Sushi for Beginners - Marian Keyes [122]
Fixing him with her eyes, she cooed, ‘Make mine a large one.’
‘What would you like?’ He inclined his head at the bar.
‘I’m not talking about a drink,’ she said, with heavy meaning.
Muscle by muscle, an expression of comprehension settled on his face. ‘Oh.’ He swallowed. ‘I see. Wha–?’
‘Dinner. First.’
‘OK,’ he said obediently. ‘Now?’
‘Now.’
She allowed herself a little exhalation of relief. He’d fallen for it. She’d thought he might, but you never knew…
As they left, she sought out Jack with her eyes. He was looking at her, his expression closed. ‘See ya,’ she mouthed at him, and he responded with a stiff little nod.
Good.
In the restaurant at the Clarence, Lisa and Wayne had a competition to eat the least. Warily watching each other, they skated food around their plates. For one exciting, breathless moment it looked like Wayne was going to put a piece of monkfish into his mouth, and if he did, Lisa would permit herself a corner of artichoke. But at the last moment he changed his mind and Lisa reluctantly lowered her fork back to her plate also.
Wayne Baker was from Hastings and was young – although probably not as young as he claimed. He said he was twenty, but Lisa reckoned it was more likely to be twenty-two or twenty-three. He took his career as a model very, very seriously.
‘It’s hardly rocket science, is it, sweetie?’ Lisa teased.
He looked hurt. ‘As it happens, I don’t intend to do it for ever.’
‘Let me guess,’ Lisa said. ‘Eventually you want to take up acting.’
Surprise stamped itself on to his almost risibly perfect face. ‘How did you know?’
Lisa swallowed a sigh. Though it pained her to peddle clichés, he wasn’t the brightest and it blunted the edge of his stunning attractiveness. She had nothing against people with little or no education – after all, she’d barely been able to write her name in the ground with a stick when she’d left school. But there was no reason for a person not to know who Meg Matthews was married to.
‘Where do you live, handsome?’ Lisa asked. Somehow she made ‘handsome’ sound derogatory, as if he was a piece of meat. Funny, Wayne thought vaguely. That was usually the way he spoke to girls.
‘I’ve an apartment in London, but I’m almost never there.’ He couldn’t hide his pride in this.
‘And how long are you in Dublin?’
‘I leave tomorrow.’
‘Where are you staying?’
‘Here, at the Clarence.’
‘Top.’ Lisa didn’t want to bring him to Pine Cottage. She was afraid that he’d be put off by all that unstylish pine, but there was an even bigger chance that she’d have gone off him by the end of the taxi journey.
As soon as the waiter took the plates of slightly rearranged food away, Lisa decided she’d deferred gratification for long enough. Wantonly she said to Wayne, ‘Time for bed.’
‘Blimey.’ He started at her brazenness and stood up obediently.
Ascending the lift of the hotel, bubbles of anticipation simmered in Lisa. She felt wicked and decadent – sometimes what a girl really needs is fast and furious sex with a total stranger. And what’s the point of having a fabulous, starved body if someone doesn’t get to see it occasionally?
Wayne’s smooth, brown hand shook slightly as he put the key in the door, and though she was really only acting a part, Lisa was thrilled at her power.
Once in, her fizzy expectation built. It was like being on a film set: the modern, stylish room, the man, young and fit and firm and pumped. There was no denying it – he was beautiful.
‘Close the door and take your clothes off,’ Lisa said, getting more and more into her dominatrix role.
Wayne anticipated her admiration. ‘You’re going to love this,’ he grinned, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. ‘I do two hundred sit-ups a day.’
His stomach was a tight marvel of six taut mounds, veeing outwards and upwards at his ribs into a taut, tanned chest. He was so perfect that Lisa’s confidence stumbled. He must be used to sleeping with exquisite, skinny models. Good thing she never ate.
‘Now you,’ he said.
With a minxy, meaningful smile – attitude