“Sibyl,” he remonstrated softly, “it doesn’t suit you to fish for compliments.”
“Fish for…!” She started then burst out laughing and he felt its beauty seep into his bones. When she was done, she laid her hand on his cheek and smiled at him. “Colin, you like me, we’re good together.” Her smile deepened. “Of course you think I’m desirable but that doesn’t mean every man does.” She carried on, as if he hadn’t even spoken, “Personally, I still think it’s the curse.”
He stared at her assessingly and realised she didn’t comprehend her incredible allure.
“You aren’t to be believed,” he mumbled.
“What’s that?” She tilted her head, the smile still tugging at her lips.
He pulled her weight on top of his body and his arms stole around her.
Then he studied her beautiful face for long moments.
Then he muttered, “Christ, you have no idea,” and something about that knowledge awed him.
“Okay, I get it, you don’t think it’s the curse but –”
“Sibyl listen to me,” he interrupted her, “you are beautiful.”
Her eyes sparkled. “And you’re very handsome,” she returned, completely unfazed by his words. “But then again, I love you so of course I’d think you’re handsome, to others, you’re probably very ugly.”
He found himself biting back laughter at the same time growling with frustration and something infinitely deeper. She lifted her knees so she was straddling him and bent her head to kiss the base of his throat, her hair sliding luxuriously across his chest.
“Likely extremely ugly,” she muttered as she moved lower and kissed his stomach and his muscles tensed as he understood her intent. “Hideous,” she whispered as she moved lower.
He let go of his unhappy thoughts and moved his hands into her hair to pull it away so he could watch.
Later, after he’d yanked her roughly back on top of him to finish what she started with her mouth in an entirely different but infinitely pleasurable way, he rolled them to their sides and her arms tightened around him.
“That was nice.” She spoke what he considered the understatement of the year and he chuckled.
He felt her body settle and her breathing even out and he remembered a phone call he’d had that day.
“Sibyl?”
“Mm?” she murmured against his neck.
“Mrs. Manning called today.”
“Who?”
“My housekeeper, she requests that you not make the bed. She says it’s her job. Since I pay her to do it, there’s no reason you should.”
“The invisible housekeeper,” Sibyl said quietly. “Now that’s weird. She’s here but you never see her.”
He found that rather surprising as he wasn’t letting Mrs. Manning in, he wondered who was. Nevertheless, with other weighty things on his mind, he didn’t spend any time thinking about it.
“I’d rather not hire a new one –” he started but she cut him off.
She did this by declaring on a yawn, “There are lots of things in life worth fighting for, Colin, my right to make a bed is not one of them.”
And then she promptly fell asleep.
And, as with nearly every night since Meg had dinner with them, Colin did not.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Pensioner Posse
Sibyl stood in the doorway of her office at The Community Centre. She watched as Mags, Marian and Phoebe all concentrated very carefully on their bingo cards as Marianne’s scratchy voice called out the numbers.
Sibyl was allowing herself the luxury of contemplating her new life and further allowing herself to decide it was, quite simply, wonderful.
Colin may not love her but she’d come to the conclusion that, from Colin, she would take what she could get. Furthermore, what she was getting was pretty heady stuff so she felt it would show extreme ill-grace to complain.
It was clear to Sibyl that, even if he didn’t return her love, she loved him enough for the both of them. Threat or no threat, curse or no curse, she felt invulnerable and strong, as if nothing could harm them. Her love and Marian’s protection would be enough. Sibyl was certain of it.
So, Sibyl ceased worrying.
Colin, however, had not.
She tried to make him feel some of her calm but no matter how she tried to soothe him, it didn’t work. As the days went by, he became more and more impatient and tense.
And Colin could get very impatient and Colin’s tense was a little scary.
She decided she loved this about him (as she loved pretty much everything about him). He was not impatient and tense worrying about himself, he was so because he worried about her. If she didn’t have his love then she was definitely certain she had his care, his concern, his affection and his protection.
And that would be enough.
For now.
She’d worry about the rest later, when all this troublesome business was concluded.
She moved out of the doorway and sat down beside Meg who had come back to the Pensioner’s Lunch Club that week, nearly fully-restored. Meg was now resting comfortably in one of Colin’s new, plush chairs, watching but as usual not participating in the bingo action.
When Sibyl had settled, Meg patted her hand then her fingers closed around it to hold it lightly.
“It’s good to see you so happy, Billie,” she whispered for it was a very bad thing to make too much noise when bingo was under way, the players got somewhat irate if their concentration was disturbed.
“Is it so obvious?” Sibyl smiled, completely unaware that her glorious smile said it all.
“Oh yes, it’s very obvious.” Meg’s faced collapsed happily and Sibyl gave her hand a soft, affectionate squeeze.
Sibyl caught sight of Rick prowling through Day Centre, glowering at the pensioners as if one of them was, at any moment, intending to pull an Uzi out of their carrier bag and go on a killing spree.
“He needs a girlfriend,” Meg noted sagely, eyeing Rick.
“He needs a lot more than that,” Sibyl agreed.
“All right folks, last game. The minibus leaves in fifteen minutes,” Kyle announced, striding through the room, completely unmoved by the glares he was receiving. The only thing worse than interrupting a bingo game with unnecessary noise was announcing it was concluding.
Kyle had finished his training course the week before and now the minibus, Colin’s minibus, was in full use.
Sibyl happily thought that finally all was (nearly) right with the world.