“How dare you!” My voice was shaky as I tried to scrub the taste of him off my lips.
Robert smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Carrie, it’s just a matter of time. Why fight it?” He made to move towards me again but the buzzer sounded.
His smile grew even bigger and a curl of suspicion grew in my stomach. The buzzer sounded again and Robert started to laugh.
“Carrie, you should see your face.”
I didn’t want to answer the buzzer. The way Robert was looking from me to it told me everything I needed to know. For some reason he knew exactly who was downstairs.
“It’s rude not to answer the door.” His grin curved up into a sly smile. If I didn’t answer then I knew he would find a way to get inside. David was very determined when he wanted to be.
I slid my hand across the buzzer and answered.
“Carrie, it’s David. Look I don’t like how we left things this morning. Can I come up? I just want to... to see you. When I got your message... Well let’s just say I’ve behaved stupidly. It’s just I’ve never met a woman like you before who intrigued me so much...”
I opened my mouth to answer him, but it was as though Robert had been waiting for his opportunity.
“Carrie, come back to bed.” He spoke the words over my shoulder and directly into the speaker. There was no mistaking the sound of his voice and what the tone implied.
“You have a guest.” David’s voice had turned icy and a shiver ran down my spine.
“David, wait, I can explain.” But the only sound on the intercom that I could hear was static. He was gone.
Cursing, I turned back to Robert who had retrieved his clothes from the bathroom and was tugging them on. He smiled at me. Anger blurred my vision and my body shook.
“Why? Why would you do that?” Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and heavy.
“Nothing personal, sweetheart. This is something between me and David. Call it an old score.”
“But why? I don’t understand. What did I have to do with it?”
“You were perfect. Played right into my hands. If I’m honest, I’m not sure what David sees in you. Usually he prefers the skinnier types. But you do have a certain charm, I suppose.” He buttoned his shirt as he spoke.
“But...” My words were choked off with tears, which I scrubbed angrily from my face.
“God, you are gullible. David cares about you. You are different. He has never behaved this way with a woman before. He has never chased a woman before. So I knew you were his weakness.”
“Weakness for what? Why would you do this to him? To me? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I told you. It’s payback. Some say it’s a bitch.” He gave me his boyish smile and my hands itched to slap it right off his face.
“Anytime you fancy some no-strings fun, give me a call.” He dropped his card on my table and opened the front door. “It’s been a blast. Hope you have a good evening.” He left and his laughter echoed in the hall. I ran after him and slammed the door.
He had ruined it. David now thought I was playing away with another man when really the only man I was interested in was him. I needed to salvage it. If Robert was right and David did care about me then I stood a chance of fixing it and setting it straight.
I needed to go to him. I had to show him that he was the only one for me. If that meant agreeing to his proposition, no matter what it was, then so be it. My future happiness depended on me fixing this issue.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The ride over in the taxi was excruciating. Although I had just been to his apartment the night before, being driven there by someone who knew the way and giving directions to someone who didn’t were two very different experiences.
When the car finally pulled up in front of an apartment building that looked somewhat familiar I jumped out. I flung some cash into the front seat before looking up at the building before me. All I could do now was hope that he was in. If he wasn’t then I would just have to sit and wait for him. However long it took. I would wait for him.
I pushed open the doors of the lobby and scanned the area. The door man looked familiar and I let out a sigh of relief. Being in the right place was the first step. Making my way over to the desk I tried to calm my nerves. If David refused to see me I wasn’t sure what I could do.
“I’m here to see, Mr Ashcroft, David Ashcroft.”
The doorman gave me a disapproving look before picking up the phone.
“Who may I say is here?” he asked as he placed his hand over the receiver.
“Miss Grant.” I squared my shoulders and pushed my hair back off my face. I didn’t need to let the doorman see that his disapproving looks were getting to me. After everything that had happened I already felt bad enough. Part of me wondered if he remembered me from the night before. Perhaps that was part of the reason for his objections to me.
The doorman replaced the receiver and gave me a hard look. “Take the elevator to the second floor.” He turned away from me and I didn’t thank him. As far as I was concerned he was judging me unfairly. He didn’t even know me.
Getting into the elevator I tried to take several deep breaths. My mind was in chaos and my stomach was full of butterflies. Would I be able to go through with this? Would I truly be able to submit to David? How hard would it be?
I had heard plenty of horror stories about women abused by men under the pretence that it was mutual pleasure. David wasn’t like that. Or was he? Nervousness made me chew my fingernails. And when the elevator came to a halt and pinged open, I jumped.
Closing my eyes I sucked in a deep breath. I needed to do this. I needed to know if we had a future. I stepped out into the hall and looked up and down its length before I spotted David’s door. It was the only black door in the hall. I hadn’t paid too much attention to it the night before. I had been far too engrossed in what David was doing to my senses and my body.
Standing outside the door I rang the bell. Several seconds dragged by and I was sure David wasn’t going to answer the door. When he did, my heart sank.
He gave me a cold hard stare. He looked at me as though I were a stranger and it hurt to see him do it. I knew that from his perspective it was justified. But if he knew me, the way he claimed to know me, then he would know that I wasn’t the type to randomly pick up men.
We stood staring at each other and several moments passed by. Finally I gathered enough courage to speak to him.
“Can I come in?” My voice came out more as a squeak than a normal human voice.