The Gigolo (16 page)

‘Hi. Come on in,’ she said, avoiding looking directly into his eyes.
Now that she knew he’d been paid to entertain her she was embarrassed by what they’d done.

He looked amazing. The smell of him wafted in on the warm evening air – a mixture of soap and aftershave that left Kara weak at the knees. His hair was still damp from his shower and he was wearing casual trousers and a multi coloured stripy shirt that was open at the neck.

‘What can I get you to drink?’ Kara asked. She felt strangely nervous around him.

‘Whisky and ice, please.’

Kara put ice in two glasses and topped them both up with whisky. He was standing at the door to the terrace, looking out at the garden when she brought their drinks back into the room.

‘You have a lovely house, Kara.’

‘Thank you.’ She didn’t tell him that she hated it.

‘I hear you left A.I.R. Finance.’

‘Yes.’ She didn’t ask how he knew. He probably heard from Jack Finnegan’s wife when he was fucking her.

‘What are you doing now?’

‘Nothing at the moment – just recharging my batteries and trying to work out what I want.’

‘You do know I had nothing at all to do with…that stuff, don’t you?’

Kara sipped on her whisky and nodded her head. She didn’t want to talk, or even think about it. It reminded her of his ring and how much she missed having it there between her legs.

‘It kinda drove a wedge between us, didn’t it?’ He looked at her and his eyes seemed sad. Kara had to look away.

‘Was there ever really an us?’ Kara asked.

She heard him swallow.

‘I thought so – didn’t you?’

‘But it wasn’t real.’ This hadn’t been a good idea. It was like picking at a scab before it had healed properly. There was still too much pain there. She turned away and went to the kitchen to check on the food. He followed her.

‘I hope you don’t mean that. It was real for me, Kara.’

A tear escaped from
the corner of her eye. Kara quickly brushed it away but it was too late, he’d already seen it.

‘Oh, Kara, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’ He tried to pull her into a hug but she pushed him away.

‘This was a mistake,’ she said.

‘Please don’t say that.’

‘Of course it was real for me.’ Kara threw down the towel she’d used to put the shepherd’s pie in the oven. ‘I wasn’t the one pretending to be something I wasn’t.’

‘Ouch!’ Captivity didn’t do much to tame your vicious tongue, did it?’

Kara couldn’t help but laugh. It was the most inappropriate remark but it broke the awkwardness that had grown between them.

‘Sometimes I wake up and think
that it must have been a dream. It was all so surreal.’

‘Something to tell the grandkids,’ William said. It was an off the cuff remark but it stopped Kara in her tracks as she poured more drinks. She had to tell him. If he thought there was more to this date than just a reconciliation she had to put him right.

‘William, I could never have a relationship with someone who does what you do for a living?’ She handed him his drink and walked away. He followed her.

‘Do you have something against builders?’ He joined her on the terrace and stood far too close. She could feel the heat of his body against her bare flesh. It made the hairs on her arm stand up.

‘But you’re not just a builder, are you, William?’

‘I am now, Kara.
I gave it up…after you. It was only ever a means to an end. I needed to make some money really quickly or risk losing everything my father had built up.’

Kara wanted to believe him. She could allow herself to fall in love with a builder – but not a gigolo. She went back to the kitchen to dish up their food. She needed something to occupy her racing mind.

‘I forgot to buy vegetables.’ She put his plate down at the table and they sat opposite each other.

‘That’s ok. Do you have tomato ketchup?’

‘You can’t put tomato ketchup on my food without even tasting it!’ Kara complained but she fetched it from the kitchen and handed it to him.

‘You don’t believe me, do you?’

About the ketchup?’ she questioned.

‘No, silly – about me giving up the escort work.’

Every time he mentioned it it made Kara flinch. It just reminded her how foolish she’d been – and that this man knew things about her that no one else did.

‘I do,’ she replied. She had her fingers crossed that it really was true.

Kara cleared away the plates and brought out the fruit salad.

‘This is delicious,’ he said, taking an
other mouthful.

‘You sound surprised,’ she laughed
.

‘Well, I kind’
ve noticed that you don’t cook much.’

‘How did you notice that? There was nothing wrong with the food, was there?’

‘No, it was delicious,’ he laughed. ‘But your cupboards are just so empty!’

‘What’s the point of cooking for one?’

‘I do. I cook casseroles and lasagnes, divide them into portions and freeze the rest.’

‘Wow! You’re gonna make someone a lovely wife,’ Kara laughed.

They finished with coffee, sitting in the kitchen. He loaded the dish washer and put the left overs in her empty fridge. Kara watched as if she was looking at what could have been. Once she had gotten over her initial awkwardness it had turned into a wonderful evening.

‘Tell, you what, Kara – come to work with me tomorrow and I’ll show you
exactly what I do for a living.’

‘I’m not getting involved in a threesome,’ she bit back but she was joking and he rolled his eyes and ignored her.

‘It’s time I left. I have an early start in the morning.’ He put their coffee cups in the dish washer and Kara walked to the door with him.

‘Thank you for coming,’ she said. ‘I’m glad we cleared the air between us.’

‘I’ll pick you up at eight in the morning,’ he said as he walked out of the door. ‘Unless you’re too busy.’

‘I thought you were joking.’

‘No, deadly serious. Wear suitable clothing.’ He kissed her cheek and jumped into his van.

Kara watched him reverse down her drive and take off down the road. She thought he might’ve asked to stay. She thought she might’ve said yes. He hadn’t even
touched her – apart from that brief kiss when he left and even that had sent a spark of electricity straight to her groin.

Kara looked at her tidy kitchen – he’d even folded the t towel over the oven handle – before heading off to bed. She set her alarm for seven o’clock and fell asleep wondering what suitable clothing was.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Kara didn’t want to get up. She rolled over and bashed the alarm with her hand but her eyes refused to open
. It was the frantic ringing of the doorbell that finally got her out of bed.

‘I’m sorry. I overslept,’ she told William when she opened the door.

‘You go and get dressed and I’ll put the coffee on.’

Kara came back downstairs in a dress and high heels and he laughed at her.

‘What?’

‘We’re going to be working on a building site not a boudoir.’

‘What should I wear, then?’

He followed her back upstairs and inspected her wardrobe. The jeans and t shirt he’d given her were folded neatly on the shelf.

‘Wear these,’ he said, throwing them at her.

Kara stripped off her dress and pulled on the jeans and t shirt.

William was still ferreting through her wardrobe.

‘And these.’ He threw a pair of walking boots Kara had bought for a holiday in Scotland.

He poured coffee into two mugs and they took them with them in his van.

‘I got you these, as well.’ He pulled a pink high visibility waistcoat and hard hat from the back of his van.

Kara laughed and put them on.

They drove out to the suburbs where William explained he had bought an old house that he was in the middle of renovating.

Kara had half expected to arrive at a building site with a crew of builders but William pulled the van to a halt outside a grand old, double fronted house. Ivy had grown over the rotting wooden windows and the roof had seen better days but it stood in the centre of an expanse of established garden overlooking the estuary. It was a quiet haven, in an idyllic position.

‘My builders are working on another project. This one I’m doing mostly on my own
because it’s personal. This is where I’m going to raise my family.’

‘Oh, I didn’t know you were planning a family?’

‘Well, it’s early days, yet. There are a few things that I have to acquire first.’

‘Such as?’

‘A wife.’

‘I hear they’re easy to find,’ Kara replied.

‘The good ones are trickier to tie down.’

Kara snorted but she didn’t reply. She didn’t want to make too many assumptions. They weren’t even an item, yet. She wasn’t even sure she could trust him.

‘It’s a beautiful place to raise a family, William.’

‘It used to belong to my grandparents. I virtually grew up in this garden
; making dens in the bushes and fishing down in the estuary. I had kind of hoped it would stay in the family but the old guys sold it, bought a tiny concrete box apartment in the city and spent the rest of their lives cruising around the world. The person who bought it hoped to get planning permission for a housing estate. I’ve been campaigning against that for years and last year he finally gave up and put the old house back up for sale.’

‘That’s brilliant. The place has history for you.’

‘Right, we’ve got work to do.’ He unlocked the door and she followed him into a large square hallway lined with oak panelling.

‘
That’s got to come down.’ He gave her a sledge hammer and pointed at a wall.

‘Ok.’ Kara wielded the hammer at the
half felled wall and a chunk fell off. ‘This is very therapeutic,’ she laughed.

They worked together, swapping jobs when
her arms got tired and then she filled the wheel barrow and dumped the debris outside.

At lunchtime they stopped and William pulled out a box of sandwiches and a flask of coffee. They ate on the porch, sitting on an old swing seat tha
t creaked every time they moved. The only other sound she could hear was a herd of cows munching grass in an adjoining field.

‘I think I could stay here forever,’ Kara whispered, afraid to raise her voice in case it broke the magic of the moment.

‘It got me that way when I first sat here, but I’m afraid you’ve got work to do.’ William laughed and pulled her to her feet and they got back to work stripping out old kitchen cupboards and pulling up ancient carpets.

At five o’clock William called time.

‘I don’t know about you, Kara Kavanagh, but I’m done in.’

‘Thank God! I
thought you were never going to stop. I’m exhausted,’ Kara laughed.

‘I’m impressed,’ William said as he drove Kara home. They were both covered in dust and grime and sweat.

‘With what?’

‘With you. I didn’t think you’d make it until lunch time but you’ve kept up with me all day
long without a single word of complaint.’

‘Look,’ she said, holding out her hand
s.  They were covered in blisters.

‘Damn! That looks painful. Why didn’t you say anything?’

‘Because I’m kind of competitive. My father calls it stubborn as a mule, but as long as you were still working there was no way I was gonna stop.’

‘You can come to work with me, again,’ William laughed.

‘Seriously? I would love to. Apart from my hands I really enjoyed it.’

‘Seriously.’

When William pulled into her drive Kara invited him in.

‘We ca
n finish off the shepherd’s pie,’ she suggested.

‘I need a shower and a change of clothes.’

‘You can shower here. I’ll wash your clothes…They’ll be ready by the morning,’ she said with a smile.

‘I’m forgiven
, then?’ William asked.

‘
I’ve tried disliking you and that didn’t work so, yes, I guess I have.’

‘I’m glad, Kara.’

Kara showed William into a spare bedroom to shower in the en-suite bathroom and she left him a towelling robe to wear whilst she took his clothes downstairs to wash.

He’d left his mobile phone in the pocket of his jeans. She took it out and placed it on the work top and loaded the machine.

Before she went to shower herself Kara turned on the oven and put the shepherd’s pie in to heat up.

William’s phone rang. She went to the bottom of the stairs to call
him but he didn’t answer.