Page 21 of Three's a Crowd
Why was she so rattled? It wasn’t as if he was moving in with them or anything. She would probably see as little of him as she had previously.
‘Anyway,’ Adam continued, not seeming to notice how he’d plummeted her into a world of nervous panic, ‘he and his girlfriend are coming to stay next weekend.’
Daisy nearly choked on the mouthful of wine she’d just gulped.
‘What?’ she gasped.No, this couldn’t be true. She couldn’t have him in her home; how would she cope? And even worse, how would she manage, meeting his – what she had to assume would be – gorgeous, glamorous girlfriend.
She groaned inwardly.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you tidy up and we can go out for a meal,’ Adam said, mistaking her apprehension for a worry about being ready to receive guests in time.
She wracked her brain for a decent excuse to say no which Adam would accept without her giving the game away about how she felt about Zach, but nothing sprang to mind. It was hopeless. There was nothing for it but to tough it out.
‘Okay,’ she said slowly. ‘But you have to promise to help me get the place ready for visitors or I’m off to stay in a hotel for the weekend. By myself!’ she stated, pointing her finger at him, to avoid any misunderstanding.
She spent the next week in a state of high anxiety and the day before they were due, rushed around the house cleaning and tidying like a whirlwind, snapping at Adam if he moved so much as a coaster when she’d ‘just bloody put it there!’
‘Chill, Daisy, for God’s sake,’ Adam muttered, when she nearly screamed in frustration at him for dropping crisp crumbs onto her newly vacuumed floor.
When she glared at him in annoyance, he grabbed her in a bear hug and gave her sloppy, wet kisses all over her face until she started to giggle, hyper aware that she really did need to ‘chill’ or she was going to make Adam suspicious about her behaviour.
She was so intensely nervous about seeing Zach again that she couldn’t eat properly and her heart raced every time she thought about him. She must have lost half a stone in weight over it.
Finally, Saturday rolled around and Daisy woke early to shower and spent ages making herself look as good as possible. She needed to somehow arm herself against him and she felt the best way to do this was to put on a protective armour of clothes and make-up. She wanted him to see that she was a serious adult now and not some naïve wimp any more.
She was dreading meeting Zach’s girlfriend, who she was sure would be extremely cool and who would make Daisy feel like a complete nerd in comparison.
Her nerves were so jangled, she jolted in shock when the doorbell eventually rang to hail their arrival.
Pretending to read the magazine she’d been staring unseeingly at for the last twenty minutes, she said, ‘Get that will you,’ to Adam.
He sighed loudly and shook his head at her.
‘What?’ she said. ‘I’m just finishing this article.’
Adam shot her an amused look. ‘Calm down, Daisy, it’s only Zach. I know he’s meant to be some “hot-shot actor” now,’ he put this in air quotes, ‘but he’ll still be the same sarcastic, irascible bastard we knew when we were young.’ He gave her a quick, reassuring kiss on the head and went to answer the door.
That’s what I’m afraid of.
As soon as Adam left, she stood up and checked her appearance in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed, but apart from that, she thought she looked okay.
Taking up what she hoped was a relaxed-looking position next to the sofa, she listened as Zach’s low, rumbling voice greeted Adam at the door, followed by the sound of a drawling, sing-song, American voice.
‘Zach, we’d almost given up on you. As usual,’ Adam teased. ‘Daisy’s in the living room. She’s just finishing reading an article,’ he said, with a layer of sarcasm levelled just for her.
A shiver of anticipation ran through her as she stood ready to greet them.
Taking a deep breath, she tilted her chin up in a show of confidence and plastered what she hoped would come across as a natural, welcoming smile onto her face.
The first person to walk through the door was Zach.
Daisy had never seen him look so good.
He seemed to have grown into his looks even more, if that was possible. His hair was cut into a short, spiky style and his bronze skin had darkened in the California sunshine. His dark eyes crinkled into a smile when he saw her and Daisy felt her legs start to tremble.
Apparently, he still gave off the same fiercely sexual vibe as he’d always done and she found herself lost for words under his gaze.
Zach had no such problem and walked straight over, putting his arms around her and drawing her against his body. ‘Hello, Dizzy, how are you?’ he said, into her hair. He then moved his mouth lower so he was speaking directly into her ear. ‘I’m sorry. Adam insisted we come and I couldn’t think of a good enough reason to refuse,’ he murmured, so only she could hear him.
