‘Daniel,’ I said in a strangled voice. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here!’
‘Chief chauffeur,’ he said, with a teasing raise of his brows. ‘There was a problem with the trains so I drove Sebastian up. Otherwise you’d be without his services this evening. Thought I could nip out for a quick burger and catch some football on Sky somewhere while he was working and then take him home.’
My heart did that annoying little lift, which my head slapped down quickly as Emily laid a proprietary hand on his arm.
‘Hope you won’t be bored, as we’ll all be at the premiere,’ she said, flirtatious as ever and then turning to me said officiously, ‘I’ve sent Sebastian up to see Miranda and introduce himself.’
‘Don’t you think you should have gone up with him?’ I asked, a little bit miffed. It was all very well for her to be entertaining Daniel in our hotel room, but she seemed to have forgotten that she was here to work and that I might want to get ready.
‘I’m on the way, bossy,’ said Emily, smiling at Daniel and adding, ‘She does fuss so.’
I gritted my teeth. The cow. She was making me look like some power-hungry bitch. I was fuming but didn’t want to lose it in front of Daniel. He really would think I was an old harpy.
Trying to sound sweet and reasonable, when I all wanted to do was scream at her, I managed, ‘Good luck, she was giving the stylist hell when I left. Make sure she’s on target for our departure time. No last-minute panics or tantrums. We mustleave at quarter to seven to allow for the traffic and be ready at the carpet point no later than seven ten.’
‘Yeah, yeah. I know, if we miss our slot blah, blah, blah.’
I wasn’t being anal. Didn’t she realise these premieres were run with precision timing? The schedule was everything. Air traffic control had nothing on this. Arrival slots were allocated according to celebrity ranking — if you missed yours you could kiss goodbye to the red carpet. You’d have to circle around the block for an hour before being allowed to arrive at the tradesman’s entrance alongside the set designer’s mother.
I glared at her. ‘Some of us need to get ready,’ I snarled, grabbing my make-up bag and pushing past Daniel into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
Inside I glared at myself in the mirror. My hair was doing a Medusa impression and I was looking very hot and bothered. I wanted to bash my head against the door. Bugger, bugger, bugger. Just once it would have been nice for me to look glamorous. There wasn’t even time to take a bath, so I stripped off and took a quick shower. The minute I stepped out I realised I’d left my underwear in the room.
It never occurred to me that anyone would still be in there. Thank God I’d wrapped myself in a bath towel.
I let out a surprised shriek. Talk about heaven and hell. Daniel looked up. Lounging on the bed reading the paper, he’d made himself completely at home, discarded tie flung on the chair, shirt open at the neck and suit jacket hanging on the back of the door.
‘Want me to scrub your...’ His grin dimmed as he registered my half-dressed state.
‘What are you still doing here?’ I snapped.
‘My we’re a bit snitty this evening. Not what it’s cracked up to be, being the boss? Or are you expecting someone else?’he asked, the smile had gone. What was it with him and his someone elses?
‘I just wasn’t expecting anyone to be here. And don’t call me “the boss”. I’m just doing my job.’
‘Not letting it go to your head?’ he asked, one eyebrow quirking. It wasn’t said in a joking tone, so I knew a little bird had been whispering in his ear.
‘No,’ I retorted just a bit too defensively. ‘Surely you know me well enough. Do you really think that running around after celebrities, sorting out designer dresses is my thing? There are days when I long for my wellies and hard hat. I even miss Jabba.’
‘Who?’
‘It’s a long story,’ I said, shaking my head.
‘I’m not going anywhere for a while,’ he looked sympathetic for a second.
‘Aren’t you?’ I said with dismay.
‘It’s all right, I’ll turn my back if you want. I told you I’m Sebastian’s chaperone. Emily said you’d got the room for the evening and that I could wait here until you leave and then I’ll snag a lift and go watch with the crowds.’
Did she now? Great — so now I had to get ready in a bathroom the size of a rabbit hutch and hide in there until I could take my rollers out. Not a look I wanted to parade in front of Daniel, although at the moment his eyes did seem quite fascinated by my legs.
I sidled past him, clutching the towel and rifled one handed in my overnight bag. A sensible person would have stopped and opened it properly instead of trying to retrieve everything through the half-fastened zip.
But I wasn’t thinking straight. Of course I managed to knock the bag on the floor, which meant struggling to hang on to my towel as I bent down demurely so as not to flash my bottom atDaniel. Sneaking a peep at him, I caught him trying to hide his amusement.
‘Want a hand?’ he asked, raising his eyebrows.
I was going to have to admit defeat otherwise my towel would be joining my belongings on the floor.
