LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER SEVEN

      UH-OH!

      Freya woke to a very un-lumpy mattress—in fact, she felt as if she was wrapped in cotton wool. And then she heard Richard speaking into the phone.

      Her one and only one-night stand was over.

      And, instead of regretting it, she smiled as she lay there, recalling last night.

      They had arrived back at his gorgeous apartment and he’d poured them a drink and headed off for a shower.

      She’d ended up in there with him.

      And then they’d taken their drinks to bed.

      Oh, it had been bliss.

      She lay there listening to his lovely deep voice.

      ‘No, I’m away until Tuesday, so I can’t,’ he said. ‘How is Mrs Eames?’

      As soon as the call ended, his phone went again.

      ‘No,’ he said, very brusquely. ‘You cannot come and stay.’

      Freya wondered if it was an ex, trying to get her toes back past the bedroom door, but she blinked when he spoke again.

      ‘Mother, I have a friend staying at the flat while I’m away.’ Pause. ‘I do. Currently she’s living in a terrible rental and I’ve loaned her the place for a few days. So, no, you can’t come and stay. If you need a break from your fiancé then I suggest that perhaps you actually speak to him about that fact, rather than go away.’

      Another pause and Freya rolled over and looked at him, not even politely attempting to pretend she was asleep.

      ‘What do you mean, you don’t believe me?’ he said. ‘Freya, would you tell my mother that my place is yours for a few days?’

      Gosh, what a way to meet the parents, Freya thought as he handed her his phone.

      ‘Hello, Mrs...’ Freya didn’t know what to call her, given she had divorced Mr Lewis three husbands ago.

      ‘Amanda,’ the woman said for her. ‘So you’re staying at Richard’s?’

      ‘Just for a wee while,’ Freya said. ‘While my landlord’s sorting...’

      ‘Pardon?’ his mother said.

      Richard took back the phone.

      ‘So you see there is no spare room at the inn. I’ll talk to you when I’m back from Moscow.’

      He ended the call and his phone rang yet again.

      ‘Work,’ he muttered, and Freya didn’t blame him a bit when he turned it off.

      ‘Thanks for that!’ Freya said with an edge, more than a little annoyed to have been put in that position and at his jab about her home.

      ‘I never said you were my lover,’ he pointed out, ‘just that my apartment wasn’t free. Anyway, she can afford a hotel.’

      ‘Fair enough.’ Freya said, but she was still sulking a little.

      ‘I am so tired of her dramas.’

      Freya said nothing.

      ‘Can you see why I’ve been put off relationships for life?’

      ‘I think so.’ Freya nodded. He was almost forgiven. ‘How’s Louise?’ she asked.

      ‘Mrs Eames?’ he checked. ‘She’s made it through the night and is holding her own. She’s a lot better than yesterday at least.’ He looked over. ‘Do you want some breakfast or are you still cross?’

      ‘Still cross,’ Freya said and told him why. ‘My flat isn’t terrible.’

      ‘I just said that as an excuse to my mother. She’s hardly going to drop in and see it.’

      ‘I guess...’

      She let it go, and she decided he was completely forgiven when he got out of bed and returned with coffee, and toast topped with grapefruit marmalade.

      Or was it the fact that she simply had to know more about this man?

      ‘Were she and your father ever happy?’ Freya asked as they ate their breakfast and got crumbs in his gorgeous bed.

      ‘I think so. But she wanted a livelier social life and he is rather wedded to his job. She gave him an ultimatum and it backfired, I fear, because he chose work.’

      ‘Your father married again?’

      ‘Yes—his housekeeper. Or rather the woman who had been their housekeeper, so you can imagine how well that went down. My mother was convinced there had been something going on all along...’ He rolled his eyes and then, putting his plate down, moved to take her mug. ‘Can we talk about our sex-life instead, please?’

      ‘But your parents’ sex-life is so much more interesting!’

      ‘Then I must be losing my touch.’

      They made each other laugh and then, to Freya’s surprise, and seemingly to Richard’s, instead of taking her mug he lay back on the pillows and told her some more.

      ‘She walked out when I was fifteen—a couple of days after their twentieth wedding anniversary. My father wasn’t giving her the attention she felt she deserved. He had a terminally ill patient and had had to cancel their anniversary trip. I felt terrible for my father after the break-up—he just moped around. Then, just when I was starting my “A” Levels, he announced he was marrying Vera.’

      ‘The housekeeper?’

      ‘Yes. And the following summer my mother married an old friend of my father’s. A more glamorous version of him, really.’

      ‘What happened to him?’

      ‘She left him after five years, and after that I kind of tuned out. Now all I know is that she’s engaged to Roger.’

      ‘Have you met him?’

      ‘Yes—a couple of dinners. He’s a cosmetic dentist.’ He pulled a face.

      ‘What’s wrong with being a cosmetic dentist?’

      ‘Nothing. I just feel his eyes on my mouth every time we speak. I think he’s trying to work out if I’ve got crowns. In my line of work we just ask!’

      He looked over to Freya and gave her a very nice smile that showed stunningly even teeth.

      ‘And do you have crowns?’

      ‘Two—thanks to rugby.’

      She looked right back at him, and as she did so she thought about him asking his patients about their dental work before he put them under. She looked into his eyes and Freya understood why patients so clearly trusted him.

      Because she trusted him.

      Of course she didn’t know him very well yet, but that much she knew. And, Freya thought as

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