Page 67 of Three's a Crowd
Daisy felt trapped. It would look really weird if she refused to give it. So, she dictated her phone number and Carol tapped it into Zach’s phone.
‘There you go.’ She handed the phone back to Zach. ‘Text it to me, will you?’
‘Sure thing,’ he agreed, glancing surreptitiously at Daisy from under his dark lashes.
She had no idea what he was thinking, or even how she was supposed to feel about all this any more.
Carol broke into her thoughts. ‘Hey, Zach, I forgot to ask, did you beat Nathaniel Kingson to that part you were talking about?’
Daisy saw Zach visibly bristle at this name. She had a vague memory of hearing it before, but was struggling to remember where.
‘I’m pleased to say I did.’ He turned to look at her, right in the eyes. ‘Sorry, Daisy,’ he added with a strange hint of sarcasm. ‘I know how much you admire him.’
Daisy stared back at him in confusion. She didn’t even know who this guy was.
‘I met him once,’ continued Carol. ‘He’s a real sleazebag. Apparently, he tries it on with practically every woman he meets. “My friends call me Sonny, I hope you’re going to be one of them”,’ she mimicked in a smooth, deep American voice.
This was apparently a good imitation of him, because Zach pulled a face, in what looked like disgusted recognition.
Daisy, on the other hand, had a sudden, horrible, moment of clarity.
No.
Fuck.
It couldn’t have been him.
Could it?
The guy she’d met in the café in Cannes. The same guy that had rescued her after Adam had punched Zach.
The guy that Zach had seen her kissing…
Anguish flooded through her and she stared, unseeingly, at the floor as she tried to get her thoughts in order.
Zach had told her he was the guy that had slept with the casting director for the part that Zach really wanted.
He was hisnemesis.
She almost laughed. Almost.
It really wasn’t funny though.
No wonder he’d been so angry with her.
He thought she was attracted to the guy he despised most in the world.
The guy he’d opened up his heart to her about, in a very un-Zach like manner.
Hot shame trickled through her.
But it wasn’t all her fault. He hadn’t given her a chance to explain and had immediately accused her of being a film star groupie, proving how little he really trusted her. What had he said? ‘I never thought you had stars in your eyes’. It hadn’t made any sense to her at the time, but everything slotted into place now she knew which part of the puzzle it fitted into.
Her heart was racing again now and she felt a bit sick with it. She had to get out of there, away from him and back to normality, back to a place where she felt comfortable and safe. Where she could think straight.
‘I’ve got to go,’ she announced, aware of how abrupt she sounded, but not able to care right at that moment. ‘Bye.’
Without looking back at them, she hurried through the club and out into the cool night air, pausing only to grab her coat from the receptionist by the door.
