The Virgin Sex Queen (27 page)

Chatting about
her plans for the future, she walked along holding his hand,
laughing on the outside, crying on the inside.

He laughed,
seemingly interested in her plans but never once mentioning their
getting back together.

Alan had to
work the next two nightshifts as part of his roster, so she had
plenty of time to sit and contemplate the future. She kissed him
goodnight, smiled brightly up at him and waved him off.

He was oddly
quiet, watching her closely but saying nothing. Knowing Alan, he
was attuned to her moods but he wasn’t going to push it and that
told her that he wasn’t going to ask her to stay.

Damn him and
the cop car he rode in on.

Sam was also
working the nightshift, so it was just her and SJ sitting in the
lounge, he eating her steak while she sniffled into the mobile
phone.

“Oh crap,
Ghost, I don’t want to go!”

“So don’t,” he
replied.

“You don’t
understand.”

“I’m
trying.”

“He doesn’t
want me to stay.”

“Have you asked
him?”

“He hasn’t
asked
me
.”

“Maybe he
doesn’t know that you want to stay.”

“I don’t know
if
he
wants me to.”

“Ask him.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Cripes, Ghost,
you’re such a man.”

“Guilty as
charged, but what has that got to do with it?”

“I will be
totally mortified if he runs screaming from me.”

“I gathered you
were the one doing the screaming, and there was no running
involved.”

“Oh my God, how
did you know that?”

“Your cousin
was cracking up while telling me on the phone.”

“
Sam told
you?”

“I’m your best
friend. I rang up earlier today and he was just cracking up,
couldn’t stop laughing. Once he found out who I was, he told me
about your little conversation with Deidre.”

“Debbie.”

“Yeah.
Her.”

She
sniffed.

“Oh honey,” he
said. “Why don’t you just ask him?”

“No. I
can’t.”

“We’re going in
circles.”

“Ghost, what if
I ask him and he says he doesn’t want me to stay?”

“What if he
says he does?”

“Why doesn’t he
ask me himself?”

“Sophie, you
are such a woman.”

“What the hell
is that supposed to mean?”

“I have no idea
why I said that. I should know better.”

“I don’t want
him taking pity on me, Ghost.” Sophie sniffled and hiccuped.

“Honey, you’ve
taken big steps already. What’s one more?”

“It could be
the complete destruction of my life.”

There was dead
silence for a few seconds before Ghost cautiously drawled,
“Oookay.”

“I’m serious.
I’ll be shattered if he doesn’t want me to stay. I mean, it’s only
been two weeks, right? Two wonderful, hot, sexy weeks, but maybe
that’s all he wanted, all he’s happy with, he doesn’t want a sack
around his neck, a chain around his ankle, a desperate woman
panting after him clutching at any crumb he’ll throw at her.”

“Are you alone
there, Soph?”

“Yes, why?”

“Thank
God.”

“Don’t be such
a jerk. I’m hurting here.”

“Sophie, stop
this pity party and pull yourself together.”

She hung up on
him.
Arsehole!
Just when she wanted to cry and be pitiful,
he pulled the stern card. Tearfully she stared at the TV screen,
not really watching the film playing.

Damn. Now she’d
hung up on her best friend. That was low. First she called him to
whine and cry and when he tried to talk sense to her, she hung up
on him. She looked at SJ who was sitting on the armchair opposite
the sofa, his head turned away in regal disregard. “Don’t you
start.”

Picking up the
mobile, she punched in Ghost’s number. He answered on the first
ring. “Feel better?”

“Worse. I’m
sorry. That was inexcusable. I don’t know what’s gotten into
me.”

“Love
hurts.”

“Love? What’s
that got to do with it?”

“Honey, you’re
in love It’s pretty obvious.”

Oh no, that
wasn’t good. Love? Love who? She did a mental head slap.
Geez,
Alan!
“Are you sure?”

“As sure as I
can be considering I’m telling
you
.”

“Can one fall
in love in two weeks?”

“Sophie Willow,
have you been drinking?”

“No. I don’t
drink. You know that.”

“I’m starting
to wonder. Listen, you need to think things through. You alone all
night?”

“Sam and Alan
are working the nightshifts. There’s only SJ here.”

“Well, he’ll
have to do. He doesn’t answer back anyway, which is a blessing,
because right now you need to have a good hard think, Sophie.”

“I do?”

“Then ring me
back.”

“When?”

He sighed.
“Soph, why are you so sad at leaving Alan?”

“Ummm…the sex
is great?”

“Ring me back.
You’ll know when.” Just as he hung up, she heard him mutter, “I
hope.”

Flicking the
mobile shut, Sophie looked at SJ. “Am I in love?”

SJ turned his
head slowly to look at her.

“After just two
weeks? Maybe it’s just a crush. He’s my first love - lover - and
all that. It’s probably just a major crush and I’m going to make a
huge fool of myself if I throw myself at his feet and beg him to
keep me.” No way. No way.

No freakin’
way.

For the first
time in her life she felt like a drink. A strong one. Going to the
‘fridge, she took out a Coke. No Diet Coke. She needed the strong
stuff.

Chapter 8

Chin in hand,
Alan stared out the car window at the traffic whizzing past. Would
this bloody night never end? Could it go any slower? Then again, he
didn’t want it to go any faster either, because that would bring
Sophie’s leaving that much closer.

Having the last
two nights that Sophie was here doing nightshift was downright
shitty. It meant he couldn’t spend them with her, and he’d sleep
during the friggin’ day which stuffed that up, too.

Mike glanced
across at him. “You all right?”

He grunted.

Mike looked
back out the windshield.

A hoon sped
past and the next couple of hours were spent fining him, processing
him, and impounding his car. Normally that put Alan in a great
mood. Tonight he couldn’t give a rat’s arse.

Parked at a
service station, he watched moodily as Mike strode across the
parking lot holding two takeaway cups of steaming coffee. Taking
the one Mike handed him, he lifted the lid and blew on the hot
liquid.

“Tell me.”
Mike’s deep rumble filled the car.

“Tell you
what?”

“Tell me what’s
wrong.”

“I don’t feel
like talking.”

“Tough shit.
Talk.” Mike looked at him, genuine concern in his normally cold
eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Damned if he
was going to talk about it, spilling his guts about things that
were of no concern to the big lug, friend or not. “Sophie’s
leaving.”

Shit, where had
that come from?

“She’s going
back to her home and family and friends and successful career and
leaving me here.”

So much for
keeping it all private.

“Huh.” Mike
sipped his coffee.

“Thanks for the
pep talk. It really helped.” Alan resumed glaring out of the side
window.

“Tell her to
stay.”

“Tell her? She
wants to go home.”

“She say
that?”

“She said she
was looking forward to going home.”

“Huh.”

Alan rolled his
eyes. It was either that or start chewing hunks out of the
dashboard. Or cry. Crying was for sissies, however, and his mother
hadn’t brought up no sissy boy.

“Did you tell
her how you felt?” The car rocked as Mike shifted his muscular
bulk.

“And make her
feel beholden to me? No.”

“Beholden?”

“For sharing
hot, steamy sex and fantasises with her. Showing her how good it
can be.”

Mike rubbed his
forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hey,” said
Alan, “you asked.”

“Yeah, I did.”
Mike muttered something else that sounded suspiciously like, “God
help me.”

Alan returned
to glaring out the window.

Man, it hurt.
Here he was, wanting her to stay and having to let her go. It had
only been two weeks, two wonderful, magical weeks, and already he
couldn’t imagine life without her.

It hurt. Just
thinking of her leaving hurt. It was ripping a freakin’ hole deep
in his guts, tearing out a hunk, leaving him empty and wounded and
goddamn
hurting
.

“Jesus.” He
closed his eyes. “Mike, I love her.”

“You don’t
say.”

“What am I
going to do?”

“Do? You claim
her, boy. You love her, you want her, you claim her.”

“No wonder
Maddy calls you a Neanderthal.”

“Yeah, and I
have Maddy. Who do you have, smart arse?’

“If this is
your idea of a pep talk, you suck at it.”

“Just saying it
like it is.”

Silence fell
between them again. Closing his eyes, Alan sighed. He couldn’t
force her, he couldn’t, it wouldn’t be fair.

“Maybe I’ll
visit her.” He opened his eyes. “Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll go
and see her whenever I can.”

Mike
grunted.

“Thanks for
your support.”

Mike grunted
again.

Shit. Bugger.
“God damn it.”

“She’ll
probably be fine.” Mike took a cautious sip of the hot coffee.
“Find herself another man who actually tells her he wants her.
Loves her.”

“
What!?
”
Alan jerked upright in his seat, steam already coming out of his
ears at the thought of some other
bastard
daring to poach on
his woman. “Sophie is my woman, damn it! What the hell? I’m sitting
here feeling all damn sorry for myself, ready to let the woman I
love walk away! This is not Alan Cooper!”

Mike cut him a
sideways glance.

Alan swung
around to face him. “She bloody well belongs with me and I’m going
to tell her so. I’m going to lay down the law, Mike. Yeah, I’m
going to tell her I love her and she better damn well marry
me!”

Mike just
looked out the front of the windshield, but there as a definite
little quirk to his normally unsmiling mouth.

“I am not
letting her leave me! Mike, take me home!”

A car whizzed
past at that precise moment. Mike capped his cup and slotted it
into the cup holder. “Right after this.”

“Aw
shit
, man.” Glaring at the rear lights of the car
disappearing down the road, Alan capped his cup as well. “Bloody
speed hog does not know who he’s messing with tonight.”

Bloody idiot
was keeping him from claiming his woman. Alan was going to slap him
with a fine that he’d still be paying when he was on the
pension.

Lights
flashing, siren slicing through the air, Mike spun the car out onto
the road with his usual precise driving and drove after the
speeding car.

Less than a
minute passed before they’d caught up to it. The driver indicated
and turned off onto the side of the road.

“You have got
to be freakin’ kidding me.” Alan stared at the back of the car and
the now familiar number plate. “
Sophie?
”

“You can handle
this one.” Mike calmly reached for his coffee cup, his usual stoic
expression in place. “You’ve had plenty of practice.”

Not even
noticing what he said, Alan opened the car door and slowly got out.
She was freakin’ speeding again after she promised him she
wouldn’t. Here he was getting ready to claim her and she went and
put herself in danger again. The woman he loved breaking a promise
and disobeying the law
again
.

Anger warring
with his newly discovered feelings for her, Alan strode furiously
around the back of her car to the driver’s window. Leaning in, he
snarled, “Get out of the damned car, Sophie!”

It surprised
the shit out of him when she swung around to glare right back at
him. “You have some nerve, Alan Cooper!”

“
Me?
”

“Yeah! How dare
you!”

Oh, that was so
not the right thing to say to him right now. “Get out of the God
damned car, Sophie.
Now
!”

The door
slammed open right into him, knocking him back a pace. Before he
could get his breath back, she’d stepped out and slammed it behind
her, jamming her hands on her rounded hips.

Glaring up at
him.

Straightening,
he gritted out, “You are in so much trouble, lady.” Grabbing her
arm, he marched her around the back of the car to the safety of the
other side.

No sooner had
he released her than she rounded on him. “I’ve been driving around
for freakin’ hours looking for you and finally, here you are! Well,
I’m telling you right now, Alan Cooper, that I love you! Yes, I
love you! I don’t care if you laugh at me, I don’t care if you are
horrified! Get that look off your face or so help me, I’ll slap it
off!”

Stunned, he
gaped at her.

“We had the
most wonderful two weeks of my life, Alan, and I was scared I just
had a crush on you but Ghost told me that I love you and that’s why
I was upset at leaving and you not asking me to stay and now it’s
stuck in my head and I don’t care if you don’t want me, I just
needed you to know!” She ran out of breath after that garbled
little rant, and along with that breath her anger just seemed to
flood away. Her shoulders slumped and the bright glare of her eyes
gave way to the sparkle of tears. “So now you know.”

“Soph,” he
whispered, “are you sure?’

“I discussed it
with SJ and yes, I’m sure.”

“The cat?”

“I am such an
idiot.” A tear spilled over to trickle down her cheek.