Unfaithful by J.L. Butler

Author:J.L. Butler [Butler, J.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-10-11T17:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

I lay back on the bed, naked, hot and spent. My buttocks were still smarting. Robert was staring at the ceiling. He looked tired but content, a man pleased with his performance. I had hated every moment of it.

Ding-dong.

‘How important do you think that is?’ he asked, welded to the mattress.

‘If it’s a delivery they’ll wait twenty seconds and then dump it at Bill’s,’ I replied, too sore to get up.

He sighed and sat up.

‘I’d better get up then. My new cycling helmet went missing for a week the last time anything got dropped off there. Mind you, it’s probably Dylan.’

‘Dylan?’ This time I sat up. ‘Again?’

‘She texted me last night to say she was coming,’ said Robert, putting on his towelling robe before he went downstairs.

Of course, I was glad to see my daughter, but I didn’t want her to see me like this.

I jumped in the shower and lathered myself with soap. There was no time to wash my hair. Instead, I rinsed the suds off my skin and turned off the jets. I rubbed myself down with a towel and put on some jogging bottoms and a T-shirt that were hanging on the radiator. I hid the whip, wrapping it in a carrier bag and stashing it under the bed until the time came to dispose of it.

‘Dylan, sweetheart.’

I was hot and bothered, a guilty mother barely covering up her indiscretions.

I pecked her on the cheek then moved away.

‘You two not up already?’ she said, with a look that said I know what you’ve been doing.

‘Where are your keys?’ I said, changing the subject.

‘Couldn’t find them.’

She picked up an apple from the bowl and bit into it.

‘I didn’t know you were coming.’

‘I sent you a text but you never got back to me.’

I frowned. ‘I’ve got a new number. I did give it to you. Did you use it?’

‘Soz. Probably not.’

Robert was already making French toast. He hardly ever cooked but that was the one thing he was good at.

Dylan disappeared upstairs to put her bag in her room.

I went back into the kitchen, got the carton of orange juice out of the fridge and poured into three tumblers as if there was nothing wrong.

‘Icing sugar, berries,’ called Robert, his back turned to us but a firmness in his voice like he was navigating a military operation.

‘Is this what your life is like now?’ grinned Dylan sitting down at the breakfast bar. ‘Getting up late, French toast on tap … Glad to see you have finally got Dad well trained.’

‘Believe me, this is for your benefit,’ I smiled, washing the raspberries in the sieve and putting them in a bowl, enjoying the moment.

‘What time did you leave Birmingham?’ I said, glancing at the clock. I assumed the trains were regular but still the journey was almost an hour and half, with extra travelling time at either end she must have been up at the crack of dawn.

‘Dunno. I was half asleep. But I got a taxi from halls to New Street so it wasn’t too bad.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.