Dead Sexy by Linda Jaivin Read Free Book Online Page A

together.’
    ‘How sweet.’ He mixed two martinis in a retro cocktail shaker.
    They clinked glasses.
    There was something else Nicola felt compelled to get out of the way. ‘Johnny,’ she demanded. ‘Be straight with me. What’s going on between you and Liz?’
    ‘Liz?’ He scratched his head.
    ‘My editor. Don’t pretend you don’t know who I’m talking about.’
    ‘What about her?’
    ‘Aren’t you seeing her?’
    ‘Is that what she told you?’ Johnny frowned.
    Nicola was taken aback. ‘Well,’ she conceded, ‘not in so many words.’
    ‘Poor thing.’ He shook his head. ‘You know, I don’t want you to say anything to her about this.’
    Nicola nodded uncertainly.
    ‘I’m serious. I think she’s delusional.’
    Nicola wanted to protest, but she believed him. She suddenly felt very sorry for Liz. At least that was one less person she was betraying. Betraying? What was she thinking! She wasn’t betraying anyone. She was just going to finish her drink, return the gifts and leave.
    ‘Be sexy! But be sensible!’
    Johnny put on a CD. Slinky ribbons of jazz floated into the room. Nicola felt the pulse of the double bass all the way down to her knickers. She looked at Johnny over the rim of her cocktail glass and fingered the side-buttoning frogs on her frock. He smiled his crooked smile.
    ‘Nice dress,’ he said. ‘It would be even nicer around your ankles.’
    Nicola’s cheeks flushed the colour of her frock. ‘I don’t think…’
    ‘But, my dear, you do. I can see it in your eyes.’
    Nicola’s mouth opened. No sound came out. She felt like every note of the double bass was being plucked on a tightly stretched sinew deep inside herself.
    And Johnny still hadn’t made a move. He watched her coolly, sipping at his martini.
    Nicola couldn’t bear the suspense another moment. She put her drink down on the coffee table, threw herself at him and clamped her lips onto his.
    She didn’t anticipate Johnny’s reaction. He extricated himself from her grasp, gripped her shoulders, and held her at arm’s length. ‘Whoa, whoa, my pretty little filly.’
    Nicola stared at him, humiliation written all over her features. Johnny grinned, a gleam of triumph in his eyes. He folded his arms across his chest.
    ‘Now,’ he said, after a long pause, holding out a hand to her, ‘shall we proceed?’
    Nicola’s heart beat fast. She understood then that Johnny made the rules. It was strangely exciting. Besides, in relinquishing control, she felt that in some small way it absolved herof responsibility for her actions.
    At the top of the steps was a small hallway. At one end was a bedroom with an ensuite. At the other was a locked door. When Nicola started towards the bedroom, he pulled her back. ‘I have someplace far more exciting to show you,’ he said, reaching up over the doorframe, plucking a key from its hiding place and opening the door.
    It was dark inside and the contrast with the brightness of the rest of the place prevented her at first from seeing anything at all except what seemed to be a small blinking red light. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realised it was coming from the direction of an ornate Chinese screen decorated with a red-beaked crane flying towards the sun.
    ‘Now, let’s get comfortable,’ Johnny suggested as he began to undo the intricate cloth buttons of her frock. She attempted to help him but he held her wrists firmly and shook his head with a
tsk tsk tsk
as though she were a naughty child whom he was disciplining. He pulled the frock over her head. He held it up to his faceand smelled it before folding it and placing it in a pile. When he was finished, she was wearing only her stockings and her scarf. He was still fully dressed.
    Johnny took both her hands in his and, kissing her, pushed her against the wall. He pressed against her with his body. The buttons of his shirt bit into her chest and his belt nipped her stomach. She could smell his perspiration