Original Sin (58 page)

Tess smiled and nodded.

‘Anyway, the overdose had scared the hell out of me and I knew I had to do something. So I came out to Chris’s place. Believe it or not, they have NA meetings in a place as little as this. Anyway, I went to a few sessions but I found I didn’t really need it. Not here. Not when you’re surrounded by all this.’ He paused and looked around at the forest and the sea beyond.

‘I guess what happened just scared me shitless.’

‘At least you met Annabel in Minnesota,’ said Tess good–naturedly. She figured it was about time she brought up Sean’s girlfriend in conversation.

‘Annabel and I aren’t together any more,’ said Sean after a moment.

‘Really?’ she said, trying to sound casual. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘It only happened last week. I didn’t think it was serious enough to make an official statement,’ he replied, eyeing her cynically.

‘Well, you need to tell me these things.’

‘Do you ever stop thinking about work?’ he smiled, helping her up and setting off up the steep track once more.

‘Only today,’ she said, realizing that it was actually true. She hadn’t actually thought about work once since she had stood outside the Aloha Grand at seven a.m. that morning, waiting for the taxi, when she had pondered whether going on a two–day vacation with Sean Asgill was a sackable offence. More importantly, Tess realized she hadn’t even thought about her mother’s husband –
my evil stepfather
, she corrected herself – all morning.

‘Are you sure this is the way?’ puffed Tess as she followed Sean up a steep incline, the crumbling rock sliding away behind her feet. Sean pointed around the next corner and grinned. ‘I’m sure.’

As she turned the corner, Tess gasped out loud. They were high up on a rocky outcrop, looking down into the most glorious cove she had ever seen. It was as if a giant had scooped out the side of a mountain, leaving the rainbow layers of sheer rock exposed, plunging down to a perfect crescent of beach protected from the pounding sea by a line of rocks jutting from the sea two hundred yards out. It was completely deserted apart from a pair of pelicans perching on a boulder.

‘Bloody hell,’ she whispered.

‘Exactly,’ said Sean.

They scrambled down the narrow ledge to the beach. The sand was bright red and the water like a flat piece of jade, the natural lagoon making it calm and clear. Tess could see a shoal of tiny fish darting about in the shimmering brine, like a translucent cloud. Whooping, they ran down the sand and splashed out into the sea. They swam to a tall wall of black volcanic rock forming the edge of the lagoon, where Sean hoisted himself out and onto the rock, while Tess floated lazily on her back, gazing up at the blue sky. For some reason she began to think about the holidays she’d had as a child. Her mother Sally had always insisted on going to the chic resorts that her posh friends were visiting: Marbella or Nice; except the Garretts could only afford to stay in the cheapest places. They’d buy things from the supermarket and eat a picnic on the beach while Sally griped about the injustice of not being able to lunch in the beach cafes only yards away.

‘Hey, you looked deep in thought back there,’ said Sean as they swam back to shore.

‘I was just thinking how much I loved travelling.’

‘Just as well, with the job Dom did, I guess.’

‘That was different,’ she said, smiling ruefully. ‘It wasn’t really about having fun.’

From this distance she could see how travel had bound Dom and her together like some sort of artificial glue, and how the mini–breaks, luxury hotels, and Caribbean beaches were just mood enhancers to disguise the fact that they didn’t really have that much in common. Tess flopped down on her towel and drank the bottled water greedily as Sean towelled his face.

‘So do you forgive me?’ he asked.

‘For what?’

‘What happened in London with Dom,’ he said quietly. ‘I was only trying to protect you, Tess, but you know that’s an uphill battle.’

She squinted up at him, shielding her eyes. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you have this “leave me alone, I can handle it myself” vibe going on, don’t you?

‘I do not!’

‘Okay, but it was fairly obvious you hated me from the second you met me.’

‘That’s not true,’ she protested.

‘It is.’

She smiled, taking in a deep breath of sea air.

‘I have this theory that how you feel about someone stems from the time you first meet them – that “first impressions last” thing, you know?’ said Tess. ‘I remember at sixth–form college there was this kid called Big Marie. She was cuddly and lovely and a very big girl. Last year I went to a college reunion and Big Marie was there, except she wasn’t big any more. She was slim and beautiful and had just got married to a handsome City banker. No one could believe it; they were all gossiping about how this fat girl had landed a hunk; it was as if they couldn’t see what was in front of them. Their view of Marie was fixed – to them she would always be big and awkward and ugly.’

Sean looked at her. ‘Am I Big Marie in this scenario?’

Tess giggled.

‘When I first met you, or should I say when I first
knew of
you, you were the guy at the orgy full of drugs, remember?’

‘Hmm … I can’t deny that. But, you know, some people do think I’m an okay guy.’ He looked at her. ‘Hey, what’s that look for?’ he asked.

‘You. Today. You’re being such a gent.’

‘D’you think I’m trying to seduce you?’ he grinned.

Her cheeks flushed red and she avoided his eyes.

‘Do you want me to seduce you?’ he said more softly.

‘It doesn’t matter, does it?’ said Tess, finally looking at him. ‘It’s not going to happen.’

Leaning towards her, he took her face in his hands and his lips came down on hers. With minimal resistance she pushed him away. ‘No Sean, I’m serious, we can’t.’

‘Yes we can,’ he said with a chocolaty laugh.

She groaned as he kissed her damp neck, his hand sliding across her stomach, gently pushing her back onto the hot sand. She felt his lips over her sun–kissed skin; her shoulders, fingertips, stomach. He slid off her bikini top and sucked her dark, cherry–like nipples as his fingers peeled off her briefs.

‘Not here,’ she gasped. ‘Someone might come.’

‘Maybe,’ he chuckled as he dipped two fingers through her damp, dark triangle of hair and deep into her, stroking her hard, throbbing clit with his thumb.

She dug her toes into the sand as he pulled down his swimming shorts in one impatient movement. She no longer cared who might come and see them. Here, with Sean in this secret cove, it seemed the most natural and perfect thing to do.

‘Please, now,’ she gasped, knowing she was already on the edge of climax. Pulling his hard, muscular body towards her, she could think of nothing but how she needed his cock, beading with dew, inside her. And as she moved in unison with his body, his cock filling her whole, every sensation she had felt over the past twenty–four hours: the annoyance, panic, sadness, the pleasure, they all crystallized into one hot, burning climax so intense that she saw spots of light bursting on her vision.

Afterwards, they lay together, their damp bodies caked in the red sand, Sean stroking her hair, Tess enjoying the feel of his strong arms around her. They went back to Chris Kennedy’s house and, after a long cool shower together, made love again, this time on the crisp white sheets of an emperor–sized bed, more slowly, less urgently, but with just as much desire. Stepping onto the
lanai
, watching the streak of peppery starlight across the inky black sky, she smiled to herself. Now she could see that Sean’s actions in London were only designed to show her how little Dom cared for her feelings. But did that mean Sean cared for her? She didn’t want to think about that too thoroughly right now.

He walked out and handed her a glass of pink lemonade and they both sat on the swinging love–seat, watching the fireflies come out to dance around the brush.

‘What are you doing after the wedding?’ asked Sean after a long pause.

‘You mean, am I staying in New York?’

He nodded.

‘I’d like to,’ she said slowly, unsure if that was the right answer – whether it was true and whether it was what he wanted to hear. She was enjoying this moment and didn’t want to break the spell. Did he expect her to want to run back to London because he was there, just because they had had sex? Is that what she wanted to do? Tess just didn’t know anything any more.

‘So what about you? How long are you staying in London?’ she asked cautiously.

He rocked the seat back and forth with his foot. ‘Initially it was a year, then it became two; now I consider it home. You probably don’t know this, but I want to start my own PR and events management agency next year.’

‘Really? And not work for Asgill’s?’

‘No, I’d still work for Asgill’s, they’d just be one of my accounts,’ said Sean. ‘Over the years, a lot of blue–chip companies have approached me to do events and PR for them, and it seems a waste to let those opportunities pass by, especially when I can still do my bit for the family company.’

She glanced at him; here was yet another side of him she hadn’t noticed. She’d been so quick to write him off as a waster and a dilettante that she hadn’t recognized his ambition and passion for what he did. ‘Anyway, how can I leave England,’ he said with a cheeky twinkle, ‘When my latest addiction is English girls?’

She punched him on the arm.

‘Hey! Let me finish!’ he cried. ‘ … Although it’s just a shame that the one I like lives in New York.’

He was cut off by the chirping of her mobile phone.

‘I’d better get that,’ she said, her heart still thumping wildly from his words.

‘Leave it.’

‘You know I can’t do that,’ she said regretfully. She had already missed two calls from Jemma and wondered if there was a problem.

‘But you’re with the boss,’ he shouted after her.

‘Boss’s son,’ she yelled back.

Snatching up the phone, Tess was surprised and flustered to hear Meredith.

‘Tess. How was the pageant?’

Tess closed the patio door behind her and moved into the bedroom.

‘Great. Wonderful,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Lovely winner.’

‘And where are you now?’

Despite the thousands of miles of distance between them, she felt her cheeks redden with embarrassment.

‘Still Hawaii, although I took a plane over to Maui, extending my trip as you suggested.’

‘Oh, not at the Aloha Grand?’ she replied with evident disapproval.

‘Well, it was quite busy, and someone said Maui was the place to really chill out,’ said Tess, trying to sound as casual as possible.

‘Yes, Sean loves it there. I assume he tipped you off?’

‘He did, yes.’

‘And how is my youngest son? I hope he behaved himself. Although, knowing Sean, he probably even tried it on with you.’

Tess laughed nervously.

‘Between you and me, I think he is calming down,’ continued Meredith conspiratorially. ‘When he was here, he asked me for one of my old rings. I think he’s going to propose to Annabel.’

Tess felt her heart lurch. ‘Are you sure?’

‘Well, you can never tell, can you, with Sean?’ said Meredith. ‘But I met her last month in London. Wonderful girl.’

Tess’s throat was feeling more constricted by the second. ‘I wasn’t aware it was serious.’

‘Neither was I,’ laughed Meredith. ‘I told him at the time not to even think about doing anything until after Brooke’s wedding. I don’t want anything stealing her thunder.’

Feeling weak, Tess sank down on the bed and tried to take two deep breaths. Through the slatted window she could just make out Sean’s silhouette, and a cold shiver passed over her.

‘What were you calling for again, Meredith?’

‘Oh, just to check when you’re going to be back in New York. Brooke and I return tomorrow. The dress is just exquisite, by the way … ’

They made polite small talk for a few minutes, then Tess closed her phone, dropping it onto the crumpled sheets. She bit her lip in anger and humiliation, thumping her fist against her thigh.
I’m such an idiot.
What on earth did she expect, having sex with Sean Asgill? Did she expect this was going to be converted into a relationship? Did she really think Sean Asgill was going to want anything more? For him, this was just a dalliance with the hired help, an amusing trip below stairs to ravish the servants.
Behind every story there’s another
, she thought to herself,
of course there is
. How could she have been so stupid?

She went back outside, trying to keep as natural and calm as possible.

‘Who was that?’ asked Sean.

‘Brooke,’ she lied.

He held out his hand to touch her fingers. ‘What’s so important? It must be seven o’clock in the morning in Paris.’

She wondered angrily if she should confront him, accuse him of lying to her about Annabel, or whether she should wait until she had more proof. A snake like Sean Asgill would only deny it unless she could fling it in his face. That thought led to another: Sean had come to Hawaii directly from New York and was going straight on to London. It made sense that he would have Meredith’s ring with him. That would be all the proof she needed.