Secrets After Dark Read Free Page B

silent prayer that I might somehow make a connection with Dominic in France. I hardly dare admit to myself that in my very secret heart, I’m hoping that Dominic will actually be at the villa, even though I know it’s just a ridiculous fantasy.
    I’ll be happy just to hear his name, I tell myself firmly. That will be enough for me.
     
    ‘It sounds lovely, dear. I’m very envious. Fancy that, a villa! Your life has got very glamorous lately. But have you got everything you’ll need for a trip to France? Will it be warm? What sort of state is your bathing suit in?’
    That’s my mother all over. Two seconds and she’s worrying that I won’t be properly kitted out. Laura screamed when she found out, and bounced around the room chanting, ‘You lucky thing, you lucky thing, you lucky, lucky, lucky thing!’ My mother is anxious I might embarrass myself in a holey swimsuit.
    ‘I don’t think I’m going to have much time for swimming, Mum.’ While we’re talking, I’m taking clothes from my drawers and wardrobe and putting them on the bed, wondering what exactly I’ll need for a villa in the South of France. ‘It isn’t a holiday. I’m working.’
    ‘Wear your warmest things on the plane, just in case it’s cold,’ advises my mother, not hearing me. ‘That way you won’t need to pack them. It’s always tricky when you’ve only got a cabin bag. Put on two jumpers if you can. It is October, after all.’
    I laugh again, as I imagine myself turning up dressed in half my wardrobe, a puffy Michelin man made up of sweaters, trousers and skirts. Just the thing to impress Mark, show him what a woman of the world I am. I don’t have the heart to tell my mother that I won’t be flying on a budget airline to Nice, but rather on a small private plane from a London airport. If I want to take a case full of jumpers, I probably can.
    ‘How long will you be gone for?’ my mother asks, trying to sound pleased for me rather than worried, which I’m sure she is. She was so relieved when I decided not to go backpacking with Laura; she wouldn’t have slept the entire time I was away if I had.
    ‘Just a few days,’ I say comfortingly. ‘And I’ll be in touch – I’ll let you know where I am.’
    ‘That’s good. You must remember to enjoy yourself. Don’t work too hard.’ My mother only has a vague idea of what I do, even though I’ve explained it several times. I’m not sure she really thinks of it as work at all. ‘Now, would you like to speak to your father?’
    While I’m chatting to my dad, I pull an old red bikini out of my drawer and, on impulse, add it to the pile on the bed. There’s bound to be a pool, after all. I might get the chance to use it, who knows? I’ve just said goodbye and rung off when I see a flash of colour where the bikini used to be and look down into the drawer. I gaze down for a moment, then take out the smooth blue silicone column with a little outcrop at the base. It is one of the few things that I brought from the boudoir, although I haven’t touched it since the night that Dominic used it with great effect. I remember how he ordered me to prepare it, oiling it gently until it shone slick and promising, and then, much later, how he let it come to life inside me, sending me into an orbit of starry pleasure as it drove me to an extraordinary climax. The memory makes me gasp involuntarily and feel a twitch of excitement. For the first time since that night, I wonder what it would be like to let that harmless-looking thing do the job it was designed for.
    I try to damp down the tiny rush of bubbles that erupt inside me at the thought. I need to focus on getting ready, not being distracted by various erotic memories of Dominic. I’ve tried to close off that part of myself while I wait for him to return.
    If he ever does, I think grimly.
    I frown at myself. I can’t lose faith. He will come back and if he doesn’t, I’ll just go and find him and damn well make him explain