A Different Kind of Forever - By Dee Ernst Page 0,80
So, your lady is stepping out. Just step out yourself a bit. You’ll feel so much better, really.”
“She’s not stepping out,” Michael insisted.
“Well, you told me you saw her picture, right? So, let her have a bit of fun. You’ve been over here for weeks. Did you think she’d just sit at home and do a bit of knitting?”
“No.” Michael buried his head in his hands.
“So, come on then. She’d never know. Wouldn’t you like to just stretch out somewhere soft and quiet?” She moved her hand higher up his thigh.
“Don’t, Jane,” he said tiredly. “I’m not going to fuck you, so just stop.”
“What are you being so bloody loyal for, anyway?” Jane asked, annoyed.
“I love her, Jane.”
“Then why the hell don’t you get her over here?” Jane hit his arm. “If she’s so fuckin’ wonderful, she’ll come, right? I know I would. I’d be over here in a flash.”
“Would you?” Michael looked at her intently. “If I asked you to fly for hours just to spend the night with me, would you really?”
“Love, for a roll in the kip with you, I’d walk to fuckin’ China. Why wouldn’t she, if you two are so in love?”
“Well, that’s the thing,” Michael said sadly. “I don’t actually know if she loves me or not.”
“What?” Jane stared at him. He was beautiful to her, his eyes deep blue, his mouth soft and slightly parted, his hair falling down across his forehead. “Oh, now Mickey, how could she not love you? “ She brushed away his hair and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re such a darlin’, really you are. Call her and tell her to come and when she gets here, fuck her brains out. Believe me, she won’t mind a bit.”
He cracked a smile. “Do you think?”
“Come on, let me get you home. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Let’s go.” She pulled him off the stool and walked him back to the studio. She knew she was only one more pint away from having him naked in her bed, but she didn’t have the heart. Perhaps, she thought, she could find another way.
Diane called him two days later. She would come over to London. As he sat in the darkness, listening to Seth and Gordon Prescott scream at each other, he didn’t care. She was coming to London. That was all that mattered.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
QUINN CALLED HER Monday morning. “I’ve learned my lesson, Diane. I was out of line. Please, have dinner with me? Just dinner - I swear. It won’t happen again.”
“Do you know there’s a rumor going around about the two of us?” she asked accusingly.
“Rumor? Oh, I can imagine. University is just one big opportunity to gossip, isn’t it? Are they saying anything terribly naughty?”
“Quinn, Michael’s sister is on campus. Angela Bellini.”
“Oh. Blast, I’m sorry. Are you afraid she’ll report back to him you’ve been misbehaving?”
“No. It’s not that. I’m just - ” Her shoulder slumped. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you miss him, I’m sure,” Quinn said briskly. “When is he due back?”
“I don’t know, but I’m flying over there this weekend to see him.”
“Ah.” Quinn paused. “Well then, why on earth would you worry about any silly gossip? Please, have dinner. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to eat with the secretary of the Dean of Admissions again. The woman has been stalking me, I swear. Hovering outside my classroom at precisely three-fifty-six, asking what I’m doing after class. I feel positively threatened.”
She agreed, laughing, and they went out after his class, and later walked back to the train station, and she sat with him, waiting for his train, talking.
When she got home, it was still early, barely eight. Emily was upstairs, music blaring, and Megan and Becca Griffen were in the kitchen, bowls everywhere, obviously trying to bake something. Diane looked wearily at her kitchen.
“Why did you feel you had to do this so late, Meg? I’m not cleaning this up, okay? Becca, how could you let her rope you into this?”
“Well, she had dinner at my house, Mrs. M., but my mom said no dessert, and Megan said you wouldn’t care.” Becca grinned sheepishly. “It’s brownies. You can have some.”
Diane shook her head, and headed upstairs. She pounded on Emily’s door. The music stopped, and her daughter threw open her door.
“Gee, Mom, glad you could make it home. What was it tonight? Did you have emergency surgery to perform? Finding a cure for cancer? Rescuing some poor stranded kitten?”
Diane exhaled loudly through her mouth. “Emily, you have been