Sleeping with the Soldier

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‘You mentioned some stock was damaged,’ he said.

She nodded and sighed.

‘Some camisoles,’ she said and, seeing his questioning frown, added, ‘like vest tops, you know, with the stringtype shoulder straps. Also some silk knickers.’

There was no denying it had been a setback. The water marks had ruined them.

He shifted awkwardly on his feet, clearly not massively comfortable with discussing women’s underwear in the early hours of the morning.

‘Look, I know I can’t make up for the time you’ve lost but at least let me pay for the damage,’ he said, his hand sliding around to the back pocket of his jeans. He produced a wallet and opened it.

She looked at him, surprised. An apology and an offer to make amends.

‘It’s fine,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘It’s enough that Poppy’s letting me stay here. That’s a massive help. I hadn’t a clue what I was going to do.’

‘That doesn’t help with your stock damage, though, does it?’ Completely ignoring her, he pulled a wad of notes free. She stared at them, a hundred different things running through her mind that she could do if she had an extra cash injection. She rejected them all.

How easy it must be to just have access to that kind of money whenever you needed it, just paying off your problems when they arose. He probably had a massive trust fund at his disposal. She might have her back against the wall and no ready cash but what she had to show for it had never been handed to her on a plate. Everything she had was the result of hard graft. That was the way she wanted it. She didn’t want to feel beholden to anyone else, that way she knew any success was hers alone and couldn’t be snatched away. Yes, the pipes breaking might have been down to Alex but the whole pipe system was shot to hell as it was and there was no way she would be accepting his money. She would never have taken up Poppy’s offer if she hadn’t been desperate.

‘I don’t want your money,’ she said, holding a hand up to stop his outstretched handful of notes.

He hesitated a moment, watching her face intently, and then put the money away.