Page 58 of Three's a Crowd
‘Daisy? Are you okay?’ Sonny asked, looking at her with what looked like genuine concern in his stunning golden eyes. He’d rescued her, she realised now. She’d probably still be standing there like a lemon, in the grip of a panic attack, if it hadn’t been for him. Taking a deep breath, she fought back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks and nodded, giving him a shaky smile.
‘I’m okay,’ she whispered, not feeling it in the least. ‘Have you seen Zach anywhere?’
He looked back at her steadily, his Hollywood-handsome face a picture of concern.
‘No, sorry.’ He smoothed the back of his hand over her cheek. ‘You poor darling. Come here,’ he said, gently pulling her towards him and enveloping her in a tight hug.
She stiffened at first, but after a moment relaxed into the comfort of the embrace. But she only had a moment of feeling safe in his arms before he pulled away from her and gazed into her eyes again.
‘Hey, it’s going to be okay. None of this is your fault,’ he reassured her.
‘It’s all my fault,’ she said with a small hiccough of shame.
He wrinkled his nose. ‘Nah. Well, apart from being too beautiful and driving us guys crazy with your super-cute charm.’
Even though she baulked at this cheesy line, she still felt the warmth of his compliment soak through her. It was like a lifeline at that moment, giving her a glimpse of safety after the terror of potentially losing the two people who meant most to her in the world.
The look Sonny was giving her was fascinating. She felt hypnotised by his shameless stare, his pupils dilated as he gazed into her eyes.
She was only aware of his mouth, hard on hers, a moment after their lips connected.
In a stunned daze, not helped by the alcohol, and the adrenaline and fear she’d been feeling only moments ago, she went with it, letting him kiss her. The feeling of being wanted and cared for but at the same time disgusted with herself for giving in to her base need made her thoughts swim to Zach, and for one intangible moment, she imagined it was him she was kissing.
‘What thefuck’sgoing on here?’ A deep, harsh, very familiar sounding voice broke into her trance-like state.
She jerked away from the kiss, shocked and a bit discombobulated to find herself in Sonny’s arms.
Zach stood over them, his body language emanating vibes of rage.
Nausea swelled in Daisy’s stomach as she took in the look of utter disgust on his face.
She shrank away from the ferocity of his gaze, intensely aware of how hard-pressed-up to Sonny she was on the sofa.
‘Uh, I think I’ll leave you two to it,’ Sonny said quietly, but with a disconcerting smirk on his face. He drew away from her and got up in one fluid motion, then strode off, not looking back.
Daisy watched him go, eking out the time before she had to turn and confront Zach’s wrath.
‘I just lost my best friend, defending you!’ He hissed angrily when she finally forced herself to look at him. His eyes flashed with intense disgust. ‘And you go and throw yourself at a wanker like him right afterwards. I didn’t think you had stars in your eyes, Daisy, but I was obviously wrong,’ he spat at her.
‘What are you talk?—?’
But he cut her off. ‘You’re doing this to get back at me, aren’t you? Did you have this planned from the start? All that doe-eyed innocence; you should give acting a go, you’d be great.’
‘Don’t be ridi?—’
He just talked over her. ‘I’m not falling for it any more, Daisy. I’m done with this – withyou.’
Then before she could even respond, he turned and walked away.
Daisy felt as though he’d just slapped her in the face. She sat there in stupefied shock for a moment, unable to believe that had all just happened, until she gathered her wits about her, got up on wobbly legs and ran after him as fast as she could in her ridiculously high heels.
Zach was striding onto the walkway that linked the yacht with the mainland when she caught up with him.
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ she said, grabbing his arm to stop him, urging him to turn and face her. ‘I don’t even know him. I only met him today.’
He stared at her in disbelief for a moment, then looked down with distaste at her hand still on his arm and shrugged her off.
‘Don’t touch me,’ he said with such ferocity, she took a step backwards.
