Toxic (4 page)

“What are you saying?” She looked him in the eye. Was he being serious? “I didn't ask for these.”

“We had sex. I give you cash. Same thing. No strings.”

“Fuck you!”

“Suzy. I'm only saying—”

“And, I'm only saying, you can keep your fucking money.” She threw the chips at him.

“It was only a joke, honey.”

“Don't honey me.” She turned around and stormed towards the exit.

Chapter 5

Suzy looked around—she had absolutely no idea where she was. After leaving the casino, she'd run and run until she was exhausted. What had she been thinking? Why had she come all the way to London just because a guy she barely knew had asked her over? What the hell was wrong with her? She'd had a perfectly nice boyfriend in Steve; he would have done anything for her. So what did she do? Gave him the boot, and travelled half-way across the country to shack up with some drunken criminal who thinks she's a whore. Nice move Suzy. You've really surpassed yourself this time.

Her phone rang. How dare he call her? He could kiss her arse.

“Fuck off!” She screamed into the handset.

“Suzy?”

“Lacey. Sorry. Didn't see it was you, babes.”

“Are you okay? You sound—”

“I'm fine. All these bloody southerners are getting right on my tits.”

“Are you with Todd?”

This was her chance to get her own back. She could tell Rawhide where his no-mark brother was. So why didn't she?

“No. I haven't seen him,” She lied.

“I thought you'd arranged to meet him.”

“The little shit never showed up. Complete waste of time.”

“Don't you know where he's staying?”

“Not a clue. Like I said, he was meant to meet me at Bucky Palace, but he never showed up. Probably pissed out of his head somewhere.”

“What are you going to do?”

That was a good question. What the hell was she supposed to do now?”

“Might stay down here for a few days. See what's happening.”

“Where will you stay? Have you got any money?”

“I'll be okay. Look, I'd better go. My phone's nearly dead. Speak later, babes.”

How was she going to stay in London when she didn't have any money? Why had she thrown those chips at Todd when she could have cashed them? That money would have come in handy.

Her phone rang again. Lacey wasn't going to give this up.

It was Todd.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

“Where are you?”

“What the hell do you care?”

“I'm sorry. I say stupid things sometimes.”

“Sometimes? Like whenever you open your mouth?”

“I didn't mean you were—. I just meant—. Hell, I'm sorry. Where are you?”

“Go back to your whore, Todd.”

“Wait. Give me another chance.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you find me irresistible. Because you want my body almost as much as I want yours. Because I'm packing a really Big Todd with your name on it.”

She couldn't hold back a smile. What was it about this man? Why couldn't she just hate him?

“Go fuck yourself,” she said only half-heartedly.

“Where's the fun in that? Please, honey. You know you want me.”

“Stop calling me honey.”

“What's wrong with honey?”

“It's stupid.”

“Okay, sweet pie. Where are you?”

“No honeys. No sweet pies.”

“What do you want me to call you?”

“How about Suzy?”

“Suzy it is. Now, where are you?”

She still had no idea where she was, but after she'd described the street, Todd said he could be with her in ten minutes.

“Stay exactly where you are. Don't move until I get there. Okay?”

“Okay.”

**********

“Lacey's been on my case to tell her where you are,” Suzy said, as they walked side by side along the crowded street.

“What did you tell her?”

“That I was meant to be meeting you at Buckingham Palace, but you didn't show up.”

“Did you tell her where I was staying?”

“No. I told her you were a shit for standing me up. I knew she'd have no trouble believing that.”

“Nice to know you hold me in such high regard.”

“No problem. I don't see why you need to keep up the secrecy. Why not tell them where you're staying?”

“You don't know what they're like. They're always on my case.”

“They're probably worried about you.”

“Yeah, well they shouldn't be. Can we forget about them? What would you like to do?”

“Something touristy.”

“Such as?”

“I want to see the sights.”

“No, seriously.”

“I'm being serious. It's years since I came to London. I want to see the Houses of Parliament, and St Paul’s and the Gherkin—all that stuff.”

“But that's boring.”

“Not to me. Are you going to take me or do I have to go by myself?”

“Wouldn't you rather go for a drink?”

“If I'd wanted to get drunk, I could have stayed home. Besides, if you don't take me sightseeing, I might call Lacey to tell her where you're staying.”

“That's blackmail.”

“Blackmail's such a dirty word.”

“What would you call it?”

“Tit for tat.”

Todd's gaze drifted down to her bust.

“Not that kind of tit.” Suzy laughed. “What's it to be?”

“How about we take a bus tour?” He pointed to two open-top red London buses parked across the road.

“Why don't we walk?”

“Walk? Are you insane? It's the bus or no deal.”

“Bus it is,” she said.

“Wait.” Todd grabbed her arm. “I need to get more cash.”

“What about all the money you had in the casino?”

“Kinda lost it.”

“All of it? What about the chips I gave back to you?”

“You mean threw at me?”

“Yeah. What happened to those?”

“I put everything on number thirteen—my lucky number.”

“You lost the lot?”

“It was so close. Bloody ball landed on thirty-six.”

“How is thirty-six close to thirteen?”

“They're next to one another on the wheel. Just a little more momentum and I'd have—”

“Could've, should've. Didn't. How much did you lose altogether?”

“Not much.” He slid his card into the ATM, pressed a few buttons, and then pocketed a fist full of notes.

“Can't we sit downstairs?” Todd said as Suzy led the way to the top deck of the bus.

“What's the point in that? Can't see anything from down there. Look! The front seats are free.” She grabbed his hand, and dragged him to the very front of the open-top bus. “This is great!”

“It's bloody cold.”

“You're a right bundle of fun, aren't you? I've never been on one of these before. Did you hear what the man said? We can get on and off as often as we like. The ticket lasts all day. And we can go on a boat on the Thames.”

“That'll be fun,” Todd said with no sincerity whatsoever.

As Suzy took in the various landmarks, Todd's gaze rarely strayed from her face. She was as excited as a young child on Christmas morning. After a while, he forgot about the cold, and began to share the experience. Although a frequent visitor to the capital, Todd had never bothered to visit any of the tourist attractions. He'd never had any interest or anyone to share the experience with.

“Can we go on it?” Suzy screamed.

“Have you seen the bloody queue?”

“So? We've got all day. Come on.”

“It's only a big wheel.”

“Come on. It'll be fun.” Suzy dragged him off the bus. “Bloody hell. Tickets are twenty quid each. Is that okay?” she asked, once they were inside the London-Eye's payment office.

It was obvious from Todd's expression that he didn't understand her concern. Who worried about forty pounds? “Sod that. We can get Fast Track tickets for thirty pounds each,” he said.

They fast-tracked their way into a capsule, and moments later the huge wheel began its rotation.

“It doesn't go very fast,” Todd complained.

“It's not meant to. You're supposed to take in the view. Come here.” She ushered him closer to the large window.

“Look! Over there! St Paul’s.”

“Hmm. Fascinating.”

“There's Big Ben.”

“Wouldn't you rather have
Big Todd
?” he whispered.

Suzy ignored him. She was too busy staring out over London.

“Are you enjoying this?” Todd put his arm around her waist.

“It's great.” She turned her head, and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Am I forgiven for earlier?” he said.

“For calling me a whore?” Suzy said in a voice which was loud enough to be heard by the other occupants of the pod. “You haven't even begun to work that one off.”

Todd smiled awkwardly at the other people. “She's only joking,” he said sheepishly.

“Can't we call it a day yet?” Todd said, as Suzy tried to drag him back to the bus stop.

“We haven't seen half of it yet.”

“Wouldn't you rather go for a drink? Or something to eat?”

“I'd like one of those.”

Todd followed Suzy's gaze.

“A hot dog?”

“Yeah. And plenty of onions.”

“Aren't you having one?” Suzy took a bite of the foot long hot dog.

“I'm okay. Come here.”

“What?”

“You've got—” Todd grinned as he took a tissue from his pocket. “There's tomato sauce all over your face.” He dabbed her cheek. “