Stranger at the beach house (15 page)

 
“If I know Sam there’ll be plenty more where
that came from, Lizzie,” Harry laughed as I glanced up at him, his lip curving
slightly in response.

“Cheers,” Sam said softly as we
all joined in and I stroked his leg underneath the table.

 
“Thank you,” I whispered as he winked.

 
“I’ve ordered a banquet. I hope no one minds.
Most things are on it, but if you want anything else just let Mr Hong know,”
Sam said and we all nodded.

“So how have you got on today in
your efforts not to sell the apartment, Joy?” I grinned, as the rest of the
table looked at me confused.

“I’m not sure,” she laughed. “The
trout worked a treat this morning but I’m not convinced it put the last guy
off, he didn’t even look remotely fazed,” she frowned.

“I thought it was your job to
sell houses, Joy” Harry quizzed.

 
“It is, but I really want the apartment I’m
tasked with selling now and I’m trying hard to get the deposit together. It’s a
double edged sword. To get the deposit I need the commission from the sale, but
if I get the commission I’ve lost the apartment,” she shrugged laughing at her
own dilemma. “I’ve got to figure it out soon though,” she said and Lizzie
laughed, this was typical Joy.

 
“Where is it?” Lizzie enquired.

 
“It’s the last apartment of the new builds on
the sea front, its bigger than the others which is why I’m struggling a bit and
the views are fantastic,” Joy replied.

“Can you get anything from the
house you shared with Jon?” asked Dave and I had to admit I had thought the
same thing.

 
“No. His parents helped us with the deposit
for that so it doesn’t seem right. Besides, he loves it and doesn’t want to
move. I think he’d struggle to manage on his own if I asked for some capital. I
don’t suppose any of you London dwellers are looking to move are you?” she cast
an amused glance at Harry, then at Sam.

 
“Why?” smiled Harry, looking at her puzzled.

“How much is your apartment
worth?” she shot back at him and I giggled at the classic Joy directness as
Lizzie shook her head laughing.

 
“About £800,000 I guess,” said Harry,
shrugging his shoulders. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

“I’d have to sell five family
homes here to get that amount of commission. How about yours Sam when you lived
in London?” she continued as he raised his eyebrows, throwing a wry glance to
Harry.

“About nine,” he said eventually
and very quietly under the pressure of everyone’s curious glares.

 
“£900,000.
If you two
decide to sell up, please let me know. On that sort of bonus I’d be in with a
chance,” she sighed.

 
“Nine million,” said Harry gently. “Just sell
Sam’s and you could buy the whole damn block,” he laughed as Joy gasped,
staring at Sam while her jaw hit the floor. She wasn’t the only one. Nine
million pounds, Jesus, just how
rich
is my boyfriend?

He squeezed my leg tightly under
the table, no doubt in an effort to wipe the dumbfounded gaze from my face
while throwing his usual irksome glare at Harry. His friend could certainly be
trusted to keep his ‘situation’ under wraps but was much less discreet in other
matters. The conversation had certainly fired up Lizzie’s curiosity as Mr Hong
and his team of waiters served an impeccable looking array of starters.

“So what is it you’re doing here
exactly?” Lizzie asked Sam, his face remaining impassive as we all tucked in.

 
“Taking a break from the rat race,” he smiled.
The usual vague answer which actually answered nothing at all and I was sure
she would push it further.

 
“So do you get back to London much?” she asked
quickly and I smiled as he shot me a knowing glance, probably thinking I had
primed her.

 
“More than I’d like. I’ve got meetings there
on Thursday and Friday and so I’ll be down in London this week,” he said. Oh,
this was news.
 
He hadn’t mentioned that
and I forced a smile, trying to hide the dejection I felt at the thought of two
days without him.

 
“I don’t suppose you’ll be there on Saturday
will you?” she asked hopefully as Dave chuckled warmly.

What was she doing? Three days
abstinence would be torture, today had been hard enough. “I don’t know,” he
said turning to me. “We could be, couldn’t we, Rose?” he asked as I stared at
him wide eyed. He grinned back, laughing. “What? You didn’t think I’d be
leaving you here did you, Sweetheart. Not a chance,” he said and I couldn’t
help the little flutter in my happy heart at that statement.

“Why, what’s on Saturday, Lizzie?”
I quizzed, my mood buoyant again as she looked at Dave.

“It’s
the autumn ball. My first event as a freelancer and I’ve got some serious
networking to do. To be honest I could use the moral support,” she laughed
nervously.

 
“I know quite a few people connected with the
industry and I’d be happy to come and help with some introductions if Rose is
up for it,” Sam said. Lizzie was smiling broadly as I squealed “definitely,”
whilst wondering how the hell Sam knew people in publishing, he was in finance.

 
“I love this guy,” she mouthed mutely across
the table.

 
“So do I,” I mouthed back, flushing as I gazed
at Sam, realising he had seen our silent exchange. Stroking his hand softly
down my thigh he leaned in towards me.

“That’s
good to know,” he purred gently as my face burned. Thankfully, no one other
than Lizzie, who continued to stare at me open mouthed, had noticed.

 
In my experience there was nothing guaranteed
to send a man running faster than dropping the ‘L’
bomb.
Christ, I had only known him a week. Surely he wouldn’t think I meant it
literally would he? Did I mean it literally? At least he hadn’t knocked the
table over in an effort to flee the restaurant and he had said it was nice to
hear. I may have got away with it.

 
Another weekend with my oldest friend and
another public date with my very hot boyfriend, what’s not to love about that I
giggled to myself, noticing that Harry and Joy were still happily whispering to
each other, too caught up to care about what was going on around the rest of
the table.

“Maybe
we could meet up on Thursday when Sam’s in his meetings. We could go shopping
and find something fabulous to wear,” Lizzie smiled. This just got better.

 
“That’s not a bad idea. I was hoping to take
you up on your offer to work for me. Maybe you could kill two birds with one
stone,” Sam grinned as Lizzie, Dave and I all looked at him puzzled.

 
“What offer of work?” I frowned. What the hell
was he on about?

“You
told me if I ever needed to employ anyone to buy stuff for me that I should
give you a shout because you love to shop and you’ve got plenty of time on your
hands,” he laughed as my eyebrows shot up. “Right now, I need someone to buy my
winter wardrobe and I think you’d be perfect,” he smiled and I laughed, kissing
him firmly on his soft, full lips as Lizzie and Dave looked at one another
knowingly.

“Thank
you Sam, that’s very trusting but I wouldn’t know where to start,” I said as he
smiled gently.

 
“Don’t worry, I’ve booked Joseph at Harrods
and he’ll give you a hand, he knows my sizes and what I’ll need. I’ll ask him
to organise one of his colleagues to sort you out with your dress for Saturday
and whatever else you want”. Oh my word, this would be fun I thought as Lizzie
beamed at me.

 
“Do I get carte blanche?” I giggled, eyeing
him up and down. The truth was
,
he would look perfect
in anything.

 
“Absolutely, as long as we agree a fee for
payment,” he
said,
his face suddenly serious.

 
“No,” I scowled at him horrified. “We’ll do no
such thing, Sam. I’m not taking your money,” I said firmly.

 
“We’ll see,” he laughed, stroking my leg under
the table and I smiled as a delicious visual entered my head.

Saturday
would be black tie and I would get to see this gorgeous man in a tuxedo. That
would be seriously hot I thought, my body igniting beneath his gentle touch as
his hand slid delicately between my thighs making me flush uncontrollably. I’d
have my very own Bond. It just got better and better I thought, trying to
contain myself as his hand rose further and letting out a little cough in a bid
to get him to stop.

”Are
you OK, Rose?” asked Harry, a cheeky smile playing on his lips as he glanced at
Sam and then at me.

“Yes,”
I said quickly, trying to wriggle away from Sam’s determined fingers. “Those
are just hotter than I expected”. I tried for deflection, pointing at an
innocent looking plate of Chinese delicacies.

Harry
put one in his mouth, holding my gaze. “No they’re not. Are you sure you’re
OK?” he grinned uncontrollably as Joy slapped him playfully which did nothing
to ease my embarrassment.

“Have
you had any chance to go treasure hunting since you moved back, Rose? I had
visions of you disturbing Sam’s peace and tranquillity with your constant
beeping up and down the beach,” said Harry as Joy and Lizzie started laughing.

 
“No. I used to love that old metal detector. I
wonder if Alice kept it,” I smiled in a bid to explain, as Sam looked down at
me puzzled. “I used to be convinced I’d find some ancient artefact that the
British Museum would buy from me and I would make my fortune. We never turned
up much other than the odd coin, circa 1970,” I said as Lizzie laughed.

 
“And about 1000 cans,” quipped Joy.

 
He didn’t look convinced at what had passed
for our idea of childhood fun. “What made you think you’d find anything of
interest or value here?” asked Sam gently as the group rolled their eyes in
mock horror.

 
“You’ve started her off now,” laughed Harry as
I scowled at him, before turning my attention back to a bemused Sam.

“Because it’s an area of real historical interest.
The
Romans are thought to have anchored their ships where the
brigg
is now and it was the site of a great fort in the Iron Age. Just up the coast
there was a settlement in Anglo Saxon times, so there is bound to be something
buried and hidden away, not to mention what the sea might bring in,” I smiled
enthusiastically.

 
“My little history buff,” he said, gently
grabbing my chin and pulling me into a beautiful soft kiss. “I had no idea,” he
smiled.

There
was lots of laughter and chatter as the champagne was refilled and the starters
were replaced with a mouth watering range of main courses. Mr Hong had truly
excelled himself tonight. “Ladies?” whispered Joy as I nodded, wondering
whether Lizzie would join us for our customary girl talk.

“Excuse
me,” I said, leaving the table and heard the scrape of Joy’s chair and clicking
of her heels as she followed close behind.

 
“Holy
fuck
, Rose,”
she all but screamed as we reached the bathroom and I stood there grinning. “He
is off the scale gorgeous. He looks like he’s stepped out of the pages of GQ or
Esquire or something. I nearly fainted when I saw him and I nearly fainted
again when I heard how much his house cost,” she gawped at me gobsmacked.

“I
wish you had fucking fainted. It would have been better than telling him what I
said, Joy. I was absolutely mortified,” I glowered at her. If I was expecting a
sheepish apology I wasn’t getting one. It wasn’t Joy’s style

.
“Who cares, he’s got a nine million pound pad,” she said and I could see the
cogs of her brain ticking over.

“Maybe
he’s lost all his money, Rose, maybe he blew it all on cocaine, cars and women
and that’s why he’s here,” she said, staring at me as if she’d just figured out
Sam’s ‘situation’ based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever. I rolled my eyes
and laughed.

 
“I wouldn’t have thought so, Joy, he doesn’t
seem the type,” I said, shaking my head.

“Well
whatever, Rose, you’ve hit the jackpot there,” she laughed and I was laughing
too at the overzealous animations of my friend.

 
“You and Harry seem to be hitting it off,” I
grinned as I touched up my make-up.

“I
know. How blind have I been all these years? He is hotter than the sun and toe-
curlingly
sexy,” she laughed. I had to agree.

 
“He definitely seems to have come into his own
and you look amazing,” I said, smiling at her.

“How
do you think I should play it, Rose?” she asked and I couldn’t help laughing.

 
“Just be yourself and you’ll be fine, Joy.
It’s obvious he really likes you,” I said, feeling that this conversation was
kind of déjà vu.

 
“Do you think so?” she asked nervously and I
giggled at my strange position as match maker to my very good friends.

 
“I know so,” I smiled as she grinned back and
we made our way into the restaurant.