They had started discussing the technicalities of transferring Lindo’s designs on to the wood or leather, and Jenna drifted into a nightmare vision of all this getting into the papers. What would it be like, to have something so intimate splashed all over the headlines? How would she ever be able to face anybody again?
‘Excuse me,’ said Lindo, breaking into her unpleasant imaginings. ‘But you look awfully worried. Are you all right, Ms . . .?’
Ah, was he pretending or did he genuinely not know who she was?
‘Myatt,’ she said, with a small but grateful smile. ‘But please, call me Jenna.’
She took a sip of her tea.
‘Are you feeling quite all right?’ Lindo repeated the question.
‘Oh, yes, I’m fine. Just . . . a little nervous.’
‘Och, well, you’ve nothing to be nervous about.’
Jenna noticed for the first time his soft Scottish accent.
‘I suppose it feels a bit strange to be talking about this kind of thing with a stranger, eh?’
She nodded.
‘Well, don’t you worry. Nothing that happens inside this place ever gets outside. I’m talking about orders, clients, conversations – nothing. I have a client list some of the papers would love to take a look at – plenty of famous names on there. But I’ll never tell. Why would I? I’d lose good business. And if you’re worried about me thinking you’re strange and unnatural . . .’ He laughed heartily. ‘Well, I’d be a bit of a hypocrite. My wife likes to test my new designs out on me.’
Jenna smiled, suddenly very much more at her ease, now she knew that she and Lindo were both the submissive parties in their relationships. There was no need to feel embarrassed after all – or no more than Lindo did, anyway.
‘Yes,’ he continued, ‘I started this business on her suggestion. I made a little paddle with a rose carved into it as an anniversary present, and she was so taken with it she suggested I try to sell my work. I was surprised at how quickly it took off. There’s quite a market out there.’
‘I love your designs,’ said Jason eagerly. ‘But I was wondering if you’d consider making me a paddle that I’d designed? I’m an artist myself, and I’m always looking for new ways to work. But I wouldn’t have a clue about all the machinery craftsman side of it.’
Lindo nodded, intrigued by the suggestion.
‘Well, whyever not?’ he said. ‘Do you have a particular design in mind?’
Jason grabbed a folded piece of A4 paper from his inside jacket pocket.
‘I was doing a few doodles last night. Not sure if any of them are any good . . .’
Lindo examined the page, while Jenna tried her best to peek at it. She hadn’t seen Jason doing these sketches – perhaps she had been asleep at the time.
She watched as Jason jabbed a finger at one.
‘Maybe that one? Do you think it would work?’
Lindo replied with a slow nod, then flashed a smile at Jenna and handed her the paper.
‘What do you think? Which is your favourite? It’s your skin, after all.’
A clutch of little pencil sketches adorned the page, in varying degrees of elaborateness. The one that drew her eye was one of the simplest: a large heart shape with the letter J cut out of it.
‘Would this one be simple to make?’ she asked, showing it to Lindo. ‘It looks like the easiest – none of the curly-wurly patterns on the others.’
‘Well, I can do curly-wurly patterns,’ said Lindo with a smile. ‘It’s not a problem. But you like that one?’
‘I kind of like the idea of what it would look like . . . after use,’ she said, coughing slightly to cover her blushes. Now she knew all three of them were thinking of her bum, with a red heart on each cheek and a white letter J in the middle. One for Jason, one for Jenna.
‘Yeah,’ said Jason, with low-toned satisfaction. ‘That would look peachy.’
‘Well, that would be no trouble at all,’ said Lindo briskly. ‘I can turn one out for you now. Were you thinking wood or leather? Or something else?’