Country Pleasures (27 page)

‘Honestly. It sounds like the Cromwell Road out here!' grumbled Sally as she and Janie wandered to the fence to investigate.

‘He'll do anything to stay here at the cottage, the scallywag,' she chortled. ‘Even engineer a car crash!'

‘You know, I'd do anything to be able to stay on. I've already been here a week longer than I intended.' Sally sounded serious for a moment, and Janie looked at her. ‘I know it's taken me a while to settle down, and I've been a grumpy mare at times, but my cold's quite gone and I feel really at home here.'

Janie felt the sun's warmth seeping into her back along with a sense of satisfaction and peace. She nodded.

‘Well, I have to say, against all the odds you actually look like you belong in the wilds of Devon. And I'm used to having you here.'

Sally beamed. ‘So right now the thought of either of us going back to London seems like utter madness –oh, God, who's that?'

The gutteral roar of the car which had been arguing with Derek's at the little junction hadn't receded. In fact, it was getting louder, crunching up their drive and materialising into the shape of a shiny Mercedes with blacked-out windows.

‘Looks like your ride back to London,' Janie tried to joke, but her heart sank. Jonathan was throwing up dry stones in an unnecessarily violent parking manoeuvre, and the expression on Sally's face was already changing into the mixture of petulance and desire that overcame her every time Jonathan was mentioned.

‘Nonsense,' she murmured weakly. ‘He hasn't been in touch since that party, so he can go to hell.' She trotted towards the gate. ‘I ain't going nowhere.'

Janie remained where she was, staring over the fence at the fields. The peaceful afternoon was already fragmenting. She certainly didn't want to stick around while those two spent the rest of the day either bonking or fighting. Perhaps she'd go to the beach, she
thought. She glanced over at the car. Jonathan and Sally were in their customary pose, one on either side of the gate, squaring up to each other, though it was difficult for Sally to be convincingly aggressive wearing nothing but a pink thong.

As they started to argue, someone else suddenly got out of the car and Sally's head snapped round furiously. It was Mimi. She was wearing a white trouser suit with nothing underneath the loosely buttoned jacket, and her wild hair was swept up into an elegant coil. Janie's stomach contracted with the memory of caressing the other woman's dark skin in the floodlit swimming pool ten days or so ago. She didn't move, but folded her arms across her chest.

Mimi pushed Jonathan out of the way with an impatient comment, opened the gate which he had still not entered, and laid a friendly hand on Sally's arm. But it was Janie she was aiming for, and both Jonathan and Sally stopped bickering and stared as she stalked across the dry grass.

‘Hi, Jane,' she breathed, and Janie's heart started pounding. ‘Don't look so afraid!'

She took Janie's wrists and forced them away from their defensive posture across her bare front. The sun was full on Janie, shining on her lightly-tanned breasts. The nipples perked up eagerly as Mimi looked her up and down.

‘I'm not afraid. I'm pleased to see you,' Janie said, and meant it. She gestured towards the table and umbrella where the ice was just about melting in the cocktail jug. ‘I haven't been back to the pub, though I meant to come and find you –'

‘You wouldn't have found me. I haven't been back to work there since I last saw you. Our brief conversation at Jonathan's party got my feet itching again.'

Mimi kept hold of one wrist as they sat down under the umbrella, but shook her head when Janie offered her a drink.

‘I can tell from the outfit that you haven't just come from filling the optics,' Janie said. ‘You look sensational: like a fashion editor, or a rock star. But what does Maddock make of it?'

Mimi tossed her head, forgetting that she was looking sleek, and one thick tendril of hair dropped out of her hairpins and brushed her hot cheek.

‘Maddock? He has no say in what I do. He tried to order me back behind the bar when I told him I was quitting. He thinks that's all I'm good for. That, and opening my mouth and legs.' She sniggered, but her face softened a little. ‘I mean, that
is
one of the things I'm good for, but not the only one. To prove it, I gave him and his merry men the seeing-to of their lives last night. But he didn't know it was the last time. He doesn't know I'm going away. He doesn't know he's just been something to play with while I've been killing time down here. I always wondered what a
real
country boyo would be like under all that straw and mud and thick accent, and now I know. Anyway, he needs to pick on someone his own size, if you know what I mean.'

‘Yeah, chalk and cheese doesn't begin to cover it when it comes to you and Maddock. Beauty and the beast, more like. But it's not the winter!' Janie's voice rose embarrassingly, and Mimi chuckled her deep, smoker's chuckle. ‘The summer's only half done. You said you'd be going in the winter.'

‘I know,' grinned Mimi, ‘but I rustled up a couple of contacts and I've landed an offer I can't refuse. I'm going to LA to work on a film.'

‘Wow! I didn't know you were an actress as well.'
Janie knew she sounded star-struck, but she couldn't help it.

‘I'm not. At least, not exactly. I'm going to be what they call a stand-in. There are various stars who I can double for. Catherine Zeta-Jones, maybe –'

‘Wow,' Janie said again. ‘That's so glamorous.'

Mimi shrugged and glanced over her white linen shoulder. Jonathan and Sally had sat down, one on each sun-lounger, but they were barely talking. They looked more interested in what was going on under the umbrella. Mimi rubbed finger and thumb together like a gangster.

‘Money, darling. It's good money. And it will lead to other things. Or maybe I'll be back by Christmas. In London. Or Devon.'

Her black eyes burned into Janie's, and Janie's stomach gave an excited lurch. She wanted Mimi to come back to Devon, but she couldn't help wondering if she ought to get real. Mimi was like a glittering, exotic bird about to flap away into the blinding sky, and yet two weeks ago she'd been pulling pints in the Honey Pot Inn. Why on earth would she come back, now that her transformation was complete? Janie returned Mimi's wide smile, then started to laugh.

‘Anything can happen, can't it?' she replied, and Mimi nodded, taking Janie's hands. She stroked the inside of her wrists suggestively and Janie sat very still, marvelling at the strange reaction shivering under the surface of her skin.

‘Take my card. You could come out there with me, see what's there for you.'

Janie looked at the card where it lay between them on the table.
Mimi Breeze
, various telephone numbers, and an email address. Somehow she knew she'd be seeing this woman again.

Mimi leaned across the wooden table, the lapels of the white jacket falling open to reveal her plump brown breasts. Janie stared at them, then back at her face. Mimi's red-painted lips parted, drew nearer, and then she pressed them onto Janie's mouth. They radiated heat, and her tongue came out and slicked round to find Janie's. There was the merest flutter of its tip against Janie's lips, and Janie needed to respond, her tongue sliding warmly out to meet Mimi's. The world stopped as their mouths locked hard onto each other, tongues flickering a delicate dance while their lips closed and sucked. But as Janie started to fidget on her chair, wanting to touch Mimi's breasts again, Mimi suddenly withdrew, released Janie's hands and stood up. Jonathan jumped to attention as if he were her servant.

‘I have to go. I'll see you,' Mimi whispered huskily. She ran one long red fingernail down between her breasts, then raised it quickly and tucked it between her lips for a moment. Janie did the same with her own finger. Then Mimi walked away with Jonathan to the garden gate.

‘Amazing what a decent outfit can do to transform a person, isn't it?' muttered Sally, sauntering up to the table, and trying to look as if she didn't care. ‘She was the local bike until yesterday. Now she looks as if she owns the place.'

Janie just nodded blankly, still in her chair.

‘And what's Jonathan doing bowing and scraping like that?' Sally demanded. ‘Have they been – has something been going on? He's surely not driving her off somewhere? Oh man, I haven't even
started
with him!'

Sally hopped from foot to foot, itching to cross the grass and listen to what they were saying, ready to
jump if he threatened to climb back into her car. But then the sleek nose of another car appeared at the small junction, and a mellow hooter sounded, shocking some sleepy birds into flight. Mimi turned, waggled her fingers at Janie and Sally, and walked off down the bumpy drive. The car inched forward, and they saw that it was a white limousine. A chauffeur got out and held the door open for her, and Mimi got in. For a moment she, the car and the chauffeur wavered in the heat-haze just like a mirage before the car slid silently away behind the hedge and was gone.

‘This place becomes more like fantasy-land every day,' Jonathan remarked casually, as he strolled back towards the girls, sat down and helped himself to the jug of cocktails. ‘But it won't do. It's time we all got back to real life.'

‘Meaning?' Janie tore her attention back to him.

‘Why should we get back to real life?' Sally butted in, pouring herself a drink as well. ‘We're having a blissful time down here. Looks like you and that barmaid have had a pretty blissful time of it – why spoil it with talk of “real life”?'

‘Because we have to get back to work,' Jonathan answered. ‘And you're coming with me.'

Janie decided to sit tight and hear what he had to say.

‘In a way he's right, Sally. We can't loll around in the sunshine forever.'

‘Who's side are you on?' Sally snapped, banging her glass down.

‘It's not a question of sides,' Janie sighed. ‘It's a question of getting real, earning money, having one's own place to live. After all, this is only meant to be a holiday.'

‘But you've managed to get some work done while
we've been here – with my help!' retorted Sally. ‘And maybe you'll even get noticed, if that article gets a good response.'

‘And I intend to follow it up, if it happens, once I'm done down here. But I'm not the restless career girl, Sally. You are.'

‘That's right,' said Jonathan. ‘If you come with me, you could have all this kind of luxury, and so much more, whenever you liked. As well as the use of my place, of course.' He leaned back in his chair and wiped a large white handkerchief round his neck. ‘With all the money you'll earn working for me and my new business partner.'

Sally leaned her chin on her hand.

‘And who is he, this new business partner? What kind of business?'

‘Catering, clubs, entertainment. We need a PR whiz kid, with a head for business, the ultimate front woman, in fact.'

Janie and Sally raised their eyebrows at each other, interest simmering.

‘And that's me?'

‘Of course.'

‘And the new partner?'

Jonathan took a swig of his drink.

‘His name's Mastov.'

Sally and Janie gasped. Jonathan looked at them both as if he'd just delivered the crown jewels. Janie looked at Sally, and then flicked her arm in the air as if cracking a whip, at which Sally started to giggle.

‘You mean Mastov of Holland Park?'

‘Yes, but how did you know –?'

Sally stood up, kicked Jonathan's feet out from under the table so that his legs were sideways. She stuck her bottom out, her pert cheeks divided by the strip of pink
thong, and Jonathan took hold of her hips. Then she lowered herself down onto his knee and started to rock her crotch up and down his chinos.

‘Because, King Dong, I've screwed him. I've been tied to his Chinese lacquer bed in his mansion, and I've seen the extent of his portfolio –'

‘You little trollop!' Jonathan feigned horror. ‘So much for mooning round after me!'

‘I have to keep myself entertained, Jono. You know I need it day and night. I can't just sit around waiting for the likes of you to come to your senses, for months on end. Not until you prove to me that the only way forwards is for me to come back to London with you, on my terms, and in my own time.'

‘Don't flatter yourself.'

Jonathan tried to shove her off his knees, but she spread her legs wider across his thighs and lifted herself on tiptoe so as to push her bottom right back into his groin. She tilted her hips so that she caught his hidden penis with her pubic bone, and Jonathan slumped back in the chair.

‘There is one condition that I would like to make if we are going to work together. To be together,' he said, his voice serious. Sally stopped wriggling.

‘Can't promise, won't promise.'

‘You have to promise this one thing, Sally. Don't pout like that. It's very easy.'

She tried to distract him by licking at his ear. He pulled her back, and made her look at him.

‘You have to promise that you will not shag my sons again. It's far too sensitive, too close to home. You can't go there. Not if this is going to work.' Jonathan's voice cracked. ‘I nearly went spare when I saw you with them on the beach at my party.'

‘Good. That was the intention,' Sally flashed back.

There was a pause. Both Janie and Sally flushed. Sally tossed her head, knowing she was beaten on this one.

Janie turned away to hide her own lascivious smile. Didn't stop
her
going there for seconds, did it? she thought.

‘OK,' said Sally. ‘They're dead tasty, but – they're your little boys, and I'll leave them alone. I promise.'