No, that certainly was not Terry’s voice. Surely it wasn’t Sean? But who was with him? It couldn’t be Nicola. Even Sean wouldn’t talk to her that way. Or would he?
A girl’s voice answered. ‘Give us a kiss first!’
Miranda did not recognise this voice, but she was sure it did not belong to Sean’s fiancée.
Nicola was not long out of one of the best girls’ schools in England; shy, very unsure of herself despite her family’s wealth. She had a faint lisp and stammered when she was nervous, but she had a typical, middle-class accent.
The voice Miranda had just heard was very confident, not to say oversure of itself, and it had a London accent, brash, pushy, huskily sensual. Of a very different class to Nicola.
Who had Sean got over there? His father would be furious if he found out his son was taking strange girls into the apartment.
‘I’ll give you something,’ Sean said roughly and the girl began to giggle.
‘You already have!’
Then came the unmistakable sound of a kiss. Miranda tried to concentrate on her work. She wished they would move away, go into another room. What were they doing in the bathroom?
The sound of running water came next. Oh, my God, were they planning to have a bath? Was that why Sean had told the girl to take her clothes off?
This was becoming very embarrassing. Miranda got up and went over to the window, to close it. As she lifted the blind to take hold of the window catch she saw Sean framed in the window opposite.
He was totally naked, his shoulders wide and powerful, his skin smooth, hairless. She could only see to his waist, but he had a strong, slim, very male body, with good muscle development in the arms and chest.
Behind him steam swirled and billowed. There was a sound of splashing.
‘Come on, darling, get in with me!’ the girl called.
Sean turned away, giving no sign of having noticed Miranda at the window opposite.
She almost closed the window but left it open enough to let some air circulate. It was too hot to have it shut.
She went back to her desk. Muffled now, the voices continued across the courtyard, laughter mingling with splashes.
Until Sean said sharply, ‘What did you say?’
‘I’m up the spout,’ the girl told him defiantly. ‘And it’s your baby. You’re going to have to marry me, Sean.’
There was a silence, then he snarled, ‘You must be joking! Marry you? Even if I could, I wouldn’t marry a greedy little tart like you.’
The girl’s voice roughened, too. ‘You bastard! I’m good enough for a fuck, but not good enough to marry, is that it?’
‘You’re damned right that’s it! How do I even know it’s my baby? You weren’t a virgin when I met you, were you? You’ve spread it around since you were fourteen. I know all about you. How many men have you slept with this month? God knows who the father is.’
She sneered. ‘These days it’s easy to prove. You’ve heard of DNA, haven’t you, Sean?’
‘Yeah, but, even if it is my kid, I’m not marrying you. I’m marrying Nicola. At least I can be pretty sure she’s a virgin.’
‘Bloody hypocrite!’
‘Look, I never promised you marriage, and I knew you’d been with half my mates. We were just having a bit of fun.’
‘That was before I got pregnant. That changes everything.’
‘The hell it does. I’ll give you the money to get rid of it, that’s my best offer, so I’d take it, if I was you!’
‘Oh, no! I’m not getting rid of my baby.’
‘Suit yourself.’