You Got It Wrong - Part Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

                “You’re wearing that? For your big date?”

Nina dropped the towel she was using to dry hair and looked at the polka dot skater dress that was spread out on her bed. As outfits went for her, it was definitely in the ‘Going for tea’ category.

                “It’s new...hell Lilah; it’s a DRESS FFS, what’s wrong with that?”

Lilah pointed at her, “clearly the dress cuts it...just, it’s the underwear that I’m talking about.”

Nina looked in the mirror; she was wearing her favourite bra, black satin, supportive, but rather old and worn, with purple cotton boy shorts. Mismatched, unassuming. She’d like to say that it was coincidence that her prettiest, most glamorous sets of underwear were in the wash, but that wasn’t a factor. She had no intention of showing her underwear to Theo Peterson that night, the worn, mismatched versions just added security to that.

Lilah was wise to her shaking her head, “you’re that scared of him?”

Nina laughed, “I wouldn’t say I was scared...” She teased her dark spikes with her hands, then reached for the dress, “I’m just taking insurance, I’m not about to roll over for him.”

                “How you going to get home if it’s late?”

                “The trains run until the early hours, don’t worry Mum.”

Tossing her a bunch of keys she sighed, “I worry about you, there’s nothing wrong with that. Have Amelia’s keys, just in case you need them, she’s in Milan.”

Nina pocketed them with a sigh, “so I’ll be home tomorrow now then?”

Lilah laughed, “like there was EVER a doubt.”

Nina grabbed her bag, then made for the door. I’ll see you when I see you.”

That bravado had more than deserted her when she stood outside Pimlico tube station in the early part of rush hour. People streamed past her, all with a deliberate sense of purpose, all with an agenda. It was only when the huge truck pulled up in front of her that she spotted Theo, and the beaming Melody waving from the back seat to her, that she realised she was the same. The truck slowed and she moved across the pavement and slid into the front seat.

Melody giggled excitedly telling her all about her day, and it wasn’t until they’d been in the car for a few minutes that Theo murmured, “I didn’t know whether you’d come,” under his breath.

His voice made her sink deeper into the seat, it did strange things to her insides, “me too.” She finally mustered an answer.

She could feel Theo’s eyes on her, and when she finally looked his way he was studying her, meeting her eyes he smiled, “glad you did.”

He pulled into an underground car park, and Theo retrieved his bags, and of course his daughter from the back seat of the truck. Holding up a bag from a well known Deli, he grimaced, “sorry but I’ve been SO busy.”

As she gave a friendly smile, Melody skipped up and took a hand of each of them and led them towards the elevator. It wasn’t a new building, but it was clean and minimalist as they reached the corridors that seemed like a rabbit’s warren. Theo stopped at a door, then rummaged for his keys.

When the door opened, Melody grabbed her hand, “come and see my room!”

Theo gave an apologetic smile as she was dragged along a corridor to the pinkest, more girly room Nina had ever seen.

Two hours later and Nina stood with a glass of wine in her hand, on the small balcony that opened from the lounge. A cool summer breeze brushed over her and she gave an involuntary shudder. It had been a fun evening, watching TV and playing games with Melody. Sharing a glass of wine with Theo whilst his daughter devoured her dinner. Now he was putting her to bed, she could hear his deep voice as he read her a story. It was a very attractive thing, seeing a man so devoted to his daughter; it more than tugged at her heart strings.

Was that because her own father didn’t seem to care for her? On his death he’d voiced how much he’d loved her, but whilst she was alive, he was always too busy. He worked hard, and that meant hours out of the house, and it was her brother who shared the same interests as he father, they went to watch cricket, play golf or when he got to the right age, went to the pub for a few beers. She didn’t fit into that life, and not due to her own choices, it was a boys’ club that she was excluded from.

She wished she could remember her father reading her a bedtime story, or even tucking her in at night, instead she remembered a whole host of nannies. So Theo wrestling with his daughter, throwing her up in the air amidst squeals, or hugging her fiercely when she tripped and bumped her knee, all tugged at her heart strings and it was making her see Theo in a better light...all over again.

                “You ok?” the sound of his voice at her ear preceded the feel of his hard body against her back. His voice set off goose bumps all over her body and it took all her strength to fight the desire to lean back into him. But rather than be upset at her lack of reaction, he chuckled against her bare neck, just below her hairline.

Reaching around her, one hand rested on her lower stomach, setting off kaleidoscopes of butterflies swirling through her insides, before settling into her pelvis in a rather erotic way. His other hand reached for her wine glass, “more?”

She nodded, and let him take it from her fingers, by the time he returned with it refilled, a matching one for himself, she had moved to the rail that edged the balcony and rested her arms on it, watching a boat move up the Thames in the distance.

                “Here.” He handed her the glass then leaned next to her, taking a drink of the syrupy Spanish red. “I’ve just started our dinner...well I’ve turned the oven on.” He laughed, “you hungry?”

Nina turned to the side to reply that yes she was, but she came almost nose to nose with the man who was making her hair stand on end. He gave a lazy smile as she studied him. Her nod to confirm that she was in need of food made him smile, and those smiling lips moved towards hers before she had chance to register. As his lips occupied her every thought, she was only aware of the part of her that gripped the wine glass. If she’d let it fall out of her hand to the floor, then someone walking five floors down would possibly die.

As if he sensed her concern, his lips not leaving hers, Theo took both glasses and placed them on the table beside them, then turning her in his arms, he trapped her against the rail, his pelvis pressing her between his two hands that gripped the barrier either side of her. And once more he devoured her, completely.

Nina was putty in his hands; though a voice in the deep dark recesses of her mind reminded her that they were supposed to talk this wasn’t a night for seduction. But the power of that seduction overwhelmed her senses and she found herself clinging to his shoulders, pressing her breasts up into his chest, dwarfed by Theo.

A buzzer from the lounge caused them to jump apart, a light was flashing on the stove and with a groan Theo placed his forehead on hers, not letting her escape.

                “That’s the Dauphinoise potatoes; I need to get the steaks on, how do you like it?”

                “Rare.” Her voice was a quiver, but she was glad when he gave a nod, then moved away from her.

She watched him re enter the apartment and move towards the kitchen. Watching him move confidently, she took a moment to steady her nerves, then reached for the wine glasses he’d deposited on the small table, and followed him inside. She perched on a stool at the island that separated the dining room from the kitchen and watched the smoking pan of steaks in front of him.

                “Sorry.” He glanced up as he sliced a baguette into pieces, “I promised I wouldn’t do that.”

She was confused for a moment as she wondered what he was referring to, and her mouth was open in question when she realised he meant the seduction, the kisses. Instead of words, a deep blush washed over her cheeks and it caused him to chuckle. She was mortified. She’d been the one to insist there was no funny business, no boundary crossing, yet she’d been the one panting and writhing in his arms.

                “The wine is on the table, do you want to get us a refill?”

Glad of something to do, she moved across the room and grabbed the bottle of wine.

                “So tell me about your business,” he was wrestling the steaks onto the plates as she sat at the dining table.

                “My jewellery?”

Theo nodded placing the food in front of her, “how do you start a jewellery business? I mean it’s not an everyday thing.”

Nina looked down at the steak with a smile, her stomach gave an appreciative groan and she giggled, “well. After school I left home, drove into France to stay with family. Had a ton of fun. I eventually ended up in Spain, and got a place in a craft school, and there I met Juan Hernandez. He’s the Lionel Messi of jewellery, world famous. He saw some work I’d done and he asked me to work with him. He’s designed for EVERYONE, but now, he kicks back on a farm outside of Madrid, and takes on apprentices like me. I spent a year there, the greatest time. And I came back inspired.”

She cut into her steak then sighed as it touched her tongue, after chewing it, she smiled, “that is perfect!”  When he grinned, she continued, “back in Brighton I enrolled in another craft school, but it was really Amelia Smith that gave me the breakthrough. She’s Lilah’s cousin and she saw some of my work...Lilah loves everything I make, and she commissioned me to make her wedding rings.”

His eyes widened at that, “impressive, so you made Hollywood starlet rings.”

Nina chuckled, “amongst others, I mean she started to endorse the business, so my rings are exclusive, and bespoke, and worn by a lot of the entertainment industry.”

Theo gave a slow wolf whistle, “so you don’t produce that many but they sell for a whack?”

She grimaced, “there’s a lot of work that goes into them, and they are high quality platinum.”

                “I wasn’t being critical. I’m impressed.”

She ate a little more steak, the silence a little more awkward, “what about you?” She finally asked, “what needs your big truck and pays for this rather luxuriously located flat?”

He chewed contemplatively for a moment, “this place is...was one of Mansell’s properties, when I got divorced, well let’s just say my ex wife had a fantastic lawyer, she got our home and a pound of my flesh every month...so Mansell, rather than selling this place, lets me stay here for a reasonable rent.”

                “Ex wives hey?” She offered nervously.

He nodded, “it’s amazing how wrong you can be about someone.”

                “Like me,” she offered quickly.

That made him laugh loudly, “I’m afraid that she has ruined the way I see everything in life, I’m not the man I used to be.”

                “Life shapes all of us,” he noted the rueful tone to her words.

Giving a small sigh he nodded, “it does. Work...that was what you asked, I run a renovation, construction company. Struck lucky with buying a few derelict properties when the time was right...made a fortune and reinvested. We’re currently working on an old cinema in Bayswater, going to become several luxury homes.”

                “So you create things, like me. We’re not that different.”

Theo laughed, and Nina realised how much she liked that sound, “that’s a very tenuous and quite generous link, I’m structural and mechanical, not creative and artistic. A huge difference.”

                “Did you and Daniel fight a lot growing up? He’s a lot older than you?”

Theo leaned back in his seat and chewed his food, then took a slug of wine, “I only met him when I was eighteen, I didn’t know who my father was until then. My mother is...a good time girl, think that’s the best way of describing her. She is currently residing in the Cayman Islands with her fourth husband, a rich...of course Texan. I was an accident!”

                “Wow.” She reached for her own glass, “that’s some story. You get on well with Daniel though?”

He nodded, “he’s a great guy, from day one he accepted me, which if you knew our father...well you’d not want to. But since meeting him, and Mansell I’ve had a good life. They’ve never once been suspicious of my motives, and they could be. What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

She grimaced, “ask me another?”

Whilst she wasn’t going to refuse to answer him, she wasn’t keen on the thought of sharing her car crash of a family with him.

She watched as he sipped his wine, still leaning back in his seat, “hmmm. You live in your grandmother’s house?”

Smiling she nodded, “my mother died when I was a baby, so my grandmother was my only link to her. I used to spend most weekends with her in Brighton. When she passed away it was hard, but I visit her family, her sisters, my cousins, my aunts...”

                “So a big family.”

Nodding the turned back to her meal, “extended family is huge. But Lilah’s like my sister, and she’s all I need.”

He wasn’t about to comment on what a strange comment that was to make. Instead his intrigue and interest in the woman only elevated on each contact.

                “So how long have you been volunteering at the home?”

Neutral topics he was amazed at how she bloomed talking about the residents, her classes, compared to her guarded response to her family questions.

In exchange for dessert he’d bought a piece of stilton and some crackers and placed it between them, “the perfect thing to go with wine.”

Nina nodded, “I don’t have a sweet tooth, this is perfect.”

She helped him clean up, loading the dishwasher, then Theo refilled her wine glass, but as they sat together on the sofa, Nina had the feeling that she was a lamb to the slaughter all over again.

They talked for ages, about Melody, Mansell and the new French family, as well as her business, her own French family. There was a lot of neutral ground, and Nina couldn’t remember being so relaxed in a man’s company before. Leaning against the sofa, her bare feet propped on to a footstool, she was turned towards him. He was next to her, sat on one leg, watching her as she spoke, his free arm resting along the back of the sofa.

                “So it’s late.” She looked at the clock over the mantelpiece and saw it was almost midnight. “I can’t believe I’ve been here for EIGHT hours!”

He grinned, “That has to be a good thing, because you haven’t come close to getting on my nerves!”

That made her smile coyly, and Theo felt a bolt of lust hit his groin, he’d managed to talk...managed to not touch her for the last couple of hours, but it was getting harder. He was thinking about his bed, his huge bed that he wanted to stretch her out on, but he’d promised her that he’d behave.

                “You can’t go back to Brighton now?”

She shook her head, “Amelia’s home in Notting Hill. She’s a convenient asset...”

He nodded, “you know I want you to stay.”

                “I know.”

He gave a wry smile, “I’ll call you a cab...can we meet up again?”

She nodded, “I’d like that.”

Theo grinned, he now had the challenge of trying to please his daughter, and this vixen sat in front of him, without them encroaching on each other’s lives. He’d never been good at juggling.