Secret Designs (2 page)

"This is wonderful news," Linda said, touching the corner of her eye to dab a happy tear away. "Have you set a date yet?"

"Not yet," Jasmine answered. "But it would be a good few months after Faye and Ray's wedding."

"What do you mean a
good
few months
?" Kane asked with a frown. "Why couldn't we get married a month after them?"

Jasmine chuckled. "They're getting married in less than two months, honey. We need time to prepare for ours."

"Isn't three months enough?" Kane persisted.

"I don't know," Jasmine answered.

"It's possible," Faye said. "As long as the venue and service providers you want aren't already booked. Jessa and I can help you prepare."

"See," Kane said to Jasmine. "Your sister and my sister have already done all the research for their own weddings. They can help organise the kind of wedding you want within three months. Right, Faye?"

"Sure. As long as Jaz wants to get married that soon, of course. Maybe she'd prefer to wait a little longer."

Kane looked at Jasmine with a hint of concern.

Jasmine laughed and placed a hand on Kane's cheek. "Okay. A month after Faye and Ray's wedding."

Kane smiled brightly and gave his fiancée another quick kiss.

Dylan watched the obvious affection between his brother and Jasmine. He glanced around the table and saw the happiness in each of the person sitting there—happiness they shared with their significant other. He was the only one who sat alone and did not have someone to share a knowing look with, or a squeeze of the hand, or a peck on the lips. He scratched the back of his ear, strangely unsettled. Why did he feel left out, all of a sudden?

*******

"Did you have a good time last night, Dyl?"

Dylan looked at Kane in surprise. His brother was lining up his shot at the pool table but arched an eyebrow at him when he didn't respond straight away.

"Last night was good," he answered.

"Yeah? What did you do?" Kane asked as he hit the cue ball. He sank a solid.

"I was out with Trey and Adam."

"Where did you go?"

"The Establishment. Then Ivy."

"Okay. Anything exciting happened?"

Kane's questioning was too casual, Dylan thought. He positioned himself to take a shot after Kane missed.

"I saw Jasmine's friend Ari at Ivy," he said after sinking a striped ball.

"Oh, right. How was she?"

How was she?
Dylan couldn't help the smile that tugged his lips. "She was great."

He concentrated on his next shot but missed. When he looked up, Kane was staring at him in a funny kind of way. He narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Kane asked innocently.

"Like you know something."

"Is there something to know?"

Ah. Kane did know something. Had Ari told Jasmine about last night, already?

"Ari and I hooked up," he admitted to Kane.

"You like her?"

"It was just a one-night stand, Kane."

Kane nodded, as if he knew it already.

"Is Jaz cool with it? Are you?" he asked with concern.

"Sure. As long as you two are okay with being in the same room after what happened. With Jaz and I getting married, I'm sure you'll see more of Ari."

"I know that. You know me, Kane. I can be friends with women I've slept with."

"That's not exactly a secret," Kane said dryly. "I don't know how or why you do it."

"Hey, I'm just a friendly kind of guy. I naturally get along well with girls I sleep with, otherwise, they wouldn't have attracted me in the first place. See, the trick is to limit the sex to one night only. Once it gets past a one-night stand, it's damn difficult to manage a friendship. Somehow, women's expectations change when you sleep with them too often. Remember that," he told his brother.

Kane chortled. "Why on earth would I need to remember that? I'm getting married in case you haven't heard the news."

He grinned. "Well, with you out of the market, that means more opportunities for me."

"Oh, Dylan," Kane said resignedly. "I don't know why you won't just find yourself a steady girlfriend instead of drifting from one girl to the next."

He simply shrugged. "I'm still happy with my lifestyle."

"Well, it's your life. As long as you don't make Jaz unhappy by playing games with Ari. But it looks like Ari's fine with it, too, anyway."

"Ari told Jaz?"

"Yes, she rang this morning."

"Okay, good. No one has to make a big deal of it, then."

Dylan watched Kane concentrate on his next shot but his mind had already left the game. All this talk about Ari was disconcerting him.

It was a strange feeling. For the first time in a long, long time, he was missing a woman. He was missing Ari.

Damn, she was hot.

"Ari, I was wondering if you would like to make my wedding dress?"

Ari gaped at Jasmine, her eyes round as saucers. "Oh my God, Jaz. Yes, of course! I'd love to do it."

"Yay!" Jasmine cried, hugging her tight. "I was worried that you might not have the time."

"I promise you I would make time even if I have to take annual leave from my job to work on it," she responded, her brain already picturing Jasmine in several styles. "Do you have a design in mind? If I start straight away I'm sure I can finish it well before your wedding."

"Nothing concrete. I don't want something big and puffy. I want something that hugs my figure but with a bit of a train. I'm really relying on you for the final look, Ari."

Tears formed in Ari's eyes. She was glad that Jasmine had moved from Melbourne to Sydney to live with Kane. Theirs was a timely friendship. She needed it badly as she had drifted away from some old pals. After her ex-chum stole her ex-boyfriend, she had shied away from the company of people who reminded her of the painful betrayal. Now, Jasmine was giving her the chance to do what she loved most of all.

"Oh, Jaz. Thank you so much. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. And you know what? Last week, I wore one of your casual outfits to dinner at Kane's parents' place, and it got praised by all the girls there. Faye's really keen to meet you so she can have a look at your designs."

The doorbell rang and Jasmine jumped from her seat. "That'll be Sam and Kris," she said excitedly.

Ari smiled as she leaned back in the sofa and closed her eyes. For as long as she could remember, she had loved designing pretty dresses. When she was a little kid, she drew paper outfits for her paper dolls and her mother cut them out for her. By the time she was eighteen, she had already landed a junior position working for one of Australia's biggest fashion designers.

Ten years later, her skills and confidence as a couturier were well honed after working for three different high-end fashion houses. Eight months ago, she'd spread her wings and joined Eros, makers of designer lingerie. She had always wanted to add the crafting of intimate apparel to her skill set; her job at Eros gave her that opportunity.

She could only hope that the rumour of a take-over circulating in their office wasn't true. Whether it was Eros taking over some other company or the other way around, no one could tell. One thing she knew for sure—she couldn't afford to lose her job. She had next to no savings to fall back on if she did.

She sighed. If only she could start her own couture business. That had been her ultimate dream for so many years. But without capital, that remained a fantasy. In the last year and a half, money—or rather, the lack of it—had been her biggest problem.

She shrugged. She wouldn't allow her concerns to dampen her good mood. At least she was still able to design for her friends, feeding her need to create.

"Ari!"

She roused herself from her brainwork and stood up to eagerly hug Samantha Lane and Kristen McCann. They were cousins, and Jasmine's best friends from Melbourne, now also Ari's good friends.

"So glad you're here, girls. Did you have a good flight?" Ari asked.

"Yes, thanks," Kris said. "We're glad we're here, too. We can start a weekend-long celebration of Jazzie's engagement."

"Yes," Sam concurred. "But first, I'd like a tour of this place. Jaz, this house looks amazing."

Jasmine chuckled. "Yes. Kane has designed a beautiful home. I'm glad you finally have the chance to see it. It's so exciting that all you girls are staying with us this weekend."

"Is Mr. Hotshot Architect home yet?" Kris asked.

"Not yet. He'd be home in an hour. Just enough time for us to whip up some dinner," Jasmine answered.

"I'm on it!" Sam declared. "Lead me to the dream kitchen."

*******

All four of them were busy preparing dinner, happily taking instructions from Samantha, who had appointed herself head chef for the night, when Jasmine's phone buzzed with a text message.

"That was from Kane. We're going to have an extra guest tonight," Jasmine announced.

"Oh, cool. Who?" Kris asked.

"Dylan. Kane's brother. Apparently, one of Dylan's friends is looking for an architect to renovate an old house he bought recently. Dylan wants to know if Kane would be interested in helping his friend out, so Kane invited Dylan over for dinner to find out more about it."

"Great! We get to meet one of Kane's brothers. I know you said all his siblings are good-looking, Jaz, but is Dylan as hot as Kane?" Kris asked jokingly.

Jasmine glanced at Ari before answering. "My answer would be biased, of course, as I'll say my man is a lot hotter. But why don't you ask Ari? She'd met Dylan."

Ari fidgeted as Kris and Sam looked at her expectantly. "Oh...um," she stuttered, embarrassingly flustered.

Heck, she couldn't help it. Dylan was having dinner with them tonight. She had dreamt about him all week—hot, sweaty dreams—and soon she would be seeing him again.
In the flesh.

"I know Jaz thinks Kane is the hottest man on the planet," she said blithely, forcing herself to maintain composure. "But I think Dylan is not far off the mark. In fact, at the risk of having a debate with our friend here, I'll go one step further and say Dylan's hotter."

"Oh, really?" Kris asked, her eyes wide. "Do I detect an interest from you, Ari?"

Ari laughed. "A
passing
interest that had been assuaged. You might as well know, I had a one-night stand with him."

"What?" Kris and Sam cried out together.

"It was totally unexpected," Ari replied, colour rising to her neck and face. "We bumped into each other at a club last week and we probably had too much to drink and ended up in my apartment. But we did discuss it, and agreed that we were both only interested in a one-night stand."

We were both only interested in a one-night stand.

Ari had been repeating that mantra to herself all week. She was sick of hearing it in her head. She must have said it at least a hundred times. But for the life of her, she felt she had to keep reminding herself of that simple fact.

"Wow," Sam said in wonder. "So you're not interested in anything more than that?"

"I don't think Dylan's interested in a relationship," she answered. "Nor am I," she added hastily.

"Would you be okay with Dylan joining us tonight, Ari?" Jasmine asked, her tone light but her eyes betraying her concern.

"Of course!" She went over to her friend and gave her hug. "The question is do you think Dylan would be okay with me being here tonight?"

"Yes," Jasmine replied without hesitation. "Kane told me Dylan can maintain friendships with women he's had one-night stands with. I'm not concerned about Dylan. I'm worried about you! You've told me before you're not into one-night stands, so I was very surprised you had one. With Dylan, at that!"

"I know I've said that in the past, but after my experience with my cheating ex a new relationship is the farthest thing from my mind. For the record, the one-night stand was my idea, not Dylan's," she said with a carefree face.

"Really? Well, okay. As long as you're fine, I'll stop worrying about it." Jasmine matched her lighthearted tone.

"Good! I'm absolutely fine, so stop being such a worrywart," she said emphatically, grateful acting was one of her hidden talents.

So Dylan remains friends with other women he's slept with?

The thought disturbed her more than she cared to admit.

*******

Ari jumped when she heard the doorbell. She was thankful she had already placed the plates she'd been carrying on the dining table. Nothing would be more embarrassing than if she had dropped and broken them.

She hid a sigh. No doubt that was Dylan at the door. The butterflies in her stomach were going haywire.

How on earth would she be able to enjoy the sumptuous meal Sam had masterminded when her tummy was feeling funny and her heart was pounding like crazy?

She heard Jasmine talking. "Come to the kitchen and meet my best friends from Melbourne. Ari's here, too."

"Ari's here, too?" an achingly familiar voice asked.

Jasmine appeared in her line of sight with the man she had developed an enormous crush on.

"Hi, Dylan," she said lightly, keen to play Super-Cool-and-Unaffected-Ari to the hilt.

"Hey, Ari! Good to see you here, gorgeous," Dylan responded, walking up to her and giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek.

Her breath hitched at the feel of his lips on her skin, but she forced the words, "You, too," past her throat.

Did that come out too high-pitched?

Fortunately, Dylan turned to the other girls, giving her the chance to busy herself with setting the table as Jasmine introduced Samantha and Kristen to her future brother-in-law.

"Is Kane not home yet?" Dylan asked.

"He'll be here any minute," Jasmine answered.

"I suppose I get to enjoy the company of four beautiful girls by myself for a short time," Dylan said in a cheeky tone, as he accepted the glass of wine Jasmine offered.

"Lucky you," Kris replied. "You picked the right night to turn up here for dinner. Samantha Lane, chef extraordinaire, is in town."

"Oh, please, Kris," Sam said with a blush. "She's exaggerating, Dylan."