Illusions of Love (67 page)

India
watched as Kenny and Charley headed towards the outside terrace area, more than a touch uncomfortable about letting them disappear anywhere together, but she had other things to deal with now.

‘So?’ Dominic asked, sliding up onto the stool Charley had just vacated.

‘So, what?’
India
asked, holding up her empty glass and signalling for a refill.

‘Have you made your choice?’

She looked at Dominic.
 
‘This is bullshit, Dominic.
 
You really expect me to humour you over this?’

‘Humour me?’ Dominic laughed.
 
‘Is that what you’re doing?
 
Humouring
me?’

‘I’m not doing anything, Dominic.
 
I came out for a drink, to party, to forget for a few hours.
 
I wasn’t banking on you turning up throwing ultimatums in my face again.’

‘I need to know,
India
.
 
Can you understand that?
 
I need to know where I stand.’

She got up, walking away from him but he followed her, grabbing her arm and swinging her round.

She stared at him, although she made no attempt to shake him off.
 
‘You want to know where you stand, huh?’

‘I want to know where I stand.
 
Yes.’

‘There was no need for any fucking ultimatum, Dominic, okay?
 
Because I was never going back to Michael.
 
Did you hear that?
 
I was
never
going back to him.’

‘So, what was with all the concern, all that at the hospital?’

‘Jesus, come on!
 
He was a part of my life for a long time, I loved him like crazy, once.
 
I loved him like crazy.
 
Once.
 
And to see him like that, knowing that it could have been so much worse… He’s Ethan’s dad.
 
He’s my baby’s dad, and I guess I’ll never stop caring, I’ll never stop hoping that he sticks around for a long while yet because his little boy adores him, he worships the ground his father walks on…’

‘And you don’t?’

Dominic loosened his grip on her arm and she leant back against the wall, pushing a hand through her long blond curls, looking away from him, focusing on the exit ahead of her that led out onto the terrace.

‘No.
 
Not anymore.
 
Maybe I thought I still did, y’know?
 
Just for a second.’
 
She turned to face him again, his eyes never leaving hers.
 
‘Maybe I thought I did.
 
But that’s the kind of person he is.
 
He makes you think that he’s everything you need, and that’s the way I lived for a long time.
 
But not anymore.
 
I’ll always love him, in some way that I’ll never really be able to explain, but I can’t ever go back to him.’

‘Why not?’

She stared at Dominic, into those piercing blue eyes that were so much like Michael’s.
 
‘Because I… I just can’t.’

Dominic really wanted to push it further, to find out more because it wasn’t as simple as her just saying she couldn’t go back to Michael – and she’d used the word ‘
can’t
’ rather than ‘
won’t
’.
 
Should that make a difference?
 
As far as Dominic was concerned, yes.
 
It should.
 
Because she was hiding something, that was for certain.

Pushing a hand through his hair he looked down at the ground for a few seconds, trying to work out what to do next.
 
This hadn’t really made anything any clearer; he was still confused, still uncertain as to what was going on.

‘Dominic…?’

He slowly looked up at her, into a face so beautiful, but a face as confused as he was.
 
And suddenly only one thing seemed the right thing to do.
 
Leaning forward, he reached out and touched her warm cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb, moving closer until his mouth was just millimetres from hers, his breath warm on her face.

She said nothing, just closed her eyes and gave in to his kiss, trying so hard not to fall against him as his mouth moved slowly against hers, sending every mixed-up emotion she was already feeling into even deeper confusion.

‘Shit!
 
Dominic, what the hell are we doing?’

He said nothing, just continued to gently stroke her cheek, running his thumb lightly over her slightly open lips.

‘I want you, so badly,’ Dominic whispered, his mouth close to her ear, his warm breath on her skin making
India
’s heart flutter like some love-sick teenager.
 
She hadn’t wanted this tonight.
 
She hadn’t wanted to think about this at all, not tonight.
 
Tonight she’d wanted to kick back and relax, party with Kenny, forget all about Dominic, but how could she forget about him now when he was standing here, touching her, telling her he wanted her?
 
And she wanted him too.
 
Boy, did she want him too.

As the music pounding out of hidden speakers in the walls seemed to get louder, almost shaking the floor underneath
India
, that familiar feeling of knowing exactly where this was going to end rose up in her, and there was probably no point in trying to fight it.
 
He had her cornered.
 
In every possible way.

‘Let’s pretend,’ he said quietly, his fingers now stroking her shoulder, running up and down her arm, sending shivers right through her.
 
‘Let’s pretend we aren’t who we are.
 
Let’s pretend that we’ve never met before, okay?
 
We don’t know each other; we know nothing about each other.
 
Let’s pretend we’re two people – strangers – that just need that one thing from each other tonight.
 
We can worry about all the rest of the shit tomorrow.
 
Okay?
 
So, right now, I’m just some guy who saw you from across the other side of the room, some guy who’s just looking for some no-holds-barred fun.
 
Let’s just pretend…’

She looked up into those eyes, her heart hammering hard against her ribs, a ridiculous feeling of excitement welling up in her.

‘It shouldn’t be too hard, after all, should it?’ Dominic whispered, his mouth almost touching hers as he spoke.
 
‘I mean, we’re actors, aren’t we?
 
We should be able to do this – effortlessly.’

Her head was spinning with the thought of what was going to happen next, that beautiful feeling of anticipation sweeping over her as he continued to stare into her eyes.
 
And even though it wasn’t what she’d
planned
to happen tonight, she had no choice left but to run with it because, right now, she wanted this man more than she’d wanted anyone in a long time.

She smiled at him, running a hand through her hair, arching her back and pushing her breasts out towards him.
 
Okay.
 
If he wanted a game then she was more than willing to play along.
 
‘So, you liked what you saw, huh?’

He smiled too, that full-on movie star smile.
 
‘Oh, you gotta believe it, honey.
 
I liked what I saw.
 
You are one red-hot walking fantasy.’

She felt an overwhelming ache for him.
 
The need for him to touch her was almost taking her breath away – that tingling feeling between her legs, those butterflies in her stomach that had just flown loose again, it was all happening.
 

‘You want to see me naked?’ she smiled, taking a deep breath, willing him to touch her yet wanting him to wait until they were safely behind closed doors, because she knew that once they finally got round to making love, it was going to be one hell of a crazy ride.

He felt himself dangerously close to one killer erection as he looked at her.
 
Her breasts were pushed up against his chest, her hips digging into him and all he wanted to do was touch her down there, feel how ready she was for him, because he knew she was.
 
He could see it, sense it.
 
In seconds he’d turned this situation round and he suspected he had daddy to thank for that.
 
Maybe he
had
inherited some of the Michael Walsh charm after all.
 
He just had to make sure he used it to his advantage a lot better than his father had managed to.

‘Take a shower in front of me,’ he whispered.
 
‘I want to watch you do that.
 
I want to watch you naked and wet, soaped up and sexy… Jesus, I want – I
need
to watch you do that.’

She searched his face, her stomach doing a million somersaults all at once, which made her feel slightly light-headed.
 
‘And then what?
 
You going to join me?’

‘Hey, I’ve only just met you,’ he smiled – that sexy-as-hell killer smile.
 
‘Should we be showering together?’

She reached out and touched his rough chin, running her fingertips over the stubble, resting them on his mouth.
 
‘So, two strangers meet, fuck in the shower, what harm are we doing?
 
Who are we hurting?’

He took her hand, kissing her mouth slowly and gently, her fingers tightening around his.
 
‘We ain’t hurting nobody, baby.
 
We ain’t hurting nobody.’

‘We need a room,’ she said, realising that, if they didn’t make a move soon, things could quite easily get out of hand, and given their history of rather-too-public displays of affection, they really did need to move fast.
 
‘Come on, stranger.
 
We’re out of here.’

***

Jimmy watched from the dark and secluded corner of the bar as Charley followed Kenny Ross outside and
India
talked to Dominic MacDonald.
 
Everyone was still here, everyone was still in one place, but that wasn’t going to be for much longer.

He knew the wrap party was just around the corner, his final chance to play his trump card, to carry out what had always been his intention – to hurt Charley
Maine
in the only way he knew how.

Finishing off his drink he pulled his hat further down over his eyes, sinking back into his seat from his position near the bar, close enough to have heard almost everything that had been said, yet far enough away to make sure nobody had seen him.

He hadn’t expected Charley and Kenny to grow so close, in fact, that had almost thrown a curve ball at Jimmy.
 
For a very brief moment it had made him think twice about revising his carefully laid out plan.
 
But it now seemed that Charley really did still love Vince Maine, and Vince Maine really did still love Charley.
 
And that was good.
 
It was imperative that things stayed that way.
 
It would be ideal if they could resolve their differences and be back to that sickeningly perfect couple they’d been before, but, even if that wasn’t the case, even if things still weren’t perfect, Jimmy knew that the impact of what he was about to do would still leave everyone reeling.

Making sure every drop of liquid had been drained from his tumbler he stood up, quickly checking to make sure he wouldn’t be seen as he left the bar.
 
Things were going to plan for Jimmy Cash.
 
Everything was working out just as he’d hoped it would.
 
He was on track for the finale he’d waited so long for and this time,
he
was going to be the one who had the happy ending.

***

Dominic leant back against the bathroom wall, running a hand round the back of his neck, pulling at the collar of his shirt.
 
The heat of the shower and the sight of
India
’s naked body soaped up and doing everything in its power to turn him on like he’d never been turned on before was making him feel light-headed and dizzy.

She was putting on one hell of a show; this woman really was a walking wet dream, a living fantasy, and he defied any man to stand where he was standing now, watching what he was watching now, and not get a hard-on from heaven.
 
It was all he could do not to go down there and bring himself to that climax that was aching to be released.
 
But that would be a waste, wouldn’t it?
 
He needed to be with her, inside her, making himself a part of her but, Jesus, she was making the waiting hard.

He watched as she slowly rubbed soap all over her skin, the water cascading down over her incredible naked body, running down between her legs, making everything soaking wet and sexy-as-hell, sending every imaginable fantasy crashing through his head like some speeded-up porn movie.