Stranger at the beach house (21 page)

“What
about the dress for Saturday?” Lizzie asked when I’d almost finished.

 
“We’ll come back to that,” said Wendy, topping
up our champagne and no doubt trying to loosen up my inhibitions at spending
such a huge amount of money on one bit of cloth.

“Your
turn Lizzie,” I smiled as Wendy held up a long black dress and she went into
the changing rooms to try it on. I suspected she was playing along with no
intention of buying it. She hadn’t even enquired as to the price. She walked
out grinning and looking absolutely stunning. It had a low neckline and skimmed
her hips, floating out at the bottom and we were all admiring it when the low
wolf whistle came from just behind me.

“Sam,”
I laughed as he kissed me, turning his attention to Lizzie and Wendy.

 
“We’ll take it. You look lovely Lizzie,” he
smiled as she stared at him dumbfounded.

“Great,
thanks,” she said, having suddenly abandoned her principles as she shrugged her
shoulders and grinned at me. I looked at her aghast.

“Hatchback?”
she said to Wendy as I looked on. She had clearly failed to find a price on the
tag.

“Yes,”
Wendy replied as we all laughed, except for Sam who looked on expectantly,
waiting for me to explain the joke.

 
“She’s asking if the dress is the same price
as a small family car, Sam,” I said as he chuckled gently. “She thought it was
obscene, but it looks like she just changed her mind,” I said as he bent to
kiss me again.

“And
how about you, Rose, did you find something you like?” he said as I shook my
head, but Wendy wasn’t letting it go and she saw her opening.

 
“Rose has found a dress that looks absolutely
perfect on her, Sam, but she’s concerned it’s too expensive,” she said, going
right over my head and deciding that speaking to the organ grinder and not the
monkey was her best bet at a sale.

“She’ll
have it,” he said, consuming me in a deep kiss as I opened my mouth to argue
and when I came up for air I noticed Wendy already had it boxed and wrapped.

 
“Thank you,” I smiled as he grinned broadly.

 
“And how about me, what will I be wearing this
winter?” he asked, pulling me close.

“Lots
of colour,” I laughed as Lizzie emerged from the changing room looking rather
sheepish having clearly had a change of heart.

“It’s
a lovely thought, Sam, but I really can’t accept it,” she said, smiling at him
as he smiled gently back.

 
“Box it up Wendy,” he said simply as she did
exactly that. He wouldn’t have to ask her twice.

We
said our goodbyes to Lizzie after a late leisurely lunch. Sam’s meetings had
gone well which was the only information he gave me before announcing that we’d
be attending a dinner party tonight with his friends. The thought made me
strangely nervous. Sam’s world was turning out to be very different than
anything I’d encountered before, and I was glad that I’d have a new outfit to
wear. If he’d never had a girlfriend before I could imagine I’d be under the
microscope and I wanted to do him proud.

He
smiled as he came into the bedroom while I put the finishing touches to my
make-up. “You look incredible,” he said, leaning down to nuzzle my neck as I
watched him through the large mirror of the vanity unit, hiding my true
feelings about the night ahead and smiling back at him.

“Harry
just arrived,” he said, which I interpreted as ‘hurry up, Rose, there are now
two of us waiting’ as I grabbed my clutch, taking a final check in the mirror
along with a huge deep breath.

Chapter 19

As
the taxi pulled up outside the house, I soaked in the beautiful exterior. It
was a pale cream mid 19
^th
Century house, part of a row of
stucoo
fronted buildings laid out over five floors. I was
no estate agent, but a house this size in Kensington must run to at least
fifteen Million. I turned to Sam who was gazing at me, a small smile curving at
the side of his mouth, betraying his amusement at my wide eyed astonishment. “Wow.
It’s stunning,” I gasped.
 
This was
likely to be very different from any dinner party I’d been to in the past,
which had consisted largely of me and a handful of friends squashed around a
makeshift table in a one bedroom apartment, washing down basic food with
copious amounts of cheap vodka. It had used to be my favourite kind of Friday
night.

Tonight
was shaping up to be something quite different and if I’d been feeling slightly
anxious before, right now my nervousness was at its peak. Thankfully at least
today’s shopping spree saw me in something other than my usual high street
style and I felt comforted that at least my attire wouldn’t be out of place.

Sam
paid the driver, squeezing my hand as we jumped out of the black cab and smiled
down at me. I wondered if he could sense my unease. “It’s OK, Rose, they won’t
bite,” he laughed as Harry bounded up beside me.

 
“They might bark a bit though,” he grinned,
nudging my arm playfully as he caught Sam’s gaze. I had to admit, this exchange
did nothing to reduce my anxiety and I wondered what the hell I was about to
walk into. Sam held my hand, gripping it tightly, striding towards the house as
I tried to keep up in my heels.

A
blonde woman opened the door, elegant and in her mid thirties, her hair pulled
back in a soft chignon and she was smiling broadly at Sam, hugging and kissing
both cheeks before extending her generous welcome to me and Harry in turn.
“It’s good to see you, Sophia. This is Rose,” he said, striding into the large
open hall, warm and inviting in muted colours.

 
“It’s lovely to meet you, Rose” she beamed,
her genuine smile lighting up her eyes. “As for you, Sam, where the
hell
have you been, we’ve missed you.
Come through, everyone’s in here,” she gestured to a door on the right, as
Harry pulled up close behind me.

 
“Into the lion’s den,” he whispered as I took
another deep breath.

 
There were already at least twelve people in
the room, laughing and chatting underneath the soft lighting and all stopping
to look at Sam as he strode in, his tall, broad frame dominating the space. He
was barely inside before a slim, stunning brunette, clad in black silk and
looking every inch a model, pulled him aside and kissed him softly on the
cheek. She paused for a second to glance me up and down briefly before ushering
him off to chat to a small group gathered in the corner, leaving me stood there
with Harry. ‘Thanks Sam’ I muttered internally.

 
“I warned you,” Harry laughed, putting his arm
around me affectionately. “Let’s get you a drink. He might be gone a while,
Babe,” he smiled, and I looked over my shoulder as Sam shrugged and Harry
grabbed two glasses of champagne from a circulating waiter.

 
“Harry,” squealed a small redhead, her hair a
mass of riotous curls bouncing along the shoulders of an emerald green dress.
“How was last weekend?” she giggled as I turned to look for Sam again, noting
that the brunette was gazing at him, laughing and stroking his arm as he
engaged the rest of the group. What the hell was she doing?

“The
weekend was great, wasn’t it, Rose?” Harry said quickly, nudging me and pulling
my attention back to him and the petite redhead who was beaming at me.

 
“Err, yes,” I tried to smile, glancing back to
where Sam stood, still engrossed in conversation with the too attentive
brunette hanging on his every word.

 
“This is Carla, Rose,” Harry smiled. The two
seemed close and I hoped to God they weren’t romantically involved, that wasn’t
a conversation I wanted to have with Joy.

“Did
you make your move then, Harry?” she asked and I visibly relaxed. She was just
a friend and I suddenly realised that my preoccupation with Sam and the model
was making me appear incredibly rude. I turned towards the redhead, smiling and
more than happy to fill her in on the details of Harry and Joy.

 
“It’s lovely to meet you, Carla, and yes he
did. He was surprisingly smooth,” I said, taking a huge gulp of champagne.

 
“I sincerely doubt that,” she replied,
laughing and nudging his arm playfully.

 
“Ladies, you are doing nothing for my ego
here,” he scoffed.

 
“Speaking of ego’s,” Carla laughed, looking
over towards Sam as we all followed her gaze, only to see the bitch brunette
flicking her hair and picking imaginary lint from Sam’s shirt. I rolled my eyes
and forced myself to look away.

Carla
caught it and was obviously amused. “It’s lovely to finally meet the woman who
has captured Sam Lawrence’s heart,” she beamed mischievously at me and then at
Harry.

“Carla,”
Harry snapped jokingly, “can’t you keep anything to yourself. Honestly you’ll
embarrass the poor girl, go easy,” and she threw her head back laughing as she
weaved her way through the room towards the champagne waiter.

“Sorry,”
smiled Harry.

 
“Captured his heart?” I shrugged “It doesn’t
look much like that from where I’m standing,” I spat, finishing my champagne in
a second gulp.

“Don’t
worry about her,” said Harry as I grabbed another glass from the passing
waiter, needing the buzz from the bubbles to distract me from Sam and the leech
in the corner.

 
“Has he slept with her, Harry?” I blurted out,
unable to stop myself.

“Rose,”
his eyebrows shot up in shock as I eyeballed him for an answer. “It’s not my
place to say,” he started before I interrupted, “So that’s a fucking yes then”,
throwing a long steely glare on Sam, turning away as he smiled and waved from
across the room.

“Jesus,
Rose, I’ve never seen you like this,” Harry frowned. He was right. What was
wrong with me? I needed to get a grip before my old friend and everyone else in
the room thought I was an absolute nut job.

 
“So who’s everyone else, Harry?” I quizzed
half heartedly in a bid to change the conversation, turning my back on the
expanding group of people Sam was talking to as Carla returned to join us.

 
Harry pointed out some of the other
individuals in turn. “Sophia and Robert the hosts”, who apparently ran a
successful advertising agency, “Alex and Morgan,” who worked with Harry in the
City. “Rupert, a dot com millionaire”, whatever one of those was. “Cheryl, also
in finance,” and “Lucas,” he said, pointing to a tall dark haired man standing
by the fireplace, and arguably the only person in the room who could give Sam a
run for his money in the gorgeousness stakes. Harry wouldn’t have appreciated
me voicing that opinion I smiled to myself.

 
“Lucas...the arch enemy,” Carla said in a
hushed tone before bursting into a fit of giggles.

“What
do you mean?” I smiled back as Harry glared at her and
tutted
loudly.

 
“Honestly, Carla,” he said sternly.

 
“He’s Sam’s nemesis, Rose. They’re so bloody
competitive it’s ridiculous. Always trying to get one up on each other and
connected by some weird grudging mutual respect,” she chuckled as Harry shook
his head in disbelief.

I
was enjoying the fact that Carla was pretty indiscreet and now that I knew
where to turn for the gossip I decided to push my luck. “So who’s the brunette
stood next to Sam?” I asked as we both turned to see her running her unwelcome
hand up and down his arm and I noticed Carla glance fleetingly at Harry, a
frown shadowing her twinkling green eyes as I turned back to face them.

 
“Sarah,” she said wrinkling her nose in
distaste as I laughed, almost choking on the bubbles in my mouth.

 
“She’s a model. She dated Sam on and off quite
a while ago,” she whispered. Oh.

“Was
she his girlfriend?” I asked grimly as Carla shook her head quickly.

 
“God no, although she wanted
to be.
Still does by the looks of things, but don’t worry, Rose, she
hasn’t got a hope in hell.” It wasn’t stopping him standing there and letting
her drool all over him though, was it? Two can play that game I thought as a
wicked little idea flashed into my brain.

 
“Back in a minute,” I smiled as Harry eyed me
suspiciously and I glanced to see the waiter moving towards the fireplace.

 
“Don’t do it, Rose,” he growled as I forced my
way past him towards the roaring fire, the champagne and the sexy nemesis. I
was about to rattle Sam’s cage a little.

“Thank
you,” I said, picking up a full glass from the tray and looked up to see the
face of the enemy smiling down at me. “Hi, I’m Rose” I said smiling back and
stretching my hand out as he ignored it, holding my shoulders and kissing me
softly on each cheek.

 
“It’s lovely to meet you, Rose. I’m Lucas. I
haven’t seen you before, are you here with Harry?” he asked as I smiled.

 
“No. Harry and I are old friends, I’m actually
here with Sam,” I replied, glancing around and noticing that he was glaring at
me fiercely from across the room as Lucas followed my gaze.

I
smiled and waved, just as he had, turning my attention back to Lucas who was
clearly amused by the exchange and grinning widely. “So what do you do, Lucas?”
I asked sweetly, feeling Sam’s eyes blazing into my back.

 
“I’m a hedge fund manager,” he smiled.

 
“
Ahhh
” I laughed, so
that was where the competitiveness came in.

 
“That’s a cute accent you’ve got, Rose,” he
said. “It’s Northern, but I can’t quite place it. I’m guessing it’s from the
big county in the middle, Yorkshire?” he quizzed.

 
“Yes,” I laughed, flicking my hair as I felt
the raging heat of a hard body slide up behind me, tucking a possessive arm
tightly around my waist.

“Lucas,
will you excuse us?” Sam said, shaking his hand firmly as I smiled politely and
shrugged before being ushered at speed through the room. His hand was pressed
firmly into my back, guiding me urgently through the small groups and couples
who were laughing and chatting obliviously. Only Sarah, who was glaring at me
through narrowed eyes, had noticed the exchange.

 
I glanced at Sam as we headed through the door
and down the hall. His mouth was set in a grim line and he was trying to
control his anger. Shit, he was mad. Well he had a bloody nerve. All I’d done
was talk to someone for two minutes and he had left me alone for ages while his
ex-whatever she was, flirted mercilessly with him.
 
I gasped as he pulled me into a room on the
right, enveloped in black, lit only by a soft stream of moonlight illuminating
the shapes of the furniture and the towering silhouette of the man stood before
me.

My
heart was pounding and I backed up as he moved towards me until I hit the wall,
his two arms at either side of my head effectively pinning me in place. He
moved his face slowly towards me until our lips almost touched, black pupils
burning into mine. “Do you need a reminder of who you belong to?” he
asked,
his voice low and velvet as I held his stare.

“No,
Sam I don’t, but I think you do,” I snapped and I could see the faint trace of
a smile curving his lips in the dim light.

“Were
you jealous, Rose?”
 
he
asked with an unmistakeable trace of humour in his voice that served only to
increase my irritation. “I didn’t have you down as the jealous type,
Sweetheart” he said, licking his lips as he watched me closely.

 
“Well I’m not,
normally
,”
I said
,
emphasising the word and that was the
truth.

 
“How would you like it if I spent half an hour
talking to someone who was drooling all over me?” I spat.

“You’ve
just seen how much I don’t like it,” he whispered, moving his hands to caress
my back and waist.

 
“Yes, Sam,” I pouted as my body betrayed me,
melting into his touch. “Look how you reacted. I spoke to Lucas for two
minutes. He was not constantly touching me and fawning all over me and he is
not someone who I’ve fucked several times,” I said, completely infuriated as I
tried to ignore the downward movement of his hands, deliciously massaging my
buttocks, his lips tantalisingly close. I would get my point across if it
killed me, and if he kept up this erotic assault on my senses it just might.

“He
wouldn’t be in one piece if he had, Rose,” he said firmly, pulling the hem of
my dress up to slide firm hands over my soft thighs as he searched my face with
his eyes. A possessive smile lit his face through the darkness as I nodded,
giving into his exquisite touch and moaning gently against his mouth. “Jesus, you’re
wearing stockings, what the hell are you trying to do to me?” he groaned,
claiming my mouth, sliding his fingers up the straps of the satin suspenders
and along the inside of my silk and lace panties.