Pillow Talk | Joanne One Shot Series

Skin On Skin

"Joe?"

Dianne's voice rang out through the corridor. Walking towards where the sound had come from, Joe peered around the bathroom door.

"Can I help?"

Dianne was stood in the middle of the bathroom, wearing only a red lace thong. As Joe walked in, she held out a can of tanning mousse. "Can you help me tan my back, please? I can't reach."

"Somehow, I wasn't expecting you to ask that." Joe took a breath. Seeing his girlfriend topless in just a very small pair of knickers, Joe had been hoping that Dianne had wanted him for something other than help with self-tanning. He shook his head, trying to focus on the task at hand. "Right, do you have gloves or a mitt or anything?"

Dianne reached into the cupboard and passed Joe a tanning mitt.

"OK, turn around then."

Dianne nodded and pulled her hair out of the way so that Joe could get her whole back.

"Do you need the backs of your arms doing or anything? Or is there anywhere else you can't reach?" Joe asked as he carefully rubbed the mousse into her skin.

Dianne shook her head. "Nope. I've done everywhere else. I would have waited until tomorrow and got Katya to do my back for me, but I heard you in the kitchen and thought it made more sense just to ask you now." She paused for a moment, looking at Joe's focused expression in the mirror. Catching his eye, she smiled. "What were you expecting me to ask you, Joseph?" she asked, her voice giving away that she knew exactly what he had been hoping for.

He gulped. "I, uh, I don't know."

Dianne grinned. "You do know. Your eyes went all dark when you saw me stood here."

Joe shrugged. "What can I say? You're gorgeous." He paused, leaning in close enough that his lips brushed against Dianne's earlobe as he spoke. "And you're mine."

Dianne felt a shiver run through her body. Shaking her head, she met Joe's gaze in the mirror once more.

"No. Not tonight. I've got a photo shoot tomorrow. This tan needs to be perfect. I can't risk turning up at work with big white patches all over my body. Can you imagine?"

Joe nodded. "That's fair. You know, when I had my spray tan done at the start of Strictly, I was so worried about it being perfect, I slept in a sleeping bag to stop it going streaky. Plus, I didn't want to get tan on my sheets. I was honestly so cautious."

Dianne smiled. "How long was it before you stopped being bothered about your sheets?"

"Honestly? Do you want the honest answer?" Joe asked, waiting for Dianne to nod before he continued. "I was really precious about it for ages. Every spray tan I got, I'd sleep on a towel or in, like, one position. But, after a few weeks, I noticed that I'd wash my sheets and there'd be tan stains all over them. I couldn't work it out and it was making me so frustrated. It took me a good month or so to realise it was your tan, not mine."

Dianne laughed. "Really? Oh, I'm sorry. I've worn fake tan pretty much every day for years. I'm so used to it being everywhere. Same with the red hair dye. That's why my bedding at my place was all multi-coloured; it makes it harder to spot."

Joe nodded. "I think I might need to invest in some more sheets that aren't white since you're living here now. Unless you want the sleeping bag? It's warm, though. I basically sweated it off."

Dianne laughed and shook her head. "No thank you, Joseph. Anyway, I am sorry. I never realised I did that. You should have said something. I'd have got you some new sheets to replace the ones I ruined."