บททั้งหมดของ Dirty Seduction: บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

NICKThe phone is in Laine’s lap as we drive back to mine, her fingers tracing the edges as though she’s trying to convince herself it's real. She keeps looking my way. Fleeting little glances that melt my heart.“Have you lived alone a long time?” she asks as we pull in through the gates.I nod. “A while.”“Do you get lonely?”“Not anymore.” I meet her eyes as I park up on the gravel.“I get lonely,” she says. “Got lonely.”“Your mum goes away often?”“All the time.”I ask her the question I’ve been putting off. The one that defies all my sensibilities.“Do you have anyone, Laine? A boyfriend or someone special…” She shakes her head and I feel a stupid rush of relief.“Do you?”“No,” I say.She nods.We take her bags in from the car, and I come back for the box of her old belongings.The new phone is quickly forgotten as she turns her attention back to Ted. She tries to push his stuffing back into his broken body, and once again I feel the strange weight of responsibility.I like it.

NICKI want to shout at her. I want to lose my cool and push her away from me. Bark out orders that she needs to get herself to bed, where she belongs, safe under the covers and away from the lesser man inside me. The man who wants to tear that slip of a nightdress from those pretty little tits and devour her whole.She’s staring up at me, those doe eyes so wide and innocent. Only she’s not innocent. Not right now.It’s clear what little Laine is thinking, what she’s wanting.“I’m not a…” she begins, and I close my eyes. “I’m not a… girl… I’m eighteen, Nick…”“And I’m much too old for you. Much too old.”“But… but who says so?” Her voice is quiet and gentle. Her voice is perfect.“I say so,” I tell her simply and force myself to meet her eyes. “It wouldn’t be right.”She nods, but she doesn’t believe me. I’m not even sure I believe myself. Because here, on the landing, with this beautiful creature standing so close, with those sweet little nipples poking through the flimsy fabric and

LAINEI wake up on my own, and my heart does a little jump. A flip of panic at the thought he’s left me, that he doesn’t want me in the cold light of day.I slip out of bed and grab my dressing gown, my feet quick on the stairs as I make my way down, and there he is, in the kitchen, and he’s cooking.He’s already dressed, and he looks even more perfect in his suit this morning. His hair is slick and styled, and so dark that way that you can barely see the grey at his temples. His shirt is crisp and white, and he’s so careful as he fries up eggs.“Morning sleepyhead,” he says, and he’s smiling. His smile makes my tummy flutter. “I was just about to wake you. Food’s up.”He flips the eggs onto a plate and grabs some toast from the toaster.Bacon, too. I smell bacon.It’s the best smell in the world on a Monday morning.I take a seat with a smile, say yet another thank you, and my fingers brush his as I take my plate from him. I feel it up my arms.“Are you all set for college?” he asks.

NICK“MORNING, Mr Lynch.”A sea of the same old Monday morning greetings. I smile my usual smile, ask after people’s weekends, and their kids, and their Saturday nights at the karaoke. I make my way through to my office with my usual take-out coffee and check my emails just like any other regular work morning. But it’s different this morning. I feel so different this morning.Jane stares out at me from the same old picture from the corner of my desk, grinning in the arms of her mother as they stare up at the camera. Stare at me. I touch the frame, a regular ritual, only this time my heart doesn’t pang in quite the same way.It’s the loneliness. Or more specifically the lack of it.A beautiful sense of relief washes over me as I discard my regular work routine and call my secretary.Penny looks great this morning. A new blouse, I think. She smiles and scribbles down notes without even a hint of surprise as I instruct her to call in a cleaning team to Laine’s property. I tell her they n

I shake my head. “I should’ve set the ground rules earlier. It would’ve kept her safe.” I laugh a sad laugh. “Should’ve, could’ve. Didn’t.” “She didn’t let you?”“Louisa was reckless, right from the beginning. Rebellious. Addicted to the highs of her earlier life, even if she despised the lows. She’d say not, but it was in her soul, that sense of devilment.”“Rebellious,” she repeats, then lets out a little laugh. “Then we’re not so similar at all. I barely even cross the road without a green light. Not unless Kelly Anne is involved.”“Kelly Anne needs someone to show her a firm hand, Laine. Teach the girl to be a lot more considerate of others. She’ll get herself into trouble one day.” I pause. “Only now she won’t be dragging you into trouble’s path along with her. I won’t allow it.”I wait for a reaction, for any sign of backlash, but none comes.“Thanks,” she says. “For caring. It’s nice.”I smile. “See if you still think that when you break one of the ground rules.”Her expression