‘Morning English, ready for that bike ride and a run?’ Todd stood in the doorway, his hair tousled, a cycling helmet dangling from one hand, wearing a Lycra running kit which showed lean muscular legs to great advantage.
‘What?’ She rubbed at her bleary eyes, she’d only just got up. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I was passing and I knew you’d be in.’
‘That’s because I was sleeping.’
He looked accusingly at her. ‘I did mention it on Friday.’
‘And I said I was too busy.’ It was the last thing she’d said to him in the office.
He grinned. ‘Yes, but you didn’t mean it. I could see in your eyes and your leg was jigging up and down saying,’ he put on a fake falsetto voice, ‘“Yes please, take me out for a run.”’
Sophie hid her smile, ducking her head. ‘I’m busy.’
Todd put his hand on the doorframe and leaned against it. ‘Busy doing what?’
‘I said I’d help Bella.’
He turned and stomped down the stairs.
‘You’ve left your rucksack,’ she called as he reached the bottom but he didn’t turn around, instead simply giving a casual wave, he disappeared from view.
Shaking her head, she shot a quick regretful look out of the window. The blue sky was dotted with tiny fluffy white clouds and Todd was right, she’d spent most of the week inside, aside from yesterday’s trip to the top of the Empire State Building, which she was still stewing about.
In weather like this, if she’d been at home, she’d have packed a small bag and already be on a circuit of Hyde Park. Although after yesterday she’d have happily done a round or two in a boxing ring.
Two minutes later he was back.
‘I’ve cleared it with Bella, you’ve got two hours.’
‘Pardon?’ Sophie couldn’t believe the cheek.
‘Two hours. Perfect. We can run before it gets too hot.’
‘But …’
‘Sophie,’ he put a hand on her arm, ‘it’s a gorgeous day. Come on, you can go and be Bella’s bitch later.’
‘I’m not …’ she squeaked.
He grinned at her outraged response.
‘Oh, alright then.’
Changing quickly, she returned to the lounge and gulped when she found Todd bending down to tighten the laces of one of his trainers, the Lycra throwing his rather delicious bottom into sharp relief.
Brimming with energy and bounce, he looked the epitome of health and fitness. For a second, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be seen next to him, it was so long since she’d been out for a run.
‘Mind if I leave this here?’ He dropped his rucksack on the floor, taking a couple of bottles of water out. ‘Here you go. You’re going to need it. The bikes are outside. It’s a gorgeous day and we need to make a move before it gets too hot.’
‘How did you get two bikes here?’ she asked, with a vision of him doing some herculean one-handed cycling.
‘Dropped one off earlier and then went back to get mine,’ he said with a triumphant tone, making Sophie realise there’d never been any hope of her getting out of this.
‘I’m very out of practice,’ she said. ‘I probably won’t be able to keep up with you.’
‘No sweat … actually, there probably will be. You set?’
‘Yes,’ she smoothed down her top. It amazed her that in her haphazard running-away packing she’d had the foresight to include trainers and her best running leggings.
The bike Todd had borrowed was a lot more expensive than any she’d been on before. She’d often borrowed ones in London, but this was a thoroughbred in comparison. It made cycling much easier and once she was used to it, she was able to enjoy the ride, especially as the view upfront was not to be sneezed at.
It was the sort of morning that made you feel glad to be alive. The streets buzzed with every race and nationality represented. Union Street was a vibrant eclectic mix, one minute down at heel with graffiti and run-down, abandoned buildings, and then the next, an amazing variety of shops offering everything from African drums to maternity wear and antiques. They crossed the canal which moved sluggishly beneath the blue-painted iron-work bridge that rattled ominously as cars passed. Away to their right the water stretched towards high-rise blocks in the distance.
Brownstone houses criss-crossed with fire escapes, made familiar by countless hours of Saturday-night TV, lined the street up here, with wide broad steps leading up to imposing doorways, while narrow gated flights of stairs led down to basements below street level.
At last the street opened into a big intersection, the park just beyond. They navigated the complicated crossings until Todd came to a stop outside an imposing building.
‘The Brooklyn Public Library,’ he gestured, hopping down from his saddle.
‘Wow, that’s impressive. Very Egyptian.’
‘Yeah, not sure where that come from, but it’s a local landmark.’
With its wide, high, flat walls and the twin columns decorated in golden hieroglyphics, it reminded her of an ancient tomb that had been unwittingly transported to modern-day America.
‘You OK?’
‘I’m keeping up,’ said Sophie.
‘Cool, we’re headed that way.’ He pointed across the road to the park entrance and they cycled along a wide, flat road cutting through the park, before he pulled up to dismount and lock the bikes.
‘Remember,’ she reminded him as they set off at a gentle pace, ‘go easy with me.’
‘Worried you won’t be able to keep up?’ he asked with a challenge twinkling in his eyes.
‘Not at all,’ she retorted, tossing her ponytail. ‘I’m trying to lull you into a false sense of security.’ At home, she usually went out for a least an hour and she was hoping her habitual weekend runs had embedded themselves into her muscle memory and that he wouldn’t leave her too far behind.
Matching her stride to his, which thankfully seemed reasonably paced, they took it slowly and once her breathing had adjusted, she eased into the rhythm, listening to her feet pounding the path and feeling the muscles in her legs working and her arms pumping. As they picked up the pace, she’d forgotten how much she enjoyed the sensation of feeling her body working, being out in the sunshine and surrounded by greenery. After the first mile, her spirits had lifted and she could feel the smile on her face as she lifted it up to the sunshine. Why hadn’t she done this before?
She was cross with herself for being so pathetic recently and now as she ran, smooth strides one after the other, the realisation settled in, she’d invested far too damn much of her life in James and his betrayal had left her bereft, which meant that he was winning. And now bloody Paul, keeping someone up his sleeve. The fact that he had someone waiting in the wings for the future felt inherently dishonest. As if he’d already made up his mind that Sophie was never going to matter in his life. She knew she was being contrary but it felt as if he’d closed the door before they’d even started.
They ran steadily for half an hour until the lake came into view and Todd slowed.
‘Want to stop here for a breather?’
They sat down on the gravel beach next to the lake, where swans on the far side glided across the surface and a couple of small children ran up and down trying to skim stones.
‘This is lovely,’ said Sophie, peering up at the skyline above the trees. ‘Hard to believe we’re not in the countryside.’
‘It was designed deliberately so that the trees shield the view outside the park,’ explained Todd. ‘I like to come here at the weekends, recharge the batteries.’ He stared out over the lake and almost looked wistful. ‘There’s something about seeing trees … kinda restful.’
Sophie raised a sceptical eyebrow. It didn’t sound like a Man About Town sort of thing to say, and then guilt pinched when he looked a little hurt.
‘I’m serious. They’re grounding. Seeing them in all the different seasons, it’s reassuring. You know, that consistency. Buds in the spring, springing to life, blossoming in the summer, a last hurrah in the fall with colourful finery. The leaves don’t just die, they go out in a blaze of glory,’ he paused and shot a quick uncertain glance at her.
Charmed by his poetry and seeing this different side to him, she nodded in encouragement.
‘Fall here is spectacular and even when they’re bare in the winter, the branches look strong, reaching up, reaching forward. Symbolic as well. Roots, branches. Giving us oxygen.’ He stopped suddenly, as if worried he’d said too much. ‘Sorry, I came over all lyrical. You should take a trip up to New England in the fall, the colours up there are really—’
‘You have a message from dark side.’
Sophie began to giggle, it was such an un-Todd-like ring tone.
‘Sorry,’ Todd looked endearingly sheepish as he unzipped a pocket to retrieve his phone. ‘My kid brother put it on here. It’s set to his text messages.’
He pulled out the phone, read the message and frowned. ‘Sorry, I need to answer this.’
‘No worries,’ said Sophie as he began to tap away.
When he finally put his phone away, Todd said, ‘Sorry about that. Martin … he’s having a tough time.’
‘How old is he?’
‘Thirteen.’
‘Oh,’ said Sophie, surprised. ‘That’s quite an age gap.’
‘Yeah, my parents thought it would help their marriage.’ Todd didn’t elaborate but there was a bitter twist to his mouth that stopped her from asking any more, and with a quick change of subject he asked, ‘Do you have any brothers and sisters?’
‘No, only child. I always wanted a brother or a sister. Do you get on with your brother?’
‘Yes.’ Todd’s face brightened. ‘How could I not? He worships me. I’m the older brother who buys him the Xbox games. Plays Minecraft with him online. Sneaks him the odd beer and takes him to basketball games.’
‘Ah, the perfect big brother then,’ said Sophie, ‘and modest with it.’
Todd’s mouth twisted. ‘Not really, I’m probably over-compensating because I don’t see him enough and I feel guilty. My parents … aren’t easy. He’s on his own a lot. He might as well be an only child. I ought to go for the holiday, that’s what he was texting about.’ His shoulders slumped slightly. ‘I was hoping to avoid going but I can’t leave him on his own. Well, my folks will be there, but there’ll be lots of guests.’
Sophie thought of her parents with a pang. Her brief WhatsApp chats with her mother over the last few weeks had been masterpieces of subterfuge, not once had she let on how miserable she’d been or how little she’d done since she’d been here.
‘What are your plans for the holiday?’ he asked suddenly.
Sophie stiffened and shrugged. ‘I haven’t really thought about it.’
‘What about Paul? Has he invited you to go home with him?’
Sophie gave him a mutinous glare.
‘Sore point?’
‘Paul has a girl next door waiting for him.’ Sophie tried to sound bright and uncaring. ‘Apparently I would upset the apple cart.’
‘Ouch.’ He gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘He’s an idiot. I told you, you could do better for a fling.’
‘I-it’s … OK.’ For some stupid reason there was a lump the size of an egg in her throat all of a sudden.
‘You could come out to the beach with me.’ He blurted it out and then looked a bit confused as if he hadn’t meant to.
‘Don’t worry Todd, you don’t have to do that. I’m a big girl. I’ll be fine.’
‘I’m serious. You should come. You’d love the beach.’
‘What? To your family’s place?’ Had he meant it or was it a spur-of-the-moment thing he was now thinking better of?
‘Yeah,’ Todd nodded vigorously. ‘There’s loads of room. Mom always has a big Fourth of July party. There’ll be fireworks. Great food and the champagne will be flowing.’
‘Won’t your mum mind?’ Her mouth pursed. ‘Or get the wrong idea?’
‘No,’ he gave a half-laugh. ‘With that accent they’ll love you. I can tell them you’re landed gentry.’
Sophie winced, grateful he was so taken with the idea that he didn’t notice.
‘It’ll be great. Besides, they won’t even notice one extra.’
‘Where is it?’ She was tempted, especially after Paul’s rejection.
‘The Hamptons. Amagansett, near to the end of Long Island. The beach is beautiful there. It goes on for miles. Apart from my family, I love it. Bella and I used to have great summers there. Dad and Uncle Bryan would come out at the weekend from the city and the adults would party and mostly they’d forget we were around. We could pretty much do what we wanted,’ he grinned, ‘and we pretty much did.’
‘What d’ya think?’ asked Bella, stepping back, placing the last strawberry on top of a fruit topped-cheesecake as Sophie and Todd walked into the kitchen.
‘Very patriotic,’ said Sophie, admiring the rows of red interspersed with piped cream next to the wedge of blackberries, enjoying the summer scent of the berries. It brought back memories of Wimbledon and sunshine, pick-your-own in the field on the estate farm and a delicious strawberry-and-rhubarb crumble she’d once made.
‘Fourth of July is coming up. I thought I’d start getting people in the mood and,’ her eyes sharpened, ‘make them start thinking about putting in their holiday orders. But this is missing something.’
‘Spangle,’ said Sophie.
‘What?’ Bella frowned, looking at the cake.
‘Your flag is always called the star-spangled banner, so you need some spangle. You could put some of those little silver balls on the top of the piped cream.’
‘You mean the silver-ball dragees?’ said Bella.
‘Yes, I absolutely love them,’ said Sophie, remembering making cakes with her mother and the tiny decorations invariably escaping and scattering all over the kitchen floor.
‘I’ve heard of blue balls, English and I tell you that’s not a good thing,’ teased Todd, ‘but now silver?’ His eyes widened with mischief.
‘Don’t be rude,’ said Sophie, biting back her smile. ‘You’ll spoil them for me. Those silver dragees, if you will,’ she deliberately copied his accent, ‘are my favourite thing. They add something special to a cake. A little touch of star-shine, at least that’s what my mum always used to say. And you can never have too much star-shine, can you?’
‘Cute,’ said Bella, before adding, ‘how was the run? And do you guys want some coffee?’
‘I could murder a cold drink,’ said Todd, sauntering over to the large fridge and pulling out a couple of cans of Coke. ‘Want one, Sophie?’
‘Help yourself,’ said Bella sarcastically.
‘Thanks,’ said Sophie.
‘You are welcome, him not so. Unless he’s prepared to do dishes.’
The kitchen, piled high with mixing bowls bearing traces of red, white and blue frosting, bore testament to a morning’s hard work already and Sophie immediately felt guilty.
‘Let me go shower and I’ll come help. It’s hot out there, you do not want to get too close to me.’
Bella bit her lip. ‘You don’t have to. Sorry, I’m feeling a bit stressed.’ She slumped against the messy stainless-steel counter. ‘I’ve taken an order for fifty cupcakes for a birthday party tomorrow but they don’t want butter-icing frosting. They want something different and my head is full of July Fourth ideas. Although I could do with a few more of those too.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll come up with something,’ said Sophie, patting her arm gently. ‘Give me ten minutes.’
‘I’ll help. I can use Sophie’s shower. Ever since we did the renovation, I’ve wanted to try it out. There are clean clothes in my backpack. I’ll be your lean, mean washing-up machine.’
Before Sophie could protest, Bella gave a grateful sigh. ‘Would you? I feel a bit out of control. All hands on deck would be gratefully received.’
‘Do you want to go first?’ asked Sophie, her voice bright and casual as she opened her front door. The thought of a naked Todd in her shower shouldn’t have any effect but her stupid hormones had other ideas and were leaping about, getting all giddy and silly.
‘No, I’ll wait, if I could borrow a towel.’
‘Of course.’
She went straight into the bedroom and as she pulled out the storage box from under the bed, she realised that he’d followed her in.
‘I helped Bella decorate in here. Looks good.’ He paused, clearly taking a good look around. She was glad her face was hidden from him. ‘You didn’t bring much stuff with you.’
Yanking out a towel, she shuffled back on her knees and bumped into him.
‘Here you go,’ she said, turning and kneeling up, passing the towel up to him, inadvertently brushing his crotch and then coming face-level with it.
‘Oops. I didn’t mean to … erm … yes. Sorry.’
Todd’s mouth twitched, his eyes dancing with amusement.
Suddenly the room was far too small and very, very hot and he looked as cool and unconcerned as a dozen flipping cucumbers.
He tucked a hand under her arm and helped her to her feet.
‘I’ll j-just go … go in the … the shower.’
‘Yes,’ said Todd gravely, his tone belying the twinkle in his eye. ‘Why don’t you?’
Grabbing a towel, Sophie bolted.
She glared at herself in the mirror. Why couldn’t she have laughed it off instead of getting all flustered and embarrassed? Todd must think she was a complete idiot, no scrub that, he already did.
With a muffled groan, she wound her ponytail into a knot, stuck another band around it and peeled off her clothes to step into the warm flow of the shower, feeling the heat soothing her tired muscles. She’d enjoyed the run but knew that she’d probably pay for it tomorrow or the day after. Feeling much better, she wrapped her towel around her and tried not to think that there was only one shower gel and that Todd would be using it in her shower. His body in her shower. Naked body in her shower. Her stomach did a lumpy sort of forward roll, as if it weren’t completely sure what the heck was going on.
Sophie did not want to think about what Todd might look like without any clothes, although she thought with vicious satisfaction, his body was probably a hell of a lot more buff than James’ slightly pudgy-around-the-middle one. Yeah, it would be buff. And she should not be thinking about it. Absolutely not. She hadn’t ever thought about Paul that way, even though he rocked a suit. Tall, slender … OK, his shoulders weren’t as broad as Todd’s and they sloped down a little and he was … a tad bony, possibly. Despite her best efforts, her mind refused to be redirected. A flood of heat flushed across her skin. OK, Todd had a hot bod in that Lycra gear. It wasn’t a leap to imagine it naked. Natural curiosity. Although natural curiosity did not make you feel flushed, with that irritable spot-that-needs-scratching feeling. She fanned her face, feeling the soft towel chafe at her peaked nipples. With a yank she tightened the towel, regretting that she’d not brought a change of clothes in with her. She’d better make sure she hung onto this sucker tightly. Taking a moment, she drew in a breath and opened the bathroom door, walking through the hallway to her bedroom, where Todd had made himself comfortable. Very comfortable indeed.
‘Oh,’ squeaked Sophie, coming to a very quick halt, all the moisture in her mouth evaporating instantly.
He was lying on the bed, propped up on her pillows, wearing nothing but the pale-blue towel wrapped low around his hips, busy with his phone.
Buff? Her imagination had failed her spectacularly. This was buffest of the buff. Proper ab definition, muscular pecs, and that oh-so-sexy crease above his hips. If that towel got any lower, everything the dark trail of hair from his navel pointed to, would be on display.
He looked up. ‘All … done?’ his voice trailed away and something flashed in his eyes before he raised his eyebrows, the usual look of mischief returning to his face as he said, ‘Nice legs.’
‘Shame about the wonky boobs.’ It came out as she was desperately trying to stop staring at his chest and look him in the eye. Although probably it was the best thing she could have said, because it sort of broke the … no, not ice, the temperature in the room had sky-rocketed.
‘Wonky boobs?’ Todd laughed. ‘Never heard that before. Do I get to see?’
‘No you do not,’ said Sophie, her voice quivering with slight indignation before it gave way to laughter. ‘I’ve no idea why I told you that.’
‘Neither have I, but now I’m really intrigued. What constitutes wonky boobs?’ He tilted his head and stared at her chest, which she could hardly complain about as she’d pretty much invited him to.
Sophie blushed, waving her hand in front of her chest as if to dislodge his attention. ‘One of them is bigger than the other. As someone,’ someone whose name she was not going to mention, ‘once said, I have a boob and a half, rather than a pair.’
‘Harsh, I’m sure they’re perfectly lovely,’ he smiled into her eyes. ‘They look absolutely fine from here.’
‘Thanks,’ she said, now fervently wishing they could end this conversation and that he would just go on into the bathroom. She was rather proud of the fact that her voice sounded firm and in control, because seriously, any minute now she might dissolve into a pile of drool. For the love of God, would he please take his perfect body, get cleaned up and put some clothes on? ‘Help yourself. To everything you need.’
‘Will do.’ He sauntered past her, as if this was all completely natural for him.
When he finally closed the bathroom door behind him, Sophie sank onto the bed, and dropped her head into her hands. Dear lord, how was she ever going to get the image of his perfect body out of her head? She was so screwed. Despite everything, she totally fancied the pants off the man. He was bad news. A relationship no-no and despite all her resolutions, she couldn’t help thinking that if she were that sort of girl, after a no-strings fling with Todd, she could die a very happy woman.