and receiving of pain… so pleasurable. Er, so I hear.’
‘Ah… erotic spanking. Yes, you’re right. Er, so I hear too. Perhaps, after all, I can find the time to do your tattoo today.’
Karen stopped twiddling her hair and looked at Jezz under her lashes.
‘Perfect,’ she purred. ‘I shall look forward to the delightful sting… and delightful warmth… and delightful vibrations.’
‘Delightful,’ said Jezz, nodding away.
‘I suppose the bottom line is’ – Karen frowned theatrically – ‘that there is no bottom line when it comes to spanking.’
‘Except the bottom line,’ Jezz murmured.
‘I think you’re both talking out of your bottoms,’ said Emma, swinging her legs over the side of the couch.
Heaven only knew what this tattoo artist and her mother would be getting up to later. Yuck.
Emma peered down at her tattoo. Despite the whole experience hurting like mad, it had been worth it. She was thrilled with her butterfly. Emma wondered if she’d ever get to show the tattoo to her lover. Oh dear, she must stop thinking of him in that way. She also wondered what he was doing right now… miles away in Birmingham.
Forty-One
Charlie was having a frustrating evening with Sophie. Having abandoned Ben in the pub, he’d walked Sophie across the road to a restaurant.
She seemed to be stringing out the dinner they were having, taking way too much time over choosing a starter. Why couldn’t she just skip straight to mains? It would speed up getting them out of here. He wanted to get Sophie back to his hotel room and maximise recreational time under the duvet.
‘I can’t decide whether to go for the curried parsnip soup or settle for the goat’s cheese tartlet with velouté. Do you fancy a starter, Charlie?’
‘Only if there’s something on the menu called “Sophie”.’
Sophie giggled. ‘I’m starving. Aren’t you hungry?’
‘Just for you,’ he murmured huskily.
‘Oh Charlie, you are naughty’ – she giggled again – ‘but I do love my food.’
Charlie, on flirty autopilot, only just managed to stop himself saying, “and I love you”. From the look on Sophie’s face, she’d been half-expecting him to say those very words.
Instead Charlie said, ‘So you love food. Does that mean you enjoy cooking too?’
‘I do,’ she beamed. ‘What about you?’
‘Now and again.’
He loathed it.
‘What’s your speciality?’ she asked.
Charlie appeared to give this a moment’s thought.
‘Chocolate brownies,’ he said eventually.
‘Oooh, I love chocolate brownies,’ Sophie squealed. ‘Will you make them for me one day?’
‘Of course, darling. Although I might get seriously distracted if you’re around me while I’m making them.’
Sophie smirked upon hearing this.
‘You mean you might incinerate them?’
‘Exactly. But on the upside, it would be the quickest way to burn two thousand calories.’
‘You are funny, Charlie.’
‘And you’re sexy. Are you sure you want dinner? I’d much prefer to be ravishing you than sitting in this restaurant. Shall we go back to my hotel right now? I can always order room service later.’
Sophie opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Charlie’s phone, which had been resting next to his side plate. It let out a merry tinkle signalling Willow was ringing. Charlie snatched it up before Sophie could see his girlfriend’s name on the caller display.
‘Hey,’ he said into the mouthpiece.
‘Hi, darling. I was just calling to see how you are. How did the convention go–?’
‘It’s a shocking line,’ Charlie lied, cutting across Willow. ‘I can hardly hear you. Let me give you a call back later.’
Without further preamble, Charlie hung up. He then switched the phone off.
‘Who was that?’ asked Sophie.
‘My mother.’
The waitress appeared with a notepad and pen. Her request to take their orders thankfully stopped Sophie from asking any awkward questions about Charlie’s mother. He couldn’t quite remember what line he’d spun Sophie when he’d last seen her. It was important not to contradict himself. At least not before he’d got her between the sheets.
The waitress melted away and Sophie reached across the table. She enfolded Charlie’s hand in hers.
‘Isn’t this nice?’ she beamed. ‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see you again. I was in such a panic after discovering I’d lost your number.’
Charlie was puzzled. He wasn’t aware he’d given Sophie his contact details. He must have had far too much to drink to have done such a thing. How careless. It was one of his rules… always take the girl’s number. Never the other way around. Okay, he’d broken that rule with Kev, and to his detriment. Just look at how that had turned out. The blasted woman hadn’t left him alone.