Shafted (25 page)

If the night had been slightly less successful, he probably would have given Raine’s party a miss. But he knew he wouldn’t sleep if he went straight home with all the positive comments still swirling round in his head, so he had Georgie drop him there on her way home.

Not that it
was
on her way but, oh, well . . . maybe she’d think twice about sticking to him like glue in future.

Raine had changed into a flowing evening dress, which plunged in all the right places and caressed her womanly curves like a stroke from a velvet glove. With her shoulder-length honey-blonde hair loosed from its chignon and held in place at the nape of her neck by a diamante clasp, one tanned arm bare while the other sported an intricate gauntlet-style bracelet of diamonds and emeralds, she looked like a goddess when she opened the door for Larry.

‘Darling,’ she purred, stepping back to look him over – really a ploy to make
him
look
her
over. ‘You look amazing.’

Smiling wryly, because he was wearing exactly the same clothes as earlier, he said,‘You, too, babe.’

Thanking him, she reached up and kissed him flush on the mouth, letting her lips linger softly for several seconds to give him a taste of what was to come before taking his arm and leading him into the already crowded living room.

Announcing,‘He’s here!’she smiled up at Larry, thrilled by the look of surprise in his eyes.

He was surprised all right, but not necessarily in a good way. Gazing at all the old familiar faces as the guests raised their glasses and gave him a welcoming cheer, he was struck by the sheer hypocrisy of it all. Unlike the general staff back at Oasis who had seemed genuinely pleased to see him, every one of these stars and fat-cat executives had turned their backs on him when he’d most needed their support. But that all seemed to have been forgotten now – by them, at least.

Refusing to give them the satisfaction of thinking that their behaviour had had any effect on him, he smiled now as if he was as pleased to see them as they seemed to be to see him, and said,‘Wow, this is amazing. Thanks, guys. It’s good to be back.’

‘Where you belong,’ Raine crooned, reaffirming her intention to keep him to herself tonight by giving him another kiss – although this time on the cheek, because everybody was still looking. ‘Now, let me get you a drink, then I’ll show you around. Still Scotch on ice?’ she asked pointedly, letting him know that she’d noticed him
before
his career resurrection. Wouldn’t do to let him think that she was just jumping onto the bandwagon now.

‘Actually, I prefer dry white these days,’ Larry lied, narrowing his eyes surreptitiously as he peered down at her – there was a tiny spot of what looked like blood at the corner of her mouth. And, once he’d noticed that, he was sure he could see several minute pinhole marks in her makeup-camouflaged forehead. Suspecting that she’d had a quick-fix Botox session in the three hours since the show, he struggled not to grimace. Even if he’d been interested before – which he hadn’t been – that would have turned him right off. Getting a blow job off a woman with a frozen mouth was about as much fun as sticking your dick into an unripe watermelon.

‘Be right back,’ Raine purred now, stroking a hand suggestively down his arm. ‘Don’t you dare move.’

As soon as she’d gone, Matty Kline strolled over. Curls springing out like corkscrews all over his head, he grinned widely at Larry and slapped him heartily on the back.

‘Hey, guy . . . long time no see. How’s it going?’

‘Fine,’ Larry replied smoothly, slipping his hands into his pockets to keep them from forming fists. He still felt like punching the man whenever he saw his face on TV but here, in the flesh, the desire intensified tenfold. ‘You?’ he asked now, determined to stay cool.

‘Great.’ Matty nodded as if he was truly satisfied with his lot in life. Then, smiling guiltily, he said, ‘Look, I know this is probably the wrong time and place, and all that, but I just wanted to apologise for all that shit last year. No hard feelings, I hope?’

‘Hard feelings?’ Larry gave him a questioning smile.

‘Yeah, you know – about me taking over
Star Struck
. I know you weren’t happy about it, but we’ve all moved on since then, haven’t we?’

‘Christ, yeah,’ Larry drawled. ‘I’d forgotten all about it.’

‘Good,’ Matty said, breathing a silent sigh of relief. This was the first time he’d seen his rival since the telethon, but Larry seemed cool as a cucumber, so it looked like they were going to avoid the embarrassment of a showdown. ‘So, what’s on
your
horizon?’ he asked now, taking a sip of his drink. ‘Anything good lined up?’

‘Oh, you know,’ Larry said evasively. ‘Loads of offers flooding in, but I’m biding my time to make sure I choose the right thing. Don’t want to lump myself with a no-hoper like last time.’ Grinning sheepishly now, as if he hadn’t meant to say that, he said, ‘Sorry, Matt, didn’t mean that the way it sounded. You know I enjoyed
Star Struck
while I was doing it, but you don’t always realise the bad effect something’s having on you till you get a break from it, do you? I mean, take my last performance . . . it’s no secret I was pissed.’

‘You can say that again,’ Matty snorted amusedly, remembering it all too well.

‘Yeah, well, that was a symptom of how shit I was feeling,’ Larry said, glancing innocently at the large glass of alcohol in Matty’s hand. ‘Don’t know about you, but I tend to drink more when I’m frustrated. But I don’t need the crutch these days, ’cos I’m totally cool with life.’

Matty smiled uncertainly. He was sure that Larry had just taken a pop at him, but there was nothing he could say about it, because it hadn’t been delivered as an insult – more like sympathy at the fact that he was stuck in Larry’s old rut while Larry’s own career was soaring to new heights. And it couldn’t have escaped Larry’s notice that
Star Struck
’s ratings had slipped since his time as host, so he just had to be gloating about that. Matty knew that he would be if the situation were reversed.

Larry
was
gloating, as it happened. And knowing that Matty knew it only added to his sense of satisfaction. That was the price you paid for jumping into someone else’s grave – you got buried right along with them. And, judging by the amount of neat Scotch that Matty was nursing, he already had one foot planted firmly in the dirt. Poetic justice, or what?

Frank Woods and Alan Corbin arrived just then, along with their respective wives, Brenda and June. Spotting Larry, Brenda made a beeline straight for him.

‘How lovely to see you, Larry,’ she said, kissing his cheek.‘Frank mentioned that he’d bumped into you at the studio, and I was hoping I’d get to see you, too. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you.’

Giving her an affectionate smile, aware that Matty was looking more than a little put out that she hadn’t said hello to him first, Larry hugged her warmly, saying, ‘Missed you, too, babe. Still running round like a French maid after the old man, are you?’

‘As if !’ Brenda chuckled. ‘He knows to behave himself if he wants his dinner on time. And don’t be fooled by the sophisticated façade. He might pretend to like the fancy restaurants, but he couldn’t survive without my steak-and-kidney pud.’

‘Oh, don’t,’ Larry groaned. ‘I can still taste that last one you made me.’

Patting his hand, Brenda said, ‘Give me a ring when you’re free, and we’ll get together for dinner.’ Turning to Matty now, she said, ‘Hello, dear. I hope you didn’t think I was ignoring you, but I haven’t seen Larry for ages.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Matty said, wondering how come she never greeted
him
like that. Not that he particularly wanted her to, but it would be nice to know that the boss’s wife had loyalty to the new over the old.

‘So, tell me what you’re up to?’ Brenda said now, switching her attention back to Larry as if Matty hadn’t even spoken. ‘I hear you’ve got the drinking under control at last – which is wonderful, because I could have shaken you silly for letting yourself go like that.’

‘I wish somebody had,’ Larry murmured wistfully, as if a good talking-to was all it would have taken to keep him on track.

‘Oh, come now,’ Brenda chided softly, cutting through the bullshit in one fell swoop. ‘I’m the first to admit that Frank has his failings, but you weren’t one of them, my love. He tried his damnedest to bring you to your senses before it was too late, but you were too wilful for your own good. And if
he
couldn’t get through to you, nobody else stood a chance. It was down to you to sort yourself out, and I’m delighted that you finally realised that.’

Laughing, Larry looped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick squeeze. ‘Frank’s a good man,’ he conceded, shoving all the bad thoughts he’d levelled at his former boss in the last year to the back of his mind. ‘And you don’t have to worry about me, because I’m all grown up now, and I can take care of myself.’

‘Yes, well, just make sure you don’t slip back into your old habits now that things are looking up,’ Brenda warned.

‘Stop it,’ Larry groaned. ‘You’re starting to sound like Georgie.’

‘Oh, is she here?’ Brenda asked, glancing around. ‘I’d love to catch up with her; she’s a lovely girl.’

‘She couldn’t make it,’ Larry lied, not wanting to have to explain why he hadn’t wanted to bring her after everything she’d done for him.

Coming back with Larry’s drink just then, Raine said a cool hello to Brenda, who, as the mere wife of one of her acquaintances – and not a particularly important one at that, given that Frank had no part in or power over her show – was less than nothing to her.

Brenda couldn’t give a toss what Raine Parker thought of her, and felt no urge to make small talk with her, either. So, giving Larry a kiss and reminding him to give her a call when he wanted to come for dinner, she made her way back to her husband and left them to it.

‘What a mouse,’ Raine sniped when she’d gone. ‘Frank must have got himself shackled to her long before he found success as a producer, because he’d surely have gone for somebody with more
oomph
if he’d known what would become available to him.’

‘Like you?’ Larry asked, with an innocent smile on his face.

‘Darling, my charity work consists of helping sick children,
not
pleasuring pensioners,’ Raine replied with a soft, throaty laugh, sure that Larry was only teasing her, because he could never believe that a glamorous beauty like herself would be interested in an old man like Frank Woods. And it was quite beside the point that she was currently pleasuring Alan Corbin, who was equally as old as Frank, because Larry wouldn’t be hearing about that.

Clearing his throat suddenly to remind them that he was still there, because he was beginning to feel like a spare part in Larry Logan’s toolbox, Matty said,‘Did I tell you how lovely you’re looking tonight, Raine?’

A flicker of an irritated frown attempted to cross her taut brow at the interruption, but she quickly replaced it with a smile and a purred thank-you. Matty wasn’t in Larry’s league when it came to looks, but he was still young, virile, and important enough in his own right to warrant her attention. And he was by far the best-looking of the other men who were here tonight, so it was worth keeping him in the loop in case it didn’t work out with Larry and she needed a stand-in.

Watching Raine over the rim of his glass as he sipped the wine, Larry wondered why she’d gone to so much trouble to throw this party for him. It certainly wasn’t out of the goodness of her heart because, like her show – which she was rumoured to control every aspect of with a passion bordering on obsession – her life was a series of calculated manoeuvres: not one step taken unless it advanced Raine Parker in some way. But if it was simply a means of getting at his dick, she was going to be very disappointed, because it wasn’t happening. Still, he’d let her down gently. No point making enemies of the big hitters at this early stage in his career resurrection.

Using the fact that she was talking to Matty as an excuse to get away now, Larry waved as if he’d just spotted somebody, and said, ‘Sorry, guys, you’ll have to excuse me. There’s someone I really need to talk to.’

Clutching at his hand as he made to walk away, Raine pursed her lips petulantly. ‘You’re not deserting me already, are you? You’ve only just got here.’

‘I’ll be right back,’ he lied, squeezing her hand before snatching his own away. Saying, ‘Good to see you again, Matty. Catch you later,’ he walked quickly away and plunged himself into the thickest group of people across the room.

Shaking hands and kissing cheeks without actually stopping to chat to any of them, Larry made it into the kitchen and headed for the breakfast bar where numerous bottles of alcohol had been placed for people to help themselves to if the actual bar back in the lounge was too busy. Glancing back to make sure that Raine wasn’t hot on his heels, he tipped the wine down the sink and refilled his glass with neat vodka. He detested wine and had only asked for it to knock Raine down a peg, because she’d thought she was smart for guessing that he would go for Scotch. And he wouldn’t satisfy her by having Scotch now, either, even though he really wanted one. At least he no longer
needed
one – that was the difference.

Taking a handful of penis-shaped ice cubes out of the bucket now – probably Raine’s personal design, Larry thought scathingly – he dropped them into his glass and was about to go back into the party when Alan Corbin walked in. Hesitating in the doorway, his face reddening slightly, and ran a finger around the inside of his shirt collar as if it were suddenly too tight.

Smiling, because he’d found that it actually made the people who had done him down in the past feel more guilty when he was nice to them, Larry extended his hand, saying, ‘Good to see you, Alan. How’s it going?’

‘Very well,’ Corbin said, shaking it. ‘You?’

‘Great, thanks.’