The Domville 6 (The Domville #6) (3 page)

Toni

‘Mandy, you’ve done an amazing job, as ever.’ I
smiled at her in the reflection of the mirror. She was an incredible makeup
artist. We’d met through a party I’d thrown for Daron Beck, back when his
career was shining. She’d been his makeup artist and we’d hit it off. She’d
agreed to help me out when I had events where I needed to look a bit more
glamorous.

‘Just tell me that all this effort won’t go to waste and
you’ll get yourself laid,’ she grinned.

‘With the guys I went to uni with? You have to be joking,’
I winked.

‘There must have been one good looking guy, other than
Daron, surely.’

‘O yeah, Finian Delany,’ I nodded, feeling my stomach
twist into anxious knots at the reminder that he was here, in this very hotel.

‘Finian … Finian,’ she mused as she put an index finger
to her lips.

‘Don’t tell me you slept with him too?’

‘Irish, with gorgeous blue eyes and dimples?’

‘Yes, that’s the one,’ I replied, reaching down to pick
at my short black painted nails. Seriously, was there anyone in London he
hadn’t fucked, other than Alexis and myself?

‘No, never slept with him, not that I’d have said no.
Gorgeous,
and that accent? Christ, had my knickers dripping, I can tell you. God only
knows how wet he’d have got me if he’d actually touched me or kissed me. My
sort of current guy works with him and he went out with my best friend Summer
for a while, years ago, but soon ditched her when he realised she wasn’t going
to give it up for him in his timeframe. She was quite upset about it and of
course I couldn’t go there then, not after that. In fact, if he’s here tonight,
slap him on her behalf. No, slap him twice, one from me for hurting my friend
as well.’

‘Don’t worry, if he’s here, he’ll be getting plenty of
slaps,’ I nodded, getting up when I heard loud rapping on my suite door. Mandy
packed up her gear as I headed over to the door and threw it open.

‘Wow, someone’s looking to rub his face in what he missed
out on,’ Alexis nodded as she scanned my body.

‘Very funny,’ I retorted, rolling my eyes. ‘You look
amazing.’ She had her blonde hair piled up on top of her head in a messy knot
and had done her eyes with some fake lashes and flicked out liner. She was
wearing a pair of tight black jeans, with peep toe shoe boots and a red corset
that barely contained her breasts.

‘I look slutty, and before you say anything, that’s
exactly the look I was going for. Frasier’s going to be eating out of the palm
of my hand tonight. Well, not just my palm,’ she giggled, doing a sexy wiggle
of her hips and shimmy of her shoulders. I burst out laughing and gestured her
in.

‘He might be married, for all you know.’

‘Please, like that ever stopped anyone at a school
reunion where partners weren’t on the invitation list. It’s like secret code
for a shagathon, anything goes and all bets are off. What happens in The
Domville, stays in The Domville. You might want ear muffs to drown out my sex screams.
O shit, you never said you had company,’ she scolded, slapping my arm with her
clutch bag when she spotted Mandy.

‘Don’t mind me, I’m all for screaming and anything goes.
If you strike out with Frasier, give Chopin in the Champagne bar a try.
Seriously amazing finger skills.’ Mandy winked at her, wiggling her own at us.

‘Really?’ Alexis asked, wide eyed for more information.

‘Best I’ve ever had and I’m not ashamed to admit how
qualified I am to make that statement. Right, Toni, unless you need me for
anything else, I have a date to get to.’

‘A date?’ I looked at her stunned. Mandy was well known
for being upfront about never wanting more than a good time. In fact, she was
the female equivalent of Finian.

‘Yeah,’ she blushed. ‘Don’t ask. It’s a whole love to
hate each other thing, but
man
, the sex is completely off-the-charts amazing.’

‘How long’s this been going on?’

‘About a year, but now he’s wanting us to try “coupley”
things,’ she air quoted, rolling her eyes.

‘Wow, must be some man to snare you and make you date.’

‘He’s
all
man,’ she sighed, with a dreamy look in
her eyes, then quickly snapped out of it, looking a little embarrassed. ‘It’s
only dinner, it’s not like I’m getting married or anything.’

‘It’s a slippery slope from sex no strings, once you
start having dinner,’ Alexis nodded. ‘Before you know it, you’ll have moved in
and you’ll be washing his smelly socks, bleaching and scrubbing his skids from
the toilet, and struggling out from under the duvet with watering eyes when he
farts and holds your head under.’

‘You sound like you speak from experience,’ Mandy
laughed.

‘A very short experience in his case. Stick to hot sex,
far less complicated.’

‘I wouldn’t mind the chance to just have hot sex, let
alone anything else,’ I complained, making them both laugh. I showed Mandy out
and hugged her goodbye with a massive thank you, before heading back to Alexis
waiting patiently in the lounge.

‘Wow! Seriously, Toni, you look DG.’

‘DG?’ I looked at her puzzled. ‘You’re telling me I look
like David Gandy? I mean, if I was a man, that would be a total compliment, but
come on!’

‘Drop Dead Gorgeous, stupid,’ she laughed, with a flick
of her finger on my head.

‘That would be DDG,
stupid
,’ I replied, with a
flick in response.

‘Owwww!’ she giggled, rubbing her forehead. I grinned at
her before my smile disappeared as nerves kicked in again.

‘Thank you. Do I really look good, or are you just saying
it to make me feel better?’

‘Jaysis,’ she mimicked, raising a small smile from me. It
was one of Finian’s Irish pronunciations that he’d never lost, well when I knew
him anyway. ‘Has he really knocked your confidence that badly? You look
amazing. That emerald dress just sets off your eyes, which Mandy’s really
enhanced with that gold eyeshadow, by the way. Then your figure, wow! I wish I
had your curves. You’re like Jessica Rabbit on speed.’

‘My arse looks fat,’ I grumbled, trying to look down at
it over my shoulder.

‘My grandad always used to say, what good is an arse
unless you can park a bike in it,’ she shrugged. I looked at her mortified.
‘Shit, he meant in a good way, I meant in a good way. Most guys like something
to grab. Look at mine, nothing bloody to it. I’d love to have your butt,
honestly I would. If you want him to look at you and wish he’d gone there, he’s
going to, for sure.’

‘Am I petty to want to make him regret never wanting me?’
I asked as I packed my gold clutch.

‘Hey, he never wanted me either, but I get how much
harder it must be for you. You two were so close, closer than even we were.
Everyone thought you were the perfect couple, no one could understand why you
weren’t together.’

‘Well, he made his feelings for me perfectly clear the
night he ran to Dubai and never looked back. Tonight is all about getting my
own back. I can let him think he can pick up our friendship where he left it,
then give back what I got. I am
not
going to fall for his Irish charms
again.’

‘Say that with a little more conviction and maybe I’ll
believe you,’ she retorted with a knowing look as she led me to the door. I
sighed. Could I really be that heartless? After this long, you’d have thought
I’d have got over him.

‘I hope he’s got really fat from eating too many sheeps'
eyes and that he’s got premature balding and erectile dysfunction,’ I muttered
as we shut my suite door and made our way to the lifts.

‘Now you’re talking,’ Alexis grinned, looping her arm
through mine and giving me a gentle shoulder bump, letting me know she was on
my side however this went down. I pulled out my mobile in the lift and rang
home.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Mum. It’s only me. Just checking in, how’s Charlie
doing?’

‘Good as gold. We played games all afternoon, he’s had
his dinner and was worn out, so he’s fast asleep on the sofa. I’ll make sure to
wake him up to go and sleep in his bed when I head up. Are you having a good
time?’

‘I’ll tell you tomorrow. We’re just heading into the party
now. Thanks for sitting for me, give him a kiss and cuddle.’

‘Will do. Have a great time, Toni.’

‘Bye, Mum.’ I hung up feeling reassured and noticed
Alexis shaking her head. ‘What?’ I protested.

‘Anyone would think he’s a baby the way you worry.’

‘He is, he’s my baby.’

‘He’s ten years old, Toni.’

‘I don’t care,’ I muttered stubbornly. He was my baby and
I loved him so much.

Finian

‘Jaysis! Could you unload a little slower?’ I hollered
out of my window at the taxi driver, who was taking his sweet time to unload
all the cases of the occupant while I idled, the engine running, waiting to get
to the valet parking rank. He’d only gone and feckin’ abandoned his taxi in the
middle of the sweeping Domville drive as well, meaning I couldn’t skirt around
him. I checked my watch. I was over an hour late for this damn party and I
still had to shower and change. I hoped my appointment running over would be
worth it, because I was liable to get an earful from Freckles the minute I saw
her. I chuckled as I remembered the last time she’d got mad with me for being
late, the night I picked her up for our uni graduation. Our last night
together. She’d torn me a new one, that was for sure. I lifted both hands off
the wheel and cheered when the taxi driver finally shut the boot and drove
away. I pulled up next to the waiting valet, leaving the engine of my
Mercedes-Benz SLK Roadster running as I grabbed my suit garment bag and
overnight case. I handed over the keys with a wink and a few notes to ensure
they’d look after it well. I was rewarded with a beaming smile and unspoken nod
of confirmation.

I strode into the lobby and headed straight for the
reception desk, resisting the urge to roll my eyes as three female
receptionists seemed to have started arguing about who was going to serve me.
Sometimes I felt like telling women it was just a face, a damned fine looking
face, but a face all the same. They didn’t know me, they didn’t know if I was a
great guy or a jerk, though that could depend on which woman from my past was
asked that question. I rapped my fingers on the marble countertop as I wondered
which category Freckles would put me in. Jerk, definitely jerk. I needed to
counteract that, starting tonight. Not that it was going to happen if I didn’t
get into my suite, showered and changed before the party was over. I smirked as
a male receptionist darted over when he saw I was still waiting, which made the
three women huff their indignation in the background, throwing daggers his way.

Half an hour later, I was ready. I fiddled with my shirt
cuffs as I headed down in the lift and looked up at the mirrored ceiling.
Christ, had my hair always been so wild? I quickly combed it with my fingers,
then held the door as we stopped on a floor where a young woman was struggling
with a baby’s pushchair. She smiled at me, a faint blush creeping across her
face before she broke her gaze and moved next to me. I looked down at the pram
to see a blue blanket moving like there was a bed of snakes writhing under it.
Suddenly the blanket slipped to the ground. I bent to pick it up faster than
she did and handed it back to her with a smile.

‘Little boy, I take it.’

‘Yes,’ she nodded, as she moved to tuck the blanket back
around his kicking chubby legs. ‘My first. Do you have kids?’

‘No, not yet anyway.’

‘You’re planning on them?’

‘I have five sisters, so I’m used to a big family. I’d
like that too, one day.’

‘Five sisters? Gosh, I have a hard time managing one
baby, let alone six. Your mum’s amazing to have handled that many of you.’

‘She really … is,’ I replied, adjusting my tense at the
last moment. I didn’t like strangers offering me sympathy, so it was easier not
to correct them. ‘Late night for the young chap.’