Worlds Apart (6 page)

When she reached the pavement, Roo plastered a smile on her face. Okay, she had nowhere to live, but she had a job, clothes, a small amount of credit on her mobile phone, two cans of SpaghettiOs, and she looked pregnant but she wasn’t. Life could be worse.

But not by a lot.

Her smile faded as reality over her situation hit home. Roo had moved to Leeds from London three months ago and didn’t yet have any friends she knew well enough to stay with. She could probably find a budget hotel, but it would eat her money. She needed a cheap, temporary solution until her first pay check from ICU. Maybe her only paycheck if things didn’t work out.

“When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on,”
Roosevelt had said, and suddenly a bright light blinded her. Well, not really, but it was a road-to-Damascus moment and Roo
always
paid attention to those. She turned and headed for the retail park just off the city ring road, dragging her wonky-wheeled case behind her.

Outside the Asda-Walmart superstore, Roo wedged everything under a shopping cart and rode the moving walkway to household goods, trying to stop the pillow from sliding down. She found a two-person tent for the amazing sum of twelve pounds, a foam mat that would at least keep her off the ground, a sleeping bag and a battery-powered lantern. Water was the only other thing she thought she’d need and she put a large bottle in the cart. As she paid at the checkout, she wondered how the hell she was going to carry everything.

“Long to go?” The cashier nodded at Roo’s swollen belly.

“Could drop out any minute,” Roo said and then laughed at the expression of horror on the woman’s face.

“Remind me again why I have to do this,” Niall said.

“Because I asked nicely.” Taylor spotted a gap, glanced in the mirror to check there was no one behind and braked. “And you need a night out.” He looked over his shoulder and neatly reversed his black BMW into a tight space between two cars. “You’ve never come into Leeds with me.” He switched off the engine. “Plus we tossed. You lost. You get the girl.” Though they were both wired up just in case.

Niall climbed out and glared at him across the roof of the car. “A two-headed coin?”

Taylor laughed. “You should have checked. Stop scowling, you’re not going to attract anyone with a face like that.”

A blatant lie. Niall wouldn’t find it hard to pick up a woman—or a man. Yet as far as Taylor knew, Niall had never had a guest of either sex in the house and had never stayed out overnight. Since Taylor arrived a month ago, he’d levered Niall out of his top-floor room and away from his beloved garden to face the real world on only four occasions. All of them short trips to the pub in Ilkley. Even the groceries were delivered.

“Remember how to flirt?” Taylor asked as they headed toward The Lite.

Niall snorted.

“Oh yeah, that’s going to work. A disdainful snort. You probably only need to stand there, but want to try out some pick-up lines? Do you even have any?”

“How about—Do you have a map? I keep getting lost in your eyes.”

“Christ, maybe you shouldn’t say anything. Dumb and handsome works.”

A rare smile flittered across Niall’s face. “Ever kissed an elephant between its ears?”

“What?” Taylor frowned.

Niall pulled out his pockets. “Want to?”

“If I see you do that, I’ll kick you in the balls.”

Niall pushed his pockets back in.

“Try something less cheesy,” Taylor said.

“Do you know how to use a whip?”

Taylor groaned. “You’re going to get your face slapped.”

“There are two hundred and sixty-five bones in your body,” Niall said. “I’d like to make it two hundred and sixty-six.”

“I’m really sorry I asked.” But he sniggered.

Niall stepped in front of him so he had to stop walking. Niall bent his mouth to Taylor’s ear and whispered, “Come home with me right now. I’m going to fuck you until you scream.”

The sensation of Niall’s warm breath washing against his cheek made his cock perk up and Taylor jerked away.
What the hell?

“Think that will work?” Niall smirked.

He knows the effect that had on me. Shit.

“Don’t try it on the bouncer,” Taylor blurted.

Niall stepped aside and gave one of his rare proper smiles. Taylor had the uncomfortable sensation they were playing some sort of game and he didn’t know the rules. He started walking again.

“Don’t worry.” Niall caught up. “If it’s me she goes for and wants to be seduced, I’ll seduce her. You’ll get your evidence.”

Taylor faltered. “You do know that you don’t actually have to
do
anything? I mean apart from talk to her. A kiss is okay, but nothing more. I’d lose my license.”
And why don’t I want Niall to kiss her?

“I think I’d worked that out.”

They stopped at the entrance, and Taylor pulled Niall to one side before paying. “Better turn the recorders on. We’ll buy a drink and then stand as close as we can to the group. Apparently there are four in the party and she’s the only one wearing a red dress.”

When they went through the second set of doors, they walked into a wall of sound. The pounding music was accompanied by multicolored flashing lights that flew around the walls, floor and ceiling.

“Wow,” Niall said. “It looks like the place is full of psychedelic fireflies released after a rainbow’s splintered.”

Taylor turned to stare at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Niall mumbled.

“You’ll need to be really close to her or the recorder won’t pick up anything,” Taylor said.

Niall nodded and they headed for the bar. Taylor looked around for Sherry Bennett. She and her husband had been on the point of divorce when her uncle had left her a pot of money and Sherry suddenly decided she’d like to give the marriage one last shot. Taylor felt sorry for Phil Bennett. He hadn’t asked for the divorce and hoped his wife still loved him, but he didn’t know if the halt in the proceedings had come about because she wanted to stop him getting half of her inheritance. “The crazy thing is,” he’d said to Taylor, “I don’t want her money. I want her.”

Hence the honey trap. Not a job Taylor much liked, but tonight he was killing a few birds with one stone. He was earning easy money, he’d maneuvered Niall out of the house, which had to be good for him, and there was a strong possibility once they’d obtained the evidence that the pair of them would get laid, assuming Niall was up for it. Though not by Sherry Bennett. Taylor wasn’t that much of a bastard. Except, the getting laid bit wasn’t sitting easy on his stomach and Taylor didn’t know why.

He bought two Coronas, winced at the extortionate cost, and handed one to Niall.

Niall leaned back against the bar and downed half the bottle. “She’s on my left.”

Taylor stayed facing the other way.

“Ah, and heading over here,” Niall added.

Taylor turned and watched as four women in short, tight dresses negotiated a path to the bar. Sherry was as pretty as her photograph. They all looked slightly tipsy, staggering on high heels and giggling as they bumped against each other. And Taylor fancied none of them.
God, am I ill?
The image of a chicken filled his head, Roo’s cheeky face emerging from the costume, and he sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have given her the job.

Niall put his bottle down and stepped into Sherry’s line of sight. Taylor could almost see her melt under the intensity of the guy’s gaze. She didn’t even look at Taylor but fluttered toward Niall like a woman to chocolate, and stood staring into his eyes as if she’d been hypnotized.

Niall tipped his head to one side and smiled. “Please don’t say no and break my heart.”

Four female jaws collectively dropped. One male jaw almost did.
Christ, he’s smooth. And that smile? Why didn’t he do it more often?

“Dance?” Niall held out his hand.

Sherry didn’t even hesitate. Taylor watched them move into the middle of the floor and then edged closer to listen to her friends and record their comments.

“Bloody hell, he’s fucking gorgeous.”

“How come she pulled first—again?”

“It’s not fair. She’s just greedy.”

“Would you have turned
that
down? Christ, I bet he’s hung like a donkey.”

Taylor stifled a laugh.

“It was Sherry’s round as well.”

“Might as well say goodbye to that. God, look at the way she’s draped herself all over him.”

“Lucky cow.”

As Taylor pretended to talk on his mobile, he took pictures of Niall and Sherry dancing. A muscle in Taylor’s cheek twitched when Niall skillfully avoided the kiss aimed at his lips.

Sherry had one hand on Niall’s butt, the other up the back of his shirt. Niall had his arms around her but his hands weren’t moving. Sherry had pressed her face into his chest. In a way, this wasn’t a fair test. Taylor wondered if there were any women in the whole of Leeds who could resist Niall.

Or any men.

It wasn’t that strange, was it, to have a physical reaction to a good-looking guy? One good-looking guy in particular?

Oh Christ. I’m still going for self-denial?

Niall was sexy as hell without even trying. Didn’t mean anything was going to happen. Taylor stuck his hand in his pocket and wrestled with his cock.

He frowned as Niall walked back to the bar with Sherry. Niall was scratching his chin, the sign that Taylor should help him bail because he’d gotten what they needed.
Fuck that.
In one dance? He’d done it in one fucking dance?

Sherry had her arm looped through Niall’s and he glared at Taylor. In a fit of perverse jealousy—only in that Niall had done the job so easily—Taylor turned and strode to the exit. Though once he was outside, he realized he’d have to wait. He could hardly strand Niall in Leeds, especially if the guy ended up needing help to get away from whoever it was he hid from.

Taylor paced back and forth in front of the club. What had happened to his plan for them to get laid? He wasn’t going to pay again to go inside. Taylor supposed they could go to one of the city center bars and find a couple of women, but the thought that Niall might be the one who got lucky and not him, made Taylor’s gut ache. That had never happened in London. If Taylor went out with his mates, he was always the one the women fancied. Unless he was with Jonas. Women
really
liked him. Bloody animal magnetism.

Apart from the fact that Taylor was confused as hell, his self-confidence had taken a knock tonight. That was all that was wrong. He just needed to get laid and everything would be fine again. Roo was the answer to his troubles. Not that he had troubles. Niall was right. She was going to be a useless PA. But Taylor fancied her. The thought of Roo pressing her breasts against his chest, wrapping her legs around his waist filled his head and his cock. The rule about fucking the help didn’t count because she wouldn’t last.
Yep, Roo’s the one to break my dry spell.

Ten minutes passed before Niall staggered out looking white as snow and Taylor caught his arm in concern.

“You okay?”

Niall had only had one beer. Even if he’d had more after Taylor deserted him, it wasn’t possible to get drunk so quickly. He’d once seen Niall consume a bottle of wine and there had been no reaction like this.

“Need…to go back,” Niall gasped.

Taylor put his arm around him and helped him to the car. “Are you sick?”

“Be…okay.”

Pale as Niall looked, Taylor could feel the heat of his skin through his shirt. The guy was burning up.

“Shit, why didn’t you say you were ill?”

Taylor aimed his remote at the car and opened the passenger door.

“Did you have another drink? Maybe someone slipped something in it.”

“Why didn’t you stick…to our arrangement? I about scratched…the stubble off my chin.”

Taylor got in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Why didn’t you?” Niall asked.

Taylor turned to him and snapped, “Because you made it look so fucking easy.”

Niall clipped his seat belt in place and turned his face to the window.

Taylor took a deep breath and pulled out into the road. “Sorry, I’m a bloody idiot.”

“Okay.”

Taylor drove in silence until he reached the A65, then spoke, “Want to play what you got?”

Niall took the recorder from his pocket. A few moments later Sherry’s voice came out quite clear.

“What’s your name?”

“Niall.”

“I’m Sherry. God, you’re gorgeous. You local?”

“No.”

“Not got an apartment nearby we can use then?”

“For what, sweetheart?”

Sherry laughed. “What do you think?”

“Something on TV tonight you want to watch?”

She laughed louder. “We could record ourselves and put it on the TV except you’d have to destroy the copy.”

“Why’s that?”