Page 76 of Match Point

‘I’d like to,’ he says softly in my ear.

‘Thank you, but I can’t let you do that. I’m really happy to buy it myself!’

‘Let me spoil you. Please,’ he says kissing my ear, his lips driving all sense and stubborn protests out of my brain.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I run my hand along his forearm resting across my collarbones. ‘If you insist…’

‘Good. I do,’ he states, straightening. ‘Someone from my team will be in touch.’

I raise my eyebrows. ‘Very VIP of you. Have your people call my people.’

‘And don’t hold back. Buy whatever dress you want,’ he says, his hands massaging my shoulders. ‘You’re going to look amazing. I’m excited to see you in it.’

‘You have no idea what I’m wearing yet.’ I laugh.

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he says, leaning back down to kiss me on the cheek. ‘You look incredible in everything. I’ll see you tonight.’

With a final squeeze on my shoulders, he heads back into the house. I wait for him to call out goodbye and shut the front door behind him before I scrunch up my eyes and let out a squeal of pure joy, jumping to my feet and running inside to call Iris.

*

‘The car is here,’ Kieran calls from the living room.

‘I’ll be out in a minute,’ I shout back, putting my earrings on and taking a step back from the mirror to look at my reflection properly.

I nervously turn at an angle to check the back of the dress. It’s the most expensive thing I’ve ever worn: a floor-length fitted black gown with a plunge neckline and a thigh split. I’m not sure I would have had the confidence to choose this if Iris hadn’t come shopping with me this afternoon. We’d gone to the type of shop I’d usually be intimidated by, but the staff were very welcoming and didn’t blink when I said what I was shopping for, getting to work immediately selecting a variety of dresses.

‘They’ve seen the rain picture,’ Iris had whispered to me with a sly smile.

The photograph of Kieran and I kissing in the rain is front page of nearly every paper on the newsstand. People have lost their heads over it, calling it the most romantic celebrity moment of the year. I don’t know about that, but I can confirm it was magical.

When I walked out the changing room in this dress, Iris’s jaw had dropped to the floor and she’d slowly set her glass of Champagne down to shamelessly gawp at me.

‘That’s the one,’ she’d said, the shop assistants nodding in agreement.

‘It’s not too… slutty?’

She’d tilted her head and given me an oh-please look. ‘It’s sexy as fuck, if that’s what you mean. Don’t you feel good in that thing? I mean, look at you!’

‘I do feel good in it,’ I’d admitted, blushing. ‘I don’t know when else I’d get to wear something like this.’

‘Life is short, bitch, wear the dress,’ Iris had stated, picking up her Champagne again.

‘Amen,’ the shop assistant next to her had muttered.

So, I didn’t feel I had much choice in the matter but to allow Kieran to buy me this gown and then I’d bought some new shoes and jewellery to go with it – we’d gone for a pair of Christian Louboutin strappy heels and statement gold earrings. I’ve never spent that much money on shoes before, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. I have to go all out.

This afternoon I’d gone for a blow-dry and as one of the stylists curled my hair, the other hairdressers crowded round my chair to pelt me with questions about Kieran and the night ahead of me. When I’d tried to answer their questions best I could, one of them sighed wistfully and went, ‘You’re living a fairy tale.’

Standing here in this gown, I get what she means. In this dress, I don’t feel like a nobody. I feel like a princess, getting ready to go off to the ball.

With a spritz of perfume on my wrist and neck, I grab my clutch bag and tentatively open the bedroom door, slowly making my way down the hallway and into the living room. Kieran is waiting by the fireplace, leaning on the mantelpiece in his tux. He looks devastatingly handsome in his tailored black jacket, crisp white shirt and silk black bow tie. With his designer stubble that shows off his chiselled jaw, and his dark hair that’s perfectly styled without looking like he’s spent too much time on it, he manages to look both suave and ruggedly unkempt at the same time. He looks up on my entrance and does a double take. His mouth parts slightly as his eyes roam down the dress and back up again. He swallows, walking over to me and exhaling as he stops in front of me.

‘Is this okay?’ I ask, looking up at him under my heavily mascaraed eyelashes.

‘You… you look…’ His brow creases as he trails off, unable to find the right word quick enough. I try and fail to suppress a smile. ‘Jesus. That’s quite a dress.’

‘You look great,’ I say quietly, my cheeks flushing as I reach up to straighten his bow tie. I lower my hands to rest against his solid chest, feeling it rise against my palms with each breath. ‘Like an Irish James Bond.’

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