The Hating Game (23 page)

Baz shrugged. ‘I didn’t know if Deniz’d even talk to me. I banged her once in
the loo at China White and never bothered ringing her – she was pretty rubbish. Thank God I saved her number.’

Nate shook his head
. He’d never even been to China White, let alone made love to someone in a toilet.

‘
I just told her what we had planned and she did the rest, tracking down Mattie’s friend, et cetera, et cetera. Plus I got another shag out of it after we hooked up last night.’ He nudged Nate with his shoulder. ‘Better rubbish than nothing, eh, mate?’

‘
Yeah,’ Nate responded
weakly.
Nothing
was the best description of his love life right about now.

‘
A
ll ready to go get Mattie and Kyle then?’ Baz stood up, smoothing down his perfectly pressed shirt.

Nate lumbered to his feet. ‘Ready.’

*

Mattie
watched the blocks of flats give way to trees and fields as the limo left London. Bloody Kyle, taking her to the middle of nowhere for their date! If he wanted her to believe he’d signed up for
Second Chance for Romance
and not
The Hating Game
, then he shouldn’t be subjecting her to smelly animals and soggy fields. Still, navigating cow patties was nothing compared to the shit Jess had dropped her into, telling that reporter about the blasted dress.

Mattie took a deep breath
and tried to push Jess’s traitorous behaviour from her mind. Now, more than ever, she had to remain calm; act as if nothing was wrong. Luckily, she’d spent years perfecting that performance after her father left. Keep the face neutral, the voice even and smooth. No one would ever know the difference.

‘
Where
are Baz and Ram?’ Mattie asked. The car was blissfully silent without them.

‘
Riding in the other car with Kyle,’ Nate said.

‘
Great.’ Mattie slumped further into the leather seat. She could only imagine the kinds of questions Spaz and his gorilla cameraman would be throwing at Kyle.
Did you know she had a dress? Had you even proposed? Guess she was desperate to tie you down, mate. Hah hah hah.

Mattie didn’t know what was worse, pity or mockery. At the studi
o earlier, Fabio and Cyndi had practically smothered her with kindness, clucking around her affectionately instead of commenting how she should take better care of herself. Mattie just sat there and let them fuss. She should have acted even ruder than usual to show she didn’t care. But she didn’t have the energy. The tabloid article had sucked it all right out of her.

At least she wouldn’t have to face Kyle looking like she was about to deal crack in Kings Cross. No, wardrobe had dressed her in a pair of skinny jeans (tight, yes, but at least they covered her legs) and a white and blue checked shirt, the likes of which she’d seen recently in TopShop, but was so far from her normal style she’d never tried it on. The shirt had a hideous ruffle down the front, but at least it wasn’t lamb dressed as embryo, as with the previous outfits.

The sign for Chippenham came i
nto view. Hmm. Something about this route seemed familiar . . . oh God. A strange pain grinded her stomach – nerves mixed with a flutter of fear – as she figured out their destination. They were going to Castle Combe, a tiny village with a fairy-tale allure even Mattie couldn’t resist. She’d fallen in love with it. And it was where she’d fallen in love with Kyle, too.

Memories flooded
back as the limo wended its way down a narrow track towards the village, the light dimming as the dense trees overhead formed a tunnel. It had been a Friday, a few months after Kyle had started working for her. Her business was going full steam ahead: clients loved his easy-going approach, the perfect foil to Mattie’s more direct style.

Out of convenience,
they’d started having lunch together. Although they always started out discussing what needed to be done, they usually ended up in fits of laughter at Kyle’s hilarious client impersonations. Despite his successful business-like exterior, Kyle was warm and friendly, with a killer sense of humour that made Mattie laugh despite herself. Sure, their eyes had met a few times and Mattie had felt a frisson of something between them, but she’d dismissed it as too much hot chilli sauce.

They’d been finishing up a pitch presentation one day when Kyle snapped the laptop closed. ‘Enough of this. I’m taking you away for a corporate bonding weekend.’

Mattie’s mouth dropped open. ‘What?’ she sputtered. ‘You didn’t run this by me! Anyway, I’m busy this weekend.’ That was a lie – she’d planned to work – but she didn’t want Kyle thinking she could drop everything at the last second.

Kyle shook his head. ‘You’re coming with me. It’s in our professional interest. You work too hard and you need some time away.’ He started packing up their things. ‘Come on, we’ll go to your flat and get your case, then we’re off.’

Mattie couldn’t help responding to his forcefulness. And she couldn’t deny that it would be good to get out of the office. And with Kyle, a small voice inside piped up. She snuck a quick look at him as he neatly wound the laptop cord. He was gorgeous, with blond hair curling over his collar and five o’clock stubble poking through. She tore her thoughts away. This would be a
professional
weekend.

At her flat,
Mattie had thrown her only pair of jeans and a few jumpers into a case as Kyle commented how he’d never known a woman to get ready so quickly. They jumped in his car and hurtled down the motorway – Mattie admiring Kyle’s propensity to speed just like her – singing along to his surprisingly thorough collection of Bon Jovi tapes. With every mile they drove from London, Mattie felt more and more relaxed. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out of the city.

J
ust as dusk was falling, Kyle pulled off the motorway and onto a small country road. Mattie cranked open the window, breathing in the soft air of a June night. Small stone cottages flanked the road and in the distance, across a rolling green field, the peaks of an elegant manor house rose. Normally she wasn’t one for twee countryside villages, but this place – Castle Combe, Kyle told her – wasn’t twee. In the dim light, with the glow of street lanterns and the sound of a brook bubbling through the open car windows . . . it was magical.

Kyle pulled up
before a small bridge. ‘I’ve booked us in here.’ He gestured towards a cottage perched on the banks of the brook. ‘Hope this is all right.’

Mattie nodded slowly. She’d been thinking more along the lines of the sterile comfort of a large hotel – something like the manor house
she’d seen – where they’d eat in a large open dining room and sleep separated by hotel corridors. She wasn’t good at sharing space and this was a little too close for comfort.

But Kyle
made everything easy, ignoring her prickliness and making her laugh. He cooked a simple dinner of spaghetti Bolognese and laughingly forced her to do the washing up by hand (the first time ever – no dishwasher in the archaic cottage!). She’d flicked some dishwater at him and he’d encircled her, trapping her arms by her sides. She’d laughed and struggled, but she had to admit the feel of his body against hers made her tingle.

Finally
, she stopped trying to get away. She looked up into his eyes, and he’d leaned down and kissed her. It wasn’t one of those wet, mushy kisses, where Mattie had to direct everything from lip pressure to tongue movement to head tilt. It was a kiss where her head actually went blank, and all she could think about was wanting more.

She couldn’t remember who had led the other
up the narrow staircase and into the timber-framed bedroom. Once they stood there, facing each other in the dark, she suddenly felt nervous. She never felt nervous – usually because she was so busy undressing the bloke she didn’t really have a chance to think. As she watched Kyle peel off his shirt and move to undo her buttons, butterflies swarmed in her belly. She’d taken a step back, but Kyle had just smiled and pulled her against him.

Having sex with Kyle had been like his kiss – just
easy.
She found herself enjoying it, rather than rushing things through to the end like she usually did. This will only happen once, was the last coherent thought she’d had as she leaned into him.

But oddly
, her infamous willpower deserted her and she couldn’t stop sleeping with Kyle. Soon, they were together all the time, their lives meshing in a way that took Mattie by surprise.

Things
got a bit difficult in the last few months before their break-up. Kyle had nagged at her to go out more, and then there’d been that incident when he’d tried to drag her off to a late-night picnic in Soho Square, complete with strawberries, champagne and the prerequisite drugged-up hookers (it
was
Soho, after all). She’d pushed him away, angry he couldn’t see how busy she was trying to find just the right producer for their biggest client. She couldn’t drop everything because he said so!

Well, if he wanted a woman who’d jump at his every command, it hadn’t taken him long to find one. The week after their two-year anniversary, Kyle threw himself at Chloe. Mattie still couldn’t get her head around how a man could go from celebrating a two-year landmark one week to shagging another woman the next.

Don’t try to understand, her mum had said. Men go for two things: easy money and easy lays. And while that sentiment hadn’t exactly provided the comfort she’d been looking for, she had to admit Mum was right.

The car stopped
next to an old stone market cross in the centre of the village. Nate undid his seatbelt and put his hand on the door.

‘
Wait,’ Mattie said. ‘You haven’t asked me any questions about my history with Kyle! Don’t we need to do that first?’ She really wanted to get in her side of the story.

Nate just waved his hand. ‘No, that’s fine. We’re going to
get Seamus to do it all by voice-over later.’

‘
But Nate
–‘ Mattie huffed as Nate slammed the door. How would she show people she wasn’t the idiotic love-sick woman splashed across the
Daily News
? She drew in a few deep breaths. If she acted all cold and distant, people would think she still cared. If she was a bitch . . . even worse. No, the only thing for it was to be as smiley and bland as possible. That would set Kyle on edge, if nothing else.

Mattie noticed another black limo
pull up. She strained to see inside but she couldn’t make out anything through the smoky windows. It’s like we’re Hollywood stars or something, she thought, watching curious villagers milling about, trying to sneak a peek.

Finally the car
door opposite opened and jean-clad legs with Converse trainers appeared. She gulped. She recognized those trainers – she’d bought them for Kyle in a desperate bid to rid him of the manky old sneakers he’d had since secondary school.

Kyle followed Baz to a stone pedestal right beside the market cross where three narrow streets converged. Her mind flashed back to that first night when Kyle had pulled her up onto the pedestal, wrapping his arms around her waist to steady her.

Stop it! she screamed inside her head. She needed to forget the past – or at th
e very least, pretend to have forgotten it. She got out of the car, striding over to where Nate had now joined Kyle and Baz.

‘
Hello, Kyle,’ she said, extending her hand with a giant unnatural smile. Her cheeks actually hurt, she was grinning so hard.

Kyle raised his eyebrows
at her friendliness. ‘Hi, Mattie.’ For a second he looked like he was going to lean down for a kiss, but he remained standing on the platform above her.

‘
Get back in the car!’
Baz said, clambering down. ‘We need Ram to film your first meeting.’

‘
No problem,’ Mattie said as Nate ushered her away. She turned back to smile at Kyle again. ‘See you soon.’ His baffled expression made her smirk to herself.

That would show him!
She was
so
over Kyle. Sure, she might have bought a wedding dress. Sure, the whole nation might know about it – bloody,
bloody
Jess! – but if she acted as if everything was all right, people would believe it. And everything
was
all right. She didn’t need Kyle. She didn’t need Jess.

She didn’t need anyone.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Sixty per cent of people rate trust as the most important thing in a relationship.

Seventy-three per cent think white lies are necessary to maintain a healthy relationship.

AN HOUR OR SO LATER
, Mattie and Kyle strolled down the main track through the village, followed by Ram, his camera and the curious villagers. A soft filmy drizzle hung in the air, and Mattie could already feel her make-up melting. Although the manic smile was still glued to her face, she just couldn’t form words and the silence lay heavily between them.