The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (54 page)

  
‘Fine, here’s the fucking
house key. I’ll stay at Ed’s or Sean’s tonight.’ He wrestled the key from his
key ring, threw it at her, and walked out.

***

Why the hell didn’t I keep my big mouth shut and think first
before confessing all?
Roy
thought as he sat in his car and lit a cigarette. Now what? If he
went to Livvy’s, who knew what Sammy might do? She could be fiery and
unpredictable when the mood took her.

  
He revved up the engine
and drove over to
Hanover
’s Lodge. He spotted Nick’s car parked on the drive as well as
Jon’s and sighed; that meant Ed and Jane had a houseful. Still, he’d nowhere
else to go apart from his elderly parents, and his mother would give him hell
when she found out what he’d been up to. Sammy would no doubt make it her
business to tell them. She was very close to them, closer in fact than he was.
She was probably calling them right now.

  
Eddie let him in, a wary
look on his face. Nick, Jess and Jon were seated around the kitchen table,
finishing their meal. Katie and Dom were in their pyjamas, about to go up to
bed. Jane was on the phone and judging by the cold look she gave him,
Roy
guessed she was talking to Sammy.

  
‘Say goodnight to
everybody,’ Eddie said to the kids as he tried to shepherd them out of the
room.

  
‘I want Uncle Roy to read
me a bedtime story.’ Katie folded her arms across her chest.
  

  
‘Not tonight,’ her dad
said. ‘He’ll read you one another time. Now move it, Katie or you won’t get a
story at all. Sit down and help yourself to a glass of wine,’ he said to
Roy
. ‘See you in a few minutes.’

  
Jon got up. ‘I’ll take
’em up, Dad. You stay down here with
Roy
.’

  
‘Thanks, son,’ Eddie
replied as Katie flung herself at her brother and he hoisted her onto his
shoulders. He left the room, Dom following on his heels.

  
There was an uneasy
silence as
Roy
took a seat. He poured a glass of red and took a sip, his hand
shaking. All eyes were on him and he felt his face warming.

  
‘I’ve just talked to
Mum,’ Nick spoke first.
 
I hope you
haven’t come here looking for sympathy, Dad, because you sure as hell won’t get
any from me.’ He scraped his chair backwards on the quarry tiled floor and
stood up. ‘I ought to punch your fucking lights out for what you’ve done.’

  
‘Your mother’s already
done that,’
Roy
replied, touching his throbbing cheek.

  
‘Good for her,’ Jess
said. ‘How could you,
Roy
? How could you do that to Sammy, and with that little slapper? I
knew there was something about her that I didn’t trust.’

  
‘Cool it, Jess,’ Eddie
warned. ‘I think
Roy
’s had enough for tonight.’

  
‘Well
we’re
going
over to see Mum in a minute,’ Nick said. ‘She needs us.’

  
Jane finished on the
phone, hung up and looked at
Roy
. ‘Well, you’ve really done it this
time. Why,
Roy
, why now? Why didn’t you just get it out of your system while you
were on the road? Why play around now under all our noses
and
with a bit
of a kid. That little Madam was here last night as well. The two of you together
in the same room and neither of you batted an eyelid.

  
‘How bloody brazen can
you get? I can’t believe it of you
or
Livvy, I really can’t. I’m going over to sit with Sammy for a while; she’s
devastated. Try and talk some sense into him, Ed,’ she finished as she left the
house, closely followed by Jess and Nick who didn’t waste a backward glance on
his father.

  
Jon returned to the
kitchen shortly after the others left. He sat down and handed
Roy
a cigarette.

  
‘What on earth made you
tell Sammy the truth?’ he asked. ‘Wouldn’t a white lie have been better?’

  
Roy
smiled wearily. ‘Oh, believe me I
was all ready with my white lies, Jon. What I didn’t bargain on was Sammy
checking out my alibi for Monday morning. It fell flat on its face. So I decided
I’d better just get it over with. She’d guessed I was having an affair. She
just needed a name. I can’t believe I managed to get away with it for over
three months and then blow it all in one fell swoop.’

  
‘An unfortunate set of
circumstances, I suppose,’ Eddie sighed. ‘
I
got accused of being in
cahoots with you. Jane thought I’d been up to something, too. She doesn’t know
that
I
know by the way, and she
thinks that’s really odd, considering how close you and I are.’

  
‘I’m sorry, Ed, really I
am. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this bloody
mes
s.’

  
‘So, what now, Roy?’ Jon
asked.

  
He shrugged. ‘I don’t
know. Sammy told me not to come back if I go to Livvy’s, so I threw the house
key at her and walked out. I’ve got to warn Livvy that Sammy knows. I need to
finish it with her. Sammy wanted to tell her, but I can’t let her do that, it
wouldn’t be fair.’

  
‘
You
should be the one to tell her it’s over,’ Eddie said. ‘Go and
do it now, get it out of the way, then go home and try and talk to Sammy.’

  
‘If I go to Livvy’s
tonight, Sammy’s threatened to cut off my tackle. I wouldn’t put it past her to
try either,’
Roy
said as Eddie and Jon exchanged amused glances. ‘It’s no bloody
laughing matter, you two.’

  
‘We know that,’ Jon
smirked. ‘But you have to go and see Livvy. She came into work this afternoon
and she was really miserable.’
                                                

  
‘That’s because I let her
down this morning. I was supposed to be seeing her, but Sammy took the morning
off, so I couldn’t get out. Hey, don’t you let on to Sean why she wasn’t in
work. She told him she was ill.’

  
‘She didn’t look well
actually. Said she felt a bit off colour,’ Jon said. ‘I had a feeling she’d got
mixed up with a married man, but I had no idea it was you,
Roy
. She’s not an easy nut to crack. I
took her out a couple of ti
mes
and got absolutely nowhere, in spite of my charms. You’re a lucky
sod,’ he finished with a grin.
 

  
‘You reckon? I’m hardly
lucky if I’ve lost everything. I suppose I’d better go and get it over with.
I’m not looking forward to this at all. Shall I come back here afterwards or go
home?’

  
‘Go home to Sammy,’ Eddie
advised. ‘She won’t cut your bits off. Mind you, she did ask Jane to bring the
meat cleaver.’

  
‘Don’t even joke about it,’
Roy
said, shuddering as he stood up to
leave.

  
‘Well, good luck, mate,’
Eddie said as he accompanied
Roy
to his car. And when you get to
Livvy’s try and keep it zipped up.’

***

Roy
pressed the intercom and lounged
against the wall.

  
‘
Hello.
’ Livvy answered immediately.

  
‘It’s me,’ he said.

  
‘
Hi you, come on up
.’ She released the catch and he dragged his feet
up to the first floor, feeling sick inside. He knew once he saw her he would
find it hard to say goodbye. She opened the door with a smile and his heart
thudded. Her hair, piled on top with a few escaping tendrils, along with her
big blue eyes, gave her an almost waif like appearance that made him want to
sweep her up in his arms and carry her off to the bedroom. She was wearing her
denim skirt and a little white top, her feet were bare and he could smell her
perfume.

  
‘It’s lovely to see you
and so unexpected. Come through to the lounge.’ Taking him by the hand, she led
the way, gasping as she caught sight of his face in the light from the window.
‘
Roy
, what’s happened to you?’ She
reached up and caressed his cheek.

  
He chewed on his lower
lip and half smiled. ‘Can we sit down please?’

  
‘Of course.’ She gestured
to the sofa.

  
He flopped down with a
weary sigh and she sat next to him, tucking her legs up underneath her bottom.
Her skirt rode up slightly and she pulled it down, a demure gesture that made
him smile. He put his hand on her knees, absentmindedly stroking them.

  
‘So, are we going to sit
here all night, or are you going to tell me what’s happened to your face?’

  
‘Sammy hit me,’ he
replied.

  
‘Oh, my God! Why?’

  
‘Because she knows about
us, that’s why.’

  
‘Who told her?’ she
gasped.

  
‘Me!’ he said. ‘Me and my
bloody big mouth.’

  
‘But why would you do
that? I thought we were supposed to be a secret.’

  
‘She guessed I’m having
an affair. All she needed was a name. I couldn’t see a way out, so I told her,’
he replied.

  
‘So what happens now?’
Livvy asked, her eyes searching his face.

  
‘Well that’s it; it’s
over. I’m sorry, Livvy,’ he finished helplessly as her eyes filled with tears.

  
‘But I love you, Roy.
What will I do without you?’ she cried.

  
‘Livvy, you’re beautiful.
You’ll soon meet someone else, someone nearer your own age,’ he said, pushing
straying curls out of her eyes. The thought of another man pawing at her made
him want to retch.

  
‘I don’t want anyone
else. There’s only you, who I can really trust,’ she sobbed.

  
‘Not all men are like
your father, Livvy.’ He pulled her into his arms, comforting her. ‘You’ll learn
to trust people, it can take time, but you will. You didn’t know if you could
trust
me
, did you?’

  
‘I did,
Roy
. I knew from the first moment I
met you that I could. That’s why it felt so right when you kissed me. I knew
you’d be back before too long and I’m glad I lost my virginity to you.’
  

  
‘Thank you for trusting
me, Livvy. I feel guilty for taking it. You should have waited and saved it for
someone special.’

  
‘You
are
that
someone special, Roy.’ She put her hands up to his face and moved closer.

  
He pulled away. ‘Livvy,
don’t, please. This is so hard for me.’

  
‘One last kiss, please,
just one last kiss.’

  
Roy
knew he was lost. He couldn’t
fight it and kissed her gently as she knelt up beside him, kissing him back for
all she was worth. He squeezed her so tightly that she squealed. He pulled her
onto his knee, looking deep into her eyes.

  
‘Livvy, what are you
doing to me?’ He could feel a familiar twitching and tried desperately to stop
it, but knew he was losing the battle, one that Livvy quickly realised she was
winning.

  
She yanked his T-shirt
out from the waistband of his jeans and slid her hands underneath to stroke his
stomach. She unzipped his jeans and slipped her hand inside, smiling at the way
he responded instantly to her touch.

  
‘You shouldn’t be doing
that, Liv,’ he moaned and his wandering hands soon discovered that underneath
her skirt she was wearing the skimpiest pair of knickers. He yanked them off;
pushed her backwards against the cushions and buried his face between her
thighs.

  
She squirmed against his
tongue, raking her hands through his hair. They tumbled onto the carpet and
Roy
undressed her. As usual she was
bra-less and her pert breasts were a delight to his eager mouth.

  
She tugged down his
jeans, releasing his erection, while his teasing of her nipples sent her crazy.
Over the next two hours they made love all over the flat until
Roy
chased her down the hallway before
carrying her squealing over his shoulder into the bedroom.

  
As they lay on her bed,
totally satiated,
Roy
looked down at her flushed face and smiled. ‘Who am I kidding? I
can’t stop seeing you. I love you so much and I can’t live without you.’