Read Earthly Delights for Free Online Page A

the gin.
    ‘My ex brought it back from China. It’s my favourite dress.’
    ‘I can understand that.’ Had he stiffened a little when I said ‘ex’ ? I poured tonic and offered him first sip. He accepted. He sipped very neatly. His chin and jowl were darkened. I wondered how often he shaved.
    ‘I didn’t realise you had such unusual eyes,’ he said. ‘That’s the trouble with dawn, there are no colours. They’re grey, really grey. Sea-grey eyes,’ he said, handing me the glass. Our fingers met. I couldn’t think of anything to say. His fingertips were calloused, as though he worked at a manual trade. I didn’t know anything about him. But who cared? He began, ‘Would you—’ and just at that moment the starling dropped down to the grass, Horatio leapt off my knee and swiped at it and Mrs Pemberthy’sbloody dog decided to join our little
conversatione
. The world was suddenly full of yapping (the dog), squawking (the starling), hissing (Horatio, who had quite lost his composure) and yelling (me and Mrs Pemberthy). It took some time to sort out the mêlée and after that the moment, if it was a moment, had passed. We sat down again. Horatio washed. I refilled the glass.
    ‘What brings you to Australia?’ I asked lamely enough.
    ‘I was born here,’ he said, taking a healthy swig of the drink. ‘I went back to Israel with my parents and joined the army, and then I came back here. I work on the Soup Run for fun. I’ve always been nocturnal.’
    ‘Like Horatio,’ I said, pointing out my fearless hunter, who was sitting with his back to us, washing in a very thorough fashion. One got the impression that Horatio would have blushed, if he hadn’t been a cat.
    ‘Cats and lovers love the dark,’ he said, which sounded like a proverb. ‘What about you? You didn’t start off as a baker, I can tell.’
    ‘How can you tell?’
    ‘Trade secret,’ he grinned. He had very white teeth. I still didn’t know anything about him.
    ‘What trade?’
    ‘That would be telling,’ said Daniel. ‘There, we’ve finished our drink. I’d better collect the bread and get going.’
    ‘Start by collecting the cat,’ I said, feeling frumpish and cross. Daniel went over to Horatio and said something, and Horatio climbed onto his shoulder and draped himself across the leather-clad neck. He looked like a very elaborate fur collar.
    My apartment is called ‘Hebe’. It shows a rather curvy girl in a slipping tunic pouring out nectar for a series of reclining gods. The builder decided that the shop apartments should bededicated to the attendant gods. Thus we have the Pandamus family, who run the Cafe Delicious, living in Hestia, goddess of the hearth. The software company Nerds Inc live in Hephaestus, smith of the gods. And Meroe lives in—I swear—Leucothea, the white goddess, who is also called Hecate, Queen of Witches. She says it was Meant. With a capital letter. And it probably was.
    I let Daniel in and went to my kitchen to fetch him the bag of bread. This was not how I had foreseen our next meeting. Also, I had stinging puncture wounds across my thighs from Horatio’s abrupt take-off. That cat can accelerate upwards like a Harrier jump-jet. I sat down heavily. I folded back the silk to inspect my wounds and Daniel came in, soft footed, and caught me.
    He contemplated my half-naked state, drew in a breath, and went into the bathroom. When he returned he sat down on his heels and smoothed anti-sting into each little puncture. It was one of the sexiest things I had ever felt and I shivered.
    ‘You’re beautiful,’ he said. Then he stood up. ‘I must go,’ he said. ‘Can I come back tomorrow?’
    ‘For more bread?’ I asked. I let the dress fall and stood up before him. He was tall. My nose collided with his second shirt button. I smelt that elusive spice scent again. My body seemed to be magnetically attracted to him.
    ‘That too,’ he said cryptically, took the bread, and went.
    ‘Someone thinks I am