The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (44 page)

  
‘You coming in?’ she
said, feeling suddenly unsure. What if he thought she was being easy? She
couldn’t fathom the look in his dark eyes as he stared into hers.

  
‘Only if you want me to.’

  
‘I do.’ She got out of
the car and
Roy
locked up and followed her indoors.

***

Livvy sat the bear on the sofa. She avoided
Roy
’s eyes and rushed into the
kitchen, muttering that she would make a coffee. He followed her and stood
close behind her.
   

  
‘Livvy.’ He pulled her
round, put his hands on her shoulders and bent to kiss her.
 

  
She responded, sliding
her arms around his neck. He lifted her easily and sat her on the worktop.

  
‘That’s better,’ he said.
‘I won’t get such a crick in my neck now.’ He kissed her again, caressing her
breasts through the fine cotton of her top. He undid the tiny buttons down the
front and slipped it backwards over her shoulders. ‘No bra again.’

  
‘I hardly ever wear one.
I’m so small, there doesn’t seem much point,’ she said. ‘
Roy
, pull the blind down. Someone from
the opposite flats might be able to see in.’ She placed her hands modestly over
her exposed breasts.
                                       

  
He smiled and yanked down
the blind. ‘Don’t knock your boobs. They look pretty good to me. Perfect, in
fact.’ He bent to kiss her breasts, cupping them, his tongue flicking lightly
over her nipples.

  
She sighed as his hand
slid up her skirt and she moaned softly as he caressed her through the soft
lace of her knickers. He lifted her off the worktop and carried her to the
bedroom. He lay her down on the bed, removed her skirt and sandals and quickly
pulled off his own clothes.
 

  
‘You sure about this,
Liv? It’s not too late to stop.’ He could feel her shaking as he took her in
his arms and guessed that she was terrified.

  
‘I don’t want to
stop.’
 

  
‘Relax a little. I won’t
do anything that hurts you, I promise.’ He kissed each breast in turn, his
eager mouth moving down her body. He peeled off her knickers and she gasped as
his tongue searched. She arched to his touch as his fingers explored. ‘That
good?’ he whispered and she nodded.
  

  
He was desperate for her
to touch him and drawing her hand to his erection he folded her fingers around
it, moving them gently up and down. ‘See, it won’t bite,’ he said, ‘and that
feels good to
me
, too.’

  
She was wet and welcoming
when he pushed into her, flinching as she cried out. He held his breath,
terrified of hurting her. She was so tiny compared to Sammy.

  
‘You okay?’ He looked at
her flushed face.

  
‘Yes,’ she
whispered.
 

  
He nodded, thrusting
gently. ‘Tell me if it hurts and I’ll stop.’

  
‘I’m fine.’

  
Roy
felt her relax and he kissed her,
pushing his tongue deep into her mouth. As he thrust into her she pushed her
hips against him. ‘That’s it,’ he encouraged. ‘You’re getting the hang!’ Her
head tossed from side to side as she moved in rhythm. He cupped her buttocks,
pulling her closer until she shuddered and cried his name.
Roy
built up speed and withdrew,
ejaculating onto her stomach. He collapsed by her side, breathing deeply in her
ear. Once he’d caught his breath, he looked at her flushed face, surrounded by
a mass of tousled curls, and grinned. ‘Pretty wild for a first time! You sure
you’re okay?’

  
She nodded, wide-eyed. ‘I
wasn’t expecting anything like those feelings.’

  
‘
Those feelings
,
my
darling Livvy, were your first orgasm. It’s what happens when you make love.
Sorry I’ve made your tummy sticky, but we really should have used a condom.’ He
reached for a handful of tissues from the box on her bedside table and cleaned
her up. ‘I apologise for not being prepared. I’ll buy some for next time.’
                                        

  
‘Next time? You want a
next time?’

  
‘Of course. Do you?’

  
‘Yes. But I wouldn’t mind
it being sooner rather than later!’

  
‘You enjoyed it
that
much, eh?’
Roy
said, grinning. ‘Share a ciggy
with me then while I get my breath back.’

***

  
Roy
left Livvy’s apartment at
three-forty-five and drove to
Hanover
’s Lodge at top speed. The
wonderful time far outweighed the guilt and he felt on top of the world. He’d
promised to call Livvy and see her again as soon as he could.

  
He pulled up outside the
house and leapt out of his car as Eddie opened the door. ‘Morning, Ed.’
  

  
‘It’s bloody afternoon!
Where the hell have you been? ‘I’ve been calling you all day.’

  
‘Just out,’
Roy
said airily, following Eddie into
the kitchen.

  
‘Out where? You were
supposed to be here just after twelve. You could at least have let me know you
were going to be late.’

  
‘I couldn’t call, I was
busy.’
Roy
lit the cigarette Eddie handed
him.

  
‘You’ve been up to
something, Cantello. There’s guilt written all over your bloody face.’

  
‘I haven’t.’
Roy
lowered his gaze.

  
‘So where’ve you been?
Why won’t you tell me?’

  
‘I’ve been for lunch with
Livvy Grant, if you must know,’
Roy
said, knowing that Eddie wouldn’t
give up until he told him.
  

  
Eddie’s eyes widened and
his jaw dropped. ‘Why?’

  
‘Because I wanted to,
that’s why.’

  
‘So, you’ve been into
Manchester
? To Flanagan and Grey’s?’

  
‘No, it’s Livvy's day
off; I drove us out to Castleton. We had a walk and lunch in The Cheshire
Cheese. Then I took her home.’

  
‘Well it’s almost four
now. Why on earth did it take you so long? I called you just after half-ten. I
wanted you to come over earlier so we could make a start. You’ve obviously been
with her for most of the day, how come?’

  
‘I was in the shower at
half-ten. Didn’t hear the phone. I picked Livvy up at eleven. Felt I owed her
an apology for last night.’

  
‘Oh, you mean Jess
sounding off? Well that was hardly your fault.’

  
‘Well yeah, there was
that and the fact that I kissed her when I took her home,’
Roy
confessed.
     

  
‘Fucking hell! You did
what
?’

  
‘I couldn’t resist; she
looked all lost and lonely. It just happened.’

  
‘And today, did you kiss
her again today?’

  
‘Yeah, but just a peck to
say bye,’
Roy
lied. He couldn’t tell Eddie he’d just taken Livvy’s virginity.
He wouldn’t understand for one minute.

  
‘
Roy
, you’re playing with fire, mate.
Next thing you know you’ll be shagging her! For God’s sake, man, she’s young
enough to be your daughter. Sammy would fucking kill you if she even found out
you’d had lunch with her.’

  
‘Sammy won’t find out, so
don’t worry about it.’

  
Eddie sighed and shook
his head. ‘It's too late now to do any work. I’ve got to collect Katie and Dom
from their after-school club. Want to come with me for the ride?’

  
Roy
shook his head. ‘No thanks, Ed.
I’ll go home. I feel a bit tired actually. I might have an hour’s kip.’

  
Eddie nodded and followed
Roy
out to his car.

  
‘See you tomorrow then,’
Roy
called as he drove away.

***

  
As
Roy
sped off down the lane Eddie
frowned and went back indoors. He had a gut feeling that
Roy
had shagged Livvy. Apart from
oozing guilt, his mate was usually fired with enthusiasm and raring to go when
they were writing new songs. Nothing got in the way of their work, least of
all, women. He wouldn’t like to be in
Roy
’s shoes if Sammy found out that
he’d taken a very young, not to mention very
attractive
girl, out to lunch without her knowledge.

***

  
Livvy climbed back into
bed after seeing
Roy
out. She felt exhausted, but mellow and contented.
Roy
had been an expert lover. Not that
she’d anything to compare him with. Sheena had told her it was crap the first
time and always hurt. Well hers hadn’t been crap and apart from the initial
tightness when he first entered her she’d enjoyed every minute.
    

  
She smiled as she thought
of his firm body. His long legs straddling hers, the dark curly hairs on his
chest brushing against her breasts and his wonderful, kissable lips glued to
her own. She couldn’t wait to see him again and remembered she’d made a promise
as he left to consult with her doctor about taking the pill. In fact, if she
called the surgery now she might be able to get an appointment this evening.
 

  
She picked up the phone
from her bedside table and dialled the number. The receptionist told her there
was a cancellation at five-thirty. Livvy promised to be there. She lay back on
her pillows thinking again about
Roy
and closed her eyes, hoping she
might dream about him. She was semi-dozing when the phone rang, startling her.

  
‘Hello,’ she mumbled into
the receiver.

  
‘
Hi, gorgeous
,’ a deep voice said.

  
‘
Roy
, I was just dreaming about you.’
She sat up, leaning back against the headboard.

  
‘
Were you now? Well
I
can’t
stop thinking about
you
. I
don’t know what you’ve done to me, Livvy but my mind’s all over the bloody
place.’

  
‘Oh dear. Thought you
were going to Eddie’s after you left me. Are you calling from there?’

  
‘
No, I’m home, lying down. By the time I got to Ed’s it was too late to
do any work. He had to do the school run. You’ve worn me out, you wanton
woman!’

  
Livvy grinned.
‘I’m
lying down, too. I feel so tired.
I’ve arranged to see my doctor later. I’ll take a shower in a wee while and
wake myself up a bit.’

  
‘
That’s good. Find out if the pill’s the right thing for you, and I’ll
get some condoms for the time being. I might be able to get over tomorrow
night. Sammy’s working late; they’ve a big order to finish. What time are you
home?’

  
‘Just after six-thirty
usually.’

  
‘
I promise I’ll be there if I can
.’
   

  
’Okay. See you very
soon.’ She hung up smiling. He really
did
want to see her again. She got out of bed and padded into the bathroom, singing
the chorus of the new song and feeling happier than she’d ever felt in her
life.

***

CHAPTER
NINE

  
‘We’ll take it,’ Jess
said as Nick nodded his agreement. The apartment in Abbott’s Edge was perfect.
It was spacious, tastefully decorated, newly carpeted and had far reaching
views over The Edge from the lounge window.
 

  
The estate agent looked
down his long, thin nose at her and Jess could tell that he thought they were
penniless time wasters.

  
‘We will need to see a
suitable reference, Miss, err,’ he looked at his clipboard, ‘Mellor. We also
require one month’s rent in advance, plus a three-hundred-pound deposit.’

  
Wiping the supercilious
look from his face, Jess brandished her chequebook and smiled sweetly. ‘That’s
okay, Mr Hawthorn, money’s not a problem. Six months up front do you?’ The
horrible man had shiny shoes, horn-rimmed glasses and a phoney-posh accent.
Jess hated him on sight.
  

  
‘That won’t be necessary,
Miss Mellor. I presume you are both in regular employment? We prefer a
reference from your employer.’

  
‘We don’t work. Not yet
anyway,’ Nick said.

  
‘I see. Well in that case
I’m not sure I can help you, Mr Cantello.’

  
‘We could ask our dads to
be guarantors,’ Jess suggested.

  
Hawthorn pushed his heavy
glasses up his nose and looked at her. ‘So, can I assume your fathers would be
able to provide suitable employment references?’

  
Nick shrugged
dismissively. ‘
They
don’t work
either; well, not boring work like
you
mean. They don’t have employers.
They’re songwriters.’
  

  
Hawthorne
’s eyes widened with disbelief.
‘Oh, really? And would their na
mes
mean anything to me?’

  
‘They might,’ Jess said.
‘But I don’t reckon their music would have been your thing. They had a lot of
hit records when they were in a band called
The
Raiders
.’

  
Hawthorn frowned as the
penny dropped. ‘Your fathers are Eddie Mellor and Roy Cantello?’ he
squeaked.
 

  
Jess nodded. ‘Got it in
one!’

  
His attitude towards them
changed dramatically as he accompanied them back to the car park. His jaw hit
the floor when he set eyes on Jess’s dad’s red Ferrari with its personalised
number plate, EM 1.

  
‘I’ll have my secretary
draw up the lease first thing tomorrow. You can sign when you collect the keys
from the office.’

  
Jess and Nick grinned as
he bowed and scraped his way back to his company Volvo. Jess stuck her fingers
down her throat in a mock vomiting gesture. Nick stuck two fingers up at the
departing Volvo in a gesture
he
used all too often when people annoyed
him.

 
‘What a fucking
arse-licker!’ Nick climbed in the passenger side as Jess unlocked the car.

   
‘Nicholas, you can’t use
that sort of language around here,’ Jess said with a grin as she slid in beside
him. ‘Right, Habitat now to buy some furniture.’
  

  
‘We only need a bed,’
Nick leered, as she swung onto the main road. ‘I hope the walls aren’t too
thin, or we’ll be kicked out with the noise
you
make!’

  
‘Behave yourself!’ Jess
giggled. ‘Honestly, you’re a bad boy at ti
mes
.’

  
‘But you love me, don’t
you, Jess?’

  
‘With all my heart,
Nick.’ She glanced at him. ‘You are sure about this? Living together I mean. I
know we’ve talked about it a lot, but now it’s actually going to happen.’

  
‘I’m positive. I want it
more than anything.’

  
‘So do I. We’re not too
young for the commitment, are we? Gran said we were.’

  
He reached for her hand
and squeezed it. ‘Of course not. Mum and Dad have been together since their
teens and they’re still very much into one other.’

  
‘I guess we’re lucky with
our parents; they’re well past the seven year itch now,’ Jess said.
 

***

  
Shall we call into
Flanagan and Grey’s to see Jon and Sean while we’re in town?’ Nick suggested as
they walked towards St Anne’s Square and the Habitat store.

  
‘Livvy will be there.
Don’t fancy seeing
her.’

  
‘She told me last night that she’s
off today.’

  
‘Oh well, in that case,
yes,’ Jess nodded. ‘We’ll choose our furniture first and then go cadge a
coffee.’

  
They wandered hand in
hand around Habitat and chose a pine bed and a matching chest of drawers. Two
comfortable two-seater sofas, upholstered in dusky pink cord, caught Jess’s
eye.

  
‘I love those, Nick.
They’ll go great with the beige carpet. We could have a cream Flokati rug on
the floor in front of them.’

  
‘What’s a Flokati rug?’

  
‘You know, like the one
at home in front of our fireplace.’
 

  
‘Ah, you mean the one we
made …’ he began as Jess dug him in the ribs.

  
‘Yes, that one.’

  
‘You said it tickled your
arse!’

  
‘Nick! Pack it in. I’m
not coming shopping with you again. You’re embarrassing me.’

  
He laughed and took her
hand. ‘Sorry, Jess, only teasing. Do we need a coffee table?’

  
‘Yeah - a pine one, I
think. We don’t need a wardrobe, ’cos there’s one built in. We’ll ask your mum
about curtains, she’s good with that sort of thing.’

  
‘What about stuff like
cups and plates and sheets for the bed?’ Nick said.
 

  
‘We’ll choose bedding
from here and beg pots and pans from the parents. There are cupboards full at
home and they don’t use half of them. Mum’s got tons of spare towels, too.’

  
They chose cream sheets
and pillowcases and Nick picked up a terracotta and cream check duvet
cover.
 

  
‘I really like this. It’s
not too girly. I don’t want flowers.’

  
‘Okay then, we’ll have
that,’ Jess said.

  
‘There’s just one problem
as far as I can see,’ Nick said as they stood in the queue waiting to pay.

  
‘What’s that then?’ Jess
rooted in her handbag for her chequebook.

  
‘We don’t have a duvet or
pillows to put the bedding on.’

  
‘Oh, we’ll buy those from
Kendals. Mum says they have the best duvets in town.’

  
‘Quite the little
housewife, aren’t you?’
 

  
‘You
are
joking? I
hate washing up and I haven’t a clue how to use a washing machine. But I
can
make toast and coffee, so we won’t starve.’

  
‘We'll take our dirty
laundry home. That’s what mothers are for.’ Nick smiled confidently, problem
solved.

***

  
‘What on earth have you
been buying?’ Jon asked as Nick and Jess struggled up the stairs, arms laden.

  
‘A bed.’ Nick’s eyes
gleamed. ‘But they’re delivering it to the flat.’

  
‘Ignore him,’ Jess said.
‘We’ve bought
all
sorts of
things.’

  
‘So, kids, what’s the
furniture shopping for?’ Sean asked. ‘You found somewhere to live?’

  
‘Yeah. An apartment in
Abbott’s Edge,’ Jess replied. ‘It’s really lovely. You and Helen will have to
come round for a meal as soon as we move in, Jon.’

  
‘Abbott’s Edge? Bloody
hell, Jess, that’ll make a hole in Celia’s legacy,’ Jon said.

  
‘Just a bit. But it’s
what we both want and the money’s there to spend. You can’t take it with you.’

  
‘Grandma Molly’s
favourite saying is
there are no pockets
in a shroud
! So we might as well as enjoy it while we’ve got it and when we
run out, well there’s always my dad,’ Nick said as Jess shivered involuntarily.
‘What’s wrong, Jess?’
   

  
‘Don’t know. It was you
mentioning a shroud, made me feel strange, that’s all.’

  
‘Jess, you
are
strange.’ Nick kissed the tip of her nose and whispered, ‘Let’s go back to my
place while there’s no one home.’

  
‘Okay. But we’ll have a
coffee with Jon and Sean first.’

  
‘I’ll put the kettle on
then, seeing as we don’t have Livvy here to brew up,’ Sean offered. ‘Have you
spoken to her today, Jon?’

  
‘I called her earlier to
see if she fancied coming into town for lunch, but there was no reply. I called
again about half an hour ago and she sounded sleepy. Told me she’d been out to
lunch with a friend and was very tired, so she was having a lie down.’

  
‘Lying down on her own,
was she?’ Nick said. ‘Or was she with the friend?’

  
‘I don’t know. I never
thought to ask,’ Jon replied. ‘It’s a bit odd though, a girl Livvy’s age
needing an afternoon nap. Maybe she
was
in bed with someone. I’ve no
idea if she’s got a boyfriend. She’s very secretive about her private life. But
perhaps she hasn’t and we’re all jumping to conclusions.’

  
‘Well if she has, it’s
obviously not someone we know. Because she’d be flaunting him around for us all
to see,’ Jess said. ‘I hope she
has
got someone, at least she’ll keep
her claws out of you then,’ she directed at Nick.

  
Nick shook his head in an
exasperated fashion. ‘Jess, she doesn’t fancy me and I don’t fancy her. She’s
too doll like and fluffy. I like something I can get hold of. I’ve told you
that before. Ah, here’s Sean with the coffees. Get it drunk and then we can go
home before Jason co
mes
in from college.’

  
Jess sat down on the
stool behind the counter and sipped her coffee. ‘You talked to Helen about
France yet, Jon?’

  
‘She’s supposed to be
asking her mum this week if she can come with us. But I don’t hold out much
hope to be honest.’
 

  
‘Well you can hardly
blame her mother if she says no, now can you?’ Sean chipped in. ‘I wouldn’t
allow my
Charlotte
to go off with a twenty-two year
old bloke, no matter how much of a charmer Tina thought he was.’

  
‘Charmer?’ Jess raised an
amused eyebrow.

  
Jon grinned sheepishly.
‘Helen’s mum thinks I’ve got charming manners and that I’m a lovely young man.
Think she’s disappointed that I don’t have Dad’s blue eyes though.’

  
‘Never mind, Jon,’ Jess
said. ‘
I
think you’re lovely as you
are. Helen’s a very lucky girl to have met you.’

  
Jon put his arm around
her and squeezed her tightly. He took a deep breath. It felt good to hold her,
even if it was short lived.
  

  
‘And
I’m
also very
lucky that I’ve got
you
for a sister,’ he said softly, aware that Nick
was giving him a funny look. He let her go. ‘Nick’s
also
very lucky to have you,’ he said pointedly.

  
‘Right, come on, we’re
going.’ Nick slammed his mug down on the counter, picked up some of the
shopping bags and ran quickly downstairs.

  
‘What was that all
about?’ Jess frowned at Jon.

  
‘Me, giving you a hug. He
can’t handle it. Makes him jealous.’

  
‘Oh, for God’s sake!
You’re my brother. See you later, Jon. Bye, Sean.’ She gathered up her things
and ran after Nick.

***

  
Nick hurried down