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Maybe you’re having
trouble keeping to that promise.” She pressed disconnect on her
phone.
    Pulling her long, fair hair free from the
severe bun she wore, her fingers teased the strands and then it was
off with her jeans and T-shirt. She left the items where they had
fallen, such was her hurry, fearful that the longer she took, the
bigger the chance he would leave. That tingling anticipation was
back. Only one man was capable of arousing it. Over her black lace
silk bra and panties she slipped on a red shift dress, kept her
legs bare and discarded her usual pumps for three-inch heels.
    Crossing the vast hallway to the door
opposite, she hesitated before opening it. She then stepped into a
room adorned with pink and white elephants on the wall and matching
curtains. Lucy felt a different pull of love rise through her as
her eyes glanced down at the mop of dark curls.
    “Mummy,” A beaming four-year-old scrambled
to her feet and rushed up to Lucy, holding up a sheet of paper with
fiery colours etched across it. “Look what I’ve drawn for you. It’s
a rainbow.”
    Lucy blinked away the wetness and knelt down
to her daughter. “That’s beautiful, darling. Mummy’s got to go out
and might not be back in time for your bedtime. Susie will put you
to bed and read a story. You will be good for her, won’t you?” She
could hear Susie’s footsteps coming up the creaking oak staircase
and waited for her to join them.
    Susie’s Scandinavian features showed
surprise and her voice revealed her curiosity. “You look very nice.
Are you going anywhere special?”
    “Thank you, Susie, and yes I’m going into
London to see a show with a friend.” How easy the lie could slip
out but she felt no shame or guilt. She smiled at her daughter and
blew her another kiss.
    Leaving the two of them, Lucy guessed the
nanny was probably suspicious. It wasn’t as if Lucy made a habit of
going out all afternoon and evening and always insisted putting her
daughter to bed herself. No doubt Susie would report back to
Michael, seeing as she had been employed by him against Lucy’s
wishes.
    Climbing into her silver BMW, Lucy glanced
up in time to see a shadow move away from the window in her
daughter’s bedroom. Yes, Susie would report back to Michael. Lucy
felt maybe it was what she wanted, for Michael to question her
about where and whom had she been with. She wouldn’t lie, couldn’t,
and as for hurting him, it was time to put an end to it. As for how
he might react, there was no telling with Michael.
    Five minutes of driving and she was on the
main road into the wealthy hamlet nestling beside the river Thames
and passing the grand Victorian town hall with its clock tower that
chimed regularly on the hour until midnight. The rain was easing
off allowing the July sun to win through and bringing out Saturday
afternoon shoppers. Humidity hung in the air causing a light
mist.
    She saw him before he glanced in her
direction. Leaning up against a wall outside the town’s train
station, his face was pointing up toward the sky. He had no
umbrella or jacket, his black T-shirt was plastered to his chest.
Low-slung, dark jeans moulded around hard thigh muscles. Lifting up
a hand, his fingers swept back dark strands of hair that dripped
from his forehead.
    Lucy felt her breath leave her body. The
physical attraction had not wavered; not from the moment when she
had first laid eyes upon him. She remembered it so clearly, the
group of them all cheering as an unknown band won the crowd over at
a local rock festival. The music was wild, the words revolutionary
and the lead vocalist, sex on legs. Michael had been so
bad-tempered that day, accusing her of acting like a tramp.
    She proved him right in the end.
    When someone had remarked wasn’t it
Michael’s Irish cousin, Jamieson O’Sullivan up there on stage, the
reason for Michael’s moodiness became all too clear. This was the
orphaned relative that Michael felt nothing but jealousy and
resentment