CHAPTER 17
‘I’m busy, Luke, Lucas, whoever you are,’ Rosa said wearily.
‘Busy? Nobody’s busy on New Year’s Day - and Happy New Year to you too.’ Hot was sniffing his shoes. ‘And to Mr Sausage, of course. It’s just I’m going back to London tomorrow and wanted to say goodbye.’
‘There - you said it.’ She began to close the door.
He put his foot out to prevent her. ‘Rosa, please don’t be like that.’
Rosa took in his handsome face and tight jeans. She thought of Jasmine’s pinched little mouth spewing out that she had been ‘full-on’ with her boyfriend. Feeling horny with a hangover, she half-wished she had been now.
‘Come in then, but for no more than five minutes - and don’t expect any sort of hospitality. I’m minging and not in the best of moods.’
Staring at her pert little bottom as she walked up the stairs, Luke smirked. Her fiery, devil-may-care attitude was a complete turn-on for him.
Rosa poured herself another JD and Coke. ‘Drink?’
‘Really? No, thanks.’ He sat down. ‘New sofa – nice. Did your boyfriend buy you that?’
‘He’s not my boyfriend.’
‘Fit guy though. Thought he was going to lump me one when he asked me to move my van on Boxing Day.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah. I’d parked my van in your parking space. I did tell him I wanted to talk to you. Did he not mention it?’
‘Of course he did,’ she lied, ‘but why would I want to talk to you after the way you treated me?’
Luke put his hand out and rested it on her shoulder. ‘Rosa, calm down.’
The fact that Josh hadn’t told her he’d seen Luke outside in the back made her far from calm. She didn’t need protecting. She shrugged off the hand.
‘What do you want? Just spit it out and then make your sorry journey home with your bitch of a girlfriend.’
‘Whoa.’
‘What do you mean, whoa? You’re the one who got me tipsy, wheedled information out of me and then told the whole of the bloody Bay.’ She snorted. ‘They’ll be dribbling with excitement for weeks on this one. That is, if they haven’t forgotten about the hit-and-run.’
Luke looked uncomfortable. He stood up.
‘I just wanted to say I’m sorry about all that. You’ve probably realised my mum is not a woman to argue with and - well, she thought she’d be helping you too as she told me not to charge you a lot.’
‘How bloody thoughtful of you both.’
‘Nobody got hurt and on a positive note, everybody will be flocking to your door to see what you are selling now, when you do open.’
‘She only had to ask me. I would have told her when I was ready.’
‘Sheila Hannafore waits for no man, you need to understand that. My dad certainly is resting in peace now.’
He held out his hand and in doing so, curled his finger under, stroking Rosa’s palm. She immediately felt the electric spark of lust.
‘Talking of getting hurt, it is a terrible business about your girlfriend,’ she said, removing her hand. ‘How frightening for her, to be left in the road like that.’
‘Er . . .yes. She’s going to be fine though. She had an operation in Ulchester General to fix her ankle with pins. If she’s careful, it’ll be six weeks in plaster, then physio. Rosa, about that . . .’
She took a slurp of her drink as Luke continued.
‘It’s just I left here about the same time as the accident happened. So, if anyone does ever ask, do you mind saying that I didn’t leave here until around six? I saw the police cars and as I’d had a glass or two of that Prosecco and didn’t want to get breathalysed, I just drove straight back here and parked up out of sight.’
He looked appealingly at Rosa. ‘I know it was cowardly, but at the time I didn’t even realise it was Jasmine lying there.’
‘So why leave the van here the whole time?’
‘Because I lied to cover my arse about drink-driving and said that I’d got the train down from Paddington and was going to go in my mum’s car to pick Jas up from the station. I realised that the more lies I was telling, the guiltier I was looking. I’ve actually parked round the back of the park now. I’m going to sneak off after dark tonight as there definitely won’t be any police within a twenty-mile radius of here, today of all days.’
It did all sound very plausible and he had been kind to her that day, despite being on his fact-finding mission. However, in Rosa’s eyes you couldn’t kid a kidder and she would reserve judgement, for now, at least.
Lucas sat back down on the sofa next to her.
‘I know it’s a big ask, Rosa, and the chances are slim the police will come to you, but
just in case, eh? And look how cheaply you got your pipes fixed, remember?’ He looked right into her make-up-smudged green eyes and placed his right hand gently on her left thigh.
Rosa removed his hand, then ran hers up the front of his
jumper. Gently scratching him as she did so, she whispered, ‘I won’t tell if you won’t.’
He urgently pulled her jumper up over her head, revealing that her nipples were already standing to attention.
She wasn’t wearing underwear, hadn’t had a bath since yesterday but really didn’t care. The last few days had hurt her, she needed touching. And she knew from experience that a lad like Luke would be able to do that in just the right way.
Grabbing a strategic condom she had hidden down the sofa when he walked in, she pulled off her leggings and reached for his flies.
‘Mum’s the word, eh, Lukey boy,’ she murmured, putting a finger to his lips.