The Secrets She Must Tell

‘You’re very welcome.’

‘I’ll make coffee, shall I?’ said Georgie before either of the too-sharp-for-their-own-good Knoxs could voice the curiosity that was filling their expressions.

‘I’ll help,’ said Carla.

Feeling oddly peculiar, Georgie practically ran into the kitchen, with Carla hot on her heels.

‘God, Finn really is divine,’ said her friend, faux fanning herself with a hand while Georgie turned on the boiling water tap and filled a cafétière. ‘All that intensity and focus on you. Blazing. The vibes are extraordinary. Watching you two together and Kate and Theo almost makes me want to give up singledom.’

‘Finn and I aren’t like that, as you know perfectly well,’ said Georgie, her chest nevertheless tightening.

‘Then what are you like?’

‘I’m not entirely sure.’

But she had the suspicion that she knew exactly what she might want it to be like, and she stuck a lid on it because there was absolutely no point chasing rainbows.

And it was a good thing she did too, because it meant that at breakfast a couple of days after the dinner party when Finn made his unexpected announcement she was able to handle it. Josh was squashing a piece of banana between his fingers as he tried to cram it into his mouth. Finn was devouring a croissant and looking so dishevelled and sexy from her early-morning ministrations that Georgie, who was sipping coffee, felt her heart turn over, as it was increasingly wont to do whenever she looked at him.

‘I have to go to Paris next weekend,’ he said, jolting her out of her reverie and causing the mouthful of coffee she’d just taken to go down the wrong way. ‘The Bellevue is finally opening. There’s a launch party.’

She coughed and spluttered and banged her chest.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked with a faint frown of concern.

‘Yes,’ she said, thumping her chest one last time. ‘Fine.’

She was just surprised, that was all. The Bellevue was finished? Well, that was excellent news. She knew a bit from him about how long the works had been going on and how stressful they’d been. She had no reason to feel stung by the fact that Finn had never mentioned the imminent launch of the hotel or the party, a party that must have been planned for weeks, if not months. Or by the lack of an invitation. He owed her nothing. The debt went entirely the other way. She’d be of no benefit to him at such an event anyway.

‘When are you going?’

‘Saturday.’

In six days. Gutting. Her period was due imminently, which would put a temporary halt to orgasms—for her at least—a halt that would now apparently last longer than she’d hoped. But she’d handle it. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t survive without the pleasure he evoked in her. In fact, the delay would make his return all the sweeter.

‘That’s a shame,’ she said, deciding to attribute the disappointment she nevertheless felt to PMT.

‘Why?’

‘Because I’ll miss...’

You.

Well. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him that. She’d sound pathetic. Besides, she was already too vulnerable when it came to him. He held all the cards. She held none. So she pulled herself together and lowered her voice, even though Josh was way too young to understand, and finished ‘...what we’ve been doing.’

His blue eyes gleamed. ‘You don’t have to.’

She looked at him quizzically. What did he have in mind? Phone sex? That was something they hadn’t tried yet. Could be fun. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Come with me.’

Her heart skipped a beat and then began to race. ‘Really?’

‘Why not? Think of it as a belated mini honeymoon.’

Hmm. She’d be better off not thinking that actually, since, whatever they were doing, it wasn’t romance and she’d be wise not to forget it. ‘For how long?’

‘A couple of days, maybe three. The party’s on the Saturday night and I have some business on the Monday and Tuesday. We’d be back by Tuesday evening at the latest.’