Illusions of Love (11 page)

He gave a quiet laugh, and
India
liked the way his eyes crinkled up when he did that.
 
He had a very expressive face.
 
A strong face.
 
‘Hey, spending the afternoon kissing you wasn’t exactly a chore.’

She suddenly felt a touch shy, looking down at her hands as they fiddled with the stem of her champagne flute.
 

‘Does it feel, y’know, uncomfortable?
 
Doing scenes like that with your ex-husband directing?’ Dominic asked.

She looked up at him.
 
‘No.
 
Why should it?’
 
She was aware she’d sounded slightly defensive there and she sat back in her chair, trying to relax, but she couldn’t help feeling a little on edge, for some reason.
 
As if something was about to happen that she couldn’t quite predict.

He sat back too, holding up his hands.
 
‘Hey, it’s okay.
 
I didn’t mean to ask anything personal.
 
I just wondered, that’s all.
 
I guess it’s because I’ve never been in the position of working so closely with someone I used to be married to.’

She sighed, sitting forward again, taking a long drink of champagne, because she needed it.
 
She needed something to help her relax.
 
She suddenly felt quite anxious, and she had no real idea why.
 
‘I’m sorry, Dominic.
 
I think the day’s just caught up with me, that’s all.
 
Filming, looking after Ethan, fending off a disapproving father at the age of forty-two… it’s bloody tiring.’

He gave that laugh again and she couldn’t help laughing too.
 
‘I really like you,
India
.
 
And, well, you and I – we’ve got a lot more in common than you think.’
 
He looked right into her eyes.
 
‘A lot more.’

She was about to ask him what, exactly, when that unpredictable situation she’d been half-expecting suddenly happened.
 
‘Oh, Jesus, what’s
he
doing here?’

Dominic turned around, following
India
’s gaze.
 
‘Who?’

‘JJ Foster.
 
My husband.’

She finished her glass of champagne and stood up, pushing her chair under the table as Dominic stood up too.
 
‘I’m sorry, Dominic.
 
Maybe we can do this again, another night?’

‘How about dinner?
 
Tomorrow?’
 
Had that sounded slightly desperate?

She smiled and nodded.
 
‘That’d be nice.
 
Look, I’d better go see what he wants.
 
I really am sorry.’

But not as sorry as Dominic was.
 
Because, when India found out just what it was that they had in common, this whole game was about to change.
 
Big time.

***

Charley had the best team of stylists behind her.
 
They were some of the most talented and sought after in
L.A.
, many of them having defected from rival salons to work for her as
Charley’s
reputation continued to grow.
 
And this fashion show they were working on needed the very best stylists she could get because the list of names taking part was becoming bigger and more important as each day went on.

They’d now not only be styling the hair of the models taking part, they’d also be working with some big celebrity names from the worlds of
 
TV, music and movies that had agreed to hit the runway in the name of charity.
 
But Charley was no stranger to the world of celebrity.
 
She had many big-name clients who used
Charley’s
on a regular basis, but some of these names taking part in the fashion show were huge.
 
And she didn’t want to let anyone down.
 
So, she’d gathered together the absolute best team she could, with stylists and colourists at the top of their game, ready to do work that could put both of her salons right on the map and, maybe, help get her that New York-based salon she’d started to dream of.
 
She hadn’t thought it possible when she’d first started out, but now it was very much within her grasp.
 
She just needed to work that little bit harder.

‘Who’s got the hairpieces?’ Charley asked as her team set up for yet another meeting with Candice at her
Brentwood
studio.

The models were due to arrive within the next hour and she couldn’t find the blond and red hairpieces that she’d laid out back at the salon.
 
She’d assumed somebody had picked them up and brought them with them, but she should have been more on the ball and checked herself.
 
Her fault, really.

‘Nobody?
 
Great.
 
I’d better go back to the salon and get them then.’

‘Ring Brad,’ Callie smiled.
 
She was the youngest of the stylists on Charley’s team, but incredibly talented none-the-less.
 
She was examining one of Candice’s dresses from the collection she was debuting at the show and Charley was just pleased to see that at least one of her team had thought to look over the garments with a view to matching the hair and make-up.
 
Candice had a brief, but she also wanted any ideas Charley’s team were willing to put forward.
 
‘He could get someone to bring them over, couldn’t he?
 
Alex has got a motorbike, he could be here in no time.’

Charley smiled at Callie, grabbing her handbag.
 
‘No.
 
Alex has a client in this morning, and a very important one at that.
 
It’s okay.
 
I might as well go get them myself, it won’t take long.
 
There’re a few things I want to check over at the salon anyway.
 
Will you guys be alright on your own for a while?
 
Do you all know what you’re doing?’

A cacophony of
‘yes’
and
‘of course’
echoed round the room and Charley smiled again.
 
They were a great team.
 
Of course they’d be okay.

‘Oh, and you could all do a lot worse than following Callie’s example.
 
Get a look at the clothes Candice is showing and think of the kind of hair and make-up that would compliment those garments.
 
I know she’s got her own brief but if we can get a couple of our own ideas out there than that’s great news for our salon.
 
And for you lot.
 
Back in a bit, kids!’

She ran out of the building and jumped into her car, pulling away probably a touch faster than she should have done.
 
Beverly Hills
wasn’t exactly miles away, she had plenty of time.

Switching on her iPod she quickly settled on a playlist of summer songs, tracks that sounded good in the sunshine, and she turned up the volume as the climate control kicked in, tapping her fingers along to Don Henley’s
Boys of Summer
as she drove.
 
She felt good.
 
Those silly feelings of unease she’d felt a couple of days ago had disappeared now.
 
She’d just been tired, that was all.
 
Tiredness, and an empty, echoing salon had a habit of playing tricks on the mind.
 
She knew nobody was watching her.
 
Why would anyone want to watch
her?
 
She was nobody special.
 
She almost laughed at the idea that somebody could think her important enough to follow.
 
What a ridiculous thought!

But what Charley didn’t know was that somebody
did
think her important enough to follow.
 
Somebody who was about to make his presence felt very soon.
 
And Charley couldn’t have been less ready for what was about to happen.

***

‘What are you doing here, Joe?’
India
asked, grabbing her husband’s arm and dragging him away from the terrace, back inside the hotel.

‘A bit predictable, isn’t it?’

‘What are you talking about?’

He stuck his hands in his pockets and adopted an expression akin to that of a bored and spoilt child.
 
‘Come on,
India
.
 
Dominic MacDonald?’

‘He’s my co-star, Joe.
 
We’re going to be working together for a good few weeks, what is so wrong with having an innocent drink and getting to know him?’

‘
You
might think it’s an innocent drink but he’ll be eyeing you up with a view to gaining another notch on his leading-lady bedpost.
 
Is that what you want, huh?’

‘Jesus, Joe, what the hell
is
this?
 
Have you come all the way to Vegas just to start on me?
 
Because I’m really not in the mood.
 
I’ve had a long day…’

‘With Dominic MacDonald?
 
Leading Lothario?’

‘Have you heard yourself?’

He leant back against the wall and closed his eyes for a second, sighing heavily.
 
‘And I thought I was coming here to find Michael Walsh the threat.’

India
looked at him, unable to believe what she was hearing.
 
‘Hang on.
 
What exactly is going on here?
 
Nobody is a bloody threat, Joe, because
we
are getting a divorce, which renders any relationships I may or may not be having absolutely
nothing
to do with you.’

‘He opened his eyes and stared at her.
 
‘May or may
not
be having?’

‘Absolutely nothing to do with you,’ she repeated, staring back at him.

‘So, that’s it then?
 
We just give up, we just walk away from this marriage?’

‘Yes, Joe.
 
I thought we’d been through all this?
 
Baby, we had some great times, and don’t think that I didn’t love you because I was
crazy
about you…’

‘
Was
?’

She looked up into those deep, dark eyes and the guilt she still felt at letting him down so badly almost overwhelmed her, as it always did when she thought too much about it.
 
But she couldn’t live a lie.
 
She’d tried, but she couldn’t do it.
 
It wasn’t fair on either of them, but especially not on him.
 
He deserved better.
 
He deserved so much better than her.
 
‘It’s over, baby.’
 
Her voice was quiet as she reached out and took his hand, wrapping her fingers around his.
 
‘You know we couldn’t go on the way we were, Joe.’

‘And what way was that,
India
?
 
Me crazy in love with you but you never quite being able to love me back?’

She sighed, letting go of his hand.
 
‘Whatever you want to think, Joe.
 
I’m not doing this to hurt you, believe me.
 
I never wanted that to happen.’

‘I don’t give up without a fight,
India
.
 
I can’t do that.
 
I still love you, baby, don’t you get that?
 
I still love you.’

‘I know you do…’
 
She really didn’t want to get into this, especially not here.
 
Especially not now.
 
‘I know that, Joe, but… Jesus, why have you come here?’

‘Because
I
think we have something worth fighting for.
 
But it seems obvious to me that you don’t feel the same.’

India
just stared at him, unable to say anything because she just couldn’t find the words.
 
She’d told him how she felt, she thought they’d done all the talking they needed to do.
 
She’d had no idea he was so determined to keep fighting, and she should be happy that here was a man who loved her so much he was willing to exhaust himself in his efforts to win her back, but all she felt was sadness.
 
Because she couldn’t fight that same fight.

JJ broke the stare, turning away from her for a few seconds as he blinked back furious tears he’d been so determined not to cry, but he was tired now.
 
Tired of fighting a battle that she wasn’t willing to be part of anymore.
 
But it was a battle he still didn’t want to lose, even if he
could
feel any chance of victory slipping away by the second.
 
‘Are you going back to Michael?’ he asked, voicing a question he’d been terrified to ask, but one he needed to know the answer to.