Playing for Keeps: Harford Scarlet Series Read Online Free PDF

she thought in confusion. Her blood ran cold and icicles formed in her veins. Tess. He’s dreaming he’s with Tess. I’m in bed with him and he’s wishing he was with his ex. Another wave of frosty dismay swept over her, followed by clammy nausea. How could this have happened? How could I have given in so quickly?
    She moved slowly and carefully down the bed, slipping out from under his arms, unwinding her legs from his. He grumbled unhappily, the smile on his sleeping face turning into a frown.
    Once standing, she looked for her clothes, eventually realising they must still be in the bathroom. She searched around for something to cover her body, found a discarded blue shirt hanging on a desk chair, and pulled it on. It smelled of him, his essence. An unwanted frisson of arousal momentarily stopped her breath. Continuing to move smoothly but with added urgency, she eased his door open and dashed across the hall to the bathroom. Someone had thoughtfully piled all her clothes on a drying rack although her underwear was still too damp and clammy to put on.
    Hurriedly, she dressed in the dry outer layers and screwed the other garments up in a ball. She looked around for a bag but, on finding none, wrapped his shirt around them. There was no way she was carrying her bra and knickers up the road undisguised. Her sandals were stacked near the radiator so she shoved her feet into them, wincing as one caught on a blister.
    A scraping noise came from the hallway; someone was coming in the front door. Sarah froze, hoping they wouldn’t hear her. Tap-tapping of high heels sounded down the hall.
    ‘Honey, are you in there?’ There was a long pause, a creak of door hinges, and a woman’s giggle. ‘Hi there, handsome – fancy some breakfast?’
    There were a few more unidentifiable noises: footsteps and the front door opening and slamming until Sarah heard the rumble of a Scottish accent talking to the woman.
    ‘You’re an angel, Tess. Love you loads.’ This was followed by the sounds of kissing.
    She waited until she heard the rattle of pots and pans before tiptoeing out into the hall and through the front door.
    What the fuck? He was still with Tess? Shit! The bastard!
    Just get home, she urged herself. Just get home so you can curl up in a ball and forget this happened, forget this pain and embarrassment. I fell into his arms like a ripe plum, just like all those other girls. How could I do it to myself? How could I do it to Ed?
    She escaped up the hill back towards her room on campus, but on returning she couldn’t keep still. Nothing was keeping her there, as all her exams and coursework were finished. Within the hour, she’d loaded up her car with her worldly belongings and started the long drive back to Wales.
    Sarah stayed frozen until halfway home, then the shakes started running through her body, causing her to pull the car over into a service station. Tears began to fall and she scrambled through some of her belongings, looking for a tissue. Instead, she found the blue shirt and a wave of his scent drifted up to her, bringing back unbearable memories of the pleasure he’d wrought in her and the impossibility of it happening again.
    Her heart dropped as she suddenly remembered she was supposed to be meeting Ed in a few hours. She’d have to break up with him over the phone; there was no way she could speak to him across a table as the events of last night would show on her face. She felt ashamed she hadn’t even thought of him once during the whole night; the only thoughts she’d had were of Tom.
    The gentle affection she had felt for Ed paled into insignificance against the explosive sexual chemistry experienced with Tom. She’d behaved disgracefully, in a way of which she had never thought herself capable. She’d meant nothing to Tom; she had just fallen into bed with him without thinking.
    She thought of all the tearful girls she’d heard about and glimpsed on campus, those who’d thought they couldn’t