31 Days of Winter (31 Days #1) Read online

  ‘Holy shit,’ I muttered as I looked up at Brooke. ‘I’m quitting my job and going to Scotland for potentially a whole month.’ She laughed and held up her wine glass and clinked mine.

  ‘To fresh starts, babe.’

  ‘Fresh starts.’

  Day Two

  Ellie

  ‘You’re joking, right?’ groaned Brooke as I grabbed her hand and yanked her off the sofa, where we’d laid all morning trying to get our hangovers out of our systems.

  ‘No, I need something bigger than my iPad mini if I’m going to be writing a novel. I need a laptop to take with me and I’ll need some winter appropriate clothes for up there. Come on, we’re going shopping and I’ll treat you to something nice for looking after me so well.’

  ‘It better be some seriously sexy underwear for making me get up when I feel like this,’ she grumbled.

  ‘I’m not paying for designer underwear Brooke, not when Steve literally rips the knickers off you within seconds,’ I laughed. She grinned at me happily.

  We’d been best friends for six years, the absolute best of friends since we’d met in that casino. She was only five foot four and had even paler skin than me, with a mane of fire engine red curly hair with freckles all over her face. She also had piercing green eyes, just like mine, and loved to dress her curvaceous petite body in clothes that showed her off at her best. One thing Brooke wasn’t lacking in was confidence, there again she was twenty-eight and had a couple of years on me. She had an endless string of boyfriends, most of whom she met at the hotel while giving them massages. Being the sort of wealthy businessmen who frequented a classy place like that, she was never short of admirers who had the cash to flash and show her a good time.

  Steve was her longest run at a guy, three months and still going steady. He was some kind of heart surgery specialist and he’d come to London on a conference and had been smitten with Brooke straight away. He was in his late-thirties and divorced with two kids, so only came to see her the odd night during the week, then every other weekend when he didn’t have them. So it was a big deal for her to have given up one of their weekends together to spend it with me. We hopped into Maisie and headed off to Westfield for some serious retail therapy.

  ‘I’m so sorry you’ve missed your weekend of sex, Brooke,’ I smiled as I handed her a Starbucks takeout.

  ‘You needed me, babe. Tell you what, instead of sexy underwear that he will rip to shreds, why don’t you treat me to a new vibrator so I can amuse myself without him tonight?’

  ‘Ewwww, with me in the spare room next door?’

  ‘Well you’re welcome to come and join me,’ she winked, making me laugh. Brooke had been upfront about her bi-sexuality from the start. She’d dated more men, but occasionally she’d see a girl she liked. In fact that’s how we’d started talking at work all those years ago. She’d come to chat me up and despite my lack of love for women in a sexual way, we had an immediate connection and soon became firm friends. We’d snogged once, when we were really pissed, I just wanted to know what I was missing out on, and who better to do it with than my best friend? I’d stopped it when I realised it wasn’t doing anything for me, but she’d been really hurt and confessed that she thought she was in love with me and wanted more. It took a while to get our friendship back on track after that. I was fine about it, but she didn’t want to be around me for a while, so I gave her the space she needed to deal with it. She eventually contacted me and we’d met and picked up our friendship as if that blip had never happened. She assured me that it had been an inappropriate crush when she was having a dry spell and she was over it. So over it, she loved to tease me now and again and watch me blush.

  ‘Let’s get to Ann Summers then and I’ll get you something that will soon have you buzzing,’ I winked.

  ‘Tease,’ she giggled and linked arms as we sipped our coffees and headed to the shop. We started browsing and laughing as we felt some of them and tried turning them on, checking out the wattage.

  ‘You know what, if I’m going to be on an island, in the middle of a loch, in the middle of nowhere, I think I’d better treat myself to a toy or two as well,’ I suggested as I nodded my approval for her to put a set of kegel eggs in the basket and some vibrator wipes.

  ‘You need a mains one, what happens if you run out of batteries and you can’t get anywhere to buy replacements?’

  ‘God yes, you know I’ve been hearing all about these Body Wands that have mains leads, they’re supposed to be insane.’ I wandered over to the section and nearly screamed as I turned up the dial to maximum while holding it against my palm. ‘Brooke, you have to try this out, so much stronger than my rabbit.’

  ‘Try me,’ she smiled. I looked around to make sure no one was looking and dialled it up and stuck it on her nipples. She did actually scream out loud and we burst out laughing as everyone looked around, so I quickly turned it off. ‘Holy shit, I need me one of those, get me the baby one as they’re too expensive.’

  ‘Brooke, I’m on good money, so I can’t buy my thatched cottage now he’s pissed our savings up the wall, but I can afford to get you a decent vibrator.’ I put two of them in the basket and a box of vibrator wipes for me, then bit my lip and put another box in and Brooke raised her eyebrows.

  ‘There’s thirty in a box Ellie and they’re like king sized sheets, so you can cut them in half and get sixty uses out of one box. You’re potentially going for twenty eight days with one hundred and twenty wipes? You’re going to masturbate four times a day?’

  ‘I’m sex starved and could get cut off from civilisation if it snows, what else do I have to do?’

  ‘Christ, I hope you’re not on an old fashioned coin fed electric meter up there,’ she giggled. I paid for our purchases and sat on a seat while Brooke went to the toilet. I grabbed my mobile out of my bag as it rang, but it wasn’t Zac’s ringtone, which I’d changed to “Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)” by The White Stripes. When I looked I didn’t recognise the number so I picked it up.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Ellie Baxter?’ My eyes rolled into the back of my head and my jaw got floor scuffs it dropped so hard at the sound of my name in the caller’s deep masculine sexy voice. It had just reached places even Zac’s tongue had never discovered.

  ‘Yes,’ I virtually whimpered.

  ‘You applied for a month’s rental in Scotland starting Monday,’ came that voice again. I cramped up my toes in my heels and felt my skin goose up and all the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention.

  ‘Yes.’ I barely heard myself whisper, it was an effort to focus on anything but what his voice was doing to my clit and nipples.

  ‘I’m sorry, is this a bad time? You sound a little breathless.’

  ‘I … I’m …’ O shit what was wrong with me? I’d lost ability to function. ‘It’s fine,’ I managed to say.

  ‘It’s yours if you want it,’ he said.

  ‘I’m sorry?’ I exclaimed, had he just said “I’m yours if you want it?”

  ‘I said it’s yours if you want it. You really sound rather distracted, are you no longer interested?’

  ‘Yes,’ I managed to blurt out quickly. I already wanted to stay there, but if there was a chance of meeting the man attached to this drool worthy voice, I was more than interested. I was on the verge of an orgasm from his tone alone. ‘I’m very interested … I mean I most definitely want you … O God sorry, I meant I definitely want it, really badly ... O God no, not “it” as such, I’m not implying that I’m desperate for sex … not that I’m not desper ... God damn it, this is all coming out wrong,’ I groaned as I slapped my forehead. I was sure I heard a deep sexy laugh coming down the phone.

  ‘If you’re interested, in the rental, it’s yours. I’ll email you the PayPal link for payment. It’s a way from the airport and taxis normally have trouble finding it, so I’ll come and collect you myself.’

  ‘You don’t have to do that,’ I replied as my stomach fluttered again at the thou
ght of meeting my sexy mysterious caller.

  ‘It’s no problem, all part of the service, Miss Baxter.’ I could sense the smile on his lips down the phone and to hear my salutation rolling off his tongue was … God damn it, if I was getting worked up and wet knickered over a bloody guy I hadn’t even met, while I was still wearing my engagement ring?

  ‘I’ll email you my outward bound flight details then.’

  ‘No need. There’s only one flight from London that comes here a day, I’ll see you Monday evening Miss Baxter, have a safe trip.’

  ‘But how will I know you? How will you know me?’ I asked and realised I was asking no one, he’d already gone. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and looked down at my engagement ring again. How could something that had felt like my future, suddenly seem so much a part of my past? I went to take it off, but got it as far as my first joint and sighed. I might have realised I wasn’t really in love with Zac anymore, but hurt as I was over his actions I wasn’t ready to let go yet either, not until I had some answers. I pushed my ring back on my finger and looked back at my phone. Four more missed calls from him and six texts, I wasn’t ready to read or hear any of them and shoved it back in my bag as Brooke wandered over with a naughty smile on her face, then she looked at me shocked.

  ‘What the hell have I missed?’ she uttered.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You have orgasm face on.’

  ‘Brooke!’

  ‘Well, you do. What have you been doing?’

  ‘Nothing, I just took a call about the boathouse to say it’s available for the full four weeks and that he’ll email me the link to pay.’

  ‘Sounded nice, did he?’ she grinned.

  ‘Not nice Brooke, seriously orgasmic and I made a right fool of myself over the phone. My brain couldn’t function, my clit took completely over.’

  ‘Age? Accent? Married?’

  ‘Huh, now you mention it he didn’t have a Scottish accent, a very well spoken English accent and so deep he’d have given Barry White a run for his money, so I’m thinking he’s moved into mature male territory. I’ve no idea about his marital status, exactly how did you think I’d work that into a rental conversation?’

  ‘Hmmm, good point. So what is he? The agent, the owner?’

  ‘No idea, I didn’t think to ask, but he’s picking me up at the airport.’

  ‘Seriously?’ The look on her face confirmed my thoughts that it wasn’t normal.

  ‘I know, I thought it was a bit odd, but he said “all part of the service, Miss Baxter” and said a taxi would get lost. What if he’s some crazy psycho serial killer and I’m about to be chopped up and fed to the sharks?’

  ‘Well I don’t think sharks live in fresh water lochs for starters. Besides, if he owns it and he advertises on the net and has a PayPal account, it’s not like he’s keeping his serial killer identity under really tight wraps is it? Oooo, God,’ she groaned.

  ‘O no, what else have you thought of?’

  ‘Nothing, I just flicked the button on the remote for those kegel eggs again and damn … the vibrations are amazing.’

  ‘You’ve got them in?’ I laughed.

  ‘What do you think I was doing in the loo for this long?’ she winked. ‘Can you hear them vibrating?’

  ‘Not from here and before you ask, I’m not putting my ear against your vagina to listen any closer, there are limits. Come on I need my laptop, jumpers, and some seriously cosy socks and thermal underwear.’

  ‘I’ll come wherever you go,’ she giggled and I knew she was talking about the eggs and shook my head as we headed off.

  Day Three

  Ellie

  Brooke rang Zac for me and told him that I wanted to meet him for Sunday lunch to talk, and suggested somewhere we used to eat at a lot over in Kensington, near my office, and he fell for it. We parked around the corner from his apartment and waited until we saw his Porsche roar out of the underground car park and Brooke made me giggle as she set the timer on her watch.

  ‘What so funny?’ she protested.

  ‘You, I’m waiting for you to pull out balaclavas, cat suits and a swag bag. It’s not like we’re going in to rob a bank. I live there, or rather I lived there.’

  ‘Well I know that, but the whole point of making him think you were meeting him, was to get him out of the way so you could pack your stuff and avoid a confrontation. I reckon given London traffic we’ve got half an hour for him to get there, half an hour back and a max half hour before he realises we’ve played him. So you’ve less than an hour and a half. Let’s move it.’

  I felt sick as I put the key in the lock and the visual of him fucking the rear of the 69 played out in my mind. Brooke snapped me out of it with a shove to the shoulder and we stepped inside. The kitchen island was littered with empty bottles and yet more traces of coke. I tried not to imagine the scenario of him getting drunk and drugged up, alone in a world of hurt, or of him having a load of prostitutes around and partying to get out his frustrations, neither were filling me with joy. I didn’t even hate him right now, that was what was so odd, I felt kind of sorry for him. Yes he’d been an arsehole, but what world had I been living in to be so oblivious that he was drowning? I got my large case out of the spare room and Brooke and I went to work packing up all of my jewellery, the rest of my toiletries and perfume. She’d brought her case with her as well, luckily I’d still got the rack on the back of my car to take a second case or we wouldn’t have been fleeing with much given the size of my boot. We didn’t have anywhere near enough room for all of my clothes, shoes and handbags, and picking which things I was going to have to leave behind from my treasured collection was more painful than when I’d walked out of here on Friday afternoon.

  ‘How many other cases do you have?’ Brooke asked as she sat on the one while I zipped it up.

  ‘Zac has a huge one, a medium like mine and a small overnight one, but none of them will fit in the car Brooke, and we won’t have time to go to yours and come back.’

  ‘How about we fill them with the rest of your stuff and ask Mike downstairs to look after them? If you leave me your car while you’re away I can come and get them without Zac knowing.’

  ‘You wouldn’t mind?’

  ‘Would I mind having Maisie for a month? Hell no.’ A wide smile played across her face, she couldn’t afford to run her own car and loved it when I let her drive Maisie.

  ‘Fine, but we need to know if Mike’s in and if he’s prepared to do it first.’

  ‘O he’ll do it, he’s always had the hots for you, babe. I’ll go and ask and play up the “hurt girlfriend’s too distraught to come and ask you, or to face Zac again.” Trust me, it’s a done deal.’ She left me to grab the spare cases and start packing those and I gasped as I opened the one and found a stash of coke in cellophane. It was more than a few snorts, this was serious days’ worth of binge stocks. I heard the new ring tone for Zac blasting out in the lounge so I picked it up and took a deep breath.

  ‘Zac.’

  ‘El, I’m getting worried. You’re ten minutes late and you don’t do late.’

  ‘Sorry, traffic was terrible and I’m having trouble parking, should be there in about another ten,’ I lied with a cringe. I didn’t do lies as a general rule, but I really didn’t want to see him.

  ‘I’m so glad you want to meet, I’ve been in hell since you walked out.’

  ‘What have you been doing?’ I asked, to see if he’d lie back to me.

  ‘Just sitting at home waiting for you to call.’

  ‘No wild parties or more drugs then?’

  ‘No. The drugs were a slip, it’s not like I’ve got a problem, El.’ Lie one.

  ‘So you can stay off them for good?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You haven’t kept any for future use?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ he uttered. Lie two.

  ‘And the prostitutes?’

  ‘I’ve been stupid El, it won’t happen again.’
r />   ‘How did you pay for them all? The prostitutes and drugs?’ I knew I didn’t imagine the hesitation in his response.

  ‘My own salary.’

  ‘You haven’t touched our savings have you?’

  ‘How could you ask me that?’ he uttered indignantly. I closed my eyes and shook my head, that was as good as lie three. Three strikes and you’re out Zac Foster, I thought. ‘El, are you still there?’

  ‘Yes,’ I sighed.

  ‘Can you just park up and come and meet me, I want to talk in person not over the phone and I promise I’m going to be completely honest from here on out, no more lies.’

  ‘No more lies from what point, Zac?’

  ‘I’ve been honest from the moment you caught me on Friday honey, promise.’

  ‘If you hadn’t just lied again Zac, I might have been willing to meet you and talk. I was feeling sorry for you, like I’d been a shit girlfriend not to imagine the pain you were going through, but you’ve just blown it,’ I hissed down the phone. ‘I’m at ours right now, there’s coke all over the worktops, I found your stash in your suitcase, and you’ve emptied our joint savings account.’ I heard him gasp and the sound of a chair scraping on the floor.

  ‘You tricked me?’ he yelled down the phone.