Imogen fished her phone out of her pocket and pulled up a photo of a woman wearing a mask. It was covered in pink stones, the colour of rosé. White feathers sprayed up from the top, and lengths of super-fine chain in rose gold hung down in elegant loops on either side.
“Is that you?” Lainey asked, and Imogen nodded. “I’m not following.”
“I’m going to sneak into the Carmina Ball. Then I’m going to catch him in the act and make sure my sister doesn’t walk down the aisle with the wrong guy.”
Lainey squinted at the picture, the intricate design of the gems and beads mesmerising her. It was impossible to see Imogen’s features. Add some dramatic makeup and a wig or change of hair colour, and her identity would truly be concealed.
“You’re crazy,” Corinna said with a shake of her head. Her phone buzzed and she snatched it off the table. “Sorry, ladies, it’s Joe. I need to take this.”
“Hi, Joe!” Lainey and Imogen chorused when she answered the phone, dissolving into laughter when Corinna rolled her eyes and headed into the house.
“Where’s the loyalty?” Imogen said as she reached for her champagne and sloshed a little over the edge. They were definitely getting an Uber home tonight.
“He does seem like a decent guy,” Lainey said. “She has better luck than me, that’s for damn sure. I haven’t been on a date in months.”
Imogen laughed. “That means your life hasn’t been unnecessarily complicated for months.”
“I thought you enjoyed hearing about my dating disasters.” Lainey grinned and scooped some icing off what was left of the cake. Her message was now an incoherent mess. “Solid entertainment value there.”
Disasters was certainly the right word. While Corinna always attracted cute, decent men, Lainey ended up in every kind of impossible, couldn’t-make-it-up dating scenario there was. She’d dated a guy who turned out to be as old as her father, two ex-cons and a circus performer who liked to watch her walk around wearing only a pair of mismatched socks.
“In a kind of masochistic way...yeah, I do.” Imogen forked some cake into her mouth.
“Why is it masochistic?”
“Because I know I’ll be picking up the pieces when it goes bad.” Imogen’s eyes sparkled as an amused smile formed. “What happened when that guy wanted you to move to the hippie commune in Nimben? I told you not to go with him.”
“I didn’t go with him...well, not all the way.” Lainey bit down on her lip to stifle a laugh.
Okay, so Imogen was usually the voice of reason. Which made her plans to sneak into the Carmina Ball all the more interesting. The thing was, if anyone was going to break the rules and do it properly, it would be Imogen. She’d have plans and contingencies and all the necessary details worked out.
“I drove all the way to the state border to drag your butt home,” Imogen said, crossing her arms. “And what about the time you decided to go camping in the middle of nowhere with that guy who got arrested and left you stranded?”
“I didn’t know the car was stolen.” Lainey shrugged. “Besides, I’m pretty sure Damian bailed me out that particular occasion.”
Imogen chuckled. “Speak of the devil.”
Lainey’s head whipped around. The object of her fantasies was in the doorway. Damian McKnight, in all his panty-singeing glory, wearing a pair of faded blue jeans that hugged his thighs to perfection. His blue checked shirt was open at the collar and rolled back at the sleeves, inviting Lainey’s eyes to linger on smooth olive skin.
“What were you saying about me?” he asked warily as he walked over.
As usual, Lainey gave him a saccharine smile, which he didn’t return. He might have been all biceps and close-up-worthy eyes, but Damian McKnight was the sworn enemy of all that was fun. Mr. Stick Up His Butt, she’d called him once.
It was truly baffling why she found his seriousness so damn appealing.
He used to be fun before Jenny broke his heart into a million little pieces. Maybe you need to show him how to have fun again...
Yeah, right. Damian had always acted like she was a little bug that buzzed around him, invading his space. Hanging around where she wasn’t wanted. And the one time she’d gotten drunk and tried to kiss him the year after he got divorced, he’d made it clear he wouldn’t go there with her, despite the fact that he’d been giving her eyes all night. She was twenty-one then, and fully aware of what she wanted with him.
“We were reminiscing about some of Lainey’s finer dating moments,” Imogen said.
Damian smirked. “Like that time you had to climb out that lawyer’s window because his other girlfriend came home early?”
“He told me he was single,” Lainey protested, reaching for her drink. “I would never have dated him if I’d known.”
He shook his head. He often did that around her...they all did. “Where’s your third musketeer?”
“Inside, talking to her lover boy,” Lainey replied.
“And what about you?” His gaze skated over her. “Any recent victims?”
Lainey drained the rest of her champagne and tried to appear as though she hadn’t noticed the searing look. Damian had the Blue Steel thing down pat, and she knew for a fact that women all over Melbourne would give their right arm to be on the receiving end of it. And since his stint on TV, the guy even had a fan club on Facebook. A freaking fan club!
“I love being single, you know that. But I might head out later, see if anyone takes my interest.”
His jaw tensed. Interesting. “If you do, be sure to give him my condolences.”
There was a strange undercurrent in Damian’s tone, a little hum of tension that sent ripples of curiosity through her. Was it because he didn’t care or because he didn’t like the idea of her chatting someone up?
She never could tell with him. He said he wasn’t interested, but his body language told a different story.
“And what are you up to tonight?” she asked.
“Not much. Mum needed a hand with the pipes in the kitchen, and Dad’s back is still giving him a hard time,” he said with a brisk nod. “I’m exchanging hard labour for lasagne.”
Well, damn if that didn’t make her insides melt. Despite his sharp rise in business and wealth, Damian never forgot where he came from or who was important in his life. He was dedicated to his family, always making himself available for his parents or his sister.
It still baffled Lainey why his wife had left. Who in their right mind would walk away from him?
Damian’s eyes flicked over her once more, and she felt it all the way down to her toes. “Anyway, I’d better get to it. Behave yourselves, okay?”
“Never.” Lainey had to contain a laugh as he rolled his eyes, walking away without a backward glance.
The man had an ass so perfect it should be in a gallery.
“So uptight,” Lainey muttered, her eyes locked onto the way his hips rolled as he disappeared into the house. “But so smoking hot.”
Imogen snorted. “I think you mean ‘so unattainable.’”
“Potato, po-tah-to.” Lainey tapped her nails against the table. “So, I want to know more about this whole Carmina Ball plan. I’m intrigued.”
“I was going to keep it a secret.” Imogen dropped her face into her hands. “But Corinna kept topping up my glass and then with the shock of your news, I...ugh. Please don’t tell anyone.”
“My