Page 2 of Wanting Mr Black

My eyes snap to him. “No. I went last night, and I’m not going back there.”

He rubs a chunky hand across the ginger bristle on his chin and grimaces. “I’m guessing he was drunk?”

“Very. He’d trashed the place.”

“He’s a different guy when he drinks.”

“Clearly.”

“That’s why he doesn’t drink anymore.” Big Steve smiles. “I think it’ll help him to see you.”

I shake my head and stare out of the window. “I doubt it. Last night, seeing me made him even more fucked off and upset.”“Yeah, but he was pissed. We all say things we don’t mean when we’re pissed, don’t we?”

“I know I do,” Lucy says from where she’s standing, hovering beside the sofa. “Why don’t you go with him? I think Steve’s got a point.”

Trust her. Now, there are two of them ganging up on me.

“He really cares about you,” he says.

I can feel my resolve weakening, and I hate it. He must sense I’m wavering because he goes in for the kill.

“I think you and I got off on the wrong foot. When we first met, I was worried you’d end up getting hurt. Because he hadn’t told you about the club and because he’d slept around in the past. I thought he was going to treat you the same way.” He rubs a hand across his shiny head. “If I’m being honest – and I’m not proudof this … I tried to talk him out of seeing you again. One night, I kept him holed up in the club, to see if I could convince him to end things with you.”

The memory falls into place, and my eyes widen. “You were the reason he stood me up?”

Big Steve gives me a sheepish look. “I locked us in the manager’s office. I thought I was talking sense into him, and if he stood you up, you might finish it with him. He was adamant he wasn’t going to end things with you. But after what happened last night and what he said to you – and I can see how he is with you …” He rubs his hands together. “He’s different. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

The last line of my defence is bulldozed, and if I had a white flag, I’d wave it.

Don’t I at least owe it to us to hear him out before I call time on our relationship? Go and get the answers deserve?

“See, I told you,” Lucy urges. “Go with him. Go and see Art.”

Two

Ireluctantly pull on black jeans and a jumper, tie my hair into a ponytail, and step into my Nikes. By the time I get outside, Big Steve is already waiting in his black BMW on the other side of the road.

I climb into the passenger seat, and he starts the car.

“I’m sorry we got off to a bad start,” he says. “Do you think we can try again?”

I stare out of the window. I suppose what he did came from a good place. In his own way, he was looking out for me. “Yeah, why not.”

We take a left and head towards Mayfair. Now that I’ve cleared the air with him, my mind turns to Art’s other 'friend.' “What’s Tara’s problem other than she wants to shag him?”

Big Steve raises an eyebrow. “Yeah, well … she ain't exactly subtle about it. She’s been itching to tell you about the club since the first time we walked in on you both at the hotel. I tried to keep the fact that you and he were an item from her for a while because I know she can be vicious when she wants to be.”

“They’ve already slept together, haven’t they?”

Big Steve throws me an uncertain look, as if he’s worried he might put his foot in it.

“It’s okay. You’re not being disloyal. Art told me they did.”

“Yeah, but it was a long time ago. It wasn’t serious or anything. They met at a club he used to go to.”

It might have been years ago, but the fact that Tara strips at the club Art owns niggles at me, and I can’t shift it. “He doesn’t … you don’t think he still likes her, do you? That’s why she’s working there?”

Big Steve gives a deep, gruff laugh. “I don’t think so, love. That’s dead and buried. For him anyway.” He must catch the dubious look on my face because he carries on, as if to make his point, “It’s just a business for him. He’s not there all the time, ogling up the girls, if that’s what you think. He’s never usually there. The manager oversees the girls and the running of the place. Anyway” – he flashes me a cheeky smile – “why would he have burger when he’s got steak at home?”