Chapter 29

Rain had been lashing against the windows for the last couple of hours, the overcast sky had meant Stella had needed to use her desk lamp. It lent a cosy air to her apartment. She'd added to the ambience when it had turned a little chilly, flicking the switch on the uncannily realistic electric fire set in the wall; it even emulated the sound of crackling wood which she loved.

Once her mum had left, Stella had spent the afternoon at her desk, catching up with her work as much as her concentration would allow. She wasn't one to be distracted easily, but with the events that had unfurled over the last few days, she'd found her mind wandering. Would she hear from Johan de Groote again? she wondered. They hadn't exchanged contact details, though with Pim being in touch with him, Johan would be able to get a message through him. She still struggled to refer to him as her father, still didn't think he deserved the title.

She'd spent several hours researching the law on a particularly complicated aspect of a murder brief she been instructed in as junior counsel. The silk she was working with on the case had asked her to look into it, content in the knowledge she'd be thorough. She was pulled away from her online lawbook by a knock at her door, making her jump, her thoughts immediately springing to Alex.

Stealing a quick glance in the mirror in the hallway, Stella smoothed down her hair and checked her eyes for smudges of mascara – she hadn't replaced her make-up after she'd been crying earlier and didn't want to open the door to him looking like she was an extra in a Halloween movie.

‘Hi.' Alex was leaning against the doorframe, his deep voice sending a fizz of excitement through her. He really was easy on the eye.

‘Hi, come in.' She beamed a smile at him. Her conversation with her mum had gone some way to easing Stella's concerns about the strength of her feelings for him, allowing herself to enjoy them instead.

‘Thanks. I can't stop long, I've got a few work-related phone calls to make, but I just wanted to check in with you first, see if you fancied joining me for a bite of supper?' He followed Stella into the lounge.

She stopped and turned to him, unable to keep the smile from her face. ‘I'd love to, thanks.' He always smelt so good.

‘That's great.' Alex closed the gap between them. He brushed her hair off her face and looked deep into her eyes. ‘You okay?'

‘I'm fine.'

He quickly scrutinised her face. ‘You sure?'

‘Positive. I'll bring you up-to-speed with everything later.'

‘Okay.' He nodded, smiling. Moments later, he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her deeply, the fizz of excitement now a blaze of fireworks inside her.

‘Wow!' she said dizzily, when they finally pulled apart.

‘Does six thirty suit you?' he asked, his eyes dark with lust.

‘Perfect.' Now would be good actually!

‘Good.' He smiled. ‘I'll see you then.' He went to walk away, but turned back, evidently having second thoughts. ‘I just need another one of these…' With that, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly. ‘Mmm. That's better,' he said before flashing her a smile and heading out of the door.

Stella stood rooted to the spot, her lips burning, as she tried to bring her swirling emotions under control, something she was finding almost impossible to do.

The time for her to head over to Alex's apartment had finally arrived, much to Stella's relief. Despite everything that had been going on, it was his delicious kisses that had dominated her thoughts that afternoon, the warmth of his lips, the graze of his stubble. It was intoxicating. Taking the time to prepare herself, she'd showered and washed her hair, which she'd styled in loose waves before carefully reapplying her "no-make-up" make-up. That done, she'd put on a dusky-pink wrap dress that seductively accentuated her curves.

Adding a spritz of perfume and a final slick of lip gloss, she grabbed a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the fridge and left her apartment, a thrill dancing around inside her.

‘Mmm. You smell so good.' Alex didn't waste a moment, kicking his apartment door shut and pulling Stella close to him. His muscular body pressed against her combined with the hot kisses he was delivering sent her pulse sky-rocketing.

The feeling of Fred nudging at her legs pulled Stella out of the moment. She glanced down to see two eager eyes looking up at her. ‘Hello, young man, are you feeling left out?' she said with a giggle.

Fred wagged his tail excitedly and gave a happy whimper.

‘Ah, good old Fred, always likes to be in the thick of it, don't you, fella?' Alex released Stella from his arms so she could ruffle the Labrador's ears.

She was grateful for the opportunity to bring her raging hormones under control. If Alex kissed her once more like that, he was in serious danger of being dragged off to the bedroom, but it would be a shame if it meant the food he'd been preparing would be burnt while she had her wicked way with him, she reasoned. ‘There are some delicious smells coming from the kitchen.' She stood up straight, ignoring the urges of her hormones that were causing such mayhem in her body, focusing instead on the mouth-watering aroma of food that was dancing around her nose and setting her taste buds tingling.

Apparently oblivious to the wayward thoughts his kisses had aroused in her, Alex said, ‘So to start, we have baked camembert, garnished with caramelised onion chutney and a sprig of rosemary, accompanied by flatbreads. That's followed by pan-roasted hake, new potatoes and salad for main.'

Stella groaned with delight. ‘Wow! Sounds heavenly.'

‘There's crème br?lée for afterwards, if you can manage it. Though I can't take credit for that, I picked it up from the deli earlier.'

‘I've always got room for pudding, and anything from the deli is amazing.' Stella smiled, her lust shrinking to a background simmer.

Alex took her hand and led her through to the living area, gentle music tinkling away in the background. Her eyes landed on the table set for dinner where a candle flickered invitingly in a mini lantern, casting its glow over the rustic crockery and linen napkins. That Alex had gone to such effort was touching.

‘Glass of wine?' he asked.

‘Love one. Oh, and can I give you this?' She handed him the bottle she'd brought.

‘Thanks, but you needn't have. Just you would've been enough.' The look he shot her made her tingle from her head all the way to her toes.

‘Sweet talker,' she said with a smile, struggling to quash her desire that was on the rise again.

‘It's true.'

Stella followed him to the kitchen where he poured her a glass of wine. She watched as he smothered a bowl of potatoes in butter, threw a sprinkling of freshly chopped herbs over them and popped them in the oven. ‘They shouldn't take long,' he said.

Perched on the bar stools at the island, Alex asked, ‘So, how are things with you? I have to say, you look much brighter than you did when I saw you on the stairs with your mum.'

‘Things are good, thanks.' She took a sip of her wine, thinking how right it felt to be here with him. ‘My mum and I had a real heart-to-heart, cleared the air about a lot of things – namely the enigmatic Johan de Groote.'

‘Yeah, I can imagine he provided quite a bit of fodder for discussion.'

Stella snorted. ‘Just a bit!'

She went on to share an edited version of the conversation she'd had with her mum, Alex listening intently.

‘That's a pretty intense twenty-four hours you've had there, Stella,' he said, when she'd finished. ‘A lesser person would've crumbled having all that piled on top of them, me included.'

‘I'm not so sure you would. It's amazing what you cope with when you're faced with it, without the luxury of having time to think about it. It's sometimes better that way.' She twirled her wine around as Alex slipped off his stool and popped the camembert into the oven. ‘What's most important out of everything that's been going on is my mum. I'm just so relieved she's okay.'

‘Yeah, I can imagine. And Rhys sounds like a really decent bloke.' Alex glanced over his shoulder as he closed the oven door.

‘I think he is; he's certainly making my mum happy.'

‘I sense there's a "but" coming.' Alex slid back onto his bar stool and scooped up his glass of wine.

‘Oh, it's not about Rhys; the more I know about him, the more I really like him.' Stella exhaled noisily. ‘It's my father. Johan de Groote. I know my mum had given me plenty of warnings, yet I can't help but be disappointed by my first impression of him.' She glanced up at Alex. ‘Does that make me sound hard and unkind?' She'd given much thought to what Johan had said about not being in good health and being unable to afford his medication. Her gut had told her not to take what he said at face value, that things were not quite as they seemed, but it still managed to tug at her conscience.

‘Not at all,' he said firmly. ‘It makes you sound honest. It's good that you're not trying to fool yourself, convince yourself otherwise. Though, for your own peace of mind, it might be a good idea if you met with him again, see what he has to say for himself. That way you might get a better idea of what he's really like.'

Stella nodded. ‘Yeah, I'd thought that too.' She flashed him a smile. ‘Anyway, that's way too much about me, how has your day been? What exciting designs have your clients asked you to come up with?'

‘Before I get onto that, I'll just add that as far as your father's concerned, trust what your gut's telling you. The times I've ignored mine I've always ended up regretting it.' He swapped his serious expression for a smile. ‘And as for it being way too much about you, I beg to differ. I like hearing about you, helps me get to know you better.'

‘You sure it's not scaring you off?' she asked, giggling into her glass.

‘It'd take a lot to do that,' he said, holding her gaze.

The meal passed with the couple chatting and laughing. Stella had been fascinated as Alex described some of the designs he'd been commissioned to work on, from creating luxury homes out of old water towers, to converting an ungainly row of storage units into a bold, contemporary house. When they'd finally finished their meal, with Stella devouring her crème br?lée and declaring it to be delicious, they moved to the large L-shaped sofa in the lounge. Alex flicked the table lamp on in the corner, it cast a cosy glow around the room.

Stella leant back, savouring the subdued lighting and the easy atmosphere, a cup of decaffeinated coffee in her hand – she thought it would be wise to avoid caffeine this evening in the hope of getting a good night's sleep – watching as Alex changed the playlist for something more soothing.

Fred was stretched out on the large rug in front of the fire, identical to the one in Stella's apartment. The Labrador was snoring contentedly, his paws twitching every now and then, making Stella smile. She'd never considered getting a dog before, the hours she worked making it unfeasible, but Fred, with his upbeat, affectionate personality, had really grown on her.

Alex reached for the remote control for the fire and selected the option to have the flames glowing for aesthetic effect, adding to the cosy atmosphere.

‘I'm just going to pop to the bathroom,' Stella said, setting her cup down next to the books on architecture that were laid out on the coffee table. ‘Don't worry, I can find my way.' She grinned.

The bathroom, filled with the clean, fresh aroma of Alex, was almost identical to Stella's but for the masculine products dotted about. She took a moment, breathing in his scent. Glancing around, her eyes were drawn to a laundry basket with what appeared to be a pair of silk knickers peeking out of the top. Another pair were on the floor beside it. They looked disconcertingly familiar. Unease prickled its way up her spine as she walked over to them. Lifting the lid of the laundry basket, her eyes grew wide. There, looking back at her, was her missing underwear. She bent to take a closer look. ‘What the heck are these doing here?'

Without waiting a moment, Stella snatched up her knickers and stormed back into the living room, anger propelling her forward.

Alex turned, his face falling as he took in her expression. ‘Stella, what's happened?'

‘What's happened?' she said, her chest heaving, eyes blazing. Fred leapt up, alerted by her angry tone, glancing between Stella and Alex. ‘I'll tell you what's wrong, finding my knickers in your bathroom when I haven't left them there!' She threw the handful of silk at him, a tiny G-string landing on his head, part of it covering his right eye. If she wasn't so consumed by rage it would have made her giggle. ‘What is wrong with you? I didn't have you down as some sort of knicker-stealing pervert but it seems I should have!'

‘What?' Alex scraped her knickers from his head and threw them to the left of him where this time, they landed on Fred's head. The Labrador sat statue-still for several seconds, eyes wide, blinking at the arguing couple. ‘You think I…? No! Stella, please, you've got to believe me, it's not like that!' Alex cried, frustrated.

‘How else is it, then?'

‘If you could just calm down a minute, I'll tell you.' Alex got to his feet, raising his hands in a placatory gesture. ‘I honestly didn't know they were yours.'

Stella gave a scornful laugh. ‘Oh, so that makes it all right then.'

‘No, no. What I mean is, I didn't know whose they were.'

‘It's not sounding any better.' She jabbed her hands onto her hips.

Alex pushed his hands into his hair and let out a loud groan. ‘Stella, please, you've got to listen to me, got to let me explain!'

‘You're not doing a very good job of it so far.'

‘I found them, I've no idea how they got into my apartment, and no idea where they came from.' He started to make his way around the sofa towards her.

She stepped back. ‘You really are pathetic! I can't believe I ever let myself get sucked in by a knicker-nicking weirdo like you.' She went to walk away but stopped. ‘And you can keep my underwear, I don't want any of it back. I don't even want to think about what you've been doing with it.' She caught sight of Fred with her knickers perched on his head, a comical expression on his face, and felt a laugh bubbling up inside her.

‘What? Ohcomeon!' Alex looked appalled when he realised what she was insinuating, his words quashing her giggle before it had the chance to leave her mouth.

She shot him a look of pure disgust, turned on her heel and stomped out of his apartment, closing the door firmly behind her, her chest heaving with rage.

On the stairs, Brooke from the flat above stopped in her tracks. Judging from her soaked appearance, the rain evidently hadn't let up.

‘Oh hi, Brooke.' Stella rustled up a smile, doing all she could to affect an air of calm.

‘Hi, Stella.' Brooke gave an apprehensive smile. ‘Everything okay?'

‘Everything's just fine and dandy, thanks.' Stella forced a smile. Much as she'd rather disappear into her apartment, she was reluctant to come across as rude. Instead, she asked, ‘Are you getting settled into your new home?'

‘Pretty much. Just a few boxes left to unpack.'

‘Cool. And are you still okay for Saturday night?'

‘Definitely.' Brooke beamed. ‘It'll be good to get to know a few more Micklewick Bay locals.'

You'll be getting to know one less person at my party after what I've learnt tonight!

‘Great.' Stella forced another smile. ‘Right, well, if I don't see you before, I'll see you then.'

‘Yeah, see you then.' Brooke gave her a quizzical look as she continued up the stairs.

In her apartment, Stella threw herself on the sofa. ‘Ughh! Why did he have to turn out to be a creep?' she said, angry that she hadn't picked up on it. He'd seemed so open and likeable and funny and gorgeous and… perfect. And he'd completely fooled her. She threw her head back and let out a groan. Was she losing her touch? Had her intuition become dulled? Or had he been so successful in worming his way into her affections that she'd been blinkered to the signs? Frustration gripped her and she scrubbed her face with her hands. ‘Arghh!'

But it wasn't just anger and frustration that was boiling inside her. A deep ache had taken hold in the pit of her stomach, the pain radiating outwards and encompassing her whole body. She'd let herself fall in love with him, shared her deepest thoughts with him, and now her heart felt like it was breaking, the pain becoming unbearable. What a fool I've been, she thought sadly, as tears misted her eyes.

She vowed, there and then, never to let it happen again.