Bad Girls (49 page)

‘I said sorry!’ she said furiously. ‘I
said
I was sorry, and I didn’t mean those photos to be published, and you’re
still
going on at me, which is
totally
unfair!’ She narrowed her eyes at Dr Lucy. ‘
I’m
not the person betraying everyone round here! You’ve been flashing your ring at us like it’s a sodding torch – well, you should look at your own fiancé!’

Across the circle, Skye saw Amber jump as Petal continued: ‘I know he and Amber were doing something! I had my session with Dr Raf after Amber, and I
know
something was going on between them! You should have
seen
how they looked afterwards!’

Petal was panting now in anger. ‘You think you’re so above us all!’ she said, jumping up, hands on hips, staring down at Dr Lucy. ‘Well, you’re not, you smug cow! You’re not! How dare you lecture
me
about betrayal, like I was the worst person in this room – while your
fiancé
’s been cheating on you with a
patient
!’

Practically everyone gasped in shock. Skye heard her own near-yelp of surprise; she couldn’t believe Petal had gone this far, had actually accused Dr Raf and Amber of getting it on.

‘OK, I’m calling time out,’ Joe said, standing up too. ‘This is out of control. I’m sure no one actually believes what Petal just said. I sure as hell don’t—’

‘You
bitch
!’ Dr Lucy shrieked, coming out of her seat as if she’d been ejected from a plane.

Petal squared up to her, but she wasn’t Dr Lucy’s target.

‘I
knew
something was going on!’ Dr Lucy screamed, launching herself at Amber.

Amber didn’t have time to get out of the armchair: it was Brian, sitting next to her, who lunged forward and tackled Dr Lucy, dragging her back. Dr Lucy landed awkwardly on Brian’s lap, his arms around her waist in a parody of an embrace.

‘You bitch!’ she yelled at Amber, kicking at Brian. ‘I
saw
you making eyes at him! I saw you doing that whole poor-little-me routine!’

‘I did
not
!’ Amber yelled back, shoving back her chair and standing up. ‘I did
not
do that! Believe me, if there’s one man I’ve met in my life who
doesn’t
think I’m some poor little thing who needs to be rescued, it’s Dr Raf! He
respects
me! He taught me how to think of myself as a grown woman!’

‘Oh, I bet he did!’ Dr Lucy snarled, elbowing Brian in the stomach to make him let her go. With a desperate whooping sound, Brian slackened his grip, and Dr Lucy was on her feet again.

‘Ladies!’ Joe got between her and Amber, all six foot three of him, wide as a brick wall. ‘Please! Let’s all calm down here!’

Skye had pushed her chair back a little, to avoid getting trampled or fallen on. Glancing over, she caught Petal’s eye.

‘You really stirred up the shit this time!’ she mouthed.

‘She deserved it!’ Petal muttered back.

Yeah, but did Amber and Dr Raf? Skye thought. She caught Mitch’s eye again – he was staring at her very creepily, as if he were imagining her and Joe together.
Well, I guess not all the guys here fell for Amber. I got the weirdo freak crushing on me.

‘Hey, lady—’ Dr Lucy flailed at Joe, who caught her shoulders and held her away from him. ‘Calm down, OK? Petal was just running her mouth. You
were
pretty hard on her.’

‘Lucy,’ Dr Raf said, coming up next to Joe, ‘this is totally inappropriate—’

‘Don’t you talk to me about
appropriate
, you
bastard
!’

Dr Lucy wrenched free of Joe and swung round on Dr Raf, her eyes glittering angrily.

‘We need to stop this session,’ Dr Raf said very calmly and quietly, raising his hands to waist level and making a pushing motion down. ‘This is doing no good. Lucy, we need to stop this session right now, OK?’

Dr Lucy took a deep breath, getting herself back under control.

‘We obviously need to talk,’ Dr Raf said. ‘But this isn’t exactly the forum.’ He even managed a wry smile. ‘This was supposed to be all about Brian – Brian, I can’t apologize to you enough—’

Everyone swivelled to look at Brian, who was still clutching his stomach and coughing from the blow Dr Lucy had landed with her elbow.

‘Dude, no need,’ Brian wheezed, holding up one hand. ‘That was the best last day in rehab
ever
.’

‘Lucy, let’s take a moment,’ Dr Raf said, reaching out and taking hold of his fiancée’s upper arm.

Everyone caught their breath, but Dr Lucy didn’t swing round and punch him in the face; instead, her shoulders sagged, as if in defeat, and she let him lead her away to the windows at the far side of the meeting room.

‘Whooh,’ Joe said, letting out his breath in a long rush. ‘Intense.’

‘I’m overloaded!’ Mitch announced loudly to no one in particular, getting up from his chair. ‘I’m overloaded!’ He stumped across the room, head ducked, and slammed his way through the door, disappearing from sight.

‘Damn, I’m glad I didn’t have to share with him,’ Joe said. ‘What a nutcase.’

‘Brian . . .’ Petal went over to Brian’s chair and ducked down beside him. ‘I’m really sorry about all this. I didn’t mean to mess up your leaving day—’

‘You
do
like to be the centre of attention,’ Brian said, grinning at her. ‘Can you get me some water?’

As Petal went to find Brian a bottle of water, Skye was taken completely aback to realize that Joe had approached her.

‘Come out into the garden with me, willya?’ he asked.

She looked around quickly, but, for the first time that afternoon, no one was paying any attention to them. No one stopped them as they left the meeting room; there was no staff member in the corridor to ask them what they were doing.

A couple of people Skye didn’t recognize were lying on the loungers, smoking, at the far end of the garden. Her heart beating fast with nerves and excitement, Skye went over to the fountain and sat down on the wide stone rim. Joe followed, propping his hips against it, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from the back pocket of his trousers.

‘So,’ he began, and then fell silent, staring past her.

What’s going on? Skye thought frantically. He can’t have asked me out here just to have someone to smoke with! She glanced up at him under her lashes. He looked . . . Confused, she realized.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen Joe looking less than sure of himself.

‘Why didn’t you try to find me after we got kicked out of here?’ she blurted out, her voice wistful. ‘You didn’t bother to track me down, but you got in touch with Amber . . .’ She could have kicked herself for sounding needy as soon as the words were out. But she couldn’t help it. She cared about him, a lot, and she’d thought she’d never see him again.

Joe looked down at her, seeing the naked imploring expression in her eyes. ‘Babe,’ he said gently, ‘I bumped into Amber in a restaurant, OK? Yeah, I got my assistant to get her number, but it wasn’t like I got some PI to find out where she was.’

‘Really?’ Skye’s face brightened at once.

It’s ridiculous how much this means to me, she thought. But I can’t help it. When I’m around Joe, I’m like a sixteen-year-old with her first crush.

‘Sure it is,’ Joe said reassuringly. ‘I was happy to see her. But I had enough shit of my own to be sorting out after everything that went down here, you know?’ Joe shrugged his wide shoulders. ‘You wouldn’t believe the hell Carmen and Jen put me through. Carmen yells and Jen sort of shrills at you. It’s like being attacked by an Alsatian and a Chihuahua.’

Skye couldn’t help smiling.

‘That’s better,’ Joe said approvingly, reaching down to trace her lips with his thumb. ‘And hon,’ he added ruefully, ‘it’s not like you just wanted me for my blue eyes, is it?’ He tapped a cigarette out of the packet. ‘You were filming me all the time. That hurt a bit, I have to tell you.’

Skye bit her lip. ‘I wish I hadn’t,’ she said sadly. ‘I really wish I hadn’t. And I was just going to keep it for myself. If Petal hadn’t gone to the papers, I’d never have shown that film to anyone.’ She managed a little grin. ‘Except you.’

‘Well, it
was
hot,’ Joe admitted, lighting up his cigarette. ‘I watched it a few times on the net.’ He grinned as he blew a smoke ring. ‘We put on a damn good show, didn’t we?’

Skye took a deep breath. ‘Joe, I’m going to tell you everything,’ she said.

‘OK,’ he said, twisting to look at her fully. ‘Fire away.’

This is my last shot, Skye knew with cold clear certainty. If he walks out of here without feeling any connection between us, I’ll never see him again.

‘The
National Investigator
did hire me,’ she said, putting her hand on his big thigh, as if to hold him there, make sure he couldn’t leave till she’d finished. ‘There was this journalist I knew from the club I worked at in New York. He picked me out and flew me to LA to set you up. They gave me the bag with the camera, everything. Paid Dave to get it past the intake search.’

‘Huh,’ Joe said, taken aback. ‘So when I thought I was being so cute, bribing Dave to get us somewhere to be alone, he was already on the payroll?’ He shook his head. ‘I guess I’m not quite as sneaky as I thought.’

‘But then,’ Skye pressed on, ‘then I realized I was really attracted to you. And I don’t mean just sex.’ She couldn’t help smiling. ‘I mean, everyone must want to have sex with you.’

‘Back atcha, babe,’ Joe said amiably.

‘I
like
you,’ Skye insisted. ‘I really like you. I like talking to you. I like hanging out with you. I like just – being with you, even when we’re not saying anything at all.’

Then she realized that she had Joe’s full attention. He was looking down at her, a genuine smile sparking in his eyes.

‘That’s it?’ he asked, taking another drag of his cigarette, his eyes never leaving her face. ‘You like me?’

‘What am I supposed to say?’ Skye said crossly. ‘That I’m madly in love with you? Well, I’m not! I don’t know you that well! I’m not going to bullshit you!’

‘I guess you’re not,’ Joe said, smiling. ‘Well, hey. I can live with being liked.’

‘Don’t make fun of me!’ Skye pulled away from him, really angry now. ‘I know I should never have sold that video to the
Investigator
, and I’m really sorry I did! Not just for you, for me. I shouldn’t have done it. But I was out in LA without any money, I didn’t want to go back to stripping –’ all her resentment burst out now – ‘and it wasn’t me you were helping with jobs! I got some auditions, and the only one I nailed without the director asking me to blow him, you’d fixed up with Amber to go in, and he picked her because she was a “friend” of yours! I lost that part because of you!’

‘That sucks,’ Joe said sincerely, covering her hand on his leg with his own, squeezing it gently. ‘I’m really sorry about that.’

Skye refused to look at him.

‘You took care of
Amber
,’ she said resentfully, trailing her fingers in the water, sounding more than ever like a sixteen-year-old. ‘You didn’t even
think
about me. You didn’t think about what I’d do, kicked out of here like that, all the way across the country from where I live . . .’

‘You know what? You’re right,’ Joe admitted. ‘I should’ve thought about that. We got busted together. I should’ve done something to make sure you were OK afterwards. Believe me, that point’s already been made to me, loud and clear.’ He grinned. ‘But I did enjoy reading your tell-all about what it was like having sex with me in a store cupboard.’

Skye writhed with humiliation. ‘They wrote most of that themselves,’ she mumbled.

‘As long as it was you that told ’em to put in that story I have a big dick,’ Joe said. ‘’Cause I do, right? You weren’t just making that up ’cause it sounded better for the
Investigator?
’

‘Of course you have a big dick!’ Skye snapped at him, swinging round to look at him. ‘You’re just trying to embarrass me now!’ She made a face at him. ‘Well, let me tell you something – you can’t embarrass a stripper. We’ve seen everything there is to see.’

‘You know, that shouldn’t be a turn-on, but it is,’ Joe drawled. ‘Maybe I am a sex addict after all.’

‘I hate you!’ Skye snapped at him.

‘Really, babe? I thought you
liked
me,’ Joe said teasingly.

Skye raised her hand to slap the smirk off his face, but Joe batted it away as easily as swatting a fly; he leaned into her in countermotion, and the next thing she knew, he was kissing her.

I should push him away, she thought swiftly. I should make it harder for him – not just kiss him back straight away, make him work for it, at least a little bit longer—

Oh, who am I kidding?

Her arms wrapped round his neck, pulling him closer. His hands slid down to her waist, picking her up as if she weighed nothing, settling her on his lap. Skye could have burst out crying in sheer relief at being back in Joe’s arms again, kissing him, his mouth hard and eager on hers. He was so confident, so sure of himself; it was one of the things she loved most about him.

‘Ah, baby,’ Joe said against her mouth, ‘I forgot how good you feel – how come I forgot how damn good you feel?’

‘Back atcha,’ she said, curling even tighter into him, feeling the rumble of his laughter in his chest as she echoed his earlier words.

‘
Joe!
’ shrieked a woman’s voice, high and squeaky with shock.

‘Oh,
shit
,’ Joe said, reluctantly lifting his mouth from Skye’s. ‘See what I mean? She sounds like a Chihuahua when she gets angry. Worked with a voice coach for years, and she still can’t get rid of it.’

‘What the hell are you
doing
?’ the woman yelped. ‘Why did you come here without telling us where you were going? You shouldn’t be here at
all
!’

Skye’s eyes widened at the sight of the frail-looking girl who was practically running across the patio towards them. In faded old jeans hanging off her hipbones, Dockers, and a butterfly beaded Temperley top that must have cost thousands of dollars, Jennifer Downs was instantly recognizable.

She’s so tiny! Skye thought in shock. She doesn’t look that tiny on-screen . . .