kept working, his fingers massaging some place inside her that—
Oh, don’t need to wee anymore.

“If you stop, I’ll kill you,” Addie muttered.

This was something she’d never felt before, as though she was coming and coming and it wasn’t going to stop as if she rode on a wave that never broke. Her muscles contracted then relaxed and each time the sensation began again, another set of muscles joined it. Addie could hear weird noises echoing around her. It couldn’t be Will, his mouth was otherwise occupied. It must be her.

The waves grew larger and larger, her muscles tightening almost to the point of pain and Addie headed for what she knew was going to be the biggest orgasm she’d ever had. She stopped breathing as her whole body went taut.

Once, twice, three times. Oh can’t count.

Stars? Addie saw constellations. She thought her head must have exploded because the rest of her body had fallen to pieces.

“Addie.”

Oh God, could that happen again? Please?
Her head was spinning.

“Addie!”

She didn’t want to be greedy, but would Will object to being locked in her bedroom forever? Why couldn’t she see properly?

“Addie. Breathe!”

Plunged under the water and Addie came up coughing, Will’s anxious eyes looking down at her.

“Are you okay?”

“Wha…di…ho.”

“Try again.”

She nodded and tried to scoot back onto the edge of the tub. Will dragged her back with a laugh. “Not that. I meant try to talk again.”

“I’m fine,” she said.

Will rubbed his scalp. “I’m not. I’m going to bald if we can’t figure out somewhere else for you to put your hands.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m teasing.” He wrapped his arms and legs around her. “You screamed. I’ve never made anyone scream before. Well, only when I took the snake I’d found into the kitchen to show my mother. Though you screamed louder.”

“Oh God.”

“I think I found your G-spot.”

“My Will spot. I’m really hungry now.”

He laughed.

“But what—” Addie looked at his still erect cock.

“Let’s eat first. Unlike women, men have a limited number of times they can come in one night. We’ll get dressed and go down to the restaurant. We both need a rest.”

After they’d dried each other, Addie used the towels to mop up the puddles from the bathroom floor. Her thighs ached, her arms ached. In fact, there wasn’t much that didn’t ache. She hadn’t realized sex was so exhausting, nor so much fun. She watched as Will put on his boxers. Her eyes wandered over his long lean body. His hair was damp. His skin glowed. How could she be so lucky?

“Addie?”

“Huh?” Her head shot up.

Will smiled. “Aren’t you going to get dressed?”

“Will you stay in the bathroom until I’m ready? I’ve got a surprise.”

But the moment she emptied the carrier bags on the bed, she wasn’t sure if she was brave enough. These were clothes she’d intended to keep in her room, clothes to practice being seductive, clothes to make
her
the one who was wanted. Did she even need them now?

When Will came out of the bathroom, he groaned.

“God, Addie, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

She teetered in red high heels that made her legs look as though they went on forever. A red tube dress clung to her body, only it didn’t cling to much of it. Will didn’t think there was anything underneath.

“Too much?” she asked, anxiety etched on her face.

“Yes, I’d like to rip it off right now.”

She giggled.

Will sighed. “It’s no good. We can’t go downstairs. I’ll be arrested. Look at my boxers. That’s not going to go away. We’ll eat in here.”

Just as Will finished relaying the order, his mobile rang. He put the hotel phone down and glanced at the display on his mobile. His heart sank. Why hadn’t he switched the thing off? He’d meant to and been distracted.

“It’s okay, answer it.” Addie smiled at him.

It wasn’t okay and he didn’t want to answer it. Will made a snap decision. If he switched if off without speaking, then Addie would guess who it was. If he answered, he might be able to pretend it was Ed.

“Hi.” Will tried to keep his voice light and his face neutral.

Vee was crying. “Will, you have to come.”

“Why?”

“I need you.”

“Where are you?” Though he knew.

“At the house.”

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

He looked up and saw Addie walk into the bathroom, shoulders down. She knew.

“What is it?” he asked, his eyes on the bathroom door.

“Will, I’ve done something stupid. I’ve taken tablets and I’m scared.”

His heart started to pound. “What have you taken?”

“I don’t know. Some pills. Come back. Please.”

Fuck. Fuck.
“Ring for an ambulance.” Will gathered his clothes.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Vee, if you’ve taken pills, ring for an ambulance.”

“What’s the point? You don’t care whether I’m alive or not. You don’t want me anymore. Just forget it, Will. Forget I rang.”

The line went dead and Will groaned.

Addie sat on the edge of the tub, her heart being firmly squeezed on a juicer. The door opened and Will stood there, pale-faced and dressed.

“She didn’t go back to London, then?” Addie asked, hoping she was wrong.

“No, I thought—”

“It’s okay.” Addie tried to look as though she meant it. “Go, it’s all right.”

“It’s not all right,” he muttered, “but I do have to go. It’s an emergency.”

Will moved toward Addie as though he was going to kiss her and she froze.

“I didn’t get the chance to tell you everything,” he said. “It’s over between Vee and me, but she doesn’t have anyone else to help her. The divorce didn’t go through. I’m sorry, Addie.”

His wife?
Addie felt as though she’d been punched in the stomach, but she stood up straight, raised her head and looked right at him. “Bye, Will.”

The moment the door closed, she went to stand in front of the full-length mirror in the bedroom. What had she been thinking? Addie wanted to look sexy and she looked like a tart. He was married and she was a tart. Addie took off the shoes, dragged off the dress, screwed it into a ball and threw it down.

* * * * *

Will rushed back to Alwoodley, repeatedly calling Vee on his mobile. She didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure whether to ring the emergency services, hesitation borne of the possibility that Vee was fine and doing this to test him. A tiny part of him hoped he’d be too late and even as he thought that, he was disgusted with himself and pressed his foot harder on the accelerator.

By the time he pulled onto the drive, Will was wet through with sweat. He ran into the house, calling her name, and found her throwing up in the bathroom. She looked terrible, her skin waxen, her hair lank and stringy over her face.

“What have you taken?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s gone now.” Vee heaved again, leaving a thin trail of vomit hanging from her mouth.

Will tried to be mad with her, but he felt sorry for her. He dropped down at her side and rubbed her back. How had it all come to this? They’d met at a party and Will hadn’t been able to believe a gorgeous French woman wanted to spend the evening talking to him. They seemed to have so much in common, and by the time Will found out she changed her interests like a child playing with toys, it didn’t matter because he was hooked. Vee’s all-encompassing need for him flattered when it should have alarmed.

But the first few years were good ones. Will thought she’d been faithful then.

“Vee, you need to go to hospital.”

“I don’t want to. You can look after me.” She flushed the toilet.

Will recoiled. Was this a trick? “You should see a doctor. You might need your stomach pumped.” He bit back the word “again”.

“I think I’ve managed that on my own.”

She pulled herself up and bent over the wash basin, splashing cold water on her face. Will held out a towel.

“You don’t care about me,” Vee said, her voice flat.

Will gritted his teeth. Everything he’d ever done was because he cared about her.

Even the divorce. He only wanted her to be happy. “You know that’s not true. I’m here, aren’t I?”

“But you don’t love me anymore.” She burst into tears. “Nobody loves me.”

It was like listening to a defective CD.

“Vee, that’s not true.”

“My parents don’t care about me and neither do you.”

“Of course I care about you.” Though he wasn’t sure her parents did, which made his contribution to Vee’s well-being even more important.

“Don’t leave me,” she wailed.

“No, I won’t leave you.”

She moved toward him and Will put his arms around her, letting her sob into his chest. He wondered if Addie was crying too. He should have explained, said more than that crap about the divorce not coming though. He hadn’t wanted to tell her he was still married. Whilst the mess he was in was mostly Vee’s making, it was not all her fault.

He’d let things slide into this and now he had to sort it out.

Once he got Vee into the shower, Will went downstairs. Since she’d asked for something to eat, he guessed she felt better. He ordered a Chinese takeout. Then he went into the garage so she wouldn’t hear and rang the Marriott. There was no reply from Addie’s room. They said she hadn’t checked out, but that didn’t mean she was still there. How had she got home? God, he hadn’t thought.

Should he have handled this differently? He didn’t want Addie to think he had this albatross of a wife hanging round his neck, even if it was true. He should have left Addie alone. In a few weeks time, he’d be going back to London and she’d be up here.

She deserved better than that. He thought about her face when she’d stood in front of him in that tight red dress and those shoes. She’d wanted to look sexy and she did. And he’d left her. Will groaned.

Will watched Vee eat, but he didn’t touch the food he’d ordered for himself.

“Try some of my duck,” she said.

He couldn’t bring himself to talk to her because he was seething with fury. She was behaving as though nothing was the matter. An attempted suicide and now she tucked into a Chinese takeaway? Vee stuck a fork into his noodles and speared one of the few king prawns. Will bristled.

“You remember the Chinese meal we had in La Rochelle, when you were certain we were eating cat?” Vee smiled.

When Will didn’t say anything, Vee started to sniff.

“I’m sorry if I ruined your evening. Were you with someone? I’m sorry, Will. I was frightened. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“You were supposed to be moving out.”

She put down her fork and began to cry. “I know you don’t want me here, but I think what we have is worth fighting for.”

He knew then that this was a setup. Inconvenience aside, he’d change the number of his mobile.

“Did you really take a load of tablets?”

Vee stiffened. “You think I’m lying?”

Yeah, he did, but he was sure she wouldn’t admit it. She knew what she was doing, exactly how to play him. Will reckoned she’d taken enough to make herself sick, but not enough to do any real damage except to him.

“I changed my mind,” she said. “I didn’t want to die.”

Will looked at her as she picked her way through his noodles. Tears over, appetite back. She was beautiful, but the fun and adventure he’d once felt from being with her had disappeared. Life with Vee was dull, and if it was exciting, it was for the wrong reason, like tonight.

“What went wrong, Will?” She looked up at him with her huge eyes and he felt nothing but sadness.

“You cheated on me.”

“Jake was a mistake,” Vee said in a little voice.

“How do you figure that out? A mistake because I walked in on you? A mistake because he was no good in bed? A mistake because he was only interested in a quick fuck and you wanted more?”

“You didn’t believe me about Ed and it made me want to hurt you. Only it was a mistake because I realized how much I loved you.”

Will pushed his plate away. “I don’t want you anymore, Vee. You shouldn’t have told the
notaire
we’d changed our minds. I haven’t.”

She stopped eating. “Please let’s try again.” Her lip quivered.

“Vee, it’s too late. I haven’t the energy to rekindle a fire that hasn’t just gone out, but been obliterated by a deluge of water.”

“So, there is someone else.”

It didn’t escape his attention that the pathetic note in her voice had vanished.

“Yes.” Will hoped that was true.

Addie walked into Magelan’s on Monday morning with a smile in place, but as she passed Julie, the courage she’d conjured up while walking through the parking lot evaporated from the tips of her fingers. She detoured via the visitor’s toilets to throw up. When she came out of the cubicle, Daisy stood by the wash basins.

“I hope you’re not pregnant,” she said.

“Nervous stomach.”

“What are you nervous about? Being pregnant?”

“Very funny, Daisy.”

Addie had thought about getting Lisa to ring and say she was ill, but if she didn’t face Will that day, then she’d have to face him the next.

“Addie, sorry about that press release. I know I should have said it was me.”

“Yeah, you should, Daisy. I got into a lot of trouble.”

“I wouldn’t have let them sack you. I was going to tell Ed it was me when we went out on our date, but the moment was never right.”

“Did you have a good time?”

Daisy blushed. “Really good. He’s a great dancer and he’s so funny, but he’s not interested in a relationship. He just wanted company. Anyway, he’ll be gone in a few weeks.”