Fandango in the Apse! (21 page)

‘Umm… OK.’

Robbie appeared with a steaming cup, and what appeared to be a dressing
gown slung over his forearm.  Looking directly at my face and nowhere else, he
placed the cup on the side of the bath.

‘Drink this, it’s hot.’  Hmm…  No – I am not going to say it, even if I
was thinking it.  But between you and me he did look good, though.  He had
obviously showered and was looking great in a pair of grey sweatpants and a
black T-shirt. 

‘This was a present from my sister, I’ve never worn it,’ he said, as he
placed the dressing gown over a towel rail.  Then, without a word, he scooped
my soggy clothes from the floor and left.  Oh my giddy aunt!  Robbie Collins
was washing my smalls.  I knew my face was pink and it had nothing to do with
the heat of the water.

It has to be
done, I told myself, as I stared at the door.   I’d been in the bathroom for at
least forty-five minutes, the last five plucking up courage to actually open
the door and face Robbie.  Finally losing patience with my ridiculous carry on,
I took a deep breath and yanked the door open. 

I was rooted to the spot by the beauty of Robbie’s home.  I could now see
almost all of the downstairs was open plan.  Hidden lighting softly illuminated
different areas.  Two large sofas sat either side of a massive flat screen,
while a dining table and chairs nestled on what seemed to be a purpose built
plinth.  The room was dotted with occasional tables, supporting either huge but
elegant lamps or amazing pieces of beautifully carved wood. The overall feel of
the room was warm but intensely male.  Wow!

I wandered to the back of the house following soft blue LED lights
inserted low in the wall and was again surprised by the kitchen.  It bore no
resemblance in either size or décor to the one I remembered.  Like the rest of
the house, it was stunning, if a little plain for my taste.  I felt a pot plant
or two might not go amiss, but decided to keep my opinion to myself when I
caught sight of Robbie sitting at a table in the corner of the room.  The only
lights on in here were the ones under the units, but I could just about make
out his features and it didn’t look promising.

‘Are you hungry?’

‘Um…no.’  I walked over to the sink with the empty cup I’d brought from
the bathroom, glad the silky, paisley patterned dressing gown was big enough to
almost wrap around me twice.  I was intensely aware that Robbie knew I was
naked underneath. 

Robbie picked up a bottle of brandy from the table in front of him.

‘Drink?’ he asked.  I shook my head and he sighed.

‘So, Katie Roberts…is there anything you want?’  I suspected that was a
deliberately loaded question.  What was going on?  Was he drunk?

‘How many of those have you had Robbie?’ He laughed and lifted one foot
on top of the other onto the chair next to him.

‘Enough…or maybe not?  Dunno really.’

‘But how am I going to get home?  You can’t drive if you’ve been
drinking.’

Robbie seemed to ponder that for a moment.  ‘Hmmm…seems we have a
problem, I suppose I could let you borrow my car…no…can’t do that – you’re not
insured for it…’

‘You are a first class idiot
Robbie, do you know that?’  I was
annoyed.  Why was he behaving like this? 

Robbie scooted the chair from under his feet and came towards me.  For a
tiny second, fear leapt in my chest.  Then he was in front of me, and all I
could feel was his nearness.  He reached around me to take a glass from the
cupboard above my head, then without looking at me, returned to the table and
banged the glass down.

‘I’m an idiot?  Are you for real Katie?’ He unscrewed the top from the
bottle and none too gently sloshed a large measure of brandy into it and then scooted
it across the table. 

‘Pardon me,’ he continued, banging the bottle down the same way as he had
the glass.  ‘But I wasn’t the fool who risked my life climbing fifty feet onto
a roof  in the pouring rain, wearing almost nothing and with those on my
feet.’  He pointed to my soggy sandals now propped on top of the radiator to
dry.  ‘What the hell were you thinking, you could have been killed?’

Jesus!  Why was he so angry?  What was it to him anyway if I’d ended up
in a heap on the patio?

‘I…’

Robbie held his hand up, palm facing me. ‘I don’t want to hear it!’  Well
why ask then? I thought.

‘Drink that,’ he said, pointing to the brandy he’d just poured.

‘I don’t want it.’  He continued pointing at the brandy, his only movement
was to cock an eyebrow.

Hmm…I thought, perhaps I should just drink the bloody brandy.  I made my
way to the table, but my grazed knees were beginning to hurt and as I sat down,
I couldn’t help a grimace as the skin on them pulled.

‘What’s the matter?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Then why the look of pain?  Are you hurt?’ His voice was a tad gentler
as he asked this. 

Right… I thought, go for sympathy, sympathy’s got to be better than
anger.

‘It’s just my knees, I grazed them on the tiles.’ Robbie was around my
side of the table and kneeling in front of me almost before I’d stopped
speaking.

‘Let me see.’

I peeled back the voluminous dressing gown to reveal my two sore knees.

‘They need disinfecting and a couple of plasters, I’ve got a first aid
kit in the van, I’ll be back in a moment.’

While he was gone, and feeling as if I could do with some fortification,
I took a gulp of the brandy and almost choked as the liquid burned my throat. 
Yuck!  I thought.  How could anyone drink that stuff neat?

‘Here we are,’ said Robbie as he came back completely soaked again.  He
placed the large green box he was carrying on the worktop. Then, without warning,
he stripped off his wet T-shirt and used it to wipe some of the moisture from
his hair. 

Sorry, but a person needs a little preparation to compose themselves
before having their senses assailed in such a fashion, I thought, as an
unexpected bolt of sexual energy coursed through my body.   I watched the
interesting play of the muscles on his torso and silently thanked God that Robbie
seemed oblivious to the effect his actions were having on me.

I couldn’t say a word when he was kneeling in front of me once again.  I
had to clench my fists to prevent myself reaching out to touch him.

‘Am I hurting you?’  Robbie asked, misreading the reason for my balled
fists.  The antiseptic cream stung a bit but strangely, given the temper he was
in moments before, his actions were gentle.

‘No not really… just stings a bit.’

‘Almost done.’

A couple of plasters later, Robbie had moved back to his seat and my
traitorous body had returned to normal, or as normal as it could be at that
precise moment.   This was a strange situation…never in a million years could I
have imagined sitting half-naked in Robbie’s kitchen while he administered
first aid.  I briefly let my mind wander further, trying to gauge my chances of
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, were I to drop to the floor in a dead faint.  Hmmm…

The object of my thoughts was speaking and I reluctantly dragged myself
back to reality.

‘The weather is worse if anything…you’ll have to stay here tonight,
Katie.  I was only joking earlier, I would have lent you the car, but it seems pointless
to risk driving in this weather.’

Ten minutes later, after another quick gulp of brandy and another
coughing fit, I found myself tucked up in Robbie’s spare room.

I have to admit to you; I really wasn’t sure how I felt about it.  Think
about it.  Robbie liked women, he’d had loads of girlfriends that I knew of, so
what was wrong with me?  Why was I dumped in the spare room?  It was a blow to
my ego, I have to say.  I mean, I wasn’t absolutely sure I wanted to jump into
bed with Robbie, but I would at least have liked the opportunity to turn him
down. 

My bruised ego, combined with the strange bed prevented me from
sleeping.  I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours and was still no
nearer blessed sleep.  It was no good, I was thirsty – I slammed the covers off
me in temper and searched around for the dressing gown.  Turning on the bedside
lamp, I looked at my watch through a haze of moisture trapped inside the
casing.  That was ruined then.  I’d been trying to sleep for two hours, was
that all?   

When I opened the bedroom door, the LED lights were still on.  That
stopped me in my tracks for a moment, was Robbie still up?  Taking one step out
into the corridor, I looked down toward the kitchen.  It was in darkness… I
really didn’t want to come face to face with Robbie again that night.

I crept along on tip-toe and was relieved to see there was enough light
coming from outside the kitchen window to light my way to the sink.  Good, I
wouldn’t have to search for the light switch.  I rummaged round in the sink and
found the glass I’d used earlier and filled it to the brim.  I was just
finishing the last dregs when a voice came out of the darkness.

‘Thirsty?’

‘Oh!’ I raised my hand to my chest in fright.  ‘Robbie, you scared me
half to death!  What are you doing sitting here in the dark?’

‘Thinking.’

‘Oh.’  I wondered if he was ploughing his way through the brandy at the
same time.

‘You’re right, you know.’

‘About what?’  I wished he would move so I could see him.  It was
disconcerting talking to the dark.

‘I am an idiot.’

‘Robbie, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…’

‘Maybe not, but you’re still right,’ he cut in.

`           I thought humouring him might be the best option, then I
would high-tail it back to the bedroom and leave him to it.

‘OK, so why am I right, why are you an idiot?’  I sensed, rather than saw
his movement. Then he was there in front of me.  He raised his hand and I was
mesmerised as he drew it gently down my face, his touch no more than a whisper
against my skin.

‘Because…I’m sitting here while a funny, brave, incredibly foolish, but
beautiful woman is sleeping alone in the room next to me… that’s why.’

I heard myself swallow in the silence that followed.  I was afraid speak;
I was sure I was dreaming and if I uttered a word I would wake up.  I didn’t
want to wake up, not when I could see desire illuminated in Robbie’s eyes. 

But don’t think for a minute what followed was a
Mills & Boon
type, gooey, love-fest, you would be so wrong.  Sorry to disappoint you if
that’s what you were expecting, because I’m not going to give it fancy frills
or try to make it sound like anything other than what it was. 

It was two people taking raw, almost animalistic pleasure from each
another.  There was no strangeness, no pretentions, no wondering about what the
other wanted or liked… to be honest, we fitted, it seemed completely natural. 
But there was an undercurrent – something just under the surface, almost tangible,
but not quite.  It manifested itself now and then in a small gesture, a kiss, a
touch and it saved what we were doing from becoming tawdry.  It was, in every
way, completely amazing sex.

It was late in the morning when I woke.  I stretched, while mentally
examining my body.  My muscles ached pleasantly and I felt completely satiated,
if not exactly rested.  Daylight was creeping behind the heavy curtains before
we had slept, but I wasn’t complaining.  

I could smell hot coffee and opened my eyes.  I watched as Robbie neared
my side of the bed to deposit one of the cups he was holding on the
nightstand.  He was magnificent in tight black boxers; it was all I could do to
keep my hands to myself.  I’d never seen him with stubble before, it suited him…
but then I was pretty starry eyed just then.  Instead, I reached up to check my
hair; sure it must resemble a bird’s nest on top of my head.

Robbie laughed as he jumped back into bed.  ‘Mornin’ gorgeous, I
shouldn’t worry about that,’ he said, indicating to my tousled locks, ‘I may
not have finished ravishing you yet!’

I screamed with laughter as he started tickling me.

‘No…please don’t,’ I squealed, while batting him off me. ‘I need the
bathroom and coffee in that order…now!’

A while later we lay together, we had just made love again and were
having a hard time staying awake, when I thought of something that made me
chuckle.

Robbie nudged me sleepily. ‘Share.’

‘I just thought of a conversation Alison and I had yesterday.’

‘And…’

‘We were talking about my lack of a love life and how I should do
something about it.’  I turned to look at Robbie and found him staring at me.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘What do you mean your lack of a love life?’

‘Exactly that.  I haven’t really had one for a while.’ I laughed. Robbie
propped himself up on one elbow to stare down at me.

‘How long?’

‘Since I’ve had sex?  You won’t laugh if I tell you, will you?’ He shook
his head.  It was a bit embarrassing, but I ploughed on regardless.

‘Erm…well…it’s coming up for six years, I think.’

‘Is that a joke?’ Robbie’s face registered his shock.

‘No, I’m not joking…why?  Does it matter?’ 

            Robbie swung back the cover and sat on the side of the bed
before he answered.

            ‘No… of course it doesn’t matter.’  He now had his back to me
so I couldn’t see his face, but I knew from his reaction it did matter.  It was
the why it mattered, that baffled me.  I sat looking at his back, acutely aware
of the subtle shift in the atmosphere.  It was almost imperceptible, but I was
alert now to every nuance.  Something I didn’t understand, was going on here. 

Robbie stood.  ‘So… breakfast, I think,’ he said, as he gathered last night’s
sweatpants from the floor. ‘Toast OK for you?’ he smiled as he said this, but
it wasn’t the same smile as before.  His expression was guarded; the smile
didn’t quite reach his eyes.

‘Toast is fine.’