‘Argh!’ she shrieked, retaliating by yanking his jumper down and pulling so hard on his chest hair it looked like she’d actually ripped it out.
‘Hands off the merchandise,’ he said through a smile as he grabbed her hand, twisted it away from her body and poked her in the ribs again. It was then that he noticed Millie, and paused mid rib-poke. As soon as their eyes met Millie looked away. OfcourseKira and Pav would be together. They were both so confident, so open and free. Them as a couple made complete sense. But for some reason her chest felt so tight it was a struggle to breathe.
Chapter 11
We’ll see, baby
‘El,’ she managed to force out. Eleanor was watching Mr Martakis with wide eyes, as Millie suspected any self-respecting straight woman would; he was the most watchable man she had ever seen in her life. Right now he was wearing jeans and a dark jumper with the sleeves pulled up to above his elbows. The glance she had allowed herself of his muscled forearms was enough to hollow out her stomach completely. ‘El …’ Her voice this time was slightly choked, but she managed to raise it above a whisper and attract El’s attention. ‘I’m going to … I need to go. Will you be okay? I can’t …’ She trailed off and grabbed her bag closer to her chest, much to Beauty’s disgust.
‘Of course,’ El said, frowning at Millie with some concern. ‘No worries. I’ll be fine. My car’s just round the corner.’
Millie closed her eyes in relief, before a deep voice shattered it.
‘Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Pav,’ Pav said, standing from the sofa.
‘Hi,’ El replied, a blush creeping up her cheeks as she shook Pav’s outstretched hand.
‘Thanks, Libby,’ Millie muttered as she attempted to rise from the sofa. But Beauty’s weight kept her pinned and she stared at the dog in desperation, whispering, ‘I’ve got to go now. Could you … could you move your head … please?’
Beauty’s answer was to bury her huge snout under one of Millie’s arms and fling it out and away from her bag so that it settled on Beauty’s head again. Millie forgot where she was and who she was with for a moment. She smiled, leaned over and buried her face in the fur at Beauty’s neck. Beauty responded by licking the entire side of Millie’s face, and Millie did something she hadn’t done in possibly years.
She giggled.
When she sat back up the whole room was staring at her. She glanced over at Mr Martakis and, bizarrely, his eyes were slightly unfocused, his mouth hanging open. Millie blushed, and then gave Beauty one final squeeze before she managed to ease her legs out from their pinned position.
‘Come on, girl,’ Jamie said as he stepped over to pull the dog away, having more success than Libby through sheer brute force. The dog grunted, head-butted Jamie’s crotch, and then ambled away as Jamie cupped his manhood, stifling a scream. Millie was up and starting to edge towards the exit.
‘Bye, Mils,’ Kira shouted from the other sofa, and Millie managed a small smile for her. ‘Dr M.’ had become a thing of the past over the course of the evening.
‘See you next week, Millie,’ El said, taking a step to the side to see around Pav’s large body. Jamie grimaced through his pain and waved at her as she passed him at the kitchen island, and her breathing started evening out as the front door came into view … until it was no longer in view.
‘Hey,’ Mr Martakis said, his chest filling her vision. She blinked at the corded forearms crossed over it, and swallowed, choosing to focus on his tanned throat. ‘You didn’t say goodbye tome.’
‘Uh … bye,’ Millie whispered, giving him a small, rather pathetic wave; but he didn’t move. She knew what happened in this scenario and was not about to perform some sort of weird dance to get round him in front of the others. Instead she took a step back – maybe there was another exit? She could jump out of the window.
‘How are you getting home?’
‘Why?’
‘Why what?’
‘Why do you want to know?’
Her eyes strayed from his throat to his chin and she noticed the corners of his mouth tip up as he shook his head slightly. ‘Why won’t you tell me?’ She took another step back and he took one forward.
‘I’m walking.’
His smile dropped and his mouth set in a firm line. ‘No, you’re not.’
Millie bit her lip and gripped her handbag even tighter; her fingers felt like they might snap with the tension. What was going on? Why didn’t he concentrate on gettingKirahome and leave her alone? And why was he issuing orders to her? He barely knew her.
She took a deep breath and decided to be honest.
‘I don’t understand,’ she told him, glancing over at the others on the sofas who were all focused on the exchange like it was completely fascinating. Millie was more confused than ever. ‘I am walking and I don’t know … I don’t know what that has to do with you.’ Her house was only a few streets over. It would only take her ten minutes to get back by foot.
‘No,’ he said, his voice firm. ‘You’re not walking home in the dark. I’m driving you. As to what it has to do with me …’ He trailed off and smiled, after which his voice softened. ‘We’ll get to that bit later, okay?’
‘Get to what later?’ she muttered, then tensed as he reached out and put some soft pressure on her elbow to guide her forward. He must have felt her flinch because he dropped his hand, and instead swept it out in front of him, indicating for her to precede him to the door. Millie glanced at their audience again and decided her best bet was not to create a scene in Libby and Jamie’s living room. Maybe she could get away from Mr Martakis on the pavement outside.
