He inhales sharply. “By fun, you mean sex?”
I smirk. Why does he always have to be so upfront? “No, I mean spend time with Beth, my friend. Work a different job. Meet new people, things like that.”
“Haven’t your guards snitched on you?”
“No, they don’t know what I’m doing, either. They stay on the ground floor of my office building and meet me on my breaks or when I finish.”
He hesitates. “Let me get this straight-you’ve moved to London for six weeks and are pretending to be someone else and nobody at all knows?”
I run my finger along the edge of the kitchen counter. “Beth knows, and now… you.”
“And what about him?”
I frown. “Who?”
“The man you slept with?” He’s clearly annoyed.
“Oh.” I scrunch my eyes shut. God, this is the biggest lie I’ve ever told. “No, he doesn’t know.”
“So, he’s still communicating with you as Charlotte.”
“Yes.”
He stays silent for a moment. “I take it you are in a relationship with him then?”
My eyes widen. “N-no,” I stammer. “No, it was just a one-time thing.”
“Why would you give your virginity to someone for a one-time thing?” he snaps, and I can hear tension in his voice.
Shit…. I close my eyes. “It just happened, Spencer. It’s over now and I would rather not talk about it, please.”
“Is that why you moved to London and are carrying on with this façade? You were hurt? Or were you just running away from him?”
“No. It really was a one-time thing, and now it’s over. Did you call me to talk about my past because I’m quite sure there is a lot of your history that we can discuss instead.”
He falls silent, eventually speaking softly. “Can I see you?”
God, I would like that.
“Perhaps we could go out to dinner when my father gets home?” I offer.
“Why not now?”
“Because if I’m seen with you, my guards will tell my family, and then I’ll be watched extra carefully. I’ve come this far with this fake identity and I want to carry on with it for the full six weeks. I’m really enjoying my job, and the friends I am making.”
“You don’t think I’m worth the risk?”
I roll my eyes. “You are being very high maintenance tonight, Mr Spencer. Did you call me to nag me to death?”
He laughs out loud. It’s deep and intoxicating, and I feel myself smiling goofily down the phone.
“Well, I’ve never been called that before.” He chuckles.
“There’s a first time for everything.” I smile as I sip my tea.
“What are you doing now?” His voice has dropped to a sexy, playful tone.
“I’m sitting at my kitchen bench in my pyjamas with a face mask on, drinking tea.”
“Good grief, woman. Lie to me.”
I giggle. “Okay.” I pause and try to think of a good lie. “I’m on a yacht.”
“Yes,” he whispers.
I try and stop myself from laughing. “I’m sailing through Croatia. The sun is setting, and I can hear the water lapping at the side of the boat.”
“Yes,” he purrs.
“With my husband.” I smile.
He makes a buzzer sound. “Wrong lie. Try again.”
“What lie are you hoping for?” I chuckle.
“Something along the lines of you being naked and thinking about me.”
My eyes widen. “Oh, that one.” God, he’s fun. “Well, you have to ask me again.”
“What are you doing now, my beautiful Charlotte?”
The sound of him calling me beautiful makes me smile. “I’m taking a bubble bath.”
“And?” I can tell he’s smiling.
“Drinking champagne.”
“Are you lying back against the edge?”
I get a vision of myself naked in the bath, drinking champagne. “Yes,” I breathe.
“Is your hair up?”
“Yes.”
“Is the room full of steam?”
I feel arousal start to tear through my blood stream. “Yes.”
“What are your legs doing?” he whispers.
I swallow the lump in my throat. God, this man makes me think naughty things.
“They’re open, my knees touching the sides of the bath,” I whisper.
He inhales sharply.
We stay silent as we both picture the setting; my sex begins to pump.
“Have you ever touched yourself while you thought of me?” His voice is husky, aroused.
I cringe. “Yes,” I breathe. He could make me orgasm just by talking to me like this.
“I’m going to call you tomorrow night at 9:30, angel, and I want you in the bath, naked with your legs wide open so we can continue this conversation.”
My eyes widen.
What?
“Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
Silence hangs between us.
Eventually, he replies, “Goodnight, angel.”
I press my hand on my chest as I try to control my breathing. I don’t want him to know how much he turns me on with his voice alone, and I most definitely don’t want to get off the phone. I want to play more games tonight.
“Goodnight, Spence.”
We both wait. I just want to ask him over to my place, and I know that’s what he’s waiting for.
Not yet.
“Goodbye,” I whisper, and I force myself to hang up.
* * *
Beth’s eyes nearly bulge from their sockets while she sucks her straw. “What do you mean, lie to him?”
I shrug and laugh. “Just what I said. I told him I had pyjamas and a face mask on, and he said lie to me.”
“Oh, this guy is fun, I like him.”
The two of us are at dinner and I’m filling her in on the latest Spencer gossip. I hate to admit it but I have been wearing a goofy grin all day…. the man makes me giddy.
“So, tonight, you have to be in the bath when he calls you?” she asks.
I shrug. “Apparently.”
She smiles broadly. “Get in the bath and ask him to come over to wash your back.” She chews her food. “With his dick.”
We both laugh out loud. “Can you imagine?”
“Do you reckon it’s big?’
I giggle and snort my wine up my nose. “Beth?’
“Seriously. He’s so over confident, he would have to be packing heat.”
I laugh myself into a coughing fit. “Packing heat?” I cough. “Who the hell says packing heat?”
She puts her finger up. “I do.”
I laugh and shake my head, and then she falls serious.
“Go home, get naked, and get into a big hot bath then wait for Mr Size Thirteen to call.”
I raise my wineglass in the air, and she clinks hers against it. “Mission accepted.”