Sue seemed to have lost interest in ribbon belts and bow bags and other accessories one just had to have for that perfect outfit this season now Blaine was back. Maisie watched as her friend went into femme fatale mode. The last time she had seen this was two years ago at a summer barbecue just after she and Jeff had started dating, and the man Sue had been after then had succumbed even before the kebabs had cooked. Not so with Blaine Morosini. He remained charming and lazily amused but infinitely cool as Sue put the girl at the till to shame in the seduction stakes.
Eventually it seemed Jackie couldn’t stand it any more. ‘We’d better be going; Mum’s expecting us back for lunch,’ she said, standing up so abruptly that everyone stared at her for a second.
‘OK.’ Maisie stood up too, followed by Blaine and then—grudgingly—Sue.
‘Heavens, is that the time?’ Sue suddenly reverted from Mata Hari mode to career woman. ‘I was supposed to be on the other side of Regent’s Park by now. We think we’ve found a wonderful new designer, but if he’s as good as one of my staff thinks he is, the other houses will be after him when word gets out. I’ve managed to persuade him we’re doing him a favour by my going along to see his work today. Must fly. Blaine—’ she smiled sweetly ‘—it was such a pleasure to meet you. Bye everyone.’
The next moment she was gone in a whirl of flirty chiffon skirt, spaghetti-strap top and expensive perfume.
Blaine spoke into the brief pause. ‘And you?’ he said softly to Maisie. ‘Have you got to rush off to some business appointment or other?’
Perhaps Jackie hadn’t told him about her situation then, or not the full story at least. She didn’t think he was being nasty and that was what it would have been to point out that she didn’t have a job as from last night. Jeff hadn’t just been her fiancé; he’d been her boss as well and owner of the veterinary practice she had worked at for the last three years. On the same evening she had flung his ring at him and he had told her he was taking a couple of weeks off to ‘let everything cool down', she had written her resignation letter and had given it to his secretary the next morning. It had been added confirmation that she had done the right thing when word had filtered through that the two weeks cooling off period for him had involved a holiday somewhere hot with the beanpole.
She had worked her two weeks’ notice with an aching heart and a doggedly cheery manner—at work at least—and had left the practice last night without looking back.
She had two interviews lined up for the next week. Veterinary nurses were in increasingly short supply these days—most girls wanted better pay and working conditions than the job offered—and so she wasn’t too worried about finding new employment. Just whether she would earn enough to meet the rent. Jeff might have been the biggest rat on two legs but he had been that rare thing in the veterinary world—a vet who paid the least of his staff extremely well. Even his kennel maid earned more than the average experienced veterinary nurse.
Aware that Blaine was waiting for an answer, Maisie forced a bright note into her voice as she said, ‘Nothing so exhausting, I’m glad to say.’ Refusing to elaborate further, she turned from the greeny-blue gaze to Jackie. ‘Give your parents my love, won’t you.’
‘Why don’t you come and have some lunch and give it yourself?’ Jackie invited at once. ‘Mum was only saying the other day she hasn’t seen you for ages.’
Another ‘poor Maisie’ conversation, no doubt. When she had sent out all the cards informing everyone that the wedding and reception scheduled for the end of August was cancelled, she had known a great deal of sympathy and pity would inevitably follow. She just hadn’t realised it would be so hard to cope with. And she did appreciate everyone’s kindness and concern, she really did, but it was so embarrassing and depressing somehow and increased the feeling of humiliation a hundredfold, besides making her feel she was being smothered.
‘Oh, I couldn’t,’ Maisie said firmly.
‘Yes, you could,’ said Jackie, equally firmly. ‘We’re only having a barbecue. It’ll be quite relaxed, everyone sitting about in the garden listening to music and enjoying the sun. Light conversation, people dozing off in deckchairs with a glass of wine, nothing heavy.’
Maisie got the distinct impression that Jackie wasn’t just trying to reassure her that her broken engagement wouldn’t be under discussion, but that there was a definite hint to Blaine to lay off his brother here. It did nothing to reassure her that she wouldn’t be better off taking a book to the park and idling the afternoon away under a leafy tree, or even giving the somewhat grotty little bedsit she had rented for the last three years a spring-clean.
As she sought in her mind for a suitably convincing lie to let her off the hook, Jackie took her arm and pulled her out of the coffee bar, leaving Blaine to follow in their wake. ‘Please, Maisie,’ Jackie whispered, ‘come back and stay the afternoon. The atmosphere at home is so bad you could cut it with a knife and it’ll be better if everyone has to make an effort to be civil because you’re there.’
As an invitation it left a lot to be desired but what could she say? Jackie wasn’t the sort of friend who often asked a favour, besides which, in a similar situation she knew Jackie would do the same for her. ‘OK,’ she said flatly as they walked out of the door into what was fast resembling an oven, ‘but I’ve things to do this evening, all right?’ Like wondering if Jeff was back in the country yet and what he would think when he knew she had left, whether he’d care, things like that.
‘All right.’ Jackie turned round to face Blaine. ‘Maisie’s coming back,’ she said happily.
If Blaine knew the reason for her enthusiasm he didn’t show it, his manner easy and his voice lazy as he said, ‘That is good. We did not get a chance to converse much, did we, Maisie?’ He smiled at her.
Maisie stared at him. She wasn’t sure if the glint in his eye was because he was amused at the way Sue had tried to charm him, or that he knew that with or without Sue she wouldn’t have put herself out to hold his attention. He was too good-looking, too smooth, too utterly sure of himself; in fact everything she disliked in a man, she told herself vehemently. Anyway she was off men. For good. No more worrying about what she looked like or trying to remain civil when they turned up half an hour late for a date, no more feigning an interest in football. All that could go out of the window now.
So why was she dieting?
That was for her, she told herself. For her own self-satisfaction and sense of worth. Absolutely nothing to do with the male sex at all. No way.
When they walked into Oxford Street and Blaine raised his hand and a taxi skidded to an immediate halt, Maisie wasn’t surprised. He was that sort of man.
Blaine helped both women into the taxi and then sat down beside Maisie, who was horrified to discover she was positioned beside him. Ridiculous, truly ridiculous, but she hadn’t wanted to be so near him. She tried not to mind that she could feel his thigh against hers and that his arm along the back of the seat seemed curiously intimate.
He was wearing a pale blue shirt with the cuffs folded back and light cotton trousers, and as Maisie breathed in she caught the faint tang of a delicious aftershave. It made her wonder if she’d put on perfume that morning; she couldn’t remember. Anyway, now was hardly the time to sniff her wrists to find out.
Her stomach lurched as he stretched out his legs slightly before turning in his seat and addressing Jackie over her head. ‘I would like to buy your mother some flowers to thank her for her hospitality. Perhaps you could tell the driver to stop for a moment at an appropriate florist?’
‘Yes, of course. There’s a nice shop on the outskirts of Bethnal Green; we’ll be there shortly and it’s only a couple of minutes from home.’
Although Jackie had spoken normally, Maisie could tell that her friend was a little flustered. It made her wonder just how awkward things had been between Jackie’s father and his