Life After Joe by Harper Fox

Author:Harper Fox [Harper Fox]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-03-12T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Oh Christ.” I lurched to my feet. “Lou. The guy in the club last night, the…the one who’s not my boyfriend.” I glanced around. I wasn’t too bad—hauling up my pants and zip covered most of the damage, apart from the wet patches—but Aaron, this beautiful, inexplicable new phenomenon in my life, was naked from the waist down, and the idea of Lou clapping eyes on him like that made me feel sick. “Stay here,” I whispered. “I’ll sort it.”

Not just Lou. Before I could reach the kitchen door, I heard another voice, then a four-beat clatter of feet on the stairs. I saw the crown of Lou’s head, and I planted myself in the doorway. “Yes,” Lou was saying to the neatly suited stranger following him, “it’s nice and airy, isn’t it? The living room’s just to your left. The main bedroom is straight ahead, and…”

He jolted to a halt, clutching the banister. His companion almost ran into him. “Bloody hell, Matt. I didn’t know you were home.”

The best defence was offence. Even as the thought occurred, anger twisted in me—why should I damn well defend my presence here? Defending Aaron was another thing. I leaned my shoulder on the door frame, filling as much of it as I could. They’d have to go through me. “You could have called.”

“I’ve been calling you all morning. This is the agent from Reid’s. I told you he’d be coming round…” Lou’s startled gaze left mine and travelled to the open bedroom door. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. You know, Joe and Marnie aren’t asking you to do any of this apart from keeping the place tidy. It looks like a bomb hit. Please tell me you’ve cleared up the kitchen, because…”

Lou was pretty solid. I did my best to block him, but he had the advantage of momentum and temper and knocked my arm aside. I swung round to follow him. “Lou, you bastard—”

But there was no need to worry—or at least no reason apparent from Aaron’s elegant slouch in the kitchen chair. He was fully dressed and had somehow contrived to look as if he had been there for hours, drinking coffee and reading the papers. From where I was standing, I could see Lou’s face. The change in expression was fascinating, if not pleasant viewing. Like a landslide. From irritation, through a brief blank as he took Aaron in and then…disgust, a disappointment, as if despite everything, he had been holding out hope. I found myself wondering how long that had been going on. Me, Joe and Lou. We loved him, of course. He was part of our world. But always on the outside…“Okay,” he said slowly, never taking his eyes off Aaron. “Kitchen looks all right. But for the future, can you let me know if you’re gonna bring home one of your…”

Aaron sat up. Then, unhurriedly, he got to his feet. He wasn’t that much taller than either of us, but as I’d seen before, he could make that inch or two look like ten.

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