Shameless Exposure (21 page)

He kissed her lovingly and one thing led to another, right there in front of the blazing logs. Caroline was hot, not just hot from the fire. The intense and close encounter with the shaven Ness, the anticipation of his exceptional instrument, had turned her insides to goo. She poured herself over Robert like a jar of maple syrup, and he clung to her fiercely, like he was clinging to life itself. They became one again.

 
Nineteen

I leaned over Robert to wedge my champagne flute down into the sand. The hammock rocked and I was on top of him, my nose pressed into his chest.

“You smell like a girl.”

“Whatever turns you on,” he said. “You’re blocking my view of the sunset.”

I had never felt so relaxed in my entire life. Who ever invented couples’ massage deserves a Nobel peace prize. It was clever of Robert to spot the upgrade in the small print. He was relaxed too. I had been waiting for the right moment to confess my experience in the Victorian bordello. There would never be a better moment.

“You remember I made an appointment at the Orgatron Training Centre in London? I haven’t told you before because it’s so embarrassing, but I didn’t actually go.”

“Well you can’t go now. It’s been closed down. Regina’s facing a five year stretch for tax fraud.”

“No, it’s not that. I went to the wrong address. I went to this place where people dress in Victorian clothes and have Victorian sex. I had sex with a Chinese man. He paid me.”

“You are making this up, aren’t you? But go on.”

I described how I’d thought I was in the training centre and thought the Chinese man was part of the programme. Robert reached for his phone and turned on the recorder. He made me go back to the beginning and describe every sordid detail. I still don’t think he believed me, but he said it would be a good way to start the next book.

“Oh no, Robert, you can’t. I’ve only just stopped blushing from the last one.”

“I think it’s important that people know about the Regina Hearts of this world. Some people will believe anything.”

I had been expecting grief from Robert about the Chinese man, so having got away with it, I changed the subject.

“It was such a lovely surprise, this holiday.”

“Was it really a surprise? I tried my best to disguise it by taking money out every few days. I knew you’d spot any big movements of cash. You’ll make a fantastic Finance Director, better than Ivan, anyway.”

“I did see the bank statement. I thought you were gambling, or spending money on prostitutes.”

“Stop wriggling, Caroline, I’m trying to imprint this on my mind. It’ll be gone in two minutes and tomorrow’s sunset, if we get one at all, will be a smudge through a smoggy haze.”

“I know it doesn’t matter, but I’m happy you’ve been made a Senior. Will it make a difference, apart from more money?”

“It’ll mean I can pass the dross onto someone else and people like Forbes-Brown will have to stop patronising me. He was embarrassed at being taken in by the indomitable Miss Heart.”

“Don’t you feel a bit sorry for her? I mean it was pretty sad that she was so desperate for a daughter that she pretended it was me.”

“Is that why you rescued her from being shagged to death by GEORGe?”

The images of that dramatic night were burned on my mind. The flickering flames of the ceremony had been only a prelude to the conflagration which engulfed the castle and drove us, terrified for our lives, into the heather on the hillside. I wasn’t sure at the time whether the cries I heard from the practice rooms were of pleasure or terror, but the sound made me open the heavy door, and there was Regina clamped to the machine and nearly unconscious with exhaustion. The vagina spirit had deserted her in her hour of need, but fortunately I was on hand to save her from a gruesome fate.

“No, it was because I couldn’t bear the screams. The fire was hellish. It spread so quickly from the undercroft.”

“I’m not surprised it did,” said Robert. “Cardboard boxes make good kindling. At least Georgina’s finally decided to give up smoking. It gave her a fright. Amazing to think that one discarded match can destroy a building that’s been there for centuries.”

“I wonder if they’ll rebuild the castle or leave it as a monument to Regina’s stupidity?”

I stared at the horizon, recalling the events on Mura. “It was so cold that night waiting for the rescue services. It took hours for them to helicopter us off. And it’s so warm here.” I kissed Robert and wriggled in the hammock again. It was working. The holiday was like a second honeymoon. The day before we had acted as witnesses for a couple who got married on the beach and the old fashioned words had brought a tear to my eye, reminding me of how much I loved Robert.

He asked me if I was nervous about my new job.

“Not at the moment. Ivan says he’s got complete confidence in me and I can ask him anything. He knows he’s got me to thank for opening the door to the top job for him.”

“Do you think he’ll make a good chief executive?”

“Anybody’s better than Andreas. Ivan Kalashnikov might fire me on the spot but he wouldn’t have the nerve to kidnap me and then accuse me of gross misconduct. You were brilliant at my employment hearing, Robert. I was so proud of you, the way you turned the tables on Andreas. I loved the way you called it
textual harassment
.”

“Did much of Andreas’s wrongdoing come out into the open?”

“None of it. Ivan’s a true numbers man; he made sure the share price wouldn’t be damaged. Andreas officially left to spend more time with his family, but he didn’t get the traditional handsome pay-off. Ivan just waved the incriminating expenses sheets in his face and Andreas went quietly. I don’t know how he’ll explain it to his wife, Trish. But the important thing is the share price target has been reached and I’ll get my bonus. We can have a new bathroom with a big bath like the one we spent the afternoon in.”

“With perfumed oils and flower petals?”

“I love a man with a feminine side.”

The sun had raced below the horizon and it was already nearly dark. I tipped my clever husband out of the hammock and into the soft sand.

 
Robert Fanshaw

I am mid-thirties, a lawyer, and married (still). Writing is more than a hobby; it’s what keeps me sane because most of my job is boring. I think it must be like being in the army. There are very long periods where nothing happens then suddenly all hell is let loose.

I’ve had a book to do with work published before, and have written columns and features for magazines but my first novel
 
Shameless Ambition
 
was much more fun to write. I can’t really claim credit for the idea. Life provided me with Caroline, my wife. The banking crisis provided the plot. All I had to do was write it down and use my imagination for the parts where Caroline refused to go into details.

You can read more about Robert at the following:

http://www.mywifecaroline.com/

http://fanshawrobert.blogspot.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Robert-Fanshaw/221928037948848?fref=ts
 

Read more about Robert at the Steam eReads blog:
http://steamereads.com.au/2013/03/meet-author-robert-fanshaw/

 
Also from Steam eReads:

Shameless Ambition
by Robert Fanshaw:

A romantic comedy about executive Caroline Fanshaw, who is tempted into indiscretions with some of her colleagues whilst on a management course, and is subsequently drawn into a seedy world of high-finance, private parties and corruption.

The Dumped Club
by Ally Symmons:

A contemporary romance about discovering your ideal man is already married then embarking on a friends-with-benefits affair only to find love is more complicated than you thought.

Puppy Love
by Ana Vincent:

Kirra Lane’s best friend is her dog Phil, so when he is kidnapped by “the devil” driving a classic car on a late night walk, she is devastated. Added to that, her neighbours are selling out one by one to Haigh International until she is the only person who stands in the way of development.

www.steamereads.com.au