‘So you’ve been relegated to the role of bystander as well?’
Startled, Tabitha turned, only then registering that Amy wasn’t up there amongst them.
‘It’s a bit early in the piece for me to start appearing in family albums,’ Tabitha said lightly, somewhat taken aback that someone so famous was actually talking to her.
‘And a bit late in the piece for me; I think I’ve just been dumped.’
‘Oh.’
‘Bloody Chambers.’ The sob in Amy’s voice was one of raw anguish, and Tabitha watched, startled, as tears slid down the oh-so famous face. With a strangled cry she attempted to run off, but soft grass combined with six-inch heels didn’t make for a dignified exit, and Tabitha cringed as she watched her trip away. ‘It’s the effect I have on women,’ Zavier quipped as he joined Tabitha. ‘They can’t get away quickly enough.’
‘What on earth did you say to her?’ Tabitha asked, even though she knew it was none of her business.
‘Not much. I just pointed out it was pretty stupid for her to be in the family photo when she wasn’t going to be around long enough for the films to be developed.’
‘But that’s horrible,’ Tabitha gasped. ‘Couldn’t you have finished with her in a nicer way?’
Zavier shrugged. ‘Believe me, I tried. Unfortunately she either didn’t want to hear it, or it was beyond her comprehension that a man actually might not want her.’
Tabitha stole a closer look, and knew it must be the former. Zavier had a haughty, effortless arrogance that must be a natural by-product when you were so beautiful. And beautiful just about summed him up: an immaculate prototype that left all others as a pale comparison. No wonder Amy hadn’t wanted to hear it was over. To have known such perfection, no matter how briefly, would ensure a lifetime addiction.
He didn’t seem remotely bothered by her scrutiny, and calmly stood as Tabitha surveyed him. Only when she realised the pause had gone on far too long and that she was obviously staring did Tabitha flush, instantly snapping back to the conversation in hand. She was cross at herself for being caught unguarded, and the scorn in her voice came easily. Gorgeous he might be, but beauty was only skin-deep, and it would serve her well to remember that fact.
‘Well, I think you treated her appallingly.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘My, you do get worked up easily, don’t you? I assume that hair colour didn’t come out of a bottle, then?’ Picking up a mass of curls, he pretended to examine them as Tabitha stood burning with indignation. Suddenly he was close, far too close for comfort, the dark pools of his eyes so near she could see the tiny sapphire flecks in them.
‘Of course it didn’t.’ Flicking his hand away, she felt her hair tumble down over her shoulders. The brush of his hand on hers was electric, and she felt a blush stealing across her chest, working its way up her long, slender neck to meet with the scorching heat of her cheeks. ‘I don’t know why any woman would put up with you.’
‘I can answer that for you.’
Tabitha shook her head angrily. ‘It wasn’t a question; it was a statement. Just because you’re rich and good-looking you think you can treat women…’ Her voice tailed off as she realised he was laughing—laughing at her.
‘So I’m good-looking, am I?’
Tabitha snorted and instantly regretted it; the undignified noise hardly did her gorgeous frock justice. ‘You know you are, and you think that gives you a licence to hurt people.’
‘Considering we only met…’ he glanced at the heavy gold watch on his wrist, his eyes narrowing slightly as he did so ‘…an hour ago, you seem to have formed a rather hasty opinion, and from the venom in your voice I’m assuming it’s not a good one. Can I ask why?’
She stood there, searching for an answer. Why had her reaction to him been so violent? Why was she angry at him for so carelessly discarding Amy when if the truth were known Tabitha knew nothing about the circumstances that had led to the conclusion of their relationship? ‘I just don’t like seeing people hurt,’ she said finally, while knowing her response was woefully inadequate.
‘Amy’s not hurt,’ he answered irritably. ‘She got exactly what she wanted from me: her picture in all the social pages and a fast ticket to fame. As for rich and good-looking—I don’t think she has any trouble qualifying for that title either.’
‘She was hurt,’ Tabitha insisted, but Zavier just shrugged nonchalantly.
‘Maybe,’ Zavier conceded, but any surge of triumph for Tabitha was quickly quashed when he carried on talking, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his full sensual mouth. ‘After all, she’s just lost the best lover she’s ever had.’
‘You’re disgusting,’ Tabitha spluttered, her cheeks flaming as her mind danced with the dangerous images that had suddenly flooded her mind.
‘Just truthful. Look, we had a good time while it lasted. Amy wanted more, and I wasn’t prepared to give it to her.’ He gave a dry laugh. ‘The grass is a bit damp here to go down on bended knee.’
‘She wanted to get married?’
Zavier nodded.
‘But that’s even worse.’ Tabitha was genuinely appalled. ‘She loves you and you ended it like that?’
But Zavier just shook his head. ‘Who said anything about love?’ He saw the confusion in her eyes and it seemed to amuse him. ‘You think Amy loved me?’
‘Why else would she want to marry you?’
‘Oh, come on, Tabitha—surely you’re not that naïve? For the same reason that you’re here with my brother: money and position. Why let a little detail like love get in the way of a good deal?’
‘But I’m not with Aiden for his money.’ She was stunned that he thought this of her.
‘Please,’ he scoffed.
‘I’m not,’ she retorted furiously, but Zavier wasn’t listening.
‘Sorry I took so long, Mr Chambers.’ A waitress rushed over, a glass of ice and a bottle of mineral water in her hand.
‘Just the bottle will do.’ He took a long drink as Tabitha searched frantically for Aiden. Finally catching sight of him, Tabitha groaned inwardly. The bride was chattering to him now, which meant there was no chance of imminent rescue; she’d just have to make the best of it.
‘So what do you do?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘For a living.’ Her patience was starting to run out now. ‘I mean, I assume that you work?’
His brow furrowed for a moment before he answered. ‘I work in the family business; I would have thought you’d have at least known that.’
Tabitha frowned; there was obviously rather a lot of ground that she hadn’t covered with Aiden, and his brother’s resumé was one of them. Still, she was happy to attempt a recovery. ‘That’s right! Aiden did mention it, of course. I’m useless with names and details like that.’
‘So how did you meet my brother?’
‘At a party.’
‘Well, it wouldn’t have been at work, would it?’ He flashed a very dry, guarded smile. ‘We both know the effect that four-letter word has on my brother.’
‘Aiden does work,’ Tabitha bit back. ‘He’s a very talented artist.’
‘Oh, he’s an artist all right.’ Zavier’s black eyes worked the crowd and they both watched as Aiden knocked back one drink, grabbing a couple more from the passing waiter. ‘Dedicated too,’ Zavier mused. ‘So, what do you do for a living?’
Tabitha swallowed. Normally she loved saying what she did for a living, loved the response it evoked in people, but somehow she couldn’t quite imagine Zavier’s face lighting up with undisguised admiration when she revealed her chosen profession. ‘I dance.’
He didn’t say a word, not a single word, but his eyes spoke volumes as they slowly travelled her body, one quizzical eyebrow raised in a curiously mocking gesture as she blushed under his scrutiny.
‘Not that type of dancing,’ she flared. ‘I work on the stage.’
‘Classical?’ he asked, in the snobbiest most derisive of tones.
&n
bsp; ‘A—a bit,’ Tabitha stammered. ‘But mainly modern. Every now and then I even get to do a poor man’s version of the Can-Can.’ The bitter edge to her voice was obvious, even to herself, and she blinked in surprise at her own admission.
A sliver of a smile moved his lips a fraction and his eyes languorously drifted the length of her long legs. ‘Is that the sound of a frustrated leading lady I hear?’
‘Possibly.’ Tabitha shrugged. Hell, why was she feeling like this? Why did one withering stare from him reduce her to a showgirl? ‘But, for your information, I’m actually very good at what I do,’ Tabitha flared. ‘You might mock what your brother and I do for a living, but you don’t have to pull on a suit to put in an honest day’s work. We happen to give a lot of people a lot of pleasure.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you do.’ Again those black eyes worked her body, and again Tabitha mentally kicked herself at the opening she had given him.
For something to do Tabitha drained her glass and accepted another from a passing waiter. But still Zavier’s black eyes stayed trained on her, making even the most basic task, such as breathing, seem suddenly terribly complicated.
‘Don’t worry.’ He smiled at her for the first time, but just as Tabitha felt herself relax his cutting voice set the hairs on the back of her neck standing to attention. ‘I mean, once you get that ring on your finger you’ll be able to hang up your dancing shoes for ever.’
Her jade eyes flashed with anger at his inference. ‘I’ll have you know that I happen to enjoy my job—very much, in fact. If you really think I’m seeing Aiden for the chance to marry into his charming family—’ she flashed a wry smile ‘—you couldn’t be more wrong.’
Her fiery response to his provocative statement did nothing to mar his smooth expression, and he stood there irritatingly calm as Tabitha flushed with anger.
‘We’ll see,’ he said darkly. ‘But something tells me I’m not going to be pleasantly surprised.’
Aiden appeared then, oblivious of the simmering tension. ‘Glad to see you’re getting along.’ He smiled warmly. ‘Isn’t she gorgeous, Zavier?’ He squeezed Tabitha around the waist as he haphazardly deposited a kiss on her cheek.
‘Gorgeous,’ Zavier quipped, his smile belying the menacing look in his eyes. ‘Now, if you two will excuse me?’ He flashed the briefest of nods vaguely in her direction as Tabitha stood there mute. ‘It was a pleasure meeting you.’
Not a pleasure, exactly, Tabitha mused as he walked away, but it had certainly been an experience; the only trouble was, she couldn’t quite decide whether it was one that she wanted to repeat.
CHAPTER TWO
THE meal seemed to go on for ever, the speeches even longer. Tabitha spent most of the time smarting over Zavier’s comments, pushing her food around her plate and drinking rather too much. She hated Zavier Chambers for his cruel suggestion that she was some sort of gold-digger when the actual truth was she was doing his damn family a favour: saving Jeremy Chambers from the news he didn’t want to hear.
Aiden was unusually on edge—an inevitable by-product, Tabitha guessed, of being in such close proximity to his family. His promise to stay by her side all night diminished with each drink he consumed, and rather too much of the night was spent sitting like the proverbial wallflower as Aiden worked the room, only returning to reclaim his glass every now and then.
‘Go easy, Aiden,’ Tabitha said as Aiden knocked back yet another drink.
‘I need a few drinks under my belt to face this lot.’ He gave her an apologetic grin. ‘Sorry, I’m not being very good company, am I? They just set my teeth on edge. How are you finding it?’
Tabitha shrugged. ‘Not bad, but then I’ve only got to deal with it for tonight. I didn’t realise your family was so well heeled—I mean, from what you’d told me I’d guessed that they were wealthy, of course, but nothing like this. You should have warned me.’ She gestured to the room.
The Windsor Hotel was Melbourne’s finest, and the ballroom where the wedding reception was being held was quite simply breathtaking. Everything was divine, from the icy cold champagne and the canapés that had been served as they entered, to the lavish banquet they were now finishing up.
‘Why would I do that? I had enough trouble getting you to come in the first place. If you’d known it was going to be like this wild horses wouldn’t have dragged you here.’
Aiden was right, of course. Here amongst Australia’s élite, with vintage champagne flowing like water, Tabitha felt way out of her depth.
Aiden hiccoughed softly, staring moodily into his drink. ‘Tab?’ he said gently. ‘What’s the matter tonight? And before you say “nothing”, just remember that we’ve been friends too long to pretend everything’s all right when it clearly isn’t. It’s not just the wedding that’s upsetting you, is it? What’s going on?’
She didn’t answer, her long fingers toying with her red curls, coiling them around her fingers in an almost child-like manner.
‘Is it your grandmother?’ As she bit into her lip Aiden knew he’d hit the mark. ‘What’s she done now?’ There was a touch of humour in his voice as he tried to lighten the mood and cajole the problem out of her. ‘Sold the family jewels?’
Tabitha’s eyes weren’t smiling as she looked up. ‘My family’s not like yours, Aiden; we don’t have “family jewels”. Sorry,’ she added, ‘this isn’t your fault.’
‘What isn’t? Come on, Tab, tell me what’s going on.’
‘She remortgaged her house.’ Tabitha let out the long breath she had inadvertently been holding. ‘To pay off all her gambling debts.’
‘You already told me that—last month, if I remember rightly,’ Aiden pointed out. ‘You went to the bank with her and helped organize it. Can’t she manage the repayments?’
‘She withdrew the loan,’ Tabitha started in an unusually shaky voice, ‘and promptly fed it back into the poker machines at the casino.’
‘All of it?’
Aiden’s open mouth and wide eyes weren’t exactly helping, and Tabitha nodded glumly. ‘So now she’s got all the old debts that were causing so many problems plus a massive new one, and it’s all my fault.’
‘How on earth do you work that one out?’
‘I shouldn’t have left her with access to so much money. She’s like a moth to a flame where the casino’s concerned; I don’t even think it’s the gambling she’s addicted to, more the company. I should have made her pay off her bills…’
‘She’s not a child,’ Aiden pointed out, taking Tabitha’s shaking hand.
‘She’s all I’ve got.’ Tears were threatening now, and Tabitha put her hand over her glass as the waiter returned, but Aiden had no such reserve. ‘Just leave the bottle,’ he ordered while waiting for Tabitha to continue. ‘Gran brought me up after Mum and Dad died, devoted her life to me, and now she’s old and lonely and terrified and there’s nothing I can do. I’ve asked the bank for a loan, but the second you put “dancer” down as your occupation you might just as well rip up the application form.’
‘Let me help you.’ He ignored her furiously shaking head. ‘Come on, darling, it would be a drop in the ocean. I haven’t told you my good news yet. I sold a painting yesterday.’
‘Aiden!’ Despite her own problems, Tabitha’s delighted squeal was genuine and, wrapping her arms around Aiden’s neck, she planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘That’s fantastic news.’
‘Please let me help you, Tabitha. You can always pay me back. We’re on our way, darling.’ Aiden grinned. ‘I can feel it.’
But Tabitha shook her head. ‘You might be, Aiden, but in my case “on my way out” would be a more apt description.’ Her gloom descended again, but she did her best to keep the bitter note from her voice. ‘I’ve been asked to audition for the next production.’
‘So?’ Aiden shrugged. ‘You’ll walk it.’
‘Maybe, but it’s always been automatic until now—I’ve always had a part. It’s because I’m getting older.’
‘You�
��re twenty-four years old, for heaven’s sake.’
‘I’m twenty-nine,’ Tabitha corrected, grinning despite herself. ‘And twenty-nine-year-old dancers have a lot to prove. I can’t borrow money from you when I’ve no idea if I’ll be able to pay it back.’
‘Please,’ Aiden insisted, but Tabitha was adamant.
‘No; I mean it, Aiden. I’m going to have to work this one out for myself.’
‘You’re sure?’
She nodded resolutely, and after a brief shrug Aiden let it go. ‘I know it’s abhorrent, seeing all this wealth when your grandmother’s so broke, but money can be a curse, sometimes. The people here are so busy looking over their shoulders, sure everyone’s after their last dollar, they honestly don’t know who their real friends are. For all the highbrow people here you could count the true friends on one hand. If the money disappeared tomorrow so would ninety per cent of the guests, and that’s probably a conservative estimate.’
‘Your brother seems to have the impression that I’d be amongst them.’
Aiden’s eyes narrowed. ‘Tab, I’m sorry if he’s been giving you a hard time, but, though I’m loath to defend him for treating you appallingly, out of everyone here Zavier’s got the most reason to be suspicious of people’s motives, especially where women are concerned. He was let down pretty badly recently.’
‘She must have been mad,’ Tabitha mused.
‘Stay clear, Tab. I mean it. A wonderful warm thing like you wouldn’t last five minutes in his company. I might adore Zavier, but I wouldn’t wish that black heart on my worst enemy. It could only end in tears. Anyway, you’re here with me, remember? Don’t you dare go blowing my cover by making smouldering eyes at my brother.’
Tabitha laughed. ‘I wouldn’t worry, Aiden. He’s already made it abundantly clear what he thinks of me, and I can assure you it wasn’t complimentary.’ She grinned as Aiden winced. ‘Any hot looks passing between us would probably be better described as fuming rather than smouldering. He’s convinced I’m after you for your riches.’
‘God.’ Aiden added a couple more inches to his glass. ‘Zavier couldn’t be further from the mark if he tried; he’d have a fit if he knew the truth.’
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