Male Review (19 page)

“Everglades? Oh Maud, you sweet old lady, you should have said something.” Her mother. clasped her hands together, her eyes shining like a kid seeing gifts piled up under the tree on Christmas morning. “Former Lady Mayoress Evelyn Bright lives there. She needs a fourth for her bowls team. I could invite her over to one of my famous afternoon cream teas. Do you want to borrow my pearls? Give me half an hour and I’ll be ready to go.”

Vivienne pushed up from the table and hurried from the room, her headache, and the fact she no longer lived in a place suitable for entertaining minor celebrities amongst the lawn bowling set, forgotten.

Maud glared at Meg. “What did you tell her that for?”

“I had to tell her something. Do you want her to buy me a bloody makeover? I’m not quite ready to give up on life just yet.”

Maud chuckled. “I think twinset, pearls and a blue rinse would look lovely. It would drive all those young bucks crazy for you. At the very least you could get a pity fuck.”

Meg growled, determined to avoid going anywhere near a clothing store or hairstylist with her mother.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Sam pulled his motorbike up in the driveway of Meg’s parents’ house. Even though he knew Mrs. Riley was no longer in residence his palms felt hot and sweaty and his heart beat a little faster. He tugged off his helmet and took a deep cleansing breath. God help him if she ever heard what he’d been up to with Meg last night. He palmed his crotch, absently fondling himself to make sure he was intact. After Michael caught them, Meg had wanted to leave so he had barely exchanged a word with the Peeping Tom. He needed to find the annoying Irishman and swear him to secrecy. No doubt he would want something in return. A growl rumbled in his chest as he imagined it would involve Meg. As attached as he was to his dick and testicles, he would rather lose them than see the horny Irish bastard lay a finger on his Meg.

The sound of the front door opening dragged his attention back to the present. Mr. Riley strode toward him, hand out.

Sam shook his hand. “Mr. Riley.”

“Robert. Robert, son. Come on inside, we’re all ready to go.”

“We?”

“I know you’re a fit young man, but I figured we needed some professional help.”

“Help with what?”

Robert slapped him on the back. “Come on in and I’ll explain my plan.”

Sam followed Meg’s dad inside the house, shutting the door behind him. He’d moved the living room furniture pushing it up against the wall, and a portable CD player sat on the dining room table.

Movement in the kitchen caught his attention.

“Sam, imagine seeing you again. Alone? Where’s Meg? Tied up?”

Sam glanced at Robert, and then glared at Michael. “What are you doing here?”

“Robert was looking for my help.”

“With?”

Michael grinned. “Winning the heart of his fair lady?”

“Mrs. Riley?”

Robert interrupted. “The very one, but I can’t do it alone and I knew the one person in the world who would most want to see us reunited was you, Sam. So are we ready, boys?”

“Ready for what? What are we doing?”

Robert crossed the room and hit the play button on the CD player. Slow soulful music filled the air. Michael tugged the front of Sam’s jacket. “You might want to lose this.”

Sam shrugged Michael off. “We need to talk.”

“About?”

“You know what, but not here.”

A self-satisfied grin spread across the Irishman’s face. “Sure, whatever you say, Samuel.” He punched Sam in the arm, and then crossed to the CD player. “Sorry, Robert, but you’re going to need something a little more upbeat. Let me see what I’ve got in my bag.”

* * * *

Meg hid a yawn behind her hand as her mother espoused the virtues of their apparently extensive and well-connected family. Currently she was describing the charitable works of Meg’s grandmother, Maud’s sister. Funny, Meg didn’t remember her grandmother doing any good works and according to Maud her horny-itis kept her way too busy to be tending the sick and infirm.

“She often spent hours at the homes of the elderly single men of the parish, easing their loneliness.”

Well that was a positive spin on the old horn bag’s activities, working for charity. Maud rolled her eyes and Meg snorted with laughter, earning a glare from her mother. She had never seen anyone bounce back from a hangover so quickly.

Her mother sipped at her tea from a delicate bone china cup, her saucer balanced with ease in her other hand. Meg and Maud had asked for mugs, but changed their minds under her steely gaze.

Maud had barely got a word in edgeways as Meg’s mother chewed the ear off the administrator sent to give them a guided tour and entertain them. Anyone would think Vivienne wanted to move in, not Maud. So far no one had asked Maud anything and the way Meg’s mother was talking, it seemed like the administrator would never get the chance.

Not wanting to hear any more about what a wonderful pillar of society Aunt Maud was, and how much of a coup it would be for Everglades to have her as a resident, Meg got to her feet.

“Where are you going?”

Meg was seriously tempted to tell her mother in a loud voice that she needed a piss, but thought better of it. Who knew how much longer her mother would be staying in her flat, and the woman had a PhD in revenge. “Bathroom.”

She fled without waiting for permission, not even stopping to ask directions. This was an old folks’ home and everyone knew they had to pee more often than most so toilets couldn’t be too far from the residents’ snug. Snug her arse. There was nothing snug about the room. It was like a mausoleum. Stark white walls, statues, bad art, and tasteful bland furniture matched with notices asking residents to be quiet reminded her of the funeral parlor where they had laid her grandmother out.

The corridor was empty and there were no signs pointing to the toilets. She squirmed and wished she’d refused the second cup of tea.

“You find the bathroom yet?”

Meg squealed and spun around. “Maud, you scared the crap out of me. I nearly wet myself.”

“You should get yourself some Depends. They’re great for an emergency. Sometimes you just have to let go.”

“Eww.” She glanced at Maud, surely not?

“Can I help you, ladies?”

Meg looked up at the woman who had appeared around the corner. Shoulders back, immaculately dressed in a navy blue suit with white trim, Meg figured she wasn’t a staff member.

“Bathroom?”

“Around the corner, second door on the left, but what exactly are you doing wandering around here? Damn security is so lax.”

Meg fled, leaving Maud to explain.

By the time she got back, the corridor was empty so she followed the sounds of laughter to the snug. Maud and the uptight woman doubled over laughing while Meg’s mother glared at them.

“Now Meg’s back, I think we should be making a move, Maud. Frightfully sorry, Mrs. Bright, Maud is usually much better behaved. She must have forgotten to take her pills this morning.”

The woman in the navy blue suit glared at Meg’s mother. “Nonsense, woman, Maud’s never behaved in her life, pills or not. She’s legendary. We need someone like her around here to wake the poor half dead bastards up. The bungalow will be hers by the end of the week if I have anything to say about it.”

Maud reached into her bag and tugged out a pile of cards passing them to Mrs. Bright.

She turned them over and smiled at Maud. “I say, free entry to a grand opening. Is this what I think it is?”

“Absolutely. Gather up some girls and come over and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Chad’s performing.”

Evelyn’s eyes bulged. “With Roger? I say, what a treat.”

Meg’s mother reached out and tried to tug the cards out of Mrs. Bright’s hands. “You don’t want to waste your time on something so banal. It will be boring, I’m sure. One of my afternoon cream teas would be much more to your taste.”

Evelyn tugged them back. “You might find naked men boring, dear lady, but when you get to my age you never look a gift horse in the mouth. I have afternoon tea every day, but young naked men are few and far between around here.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Meg’s mother had taken one of her turns after leaving the Everglades and Meg had persuaded her to go and take a lie down, but not before she parted with some cash so that Meg could restock the fridge and pantry. She agreed to drop Maud off at the club on her way to the store, but had refused to go inside. Everything was under control for the opening so, thankfully, Laura had given her the day off. She didn’t want to meet Michael, although she couldn’t put off meeting him forever. She needed to persuade him to keep quiet about what he’d seen.

Finally having some free time she’d even squeezed in an appointment at the Doctor’s surgery. Thankfully, the pregnancy test proved negative. Meg rubbed her stomach, not sure if she was disappointed or happy about the news. No matter, at least she had one less thing to deal with. Even better she’d got a prescription for the pill. She tucked it in her handbag. When she arrived at the grocery store she would drop it off. Not that having the pill would do her any good if Sam never moved back in and they continued to skulk around to have sex. They had a terrible record to date, being caught, or almost caught, more often than not. Eventually they would probably give up sex altogether because it was all too hard.

Pulling out of the car park, she sighed. At least Maud appeared to be on the verge of moving out. Sam probably wouldn’t come back until her mother left as well, but they were finally heading in the right direction. Maybe she should go and speak to her dad and see if he would tell her his plan. Whatever he was going to do, she hoped the end of the long game was in sight. A quiet life with a nine-to-five job in any marketing capacity and evenings curled up on the sofa with Sam might be very suburban, but looked more appealing every day. Although it seemed Sam had plans to keep life interesting. Could they fit one of those cross things in the flat? If they both slept in Sam’s room it might fit in the bedroom she shared with Maud. What other toys did he have his eye on she wondered. Perhaps they should start looking for a bigger place that was a little more private when their lease expired.

Meg pulled into the quiet cul-de-sac where she’d grown up. Nothing ever changed. The houses painted the same colors, the lawns clipped like bowling greens, flowers nodded in the breeze, and conservative family sized cars neatly parked on paved driveways.

She slowed as she approached her parents’ house and her stomach lurched. If she wasn’t mistaken that was Sam’s motorbike standing in the middle of the drive. What was he doing with her dad? He’d said he had something to do, but hadn’t said what.

There was probably a perfectly reasonable explanation. Hadn’t Sam visited before to cheer her dad up? Fingers drumming on the steering wheel, she thought about driving off. If Sam had wanted her to know he would have told her, but then it was her dad’s house so she had every right to visit, and if he felt so depressed he needed someone to lift his spirits it was her job.

She climbed out of her car and slammed the door. After raking in her bag she tugged out the front door key. Music boomed from inside the dark red brick building. Even if she knocked they probably wouldn’t be able to hear so she felt it was perfectly reasonable to use the key and let herself in.

*

Sam felt sweat trickling down his back. Of the three of them, only Robert had kept his shirt on. Aerobics was easier than this any day of the week.

“No, Robert. You need to imagine you’re seducing them not banging them into submission. Less thrust and more hip roll.”

Thankfully Michael was busy with Robert and had left Sam to his own devices, or at least he had so far.

“Better, better.”

Michael crossed to Sam, stood behind him and put his hands on Sam’s hips. “Get off.”

“Relax, man. You’ve got a great body, but you need to think sexy thoughts. Close your eyes. Imagine you’re wanting to seduce your pretty lady and your body is all you have to work with. You did a great job last night.”

Sam growled and Michael chuckled.

Sam did as instructed and when Michael closed the gap between them and pressed against Sam’s back gyrating in slow seductive moves in time to the music Sam followed him groove for groove. He could get into this. Meg would get off on him dancing this way with her and she had a great arse to rub his groin against. He took a deep breath willing his cock to stay put as he felt blood pulse in his nether regions at the thought of Meg’s body rubbing against his.

The sound of the door slamming snapped them all to attention. Sam froze, positive the intruder would be Mrs. Riley and she would blame him for bringing Michael into the house and leading Robert astray. When he shifted his gaze to the front entrance a groan escaped him. “Meg.”

“What are you doing?”

Robert switched off the CD player. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Michael and Sam dropped in.”

“For what? An afternoon orgy? Sam, what were you just doing with him?”

She pointed at Michael, and Sam stammered for a reasonable answer. He glanced at Robert and the older man shook his head. Shit, apparently he couldn’t give her the sensible explanation.

“We were just shooting the breeze.”

“With his dick all but up your arse? And as for you, Dad … I’m … thank God Mum never saw this.”

Meg turned and fled. Sam took a step to follow her, but Michael grabbed his arm. “Let her cool off.”

Robert nodded. “He’s right, son. She won’t be ready to hear any reasonable explanation until she’s calmed down. She’s got her mother’s temper.”

Sam collapsed on the sofa and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Brilliant. The woman he loved thought he had some sort of sexual thing going on with the man she most hated in all the world.

“Beer?”

He glanced up at Michael, who was holding out a bottle of Tooheys. Sam snatched it off him.

“You can’t blame the poor girl. It must have looked suspect, the two of us dancing together, especially when you had lust written all over your face.”

The Irishman grinned and Robert chuckled. “Maybe you need to help me out tomorrow more than you think.”