Page 53 of Textbook Romance

I laugh as he says my fake name and he pulls a face.

‘Don’t mind her, my wife gets very excited about smoked salmon,’ Jack intervenes.

I smirk. ‘I do.’

The waiter looks less impressed and disappears. I watch Jack as he cuts into one of the eggs, poached to perfection. The yolk drips down the salmon and he looks back up at me.

‘Well, eat up, Mrs Rogers.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. I told that table I need to shag you senseless and we have to follow through on that,’ he says, biting into a piece of toast and raising his eyebrows at me.

I guess we do.

Jack

I think I may have broken Zoe. I don’t know whether it was the seed sprinkle or wanting to prove to her that my gaze was solely focused on her but after breakfast, we came back here and as soon as we walked through the door, I led her to the bed, undressing her slowly, paying attention to every part of her. I don’t know if she quite believes what’s happening, whether she trusts me entirely. This is understandable given what she’s been through but for now, I just want her to know she’s safe with me. I won’t hurt her like her husband has. Never.

For now, she sleeps a little too peacefully, and I arrange her curls on the pillow, slowly running a finger down her spine. She doesn’t flinch. Maybe not broken but it’s good to see her resting. I see her phone suddenly glowing on the bedside table. It’s someone called Kate. I think that’s her sister; she mentioned her last night. The phone glows until it goes to voicemail. I ignore it, but then it lights up with a text and I can see a message.

Zoe, pick up. Really important xxx

I glance down at Zoe as her chest rises slowly against the mattress. I look at her phone notifications and see messages pinging in from Dylan. That’s her son.

Please pick up, Mum. Please xxx

Have you heard from her?

Mum?

At least twenty notifications have come through in the last hour when I believe we were in the throes of smoked salmon and then some pretty intense orgasms. A call comes in again from Kate and instinct tells me to answer it. This is not a great idea.

‘Fuck me, Zoe, where have you been? You always answer your phone.’

‘Hi, ummm…’

‘Who’s this?’ the voice says abruptly.

‘I’m Jack, a friend. Zoe can’t come to the phone right now. She’s in the toilet.’

‘Has she been in the toilet for the last hour?’ Kate snaps back at me.

I’m not quite sure how to answer that. ‘Can I take a message?’

‘I don’t know anyone called Jack in my sister’s life. Who are you again?’

‘I’m a work colleague.’

‘Where does my sister work?’

‘In a school, she teaches maths.’

I see Zoe stir in the bed and look up at me. She points at her phone, confused. I cover the mouthpiece. ‘It was ringing, I didn’t want to wake you. It’s your sister. I think something’s happened…’

She sits up immediately, taking the phone. Given Kate’s volume, I hear everything clearly.

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Kate shrieks at her. ‘Check your messages, now.’ She switches the phone to speaker and scrolls through her phone, her expression changing, the colour from her face draining.

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