Jay gestured towards the pencils on her desk. ‘Start drawing,’ he suggested. ‘I take it that’s what you normally do.’
With trembling fingers Davina grasped a pencil, bent over the drawing board and started work. She was incredibly aware of herself, of her whole body, and as she moved so the pearls moved, caressing her skin. All the time Jay prowled around the room, sometimes standing very close behind her and sometimes standing opposite her, giving himself, she realised, an excellent view of her cleavage.
Eventually it was time to add some colour to the drawing and she turned her upper body to reach for the paints. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked. When Davina explained Jay said, ‘I don’t want you getting paint on that lovely shirt. I think it’s time you took it off.’
Now Davina started to tremble in earnest. The camisole top was sheer, and Jay would be able to see
everything through it, including her shamefully hard nipples. She wished that he’d touch her. Her breasts were aching for the feel of his hands on them while her whole body seemed to have shed a layer of skin, leaving it unbelievably sensitive. Her breathing was quicker than normal and there was an ache between her thighs which made her shift uncomfortably on the stool.
After a short pause she obeyed, hoping that Jay would help her off with the shirt. He remained at a distance, however, and she had to get off the stool, walk in front of him and place it over the arm of a chair before returning to the drawing board. He said nothing, paid her no compliments and made no sound, but she knew that he was totally focused on her, that he wasn’t missing a single movement she made. As time passed she crossed her legs, moving her right leg up and down her left and hearing the soft rubbing sound of silk against silk.
At this Jay appeared to stand even straighter. Glancing beneath lowered lids Davina saw that his hands were clenched so that his knuckles gleamed whitely. Surely now he’d do something, she thought to
herself, almost mad with longing, and at precisely that moment he took a step towards her.
Davina looked up, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks as she stared at him, hoping that her eyes didn’t betray her need. For a few seconds their eyes locked, then he glanced at his watch and turned away. ‘Time for me to go.’
‘Go?’ she said stupidly.
‘Yeah, you wore the clothes and I watched you in them. That’s what I wanted, remember? That’s your rent paid for another few days.’
Ridiculously she felt as though he’d rejected her, as though in some way she hadn’t lived up to his expectations. Then, as he absentmindedly straightened some pencils on her desk, she saw that his hand was shaking and knew that he’d been as affected by what had occurred as she had. ‘Fine,’ she said lightly.
Jay gestured towards the clothes. ‘Keep them here, you may need them again. I’ll be back on Friday.’ Then he was gone and Davina didn’t understand why it was that she felt so let down.
‘It isn’t as though you were expecting him to leap on you,’ she told herself crossly. ‘A man like that isn’t
going to ask for sex as rent. He’s playing with you, and you know it.’ The trouble was, she was enjoying the game.
‘Where are you off to?’ Tanya asked Jay as she walked down the steps of the house. Her exotic beauty was set off to perfection by a simple flame-coloured linen shift, and her sunglasses were pushed up into her sleek black hair.
Not for the first time Jay felt slightly jealous of his boss. Tanya fascinated him and when they indulged in group sex he had some of his most intense orgasms with her. He still didn’t believe that their marriage would last; Todd’s record was hardly good in that respect, but for the moment he envied him his wife. ‘I’m off to the village to get a few things, then I thought I’d have a pub lunch. Do you want to come too?’
She nodded. ‘That sounds interesting. It will be my first English pub lunch.’ They got into Jay’s car.
‘You gonna tell Todd?’ queried Jay.
Tanya shook her head. ‘I don’t think he’ll panic if I go missing for a couple of hours. You look very pleased
with yourself,’ she added, as the car pulled away from the house. ‘What have you been up to?’
‘What makes you think I’ve been up to anything? Maybe I’m simply feeling happy.’
‘I didn’t say you looked happy,’ Tanya corrected him. ‘I said you were looking pleased with yourself. There’s a big difference. You may not be aware of it but you hardly ever look happy.’
‘Is that a fact? I can assure you I often feel it.’
‘Maybe, but not the kind of happy I’m thinking about.’
‘I hope you’re not going to try and sell me the advantages of wedded bliss,’ teased Jay.
‘Certainly not. I know very well what you think about marriage and I think everyone has to choose their own destiny.’
‘But you think I’m missing out on something?’
‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘But I also think you’re intelligent enough to realise it eventually.’
‘How flattering.’ Jay didn’t feel flattered, in fact he was quite annoyed. Although there was only a year’s difference between them, Tanya often succeeded in making Jay feel young. He found this difficult to handle
because people normally thought he was older than his thirty years.
After he’d completed his shopping they adjourned to The Spreadeagle, a low-beamed pub full of polished brass ornaments, everything they had both expected from an English pub. Jay ordered steak and kidney pie but Tanya settled for a salad. ‘So tell me,’ she said quietly as she sipped her glass of wine. ‘Why were you looking so pleased with yourself?’
‘You don’t give up, do you?’ said Jay. ‘It’s no big deal. I went to the cottage to collect my rent that’s all.’
He saw the expression in Tanya’s eyes, and the strange yellow streaks that he sometimes detected at the height of sexual passion flickered there briefly for a moment. ‘You mean you went to see Davina Fletcher?’
‘She’s the only tenant I’ve got.’
‘I thought you said that she was paying her rent by acting as hostess for you.’
Jay nodded. ‘True, but that only covered a few days. She was as surprised as you to realise that, but she understands the situation better now.’
Tanya frowned. ‘I hope you’re not being unkind to her, Jay.’
Jay sighed heavily. He always found it much easier talking to men than women because women got hooked on emotions, a trait he found irritating; he was happier with facts. ‘What do you mean unkind?’
‘Playing one of your games.’
‘Well, yeah, I guess I am playing a game with her but she’s enjoying it.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Believe me, I know. I remember my godfather telling me how worried he was when she first came to live in the cottage. He felt that she was shutting herself off from the world, that she wanted a permanent retreat, but that wasn’t what he wanted for her. At first I couldn’t imagine why he left me everything in the will, but I’m beginning to think he believed I could show Davina that there was more to life than estate agents and drawings.’
‘How conceited!’ exclaimed Tanya. ‘Your godfather would probably have expected to live another twenty years. By then Davina would almost certainly have married her estate agent and you wouldn’t have been in any position to make a difference to her life. Whatever it is that you’re doing, don’t try and justify
it by saying it’s what your godfather would have wanted.’
‘Okay then, let’s just say it’s what I want. He left everything to me and his wording about the cottage rental was most specific.’
‘He wasn’t legally trained,’ Tanya pointed out. ‘He probably didn’t expect you to take it quite so literally.’
Jay grinned. ‘That’s the beauty of it. To be truthful I didn’t expect Davina to play along with me today. Since she did I’m assuming she’s not averse to learning a bit more about herself.’
‘Herself or her sexuality?’ queried Tanya.
‘Oh godammit!’ said Jay. ‘You and Todd spend most of your lives exploring your sexuality. Why is it that when I do it I get a lecture from you?’
‘Sshh,’ hissed Tanya. ‘Everyone in the pub’s looking at us.’
‘I don’t care. If they’re rude enough to eavesdrop on a private conversation that’s up to them.’
‘You’ve got a very loud voice,’ whispered Tanya. ‘This isn’t a courtroom and I’m not deaf. Neither, perhaps I should remind you, am I sitting in the dock.’
‘You like me really though, don’t you?’ said Jay
quietly, putting his hand over hers. Her hand was very small and without thinking his fingers began to tighten around it. She responded by turning her palm uppermost and scratching lightly on the pads at the base of his fingers. The effect was electric. His blood raced and he felt himself stir. ‘I take it that’s a yes?’
‘You know it’s a yes,’ she said with a smile. ‘I just want you to realise that Davina isn’t the only one who might be missing out on something. There is more to life than work and sex, Jay.’
‘There is? Well, I sure as hell don’t have time to fit it in.’
‘You don’t
want
to fit it in, that’s the truth of it. Tell me about this morning then, what happened?’
Jay hesitated. It wasn’t that Tanya would be shocked, in fact she’d probably find what had happened quite arousing, but all at once he didn’t want her to know. He wanted it to remain a secret between himself and Davina, a secret that he knew would shame her, especially if she thought that there was any danger of him talking about it. ‘I can’t tell you,’ he said slowly. ‘If I did it would all be spoilt.’
Tanya pushed her plate away. ‘That sounds interesting.’
‘It is,’ agreed Jay. ‘Don’t feel excluded, Tanya, I’m not going to tell Pattie either.’
Tanya gave him a very direct look. ‘I imagine Pattie’s the last person on earth you should tell.’
‘Are you trying to make me feel guilty now?’
‘Of course not, I don’t believe in guilt. It’s simply that Pattie might not appreciate you spending time alone with a young woman as attractive as Davina.’
‘Pattie and I aren’t engaged. I’ve never been faithful to her and I don’t imagine she’s faithful to me.’
‘I think she is,’ said Tanya.
Jay was astonished. The idea had never crossed his mind. ‘You’re joking?’
Tanya shook her head. ‘She told me herself.’
‘Why the hell’s that?’
‘Work it out for yourself, Jay.’
Jay groaned in mock despair. ‘I can’t possibly. I don’t understand the way her mind works. I don’t understand the way women’s minds work, period.’
‘I know you don’t,’ said Tanya. ‘Mind you, you know more about a woman’s body than any man I’ve met,’ and she ran a foot up and down his trouser-leg beneath the table.
‘More than Todd?’
Tanya nodded. ‘Yes, more than Todd. Don’t let that go to your head though, Jay. A woman sometimes wants more than a man who knows what buttons to push.’
‘I’ll remember that next time we’re together,’ said Jay teasingly.
Tanya looked fondly at him. ‘When are we going to get together again, Jay?’
‘All of us, you mean?’ he asked. Tanya nodded. ‘In about ten days. I hope you can wait that long.’
‘Why the delay?’ she asked curiously.
Jay stood up to go and pay the bill at the bar. ‘Because there’s some things I have to do before then, important things. I want it all to be right.’
‘But it’s always right,’ said Tanya. ‘I know Pattie’s just as keen as Todd and me.’
‘It’s not Pattie I’m thinking about.’ He was thinking about Davina.
The truth was, he was thinking about Davina far more than he wanted to and it was beginning to irritate him. It was fine when they were together, or when he was planning the next stage of the game, but
throughout his lunch with Tanya her image kept appearing in his mind unbidden. This was something he wasn’t used to.
He assumed it was because she was English, and intrinsically different to any other woman he’d known. Once the game was over and he’d actually possessed her he had no doubt that out of sight would be out of mind, just as it was with Pattie.
As he drove back home past the cottage, with Tanya sitting next to him, Jay gave two sharp blasts on the horn and saw Davina’s face appear at the window for a fleeting second before she was lost to his. He smiled to himself. He would be there again on Friday.
When Davina heard a knock at her front door on the Friday morning her palms began to sweat. She knew without any doubt that it was Jay and her stomach seemed to shrink in on itself, the muscles clenching with a strange dark excitement. Opening the door she made certain that she stood in his way. This time if he wanted to come in he was going to have to ask.
Once again Jay had a cardboard box beneath his arm. ‘May I come in?’
Davina felt as though she’d scored a point; at least she’d made him ask. ‘Of course.’ She stood to one side and his right arm brushed against her as he walked past. He was wearing a grey suit with a narrow stripe in it, a white shirt with a soft button-down collar and a dark red and green tie. He looked very formal, which somehow added to the excitement. It was such a contrast with what she knew was going to happen.
‘I’ve come to watch you work again,’ he said calmly. ‘This is what I want you to wear today.’
Upstairs in her bedroom Davina drew out a black dress with narrow straps on the shoulders; it flared from just below the bust and ended a couple of inches above her knees. The underwear was also black, a half-cup strapless bra and a pair of lace panties cut high on the leg, far briefer than the cream ones she’d worn previously. This time the stockings were a golden shade of brown and had a soft sheen to them which caught the light. As she slipped her feet into the strappy leather sandals with the narrow high heels Davina could hardly breathe for excitement.
She hesitated at the entrance to her studio. ‘Do you
want me just to draw again?’ she asked at last when Jay stood watching her without uttering a word.
‘Sure.’
‘You bring me these clothes but you never say what you think of them,’ Davina said suddenly, unable to stand his silence any longer.
‘I like to keep my thoughts to myself. Just draw.’
She shivered. She’d never realised how erotic it was to be ordered around by a man, a man who she found incredibly attractive but who at the same time over-awed her. It was an amazingly arousing situation and her mouth felt dry. Sitting down on her stool she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and heard Jay draw in his breath sharply.