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He shakes his head mildly, inhaling deeply, before turning away from me. ‘My work here is done. ’ he says smugly as he leaves.
‘Bye. ’ Kate sings on a laugh. I throw her a filthy look.
‘My man,’ Sam holds his hand up on a grin. ‘Ava, where’s the love?’
‘Up his arse!’ I snap, discarding my wine glass and collecting my phone before storming out of the kitchen, back to my room. The man is impossible. I hear Sam and Kate laughing as I crawl into bed with my jumper on.
I’m pretending the only reason I’m pissed is because Jesse has just manhandled me into a jumper. The fact that he’s on his way to The Manor, and a certain pouty lipped witch is sure be there, has nothing to do with my bad
mood – nothing at all.
As I’m dozing off, my phone starts singing The Stone Roses, This is the One. I roll my eyes, reaching for it from my bedside table. I need to teach that man some phone manners.
‘What?’ I snap.
‘Who do you think you’re talking to, lady?’
‘An unreasonable arse!’
‘I’ll ignore that. Have you still got the jumper on?’
I want to say no. ‘Yes. ’ I grumble. Would he come back and torture me some more if I did say no? ‘Is that all you rang for?’
‘No, I wanted to hear your voice. ’ he says softly. ‘I’m having Ava withdrawal. ’
I melt a little on a sigh. He can be so domineering, bossy and unreasonable, and in the next breath, completely soppy and lovely. ‘You’ve been messing with my phone again. ’ I accuse.
‘You’re not going to hear me call if it’s on silent, are you?’
‘No, but how did you know it was on silent?’ I ask, although I already know. I need to put a PIN lock on it. ‘Anyway, it’s rude. And you need to apologise to Sally. ’
‘I’m sorry. Who’s Sally?’
‘No, you’re not. Sally is the waif like creature in my office who you verbally attacked. ’
‘Oh, I’ll take care of it. Make sure you dream of me. ’
I smile. ‘I will. Goodnight. ’
‘Oh, Ava?’
‘What?’
‘You’re the one, baby. ’ He hangs up, and my heart jumps up into my throat. What is the one? Does he mean what I think he means? I start chewing my thumb nail and drift off to sleep considering his coded statement.
Am I The One?
Is he The One?
Oh, hell. I really want him to be.
Chapter 24
I sit at my desk in a complete daydream, my mind racing with thoughts of The One and fuckings of various degrees. If – in my perfect little world – I end up in a relationship with Jesse, would this be how it is all of the time? Jesse making his commands and me who obeys? It’s that or receiving some sort of fuck, or being subjected to some kind of countdown and torture until I relent, or he manhandles me into complying. I’m not denying the certain element of fun in the fucking side of things, but there has to be give and take. And I’m not sure Jesse knows how to give – unless it’s one of his varying degrees of fucking. He’s so good at it, though. I bristle when I conclude that it is, undoubtedly, because he’s had plenty of practice. My pencil snaps in my hand. What? I look at the splintered wood in my grasp. Oh…dear.
‘Ava, you’re here early. ’ Sally walks into the office, and I immediately giggle to myself. I saw Sally in a different light yesterday.
‘Yes, I woke up early. ’ I say, wanting to add that it’s because a neurotic arse made me wear a winter jumper in bed, causing me to wake up in a pool of sweat.
