‘Over what? He was making eyes at you or something?’
She blushed deeply. ‘No! Of course not. I was just angry that he made so much money on Meadow – my cream. I only got half a million for it, you know. He . . . he ripped me off.’
That wasn’t true, wasn’t anything like true. But what could she say? She was so embarrassed at his casual joke. Making eyes . . . She had made them at Joel, and he’d told her to go jump in a lake. And now she had to see him again, here, tonight, with his wife.
Dina tried to collect herself. Come on, she would have to face him some time. Why not now? And see the woman he belonged to. And always would. She felt a moment of real thankfulness for Ludo, felt her ambivalence vanish; he was here beside her, her partner, boyfriend, whatever; she was with a man of her own, so she wouldn’t look like some desperate bunny-boiling freak. Gratefully, she reached out and squeezed his arm. He wasn’t muscular like Joel, but he was hers, he was there.
Perhaps she wanted too much, and this was real love. That sick, squirmy, sexual feeling she got with Joel couldn’t be love; that was obsession . . . imagination. They hadn’t ever even made love. Most couples weren’t crazy about each other, right? They were fond of each other. Friends . . .
‘Well, that’s all forgotten now. Right? Promise me you’ll be nice.’ Joel squeezed her hand. ‘This is a special night for me. I don’t want anything to ruin it.’
‘I’ll be nice,’ Dina managed. ‘He probably won’t even remember me.’
The mansion was incredible. Flaming torches were stacked across the wide sweep of the drive; lit candles, sunk into the lawn; the soaring modern architecture of the grand, thirty-million-dollar beach house was breathtaking. Dina clutched Ludo’s arm as they fell in line with younger girls wearing Gucci, Prada, Prabal Gurung – all haute couture – and older women in St. John and fussy clouds of silk and taffeta.
The jewels all around her flashed and sparkled like strings of fairy lights. Dina had never seen such a concentration of wealth and power. Even as they waited to go in, party staff wearing chic light-green dresses or tailored suits hovered around them with flutes of vintage champagne, pink and white, and trays of hors d’oeuvres that looked meltingly delicious: tiny chunks of real honeycomb pierced with white Cheshire cheese, little paper flutes of home-made French fries, tiny quiches, little pear tartlets, caviar and chopped egg on whole-wheat blinis, and everything clever in between.
‘Dina! This is Malcolm Bruce, the director . . .’
‘Oh. Hi. I loved
Marianne
. . .’
‘And you know Solomon Perry, the banker? And his wife, Sarah.’
‘Hi.’
‘And here’s Jake Carter, the best tort litigator on the East Coast . . .’
One after another, Ludo hit her with them: actresses, models, hedge-fund guys, a defence contractor, an award-winning architect. These were the rich people and, she realised as she looked at the women, those pretty enough to hang out with them: the plus ones. You were either a wife with a string of pearls the size of gulls’ eggs and a smug look of adoration for your husband, or a jittery model type, nervous and hoping to get lucky.
At least it kept her busy. Dina was shaking hands and smiling, and coming up with quick one-liners, fast enough to make her head spin. But that was good – she could see Ludo glowing – it was as if she were back on opening day at Torch, with all the beauty bloggers and the new customers pushing and shoving and trying to buy every product she could put out there.
And the girls, those eager girls who all looked at her, with Ludo on her arm, so enviously – it made her want to laugh – but they actually did a double take, and wanted to speak to her.
‘Wait – Dina
Kane
?’
‘You started Meadow cream, right?’
‘You brought in the Dr Lowe stuff to Torch. I kill for that cleanser! It’s the only place you can get it outside of London! Wow! I love you.’
‘Don’t actually kill for a cleanser,’ Dina joked. ‘But thank you.’
The redhead was beanpole tall and lean, with that clear Irish skin, a dusting of freckles, and Dina could see that she was flawless.
‘In my line of work, it’s the most vital thing there
is
,’ the girl gushed. ‘They make you up, like,
every
day. And it all has to come off. I can’t
afford
a zit. You have the best stuff that works. Oh my God. Dina Kane.’
‘I know, right?’ asked a brunette, sidling up to her. ‘I’m Erin Lanster. They made me up at Torch and, like, my boyfriend
proposed
that night at dinner.’
‘I really don’t think one thing happened because of the other, but I’m so glad you liked it . . .’
‘Who did your make-up tonight?’ asked a blonde. ‘Can I get her number?’
‘Uh, that was me.’
‘Oh my God! Like, wow.’
Ludo laughed, delighted. He’d been in the middle of a crowd of girls like this, but never had their attention been focused on anything else. A crew of pretty chicks paying homage to his woman; he felt more secure than ever in his choice.
‘Excuse us, ladies; I have to take Dina to meet our hostess.’
He extricated her and steered her into the centre of the vast room, with a huge fire blazing in a two-sided chimney. There was the sight of the sea, lit up from the enormous open windows, just in front of the stretch of private beach.
‘Roxana? I’m Ludo Morgan.’
He introduced himself to a tall, stunning older woman with long, dark hair, wearing a gorgeous tailored evening pantsuit in silk, and teetering heels. Chandelier earrings hung from her lobes, and she looked as wild as a gypsy.
‘Hey; good to see you. You’ve bought the cottage down the road?’
To her it was a cottage – he swallowed his annoyance.
‘In Sagaponack. Yes.’
‘Well, we look forward to having you around. You should say hi to my husband; he’s upstairs playing guitar, I think. Lots of boys.’ She laughed. ‘Never stopped being a rock star, in his heart. And who’s your girlfriend?’
‘This is Dina Kane. She works for me at Torch, in the beauty department.’
‘Hi,’ Dina said, nervously. Roxana Felix was a legend – one of the great supermodels of the nineties. And she still looked incredible.
‘I heard you’re doing great things over there, Dina.’
‘Thank you, ma’am.’
‘Ma’am is my mother. Did you make yourself up tonight?’
Roxana was leaning closer, and Dina suddenly, desperately, wanted her to approve. She was a hell of an expert.
‘Yes, I did. Do you like it?’
‘I do. You have real talent. I’ve started to use Meadow, by the way.’
Dina flushed. ‘How did you know that was me?’
‘Oh, my friend told me. He was actually just talking about you. Let’s see if I can find him.’ She turned around. ‘Susan! Joel! Come here.’
Dina gripped on to Ludo. She breathed hard; she felt dizzy.
‘Come on, baby,’ he whispered.
Desperately, she grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and tipped it back, downing half of it in a couple of seconds; the icy cold alcohol hit her tongue, bubbling and soothing, promising her a little courage by the time it had soaked into her bloodstream.
She looked good; she knew it. That was important to her. She had a man. She had a job, a career. Success. Time to hold her head up. Dina forced herself to calm her ragged breathing.
Do you want him to see
?
‘Dina, Ludo, this is Susan Gaines.’
‘Oh! Hiiii!’ A tall, older, groomed blonde with talon-like nails painted scarlet and an artfully made-up face smiled at her from a pillar of blue velvet. Dina tried to take her in. She was beautiful, in a way, but plucked and painted to within an inch of her life; diamonds glittered around her throat like stars, and there was a massive ring on her left hand, the size of a marble. Her ears were studded with long, dangling columns – more diamonds – and there was a huge pearl and conch brooch at her ample bosom. Blonde, big-breasted, she said
rich
in every possible way.
Wife. Queen
. Dina felt ill; she swallowed a little more champagne.
‘Hi to you. What a pleasure!’ Ludo said. ‘We’ve heard so much about you. Looking forward to getting to know you guys better. Dina owes your husband a favour, don’t you, honey?’
‘Oh, yes. Mr Gaines has been very good to me,’ Dina said, weakly.
‘Mr Gaines! Come on, you call him Joel, don’t you? If you don’t, you’re going to start,’ said Susan. ‘Joel! Sugar! It’s that couple I was talking to you about. We were discussing you guys
just
this afternoon,’ she said, as Joel walked towards them, and Dina could not take her eyes off him.
Her heart thudded against her ribcage; she was dizzy.
Hold on. Keep it together
.
She couldn’t let him see. He would laugh, thinking she still wasn’t over him. Dina forced a bright smile on to her face with the utmost effort, and threaded her arm through Ludo’s, bringing him closer to her.
‘Hi,’ Gaines said, offering his hand to Ludo.
‘Good to meet you, sir,’ Ludo said. There was something like awe in his voice, and Dina blushed to hear it. Gaines was the kind of man other men feared and envied, and it turned her on to see them scurry and scuttle about him. To have Ludo do it was an exquisite humiliation. ‘My father knows you well, I believe.’
‘For a long time.’
‘And you sent us Dina. She’s quite the worker.’ Ludo smiled proudly. ‘I should thank you for that, and a lot more, because I got a beautiful girlfriend out of the deal.’
Joel Gaines turned his dark eyes to Dina Kane, looking down at her; she couldn’t read their expression. Nor could she move her gaze from his. She was utterly mesmerised. She felt her lack of jewels, of haute couture, of evening make-up. Simple had seemed chic; now she felt like some kind of shepherdess who had wandered into Versailles. Outclassed and out of place.
‘Isn’t it hard dating somebody that works for you? Office romances are notorious,’ Susan Gaines said, conspiratorially. ‘All the other girls will complain about how you got the job, Dina – and they’ll be after your man. Although I’m sure you quite hold your own!’
‘Oh, no. Dina’s a great worker. She’s really helped in my turnaround of the store,’ Ludo said.
Dina wasn’t listening. She was looking at Gaines, lost in his eyes like her body was crying out to him. Dimly, she became aware that Ludo was looking at her, and forced herself to break the spell, look at the floor.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ she said, automatically.
‘It’s interesting that you put it like that, though,’ Gaines said, lightly. ‘I thought it was Dina, not you, who had turned the store around. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to take credit for the way she blitzed your beauty department.’
It was a shock. She hadn’t been expecting that, not any of it. Gaines was defending her; he was taking Ludo on. And he knew – he knew about her work. Not a word from him, not an email all these many months, but he still knew all about it, and this was firm praise.
‘She submitted plans, sure. I ran with them. And I have been revamping all our other departments.’ Ludo didn’t bridle, he couldn’t afford to, but he was furious. What did Gaines mean by it, at a social gathering? And was this his life, to have his woman upstage him in front of bankers, investors? His anger hardened – at Joel, even at Dina. This charade would be finished by the end of the night, he vowed it. The ring came with a price. ‘Isn’t that right, Dina?’
She was put on the spot.
‘Is it, indeed?’ asked Gaines, as if idly curious.
‘I . . . Yes.’ She could not fight with Ludo, not right now. She was with him, here, as his girlfriend. That meant loyalty, or go home. ‘Many of the suggestions came from Ludo, and he’s the one working the rest of the store . . .’
‘And I’m in charge of social media, development and purchasing,’ Ludo said, curtly. ‘I run our press campaigns. Perhaps you saw me in
Vogue
?’
‘I did! I did!’ Susan squealed. ‘I swear, that’s what I was showing Joel, like, just today! It was amazing! You looked fantastic. You’ve done wonders; your father must be proud as hell, young man. And you, Dina, you have a
great
boss. I think Ludo’s going out of his way to talk up her contribution, am I right, Dina? After all, there are a lot of staff who make up that beauty department. I’ve been there. The make-up artists are to die for. And the girls at the counter are all experts—’
‘Yes, and Dina hand-picked them,’ Joel said. ‘But never mind; I hope the rest of your rebranding goes as well as the beauty department, Ludo. We shouldn’t be all business tonight.’
‘Hey, thanks,’ Ludo said. ‘In fact, I was hoping your wife might give me some tips for the summer, now I’m moving in.’ He turned to Susan. ‘Good restaurants, reliable pool cleaners, that kind of stuff. And perhaps we could all have dinner?’
Dear God, no
. Dina groaned.
‘Oh, yes! That would be perfect. We’d love to. And we’ll get a few friends round to meet you.’
Ludo smiled, that was what he was hoping for.
Susan turned to Dina. ‘Sweetie, can I steal him for a second? We have lots to discuss. Joel will look after you.’
Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed a willing Ludo by the elbow and led him over to one of Roxana Felix’s cavernous leather couches.
Dina breathed in, a shuddering breath of excitement and fear. She clutched the stem of her champagne flute like it was a lifejacket.
‘Oh, yes,’ said Joel, softly. ‘I’d love to look after you.’
She bridled. ‘After you last saw me? You basically told me to drop dead. You implied I had a crush on you.’
‘And you didn’t?’
The casual, teasing power of his voice . . . She couldn’t help it, her body responded immediately, her nipples tautening, her belly warming with blood.
‘Don’t talk to me that way. I’m with Ludo.’
‘So I see.’
‘And you’re with Susan. Nice dress. Nice jewels.’
He lifted an eyebrow. ‘You sound bitter.’
‘I guess I just don’t understand what you have in common, Joel. And I’m not bitter; I’m angry.’ It was tumbling out of her now, and she couldn’t stop it, didn’t want to. ‘You shouted at me; you dropped me. But you wanted me just as much. Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked you to meet me, but we both know how you looked at me, Joel Gaines. It’s goddamn
cruel
of you to lay it all on me.’