Page 47 of Three's a Crowd
She was worried now that he’d foil her much-anticipated morning of fun, shopping and feeling special. Not to mention being able to use the experience to add colour to her report for Flash.
‘How on earth are you going to afford to buy new designer clothes?’ he asked crossly. ‘You were complaining only the other day about how little savings you have at the moment.’
Daisy paused for a moment, weighing up her options. Should she admit that Zach had given her the money that she was desperately excited about spending? She knew this would make Adam angry, but what the hell, he was already in a rotten mood,she may as well be entirely honest and take the insults he was bound to throw at her. Get it all over and done with in one go.
‘I won some last night on the roulette table,’ she said, after a beat.
‘I thought you said you were playing with Zach’s money?’ he said, a frown now marring his features.
‘I was. He gave me some of the winnings,’ she said, bracing herself for the angry onslaught that she knew was coming. Adam was nothing if not proud about money and he hated to be in debt to anyone.
‘Daisy, you can’t seriously be thinking of accepting money from Zach,’ he said, his voice shaking with anger.
‘Look, I’ve already taken it. I won it fair and square. Zach pretty much lost all his but still managed to come out on top because of me.’
‘Lucky old Zach,’ Adam said dryly, his eyes narrowed in petty annoyance.
‘I’m not discussing it any more,’ she said, ignoring him. ‘I’m buying myself some well-deserved clothes and that’s that.’ She swept out of the room and into the bathroom before he could say another word.
She took a quick hot shower, scrubbing herself hard in her fury. Adam could wind her up so badly sometimes, she thought, now drying herself furiously.
By the time she walked back into the bedroom, she’d started to calm down and hurriedly dressed, grabbing a pair of khaki shorts and a red, short-sleeved, vintage t-shirt with a coat of arms logo blazoned across the front.
Adam was in the adjoining living area, staring angrily at the television, which was showing an advert for a French supermarket.
She stuffed her feet into her sandals and approached the sofa where he was sitting.
‘Adam?’ she said gently, willing him to respond reasonably.
‘Yeah,’ he replied, not looking at her.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to come?’
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ he replied huffily. ‘I thoughtwecould spend a bit of time together this morning, that’s all. I feel like I haven’t seen you properly for months and I was looking forward to bit of us time. You know?’ he asked pleadingly.
Daisy experienced a wave of shame.
He was right, they hadn’t had much time on their own recently, but she was desperately sad at the thought of not going on the exclusive shopping trip now. She’d probably never get an opportunity like this again and she’d have plenty of time to make it up to Adam afterwards.
‘Please, Adam. I really want to go. I won’t enjoy myself later if I feel uncomfortable in my outfit. I won’t be long, I promise.’ She held up both palms in a pleading gesture. ‘I’ll meet you for lunch at one o’clock at the Petite Majestic, okay?’ she said, her body tense, willing him to respond favourably.
She saw his shoulders drop in defeat. ‘Okay then. Go. I’ll see you later,’ he mumbled. ‘Don’t be late,’ he added unnecessarily.
She was very rarely late for anything and he knew it.
‘Thank you,’ she said, gratefully. ‘I’ll get you a dinner jacket at the same time. See you later.’ Glancing at her watch, she saw it was already eleven o’clock. Breakfast would have to wait, even though her stomach was grumbling in protest.
She raced to the lift, which luckily descended straight to the lobby.
Zach was already waiting for her, sitting in a chair, his broad back to the middle of the room and his mobile in his hand, which he appeared to be reading something on. He looked up as she approached.
‘Aha! There you are,’ he said. ‘No Adam? He’s not drunk again?’ he asked in jest.
‘No,’ she said, unable to raise a grin. ‘He refused to come shopping. Not his scene, apparently.’
‘Fair enough,’ Zach said, though a slight frown crossed his face. ‘Well, in that case, let’s go.’
He rose gracefully from the chair, putting his phone in his back pocket, and escorted her out.
