Page 70 of Gold Digger
“Lottie, I know Vics has come a long way, but she still shouldn’t be going to the gala. I can’t look after her – I’ve got to give the speech straight after the fireworks. She has to leave before then, and she loses track of time, you know she does.”
“Trust me, I know Vicky,” I said through a smile. “And I think it’ll be good for her after what happened last month.”
He shook his head. “You’ve never seen one of her meltdowns. Last month was nothing in comparison. If it happens at the fundraiser, then I don’t know what?—”
“Trust me. I’ve got it. She wants to go.” He hadn’t been happy about it, but I’d kissed him, effectively cutting off his argument as I started unbuttoning his shirt. “I’ve never let Vicky downbefore. I won’t do it now,” I muttered against his mouth as my hands slid into his shirt. He groaned, backing me up to the bed.
“You have a very effective way of winning an argument, Miss Forest,” he muttered against my neck as his weight settled on mine. That was the last objection he’d officially lodged, but it was clear tonight that he still wasn’t happy, despite my repeated assurances on the way here.
Once Vicky and I were around the corner in the corridor leading to the toilets, I turned to her and gave her hand a quick squeeze (Vicky couldn’t bear to have her hand held for any length of time, but a brief squeeze with the right amount of pressure was okay). “It’s okay, hun,” I said in a soft voice.
“It’s not okay,” she snapped, as her hands bunched into fists at her sides. “I’m never going to convince him to sleep with me if he thinks I’m defective.”
I frowned. “Vicky, you’re not defective.”
She stared at me. “Yes, I am. I’m defective and weird.”
“Who wants to be normal?” I said with a smile, trying to coax her out of this mood. “Normal is blooming boring. I’d rather hang out with your weird butt any day.” I linked arms with her and propelled us to the ladies.
“Why are we going to the toilets?” she asked.
“It’s what women do to catch their breath,” I explained, and Vicky wrinkled her nose.
“Sometimes I think that the whole world is weird and I’m the only normal one.”
I snorted a laugh as we pushed through into the cavernous bathroom. I moved to the mirrors whilst Vicky headed to the toilet.
“You’re not even going to try and use the opportunity to empty your bladder?” she asked, completely incredulous and I laughed as she disappeared. Just as the door to her stall closed another opened and Claire walked out.
“Hey,” she said as she came to stand next to me at the mirror. “I thought I could hear you guys.” Our reflections locked eyes, and she gave me a tight smile. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her shoulders were so tense they were almost up around her ears.
“Hi, love,” I said gently as I pulled out my lipstick, more for something to do than anything. Glancing at her again I lowered my voice. “Claire, are you okay?”
“Of course,” she said, her obvious attempt at a bright tone falling flat and the strain around her eyes increasing. I abandoned the lipstick and turned to her fully. “If you need someone to talk to, I’m here,” I said quickly, aware that Vicky would be out any minute and Claire would clam up completely. She looked away from me but not before I saw the tears in her eyes that she quickly blinked away. I laid my hand over her arm. “If Blake is?—”
“Listen,” she snapped, “why don’t you pay attention to your own situation and keep your nose out of mine.” I pulled my hand off her arm and took a rapid step away. “I know what you told Ollie. Your interference was totally unhelpful.” Her hand fluttered up to the side of her face in an unconscious movement, and that’s when I saw it. She’d done a great job with her make-up, you could barely tell, but in the harsh light of the bathroom I could see the darkened area from her left temple down to her cheekbone.
“Oh, Claire,” I said, my voice rough with emotion and concern. “Honey, what did he do?”
“Stop it,” she hissed just as Vicky was coming out of the stall. “Leave me alone.”
“Claire?” Vicky asked with a perplexed expression. “Why have you got a bruise on your cheek?”
Vicky might not have been able to read people’s body language, but she catalogued everything about physicalappearance in great detail. Claire looked between me and Vicky with a hunted expression, then tore out of the bathroom.
I turned to Vicky and put my hand on her arm. She was looking after Claire with a frown. “Vics, we need to go really soon. Why don’t you find Ollie and let him know, and I’ll go after Claire.” Vicky looked at me for a moment, then gave a sharp nod. She clearly wanted to ask me more about Claire, but she trusted me to sort it out. When we left the bathroom, Vicky disappeared into the crowd towards the bar where Ollie was earlier. It took me a moment to spot Claire across the room, but as I started towards her, I was hauled back by someone grabbing my elbow. It was so jarring that my head snapped back, and I nearly lost my balance on my high heels.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Blake slurred in my ear, and I gagged from the stench of his alcohol-infused breath.
“Get off me, Blake,” I said in a low, furious tone. I jerked my arm to dislodge his hand, but he hung on and tightened his grip so hard that I winced.
“Your magical snatch may have my brother-in-law fooled, but I know you’re just some fucking townie with a chip on her shoulder.”
“Blake,” I said slowly as I turned to him and met his red-rimmed gaze with my steady one. “Getthe fuckoff my arm or you’ll find out exactly what kind of townie I really am. You might scare your wife, but I’ve dealt withway worsepieces of shit than you in my life. I promise you, you don’t want to dance this dance with me.”
Blake made a big mistake then – he held on.
Chapter 34
