‘Andrew’s bathroom?’ he queried sharply.
Philippa flushed.
‘Yes… it’s… it’s all right… I’ve removed all his personal things… and…’
‘You had separate bathrooms?’ Joel questioned, ignoring what she was saying.
‘Yes… yes, we did,’ Philippa told him uncomfortably. ‘It was… it was easier that way. Andrew… he… he was a very private man… he…’ She was floundering desperately for words, both angry and alarmed by what she was being forced to reveal.
Joel could sense her discomfort. What kind of relationship had she actually had with her husband? Not, he suspected, a very close one either emotionally or physically. He wondered if they had had separate beds as well as separate bathrooms and then cut himself off from the thought, sensing the danger that lurked behind it.
Philippa waited in the kitchen for him to come back downstairs. When he did his hair was still damp, his shirt clinging slightly to his skin. As he brought her the towels he had used she could smell the scent of soap on his skin and her stomach muscles knotted frantically against the sensation curling through her body.
‘I… thank you for looking at my car for me,’ she told him huskily as she looked away from him.
She looked so small standing there, with her blonde hair down and parting to show the soft curve of her neck. If he reached out now he could touch that soft skin with his fingertips. If he did, would she push him away as Sally did or would her body quiver in mute acknowledgement of the desire he could feel aching inside him; would she turn her head and look at him, silently acknowledging what was happening between them… accepting… inviting?
‘I’m sorry you’re having a difficult time at home,’ Philippa told him shakily. ‘I wish there were something I could do to help. I feel…’
I feel so guilty, she had been about to say, but Joel moved closer to her and suddenly her throat closed up, trapping the words.
‘Just being here with you… talking to you helps,’ Joel told her, and as he said it he recognised that it was true, that there was something about her that drew him to her, compelled him to confide in her in a way that was totally foreign to his nature.
He felt at home with her… at ease and yet at the same time fiercely buoyed up by the sexual tension he could feel building between them.
He wanted her, he acknowledged… he wanted her very, very much indeed.
‘You must go,’ Philippa told him quickly as she stepped away from him. ‘I hope everything works out… at home for you. I’m sure it will.’
If he bent his head now, he could still kiss her, Joel decided. But if he did… once he did…
Reluctantly he moved away from her. Didn’t he have enough problems as it was without… ?
Without what? He was a normal man with all the normal male urges, but he had never once been tempted to be unfaithful to Sally before, had never felt this fierce surge of sharp desire for another woman before.
After he h
ad gone, Philippa walked back to the kitchen and picked up the damp towels he had used, lifting them to her face. She could still smell him on them, the scent of his skin, his maleness. With a small shudder she dropped the towels back on the floor.
Thank goodness she wasn’t likely to see him again. Just now, standing next to him, she had sensed his awareness of her and his desire, had known that all she had to do was simply to turn towards him.
* * *
Joel had almost reached the town centre when he suddenly heard someone calling his name. Stopping, he turned his head and saw Duncan hurrying towards him.
The youth had changed since he had last seen him. His body had begun to fill out and he walked with more confidence, holding his head up instead of shuffling along with it downbent.
‘Joel, how are you?’
‘I’m OK,’ Joel responded. ‘And you… ?’
‘Great, especially since I joined this club they’re running down at the leisure centre for people who are out of work… You ought to come along; they…’
‘Can’t afford it, mate,’ Joel told him.
‘It’s free,’ Duncan announced, adding, ‘Look, I’m on my way there now—why don’t you come along? Quite a few of the lads from the factory do; as well as being able to use the leisure club’s faculties, there’s all kinds of voluntary work you can do if you want to.’
‘Voluntary work?’