Chapter Eleven

When she had showered she hung his jacket up in her bedroom. She could still smell him on it but she had satisfied those urges for now and with work in the morning she needed to go to bed. She set her alarm and settled herself for sleep.

Piers was smiling. Both times he had called her today she had sounded out of breath. Her excuse the first time had been she had left the phone on her kitchen table, this time she had declined to tell him and he had an idea of why that might be. The thought of her pleasuring herself and bringing herself to climax had him as stiff as a board and groaning inwardly. Still feeling very pleased with himself he took himself off to the shower to see to himself as well.

Sue's alarm sounded and she groaned as she rolled over to switch it off. She lay with her eyes closed for a few moments before opening them and looking straight at Piers' jacket hanging on her wardrobe door. The sight made her smile and she slid out of bed and walked to it, holding the fabric to her nose and inhaling deeply. It still smelt of him and she couldn't bring herself to take it to the dry cleaners just yet.

She padded to her kitchen and put on the kettle for her coffee and popped the bread for her toast in to the toaster. When both were ready she ate the toast fast before sipping at the coffee and taking that with her back to her bedroom to drink as she dressed. Once dressed and the coffee gone she brushed her teeth, applied her makeup and left to commute to work.

Piers woke late he had no need to be up early and after last night he needed time to gather his wits before going in to his office. What should he do or suggest next? All woman liked flowers didn't they? He'd send a dozen red roses to her office with a note telling her when he'd collect his jacket. He didn't need it but he did need an excuse to see her again and soon. He didn't want to have to keep seeing to his own sexual urges for much longer and if his guess about what she had been doing last night was correct, Sue needed some release as much as he did.

He found himself thinking of her as either Sue or Susan rather than her, woman or wench which if a little unusual was not unpleasant. The only other woman he had thought of in anything other than derisory terms had been Mummy, but even all the Pomfrey money hadn't been able to save her so this feeling was something new to him.

Whilst still in bed he made the call to the florists and ordered the flowers to be delivered as soon as possible in a glass vase with a card saying *I'll collect the jacket at 8, Piers.* That was all, he didn't want to seem too desperate despite the fact that he was. That done he got up and attended to his morning routine before having John drop him at his office.

Sue had made it in on time again. She was rarely late but last week had thrown her whole routine out of kilter and she wanted some normalcy back in her life. Kay who worked on the same floor had stuck her head around the door first thing and asked how her weekend had been and she had said that apart from the hack it had been quiet.

She felt bad about not telling her everything but she was still trying to work out what had happened in her own head. This "thing" with Piers was all so new and completely unexpected. Five days ago she had never even heard of Sir Piers Pomfrey, now she had been on two dates with him and had almost had sex in his car! She blushed when she recalled what she had done whilst lying on his velvet jacket. No today she needed normalcy. She need Durie to be a prick and to work hard.

All was going so well until just after 11 am. She'd worked hard and managed to keep her thoughts on work and then a post boy from down stairs walked in and plonked a bouquet of a dozen red roses in a crystal vase on her desk and said, "For you Miss Island. Looks as if someone is taken with you."

She'd felt herself flush to her roots as she found and read the card. She'd have to call him back. She was out tonight and tomorrow night. Her next free night was Wednesday. She waited until her lunch break and took herself to Starbucks as usual. She sat as far away from everyone else as she could and dialled his number.

"Hello Susan" he drawled.

God she loved the way he said her name.

"Hello, um I got the flowers they are lovely but I can't see you before Wednesday, sorry."

He could barely hide the disappointment from his voice and had asked sharply, "Why?"

Whoa, who was he to talk to her like that? She'd said sorry and given him a date when she could see him.

"I have an evening class tonight and I will have homework to attend to on Tuesday."

"An evening class? Homework?"

"Yes and I'm going to it and I will be doing the work, some of us can't get promoted just by drawling our name around town."

"Well if you must I suppose you must. Can I call you though?"

She smiled and softened, maybe he was disappointed and that had made him snappy.

"Yes you can call me, after 10 though. And on Wednesday come around about 8 and I'll cook us some dinner."

"Wouldn't you rather I had some food sent by caterers?"

"No actually. I'd rather cook for you unless you think I will try and poison you."

"Very well. You are a hard girl to please."

"Woman Piers, I'm a hard woman to please. I left girlhood behind with the ankle socks."

"I'll call you after ten, ta ta!"

He hung up feeling rather disgruntled. He wasn't going to see her for two whole days. Yes he had pictures of her in his dossier, but he wanted to try his luck with her and he had hoped that tonight he might have got to third or even fourth base. He sighed telling himself Wednesday wasn't far away.

When she returned to her desk it was to find both Kay and Shelly admiring her flowers from her office door.

"Who is he then?" Asked Shelly.

"Yes who is he?" Echoed Kay, "You told me you'd had a quiet weekend" she added accusingly.

Sue stopped and frowned if she lied now she'd never stop lying so she decided to come clean.

"They are from Sir Piers Pomfrey. I met him for a drink on Saturday and we went to the cinema yesterday." She left out what had happened after the cinema; a woman had to have some secrets didn't she?

Shelly was incredulous, "The Sir Piers Pomfrey? The one from the bar?"

"Yes."

"The wealthy philanthropist?"

"Who's gorgeous." added Kay.

"Yes and yes."

"But you said he was a prick!"

"Well he was and now he might not be. Now run along, even if you two don't have work to do I do."

They left whispering furiously between themselves as Sue watched them and wondered if she had just lost two of her closest friends.