In Her Own Time Read online

  “You’re right, it does pose a challenge.”

  “Nash, look I have to go, Julia is staring at me. Thanks for calling. Bye.”

  “Okay, Beth. Ah, bye.” And then the call disconnects and she is gone.

  After a fitful sleep, I make my way back through security and on to my departure gate. I haven’t been able to completely shake the fatigue, waiting at the gate I log on to my laptop, hoping to get a jump on catching up on the Margison account, to review their files, I wanted to hit the ground running, to get this project back up to date as quickly and efficiently as possible.

  Just when I feel like I could be making headway my flight is called to board.

  Hopes of the seat next remaining vacant look promising until they are almost closing the doors, the flushed face of Vanessa comes down the aisle, she smiles when she sees me.

  “Hey, Nash, looks like we’re sitting together again.” Lifting my laptop bag, I clear the seat for her to sit down.

  “Hi Vanessa, you okay? You look a little flushed.” She struggles to stow her bag, so I unclip my seatbelt and stow it overhead for her.

  “Thank you.” She exhales sharply. “I will be in a minute, just need to catch my breath. I fell asleep and nearly missed the flight.”

  “Can I get you some water or something?” I signal to the flight attendant standing closest to us. She approaches with a dazzling smile.

  “Can I help you, sir?”

  “Can I please get some water and ice for my friend here?”

  “Sure, will just be a moment. Can I get anything for you?”

  “Just the water. Thank you.”

  It doesn’t take long before the attendant comes back with the water for Vanessa and returns to her post for the safety brief.

  “Thank you for doing that, Nash, I really appreciate it.”

  It really wasn’t a problem; I would hope someone would help my Mother or my wife one day if she was in need. We settle in and watch the safety demo, and I find my mind wandering back to Beth, she’d become such a beautiful distraction.

  It is as if Vanessa could tell what I was thinking about. “Do you have a photo of the almost girlfriend?” She whispers.

  “Pardon me?” Returning from my own thoughts, I turn my attention to Vanessa.

  “You said before there was a girl you hoped would become your girlfriend. I just wondered if you had a photo of her.”

  “Oh yes.” I unfold the laptop, log in and open the photo of Beth that I had taken this morning. It felt a little too intimate sharing a photo of Beth in bed, but it was the only one I had.

  “She is gorgeous, Nash. What is her name?”

  “Her name is Beth. She really is something, huh.”

  “But she’s not your girlfriend yet. Why not?” She lifts her hand to her mouth and points at the screen with the other hand. “You’re not some crazy stalker are you?”

  I laugh, “No, I’m not. The reason is, well she thinks I’m a bit of an arsehole.”

  “She does not!” She grips my arm, her eyes wide in horror.

  “She does, but I was working on changing that. Well, I had been until I had to leave Willow Bay this morning to head back to London.”

  “So that’s the end of it? You won’t get to see her again?” I was actually surprised to see that she had tears welling in her eyes. “Oh, that is tragic.”

  “I’m hoping it isn’t the end. I will do my best to make sure it’s just the beginning.”

  I hear her sigh before she gives my arm a little squeeze and releases it.

  “I hope so too, Nash.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Nash

  Walter had arranged for a car to collect me from the airport. The driver required no instruction from me, instead, we navigated through the morning traffic into the city where I was meeting Walter for breakfast.

  When he sees me enter the restaurant he stands and extends his hand.

  “Good to see you, Nash. How was your flight?”

  “Good to see you too. The flight was long.”

  “I’m sure you want to go and have a kip, so I won’t keep you longer than necessary. I wanted to go over the timeline for the next couple of weeks, do a bit of a brainstorming session.”

  “Sure, Walter.”

  Once we are settled at the table the waitress comes to take our order.

  “The situation with Margison is worse than we first thought, not only had the files been corrupted but the system has been wiped completely clean. Basically, we are back to square one. We need to get the project back on track as soon as possible and we don’t have any time to spare, they have opted for not extended the deadline.”

  I blow out a long low breath. “Walt, tell me if I have got this right. All the work we’ve done for John is no longer existent, it isn’t a simple case of a few missing files any longer. And we don’t have any backup files stored?”

  “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

  “So why haven’t the techs been working on recovery or Davis been in contact with the design team or the contractors? I mean, surely that is basic shit he could have handled and saved me the flight?” My irritation was growing, this was ground level process, and could have easily been handled by any of the associates. I didn’t need to waste the time flying back to London when some of the first years could’ve easily handled the logistics.

  “Maybe if John had any confidence in Davis at all it would have been easily solved. Unfortunately, he has more than expressed his displeasure at the whole situation and has threatened to challenge the contract we have with them. Trust me, if there was another way we’d jump on it. The only way I could see to placate the man was to have you back here in London working on his job. We can’t afford to have him backflip on this contract, Nash.” Walter’s brows knit, a frown on his face.

  I get the feeling he is strong-arming me into agreeing with him, for the partners the bottom line is the dollar sign at the end of the day, and if they can afford that second summer house or the new sports car. My own attitude toward the situation surprises me; my motivation right now is to get John’s project completed and book the next flight available back to Australia. Jetlag was doing nothing to ease the frustrations that were mounting.

  “So tell me about this timeline you have proposed?”

  Leaving the restaurant after breakfast I had a million things mulling around in my head, calling Gemma I tasked her to make calls to set up a conference call in the morning for when I got across to see John. To tackle this problem was to meet it head on and hopefully create some breathing space by getting everyone involved up to speed and on the same page.

  My second call was to John, to touch base and assure him I was back in London and focused. I made some suggestions over the phone to reassure him that his situation was going to be handled. He was actually calmer on this call than he was on the last, which I hadn’t been expecting.

  “I have the analysis and design team on standby for a conference call in the morning, I expect the best way we can solve the issues is for the whole reboot of your system, to have the bugs wiped out completely, and reinstall the software after a full diagnostic check.”

  “And how long is that going to take, Nash? The first time it took them three weeks. We don’t have that time to spare.”

  “Four days.” I assure him, hoping that it was achievable. “I expect that it will be back up and installed on Friday.”

  “Four days? That is all?”

  “Yes, mate, the code is already written, they will be able to further test it for vulnerabilities before we go live, make sure there is no way files can be corrupted and the system is backed up correctly.”

  “I can’t understand why wasn’t all this done in the first place?”

  “To be honest, John, I would have expected it was done. We’ve caught it now, and I guarantee you we will have it back on track for your release date.”

  “Thanks, Nash, I appreciate you coming back for this. I have no idea where we would ha
ve been if we had stuck with that idiot Davis like Walter and Brian suggested.”

  “It’s no problem; I will see you in the morning.” I run my hand down over my face after ending the call, wiping away the fatigue plaguing my body. I hoped to hell it was all possible. It had to be, there was no margin for error.

  I drop my overnight bag and the rest of my luggage on the floor in the living room at my apartment. The sun through the floor to ceiling windows is spraying light patterns across the timber floorboards, the only scent detected is that of the cleaning products the housekeeper uses. Oddly enough I miss the smell of Beth’s house, the sweet and gentle scent of her perfume, with a combination of coffee beans.

  I try to calculate the time difference, happy with it still being during the day in Australia I call Beth.

  I listen to the call connect and then it rings, just as I was about to give up hope on her answering, the call connects.

  Voicemail. Fuck it.

  “Hi, Beth, its Nash, just letting you know I’m home. I ah, will speak to you later I guess.” Defeated I ended the call and undress for bed. Slipping in between the cool sheets was the remedy I needed after the day traveling.

  I dream of Beth, the sun is shining a golden halo around the top of her head, I can’t see her face, only her bright red lips, but I knew it was her. She’s standing barefoot in my apartment, wearing only a business shirt. She doesn’t say a word only calls me closer with her long manicured finger, the closer I walk to her the further she steps away, she spins away from me, the shirt barely covers her arse. Turning slightly she looks over her shoulder at me, “Are you going to get that?” I’m confused. I don’t understand what she is asking. “Huh?” I pause, and she stops moving away from me. “Your phone is ringing, Nash.” I hear it, but I have no idea where the phone is, I search for it, but when I look back up to ask Beth where it is, she is gone. The ringing persists.

  Groggily, I stir from the slumber, rubbing my eyes I can still hear the phone ringing. It takes me the same amount of time to register it is my phone ringing for the ringing to stop.

  The caller id tells me I had just missed a call from Beth. I call her back immediately and it only takes her two rings to answer.

  “Hi.” It was so fucking good to hear her hushed but sexy voice.

  “Hi, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, did I wake you?” Her voice filled with concern was endearing.

  “Yeah, but that’s okay, I need to get up anyway. What’s up?”

  “I got your message, thank you for letting me know you got there safe.”

  “Of course, I told you I would.”

  “Yeah, you did.” She pauses. “But thank you anyway.”

  “Were you worried about me?” I tease, hearing her voice had awakened my body and need for her.

  She laughs, it’s been barely over twenty-four hours and I have missed that sound. “I bet you would like that Mr. Gibson.”

  Truth be told, I would. “How was work today?”

  “Well, let me see, I got through the entire day without having to mop up coffee off my shoes, I had no one hassling me or intruding on my space and Julie only sent me out for a medial task on the one occasion, so well, it was a tad boring.”

  I smile. “You missed me huh.”

  “I wouldn’t have said that.”

  “What would you have said then?” I knew I was flirting with her, and I was painfully aware of my dick growing hard whilst I was still lying naked in bed.

  “Well, since you’ve asked, I would’ve said that I had quite the productive day.”

  “Well then, I’ve missed you. I can tell you that part of me misses you right now, in fact.”

  “Bloody hell, Nash, I am sitting on the bus, you can’t be saying things like that to me when I am surrounded by people.” Her voice drops to a whisper, but I can tell she’s smiling.

  “Sorry, sweetheart. You’re heading home late? It’s about eight there, yeah?”

  “Yeah, some of us went out for a few cocktails after work.”

  “So does that mean that you could be a little tipsy?”

  “Sorry, stud, there is no chance you will get a shot at this tonight, I haven’t been feeling so great today, so strictly soda water for me.”

  “I’m sorry, Beth.”

  “Hey, it isn’t your fault. I will be fine; nothing a nice long soak in a bubble back and a chamomile tea won’t fix.”

  “Jesus, Beth, now I am thinking of you in the tub covered in bubbles. Perfectly placed modesty bubbles.”

  “You might have to hold that thought, I’m coming up to my stop. Can I call you back when I get home?”

  “I’ll call you.”

  “Yeah okay, give me half hour?”

  “Sure, speak to you soon.”

  While I’m waiting to call Beth I decide to take a cold shower and answer some emails.

  Gemma had arranged everything I had requested, and she had even arranged for a car to come and collect me in the morning. I make a mental note to speak to the partners about getting her a pay rise. She had always been an excellent assistant, going above and beyond on more than the odd occasion without question or complaint.

  Just as I am shutting down the computer my phone pings to alert me to a text message. The message is a photo, a picture of some incredible legs laying in a bubble bath.

  I can’t hit the redial button quick enough.

  “Are you trying to kill me, woman?”

  She giggles; the sound causing a wave of heat to shoot direct to my groin. “I thought I was helping you with the visual.”

  “All you’re helping is making my dick hard all over again. I’m going to need another cold shower.”

  “Don’t you have a bath in that place of yours?”

  “Yeah but I never use it, why?”

  “Maybe you should run a bath and then join me.”

  “Maybe I should.” My lips curve up, growing wide at her suggestion. Heading into the bathroom I run the water into the tub. It feels like it is taking forever for the tub to fill.

  “So you feeling any better, sweetheart?”

  “Much.” I hear the water trickle through the phone, what I can only image is the warm water lapping against her naked body.

  Turning off the taps I step into the tub. “Fuck!”

  “What did you?”

  “The water is too fucking hot.” A howl of laughter comes down the phone as I fumble with the cold water tap. After adjusting the temperature of the water I step in again, it’s still too hot, but it was tolerable.

  “You okay?”

  Pushing the speaker button I rest the phone on the edge of the tub. “Yep, am now.” The steam is rising around the room, causing a little sweat to bead on my forehead.

  “Hey, I need to hang up.”

  “What? No. I just got in this stupid bath, and now you want to leave me here alone?”

  “Sorry, I’ll just be a sec, okay?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, ending the call.

  Immediately my phone starts ringing again, a Facetime call coming in from Beth. I smile and press the answer button.

  “Oh, hey.”

  “Hi, sweetheart.” Fuck it was good to be able to see her.

  “I wanted to see you. Isn’t this much better?”

  “Much. So much fucking better. So you’re really feeling better?”

  “Yes, Nash. Geez. What time is it there?”

  “Noon.”

  “What time did you land?”

  “It was about 5.30 this morning.”

  “Oh gosh, I’m sorry for waking you, you must be zonked.”

  “Zonked?”

  “Yeah you know, tired, sleepy, fatigued. Spent. In need of sleep.”

  “Right, got it. I’m fine, I had a few hours on the stopover, Gemma had booked me a room, and then I had a couple more when I got home.”

  “So London is home to you?” She averts her eyes as she asks. I want to reach through the phone and stroke her cheek. London isn’t home, Beth is
my home.

  “It’s where I live, and I suppose it was, but now I am not so sure.”

  “Do you have a girlfriend there?”

  “What?” Shocked by the question I can’t hide the disbelief in my tone. “No. Do you really think I would be in the tub with you and stayed with you if I had a girlfriend, Beth?”

  “I wasn’t sure, and honestly I didn’t care if you did. Is that horrible?” I see her flinch.

  “Probably would have been for this fictitious girlfriend I have, the one who spends about three hours working out in your fictitious gym.”

  “So you’re not dating anyone over there?”

  “I’ve only been here for less than 6 hours, sweetheart, I mean I know I’m ridiculously attractive and intelligent but I doubt even I could pick up a woman that quickly. Although, I did meet a nice lady at the airport.”

  “You met someone before you even left?”

  “Yeah, it was her first time away without her husband.” I’m pretty sure there was a flash of relief on Beth’s face; well I hoped that was what I saw. “Beth, I’m not looking to date anyone at the moment.”

  “Okay Nash, I believe you.”

  “So how long do we need to lay in the bath?” I fumble for a change of subject.

  “I think you need to stay for a little longer, cause Nash, you’re a dirty dirty boy.”

  We both laugh, “Is that what you think? Well, I have been waiting for an opportunity to ask you to show me those glorious tits of yours. So I guess you opened the door.”

  To my amazement, she slowly scans the phone down over her throat and her chest. It is mostly covered in bubbles, but there is enough uncovered to remind me how delicious they were and responsive to my tongue and lips.

  “God, Beth, you really are trying to kill me.” When she scans the phone back to her face I see that she is biting her lip and her eyes are closed. “You okay, sweetheart?”

  Her reply is only a moan. Oh, sweet Jesus, she is touching herself. I watch as her lip slides out from between her teeth, and her breathing becomes more erratic.