My heart hammered in my throat. There was no reason for his words to affect me so. Yes, he was my ex; yes, he was gorgeous but we had been there a long, long time ago and there was no need to go back, even though we could never repeat history. I made a promise to myself that once Katie’s case was over I would look at meeting someone seriously, not just a hook up or a booty call. I wanted what Jackson and Vanessa had, the whole wedding and kid’s thing and I didn’t want to be the last of my siblings to find it.
Me:Thank you. It’s a colour that should suit us all.
Killian:That’s irrelevant. You look beautiful in it.
Vanessa looked at me, her expression suggesting she was about to take no bullshit. “Spill.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s… It’s not a thing.”
“Have you slept with him?”
I was a lawyer but I couldn’t tell a bare faced lie, so I said nothing and considered how to deflect the question. “I haven’t slept with anybody in a long time. When this case is over I need a decent fling.”
“Have you ever had sex with Killian?” She kept her voice low, making sure that Sophie and Amelie wouldn’t overhear. They were, to be fair, too busy looking through accessories and drinking more champagne. “Okay, get changed and let’s a get a drink.” She used a finger to push me towards the changing room.
“Aren’t we going to the other shop?” I said, nearly teetering over in the heels I’d put on to go with the dress.
“No point. We’ve found what we wanted. You pick styles. I order them. We come back and try on in six months,” she said. “After which nobody gains or loses any weight.”
Amelie held out a dress to Sophie and they both started to giggle. I took a step towards them, hoping they’d be distracted then I could avoid the conversation with Vanessa, but she stuck out a hand and grabbed my shoulder.
“I need to speak to my soon-to-be-sister-in-law,” she said loudly. “We’ll meet you in The Star.” She directed me in to the changing room, telling me to hurry up and I wondered at what point Vanessa had become so bossy.
Ten minutes later I had a large glass of red wine and a bar stool positioned exactly so I could see Vanessa’s expression morph into that of someone who worked in the interrogation unit of a spying agency.
“Have you slept with Killian?’
“What’s lead you to think that?”
“You have chemistry; I saw him carry you to bed a few months ago when we were all at your parents; the way you bicker and most of all, the way you look at him.”
“How do I look at him?” There was no point in denying the accusations yet. I needed to work out my defence before creating a scenario that Vanessa would be able to see straight through.
“Like you want to eat him up as if he was honeycomb dipped in chocolate.” She tipped her head to one side and regarded me. “Claire, I’m not going to tell Jackson or anyone else for that matter, but you’ve been terminally single since I’ve known you. You have gone on countless dates with men who, to be honest, haven’t really deserved the title of ‘male specimen’, meanwhile Killian is pretty much edible, intelligent and has the whole sexy caveman thing going on. If you haven’t been there, I’m not sure why and think it should be on your agenda.”
“Thank you for that pearl of wisdom.” I sipped my wine and chose to say nothing.
So, did Vanessa. For at least five minutes.
Then I caved.
“You can’t say anything,” I said, kicking myself at the same time as feeling relieved. “We had a relationship during my first year at university, but my brothers didn’t know. It was a long time ago and a lot of things have happened since then.”
She took another mouthful of wine. “Why did it end?”
“I ended it.”
“Why?”
I sighed, irritated. “It was a long time ago and it really doesn’t matter now.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. “Van, I was nineteen. We were kids.”
