Sugar Daddies (10 page)

I stepped through the door at midday and Mum shot up from the dining room table. She hovered while I kicked off my boots in the hallway.

“What?” I said.

“You know what.”

Urgh. I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t tell me he called you. What a prize fucking prick.”

“Watch your mouth,” she said, and I shot her the finger.

I smiled and so did she.

“I’m not talking to him,” I said. “He can piss off.”

“He said he’s been calling for a week.”

“
No
,” I said. “His
office
has been calling for a week. Him, no.
He
called once. Earlier. I was busy.”

“Semantics. He’s been calling for a week.”

“I don’t give a shit what he’s got to say. I’m not interested in any little non-family get-togethers. I’m not interested in Verity’s new fucking show pony. I’m not interested in how wonderful his wonderful life is.” I tossed my phone from my pocket to illustrate my point. “I really don’t care. I want none of it.”

“He’s your dad…”

“He’s my
sperm donor
. Nothing more.”

She pulled a face. “That’s horrible, Katie.”

“
He’s
horrible.”

“He’s still your father.” She grabbed my phone, held it out to me. “Call him.”

I shook my head. “No fucking chance.”

“You should call him. He wants to speak with you about something.”

“I couldn’t care less what he wants.”

“You will,” she said. “Call him.”

I took the phone but made no move to dial. “Why will I?”

Mum ran her hands through her hair, and it curled at the ends in the exact same way mine does. We could have been sisters. People often said so. “Ask him!”

“You tell me,” I insisted. “What does he want?”

She sighed. “He has an opportunity for you.”

“Then I’m really not interested in calling,” I laughed. “I don’t need his
opportunity
.”

“This is different,” she said. “You need to consider this one.”

“I don’t need to consider anything from him.” The promise of three grand a month held me in warm arms. “I can sort my own shit out.”

She leaned against the table and took a breath. “Harrison Gables.”

The name stole my breath. I gawped for long seconds. “What about Harrison Gables?”

Harrison Gables was the best horse whisperer in the whole universe. He’s the best of the best. The guy works miracles. He works with the wild horses on the cowboy plains in the US, and he’s known worldwide. I’d give anything to meet him, but he rarely indulges an audience.

My heart fell before she’d even finished the words. “Verity is going…”

I should have known. Of course Verity would be going. Princess Verity could do anything, have anything, go anywhere. Of course Princess Verity would want to go and meet Harrison Gables, not least because
I
wanted to go and meet Harrison Gables. I couldn’t hide the resentment from my voice. “Why tell me that? That’s so fucking unfair.”

She shook her head. “No! That’s the thing! He wants to send
you
.”

My belly fluttered and twisted. “Me?! Why?”

“Maybe because you’re his
daughter
?”

I tried not to shoot her nasty eyes. All this time and she still defended him. She’d never stopped defending him. It was sad really.

I forced myself to breathe, telling myself this was some stupid game, some stupid trick, even though my heart was daring to hope, daring to dream.

“What does he want? He must want something?” I couldn’t stop the pout. “Verity need a kidney donor or something? Maybe they want to harvest my
sub-standard
DNA to save
precious
. He’ll need to come up with more than Harrison Gables in exchange for my organs.”

Mum rolled her eyes. “Ask him,” she said, and gestured to my phone. “Who knows? It could be something
good.
Have you considered that?”

No. I hadn’t considered that. There was little point. It was never good. I stood mute, just staring.
Harrison fucking Gables.

“Alright,” I relented. “I’ll call him.”

Mum looked relieved. She chivvied me along with frantic hands, and then she said the ominous words.

Ominous words that never boded well.

“Think before you give an answer,” she said. “I mean it, Katie, you need to
think
about things. Don’t go bladdering in there making rash decisions.”

I dialled the number before she could make me promise anything.

“Call her,” I said. Rick was staring at his phone, pretending to be tapping away on some thing or another, but I knew. His brows were too serious.

“No.”

“Call her. See if she’s coming back this afternoon.”

“No!” he said. “Just give her some time, will you?”

I smirked. “Don’t pretend you aren’t shitting it. You want to know if she’s coming back. So, call her.”

“You’re wasted, you know that? You should start up an agony aunt column.
Ask Doctor Carl
. It would be an instant hit.”

“Mock all you like, my advice is sound. People just don’t want to hear the truth.” I turned my nose up at his little veggie crackers and
grabbed some bread from the bread bin. “You don’t really think she’s coming back, do you?”

“I do actually,” he said. “I know she’ll be back. I’m just not sure when.”

“Next weekend. If she wants to get paid.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “And that’s what I’m supposed to say, is it?
Hey, Katie! You’d better be back here Saturday. It’ll be two dicks next time. We’ll have lube.
”

“What’s wrong with that?”

He sighed, and nibbled at his veggie delight. “It’s just so… base.”

“And?”

“And… just… non-seductive.”

“We’re supposed to pay her
and
seduce her now, are we?” I stuck the bread in the toaster. “Surely she should be seducing us, no?”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t make an effort.”

“We made an effort.”

“You uncorked a bottle of red. Big deal.”

I groaned. “So, what do you suggest? Candlelight and truffles?” I smirked. “Then dick?”

“This place is intimidating.”

I laughed. “Is it hell. It’s just a fucking house, Rick, not a bastard castle.”

“That’s not what I mean,” he said. “She’s walking onto our turf. It’s
intimidating.”

“And this is where we
live.
”

He sighed. “Let’s go away. Take her with us. Just for the weekend.”

“Out?”

“Brighton. Manchester. Anywhere.”

“And then what?” I watched the steam from the toaster. Rick and his soft fucking ideas.

“And then we drink, and relax, and have fun.” His eyes sparkled. “And then she takes two cocks.”

“She isn’t going to take two first go, Rick, even I know that.”

He shook his head. “She’ll take two, trust me. It’s all in the technique.”

“We’ll tear her apart.”

“Trust me.”

The toaster popped. “I’ll be happy to trust you,” I smirked. “Just as long as you can pissing well get her there.”

He smiled. “So, we’ll go? Brighton?”

“Wherever you want,” I said. “No expense spared…”

He punched the air.

“…on one condition.”

“What condition?”

I took a seat at the table. Focused on him deadpan.

“You’ve got to promise me we’ll both be buried to the balls in that tight little snatch before the night is out. Otherwise it’s no fucking deal.”

He held out a hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, partner.”

“Katie!”

Urgh. His fucking voice. Such a snobby, self-righteous fucking prick.

“You called?”

He sighed, made a right fucking mountain out of it. “You could have returned my calls sooner. It’s unfortunate I had to call your mother.”

“She said.”