Page 5

‘Is this what you wank to?’ she shoots back. The tone of her voice has changed; though it’s still jokey, it’s more brittle. Accusing, even.

‘No. Give it back. Now.’ I change my own tone to match hers and get up out of my seat, holding out my hand as I stride towards her, my heart pounding against my chest.

She gets up too and folds her arms, tucking my phone against her side.

This, it seems, is war.

‘Dee, I’m serious,’ I warn her.

‘Yeah? Me too. No tell, no phone,’ she counters.

Blood is now pounding hard in my temple.

‘Give,’ I state again.

‘Are you in love with my sister?’

The question stops me in my tracks. It’s so direct, so bold, I’m at a loss about how to reply.

I mean, I guess I am in love with Bea. Always have been. But I’ve never told her. Never acted like I am. She’s never given the impression she feels like that about me and I’ve not wanted to damage my friendship with her.

I’m biding my time. Waiting for something more to develop naturally between us.

I feel sure it will eventually, given how much time we spend together on a day-to-day basis.

‘It’s just a photo,’ I say, keeping any emotion out of my voice. I don’t want to give myself away to Dee like this. She’ll only use it against me, I’m sure of it.

‘It looks like more than that to me,’ she says. ‘I’m an artist, don’t forget. I see subtext in everything.’

The snort I let out sounds extra loud in the silent room.

‘You wouldn’t recognise subtext if it bit you on the arse,’ I say, annoyed that my voice has taken on a bit of a shake now.

The corner of her mouth quirks. She’s enjoying this. Thriving on the drama of it.

She takes a step towards me, taunting me with her eyes. She’s looking for an emotional reaction.

But I’m not going to give it to her.

‘Phone. Now,’ I say again. ‘Or I’ll call your boss and tell him about this ridiculous ruse you’ve emotionally manipulated your sister into doing.’

‘You wouldn’t dare!’ she says, her forehead creasing into a frown.

‘Try me.’

We glare at each other, our gazes locked. We’re like two big cats, poised and ready to tussle.

The air seems to crackle with tension between us.

Who will break first?

‘Well, what’s your next move?’ I ask, my voice rough. I’m intensely aware of the heat that’s radiating from both of us. Like our mutual animosity is transforming into kinetic energy.

My heart is still thumping hard and I see her swallow, then blink rapidly.

Aha! I win.

She confirms this by unfolding her arms and thrusting my phone towards me. ‘Fine. Take it. But I know what you’re all about, Jem. I see you. Don’t forget that.’ Her tone holds a warning, like she’s telling me she’ll protect her sister from me, no matter what it takes.

Yeah, well, we’ll see.

And with that last retort, she turns on the spot, which clearly gives her a shooting pain in her ankle because she sucks in a sharp breath, before hobbling quickly out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

The sound of it rings in the air for a few moments and I run my hand over my tense face, wondering what the hell she’s going to do with this new information that she thinks she has on me.

Okay, that she does have on me.

I dread to think.

* * *

I don’t see her again for a few hours.

My concentration is shot for the day though, so all I can do is stare at the screen and type crap, then delete it and start again – over and over again.

At least her absence gives me time to calm down from my adrenalized high, so by the time she appears in the office again, right before I’m thinking about heading home, I’m in a much calmer state of mind.

She’s not going to say anything to Bea, I’ve decided. If she tries to hurt me, she knows I’ll hurt her right back.

And as long as I manage to come up with a good excuse for why I had that photo of her, I’m sure Bea will brush off any suggestion of there being anything improper in my behaviour.

At least I hope she will.

Dammit. I wish I’d just deleted that picture. Or at least taken it out of my Photos app.

Anyway, it’s done now. No point in getting stressed about something I can’t change.

‘Hello,’ Dee says to me now as I shut down my computer and tidy my desk, ready to leave.

‘Hi,’ I say, not looking at her.

‘I just came in to apologise,’ she says.

I turn to look at her, confused.

‘What?’

‘I said I wanted to say sorry. For earlier. It wasn’t cool.’

All I can do is stare at her. What’s this all about? She can’t actually be apologising. Can she?

‘What do you say to that , Numbers?’

There’s a strange lilt to her voice and it’s making me nervous.

‘Only you could use the word numbers as an insult,’ I reply.

‘Only I can do a lot of things you don’t know about.’

I frown. What the hell’s got into her? It’s not unusual for her to be so posturing, but this is a whole other level of bravado. ‘Are you okay? You’re acting very strangely.’

‘No. You’re acting,’ she shoots back at me with a slightly lopsided grin.

I snort in confusion. ‘I’m really not.’

‘Yes, you are. All of this is an act.’ She walks over to where I’m standing by my desk and lifts a hand to pluck at the collar of my shirt. ‘It’s just a disguise you hide behind.’

I let out a huff of surprise. This is even weirder behaviour than before. Has she necked a bottle of vodka or something? There’s a strange, hazy look in her eyes that makes me think she’s not altogether sober.

‘And what am I supposed to be hiding?’ I ask, my voice level.

‘Your soft side.’

‘My what?’

‘I know you’re probably a big softie when you let your guard down,’ she says.

I roll my eyes and mutter, ‘Christ.’

‘Don’t be embarrassed about earlier,’ she teases. ‘When you flashed your bod at me, I mean.’

Folding my arms, I stare at her. ‘I’m not embarrassed . I am, however, freaked out by you right now.’

She ignores this and says, ‘I tell you what. I’ll show you mine, then we’ll be even and you can relax around me again.’ She gives me what I suspect she thinks is a seductive sort of smile, but it just makes her seem even more drunk.

Weirder and weirder.

‘No need. We’re cool.’ I turn and grab my coat from the back of my chair, determined not to look at her again. Partially to save her from embarrassment, but mostly because I suspect my face will give away how freaked out I’m feeling right now.

‘It’s no big deal,’ she says behind me.

I turn back to see her grasp at the hem of her t-shirt, which takes a couple of goes, then whip it up over her head.

It gets stuck for a second around her chin, but she gives it an extra-hard yank and it comes free.

She tosses it across the room towards Bea’s desk, but misses her mark and it ends up on the floor by the bin.

I avert my gaze, sharpish. I daren’t look at her. My blood is hot in my veins and I have a strange nervy flutter in my stomach. Probably because I have absolutely no idea what’s going on here, or how to stop it.

‘Dee, for God’s sake, put your clothes back on,’ I mutter, concentrating on pushing my noncompliant arm through the armhole of my coat.

‘Come on, Jem. Loosen up! I’m just trying to make friends with you.’

I sense her moving towards me and my heartrate accelerates. Is she doing this to deliberately make me uncomfortable? For the fun of it? I wouldn’t put it past her.

Continuing to ignore her – the best thing all round at this juncture, I feel – I’m about to walk away from my desk and head at top speed for the door, when she lurches into my path, bringing me up short.

I have no choice but to look at her now.

‘Wait. Don’t go. Not yet.’

‘I have to. It’s knocking-off time,’ I mutter through numb lips.

She’s staring at my mouth now in riveted fascination.

‘Have you kissed my sister?’ she asks.

‘No,’ I say quickly.

‘Not yet,’ she corrects me, raising one suggestive eyebrow. ‘But you want to. You’ve thought about it.’ It’s not a question.

‘I’m not discussing this with you any more. I have to go.’

But as I move to the side, she mirrors the action and my momentum moves me closer to her, so we’re only inches apart now.

Then she seems to stumble forwards and our mouths connect for a moment, her lips soft and warm against mine.

I’m so stunned, I don’t react right away and we gaze into each other’s eyes, our breathing accelerated.

Seeming to take this as acceptance, she moves forwards and presses her mouth to mine again, sliding her hands up my neck and round to cup the back of my head.

For one crazy moment, I let her kiss me, enjoying the feel of intimate human contact.

I breathe in the citrusy scent of her and my entire body rushes with electric heat. I feel myself get hard.

It’s unexpected and utterly baffling.

And I know I have to stop this. She’s clearly not in her right mind. I can’t let it go any further.

Even if I wanted to.

Which I don’t.

I jerk away from her and I feel her hands slide away from where they were gripping the back of my head.

She’s staring at me now like she can’t compute why I’m stopping her from kissing me.

‘Dee! What the hell?’ I say, my voice rasping through my throat. What is she doing to me? I’ve never felt so freaked.

‘Oh. Um. Sorry,’ she mutters. She looks unsure of herself now, like she’s confused about what just happened.

I move away from her and go to scoop her t-shirt up from the floor, trying to ignore the way my lips are tingling. My skin feels alive with a prickling sensation I’ve never experienced before and I’m desperately hoping my erection goes down quickly before she notices it.

‘Here. Put this back on,’ I say, thrusting the t-shirt towards her, keeping my eyes firmly on her face.

‘Okay,’ she says, grabbing it from me.

I turn away and stare at the wall while – I hope – she pulls it back on over her head.

When I dare to look back at her, I’m relieved to see she’s fully dressed again.

Her eyes still have that hazy look about them, which makes me pretty sure she’s under the influence of something.