Chapter Five
Genevieve drew closer to Finlay and watched the couple looking around his flat. She shouldn’t be enjoying this. She really shouldn’t. But how could she not? He wasn’t scary, even if her heart was pounding like mad. He was actually a chilled guy and the aura surrounding him was steady and unthreatening. This was the kind of guy she wanted. In her teenage years, he’d been the actual guy she wanted… Maybe he kind of still was but she couldn’t have him, so pretending was the way forward.
For the next few minutes anyway.
Her guard had dropped and it was ok. She wanted a flat like this and a man like Finlay. Someone steady and sensible. Playing house with him for this moment gave her a taste of what was missing from her life. Something she’d never successfully discovered: a real, deep and meaningful connection, not one that was nothing but a show or a business transaction.
Her followers knew her thoughts on ‘the one’ and how she was sure she’d know when he came along. But it wouldn’t be Finlay. Not now. It couldn’t be. He was leaving and she couldn’t cross that line she’d drawn for herself long ago.
She side-eyed him. He was looking back and her heart did that silly little flip-flop it always did in his company, but she was the mistress of it and knew nothing in her face would betray how she really felt.
‘Can we see the bedrooms now?’ the woman’s voice said from outside the French door.
‘Yes, of course,’ Finlay said. ‘Go on through. I… We’ll wait here, if you have any questions.’
The couple crossed the room and went back into the hall.
‘Aw,’ Genevieve said, keeping her voice level. ‘You said “we”. How sweet.’
‘Not sweet,’ Finlay said. ‘I just didn’t want you following them in there. We are waiting here.’
‘Why? I’m doing a great job selling your flat so far.’
‘Yeah, but with your amazing capacity to adapt to any situation, I didn’t want to risk you turning into a consultant in bedroom moves or anything like that.’
She glanced away, barely covering a laugh. ‘You don’t think my tantric instructions would be welcome?’
‘I look forward to the video on your next vlog.’ He wandered into the kitchen area.
‘Oh ha ha.’ But her pulse was racing. This was kind of like flirting, something she’d never let herself do with him.
‘Funny, aren’t I?’ he muttered, lifting a packet of crackers from the cupboard. ‘You want one?’ He waved the packet in her direction.
‘Er, no thanks. I better not. There’ll be nibbles all afternoon at the party. And prosecco and champagne.’
‘Nice.’ He scoffed a cracker. ‘I’m starving. I was so busy I didn’t have any lunch.’ Guzzling another cracker almost whole, he opened his fridge. ‘I’ll need to get some food for dinner too. I’ve got nothing left.’
‘I’ll bring you a doggy bag from the party. Honestly, the amount of waste will be awful and how my dad can justify it, I really don’t know. Not when most of the time he’s banging on about a greener planet.’
‘What kind of party is this?’
Genevieve pulled a face. ‘My dad has them every so often. He invites lots of businesspeople to the house and they spend the afternoon and evening pretending not to talk about business when, of course, they’re all sizing each other up.’ Or trying to get me to date them.
‘Why do you have to go?’
‘Well, who would turn down free drink and a free meal?’ And she felt like it was a duty to do it. She didn’t want to let anyone down.
‘Good point.’
She was expected to turn up and represent the family along with her parents. Neither her brother nor sister were ever able to go these days. They didn’t live as close or have the same ‘needs’ as Genevieve – ‘needs’ their parents had decided she had. Cressida was already married, so didn’t require them to find her a partner. Rafe had married young and divorced a few years later. Since then, he always had a girlfriend, usually a very glamorous one, though they didn’t seem to last long. It satisfied their parents however that he could find someone for himself. The fact he had his very own, and very successful, travel business also went in his favour – most of the time, though it sometimes annoyed their dad that he didn’t want to take on the family business. Genevieve was a hopeless case in their eyes and if she stopped attending the parties, they’d worry she was even worse than they’d thought. A few years ago, it had died down when she’d agreed to date James Charlton, whose father owned Duchan Fayre, a country shopping centre and restaurant, full of designer brands, with a reputation for high quality and prestige. The kind of place both Genevieve and her mum loved going to for the day. James was in the same position as her with his parents always trying to set him up. Their relationship had worked for a while, but Genevieve had attached more to it than James. He saw it more like a friends-with-benefits arrangement. But the benefits didn’t really work for her. If she’d even got a contract with Duchan Fayre to endorse their products she’d have been happy, but that hadn’t been forthcoming.
Opportunity missed.
‘The parties are usually quite smart,’ Genevieve said, trying to convince herself as much as anything.
‘Sounds very chic,’ Finlay said, taking a bite from another cracker, just as the couple came back in. He hastily turned around and shoved the packet back into the cupboard, obviously chewing fast.
‘Everything ok?’ Genevieve asked, sparing him the need to turn around with his mouth full of biscuit.
‘Yes. Great,’ the woman said. ‘I think we’ve seen everything we need.’
‘That’s good. Are you from the area or moving from somewhere else?’
‘We’re both from Perthshire originally, but we’ve just finished university in Glasgow and we’re hoping to move back up here.’
‘Well, good luck with your house hunting.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Yes,’ Finlay added, brushing his lips as he moved closer. ‘Thanks for coming. I’ll show you out.’
Genevieve crossed to the French doors and looked at the river beyond. Funny how she’d been so eager to leave twenty minutes ago. Now she quite liked the idea of staying here. Maybe she and Finlay could crack open a bottle of vino and sit out. They’d had an enjoyable bit of banter. Probably more entertaining than anything she’d get in the next several hours at her dad’s party. She sat down at the bistro table, resting her elbows on it and clasping her hands in front of her.
‘So…’ Finlay popped his head out the door. ‘They’re away. You ready to go?’
‘I suppose.’ She sighed.
He pulled out the other bistro chair and sat. ‘You don’t sound very enthusiastic. What’s up?’
‘Do you really care?’
He snorted. ‘Ok. That’s more like the you I’m used to.’
Genevieve huffed and shook her head, though he wasn’t wrong.
‘You know, Elise is some woman,’ he said, and Genevieve winced. She didn’t need to hear him telling her how wonderful Elise had been and how he missed her. ‘It’s the way she has people wrapped around her little finger that gets me. It used to be me. She does it to Hayley and you, it seems. I mean, why did you come with her when she dumped you straight away?’
‘She was upset. I had to. We’re friends and we help each other out.’
Finlay raised an eyebrow. ‘Very noble. I’m surprised you want to come anywhere near me.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Well, you’ve never exactly been my number one fan, have you?’
If only he knew.
‘I dread to think what Elise says about me,’ he said. ‘But it was her who broke up with me, you know?’
‘I know.’ Genevieve tapped the table with her nail. ‘She never says horrible stuff about you. I think she’s really sad about what she did. She was really cut up when she called me.’
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Really. I’ve known her for a long time and this has really affected her. I know she’s made mistakes but she’s not a bad person. After Aidan left, she just wanted everyone to know she was ok, she had everything together and was in a place to move on.’
‘So she used me.’
‘Maybe, but she also liked you.’
‘Just not enough.’ He tapped his linked hands on the table.
‘At least she was honest. It would have been worse to have kept on living the lie, don’t you think?’
‘You think that if it makes you feel better. Now, are we going?’
‘Hang on.’ Genevieve put up her hand. ‘Would you rather she pretended to have stronger feelings? What if you’d got married and then ended up being divorced years later, maybe after you’d had kids? Wouldn’t that have been worse?’ Was that not exactly what she’d hoped for with James? She’d hoped to squeeze something lasting from the relationship, knowing they didn’t have particularly strong feelings for each other. Was that the very definition of desperate?
‘Look, forget it. You’re probably right, but I can’t think about it like that yet. If she didn’t have those feelings, why string me along in the first place? That’s what I don’t like.’
Genevieve let out a sigh. This was the mess they had to deal with. ‘What does Hayley say about it?’
‘Not much. You know what she’s like. Always wanting to keep the peace, though I think she’s withdrawn a bit from Elise.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Hayley at least knows where to draw a line. For example, Elise wouldn’t even have asked her to do what you did this afternoon.’
Genevieve knew he was right. ‘I just wanted to help.’ She dropped her head into her hands before realising what she’d done. ‘I should go.’
‘Hey.’ Finlay’s hand grazed her arm and she looked up like an electric current had zapped her.
‘You did help. You’re a good friend to her.’
‘Oh… Thanks… But, um…’ she groaned. ‘I need to get to this party now.’
‘Fine, let’s go. But you don’t seem very happy about it.’
She brushed her skirt. ‘I’m fine. Just fine.’
‘Come on.’ He cocked his head to the left. ‘I’ve been around long enough to know when “fine” means anything but.’
She didn’t answer. How could she? He was so right. Why had she let her fa?ade slip in front of him, of all people? But he was so easy to talk to. He seemed genuinely concerned. Or was it just because she saw the resemblance to Hayley in him and she knew how kind she would be in this situation?
‘If you don’t want to go, then don’t,’ he said. ‘You know there’s this little word. It has two letters and starts with N and ends with O? Why not use it?’
She steepled her fingers at her chin and took in a deep breath. ‘That’s easy for you to say but it’s not that simple. This is family. Me attending the party is important to them.’
‘I know all about family loyalties. My parents are divorced, and both have had new partners. It’s never easy doing the right thing, knowing who to visit, whose story to believe.’
‘And the right thing for me is to go to the party.’
‘I’m sure it won’t be that bad once you get there. Sometimes thinking about things like that is worse than actually doing them.’
‘All the guests think they know me because of my dad and social media, even if I don’t know them. It makes conversation so awkward. Dad’s usually told them a bunch of stuff he should have kept to himself. It puts me at an instant disadvantage.’ She couldn’t believe she was saying all this out loud or even admitting it. Normally she took it with grace and indifference but maybe the last straw had finally fallen.
‘What kind of stuff does he tell them?’ Finlay pulled a face like he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.
‘My dating history mostly and how much I’d love to be happily married to whichever one of them can present me with the biggest cheque.’
Finlay chuckled. ‘Ok, so I get that it’s not actually funny, but when you put it like that.’
‘Yup. Hilarious.’
‘Come on, you’re a party animal. I know for a fact you, Hayley, and Elise have been partying hard for years. And you’ve got the charm. Look at how you charmed those viewers. Why not just turn it on for a few hours? How hard can it be? You do it for the camera every day – fake it for a few hours.’
‘That’s what I have to do.’ But she was tired of it. Really tired. Parties on her own terms were fine. She liked being surrounded by her crowd, dancing and knocking back the bubbly.
‘Just drink as much as you can,’ he suggested.
‘Who knows what I might do then?’
‘I dread to think.’
She rested her chin on her hand and gazed across the table at him. He looked so fit. She remembered Elise moaning about the amount of time he spent running, cycling and coaching sports clubs, but it had worked wonders on his physique. No doubt loads of the kids at his High School crushed on him. Sexy Mr McBride. She definitely would if she was still at school.
He put his elbow on the table and mirrored her pose with a very pronounced stare. ‘Penny for them.’
No way! She couldn’t let on what was going through her head at that moment – what had been going through her head for the last thirteen years. ‘Do you fancy going to a party?’ The words slipped out unbidden in the same way she’d let ‘no way’ slip out all those years ago when he’d offered to hold her hand as she tried the rollerblades. If she’d only said yes. How different things might have been and how much more would she have enjoyed rollerblading? She wouldn’t have ended up with a sprained wrist and two grazed knees anyway and she might just have caught the boy of her dreams before he got too far out of reach and a hedge of tangled complications grew in the way.
‘What?’ He frowned.
‘You know, come along to a party where you get to eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want and have a stunning and devoted date on your arm.’ Her voice was a little hysterical, somewhere between manic laughter and ugly crying.
‘Er…’
Why was she saying all this and digging herself a hole? Was she that determined to get egg splattered all over her face? But she couldn’t stop now she’d started. ‘Did I mention this date is the GOAT in the property market? A guru in green energy and an irresistible temptress with tantric expertise in the bedroom?’
Finlay snorted. ‘You are having a laugh, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, just a mad idea that was never going to work.’ She needed to leave and hopefully she’d never see him again after today. What must he think of her? If it had been bad before, it was downright hideous now.
‘What kind of thing would I be letting myself in for with this tantric temptress?’
She huffed out a laugh and raised an eyebrow. ‘Why not bring an overnight bag? You can find out.’
‘Are you mad? What has got into you? I always thought you were so… Well, prim.’
She stood up and pushed her chair under the table. ‘I am. It was just a silly moment. Forget it.’ Yes, forget. She didn’t need to persuade someone to date her out of pity or to save her from circumstances. That was James all over again. ‘Now, would you please take me home?’
He got to his feet. He was so pleasantly tall; just the right height in fact, not so tall he was towering but enough that her eyes landed naturally on his face without having to crick her neck. His movement disturbed the air, and she was hit by his shower-fresh eucalyptus scent again.
‘I didn’t say no.’
‘You didn’t say yes either.’ She arched an eyebrow, aware of the increase in her pulse tempo.
‘Party or not to party, that’s the question,’ he said. His eyes met hers and he seemed to look at her for a very long time, perhaps trying to extract more information from her, but she pulled her serene face back on. She’d already given away too much in that convo. Hopefully he wouldn’t go telling anyone. She didn’t want a pity party or everyone dissecting her moment of weakness.
Was he seriously considering this? Part of her wanted that so much but the other part was ringing alarm bells.
‘I’ll grab my overnight bag and lock up then,’ he said after a beat.
‘You’re coming?’ She gaped at him. Jump for joy or cringe? What would she tell her parents?
‘Yeah. What man could resist?’
Was he seriously thinking she’d been offering him—
‘Free food and drink,’ he said with a wink.
‘Um… of course. And you’re welcome to stay over. There are loads of bedrooms, but I wasn’t really meaning we… You know.’ Had her pulse rate just hit the red?
‘I get the deal. I hang about and ward off the unwanted attention.’
‘Exactly… While eating as much as you want from the buffet.’
‘What are we waiting for?’ He held out his arm for her to go inside, pulled the French doors shut and locked them.
Genevieve let out a breath. This day was getting stranger and stranger.