‘Did you miss it?’ Aimee asked. ‘When it was gone? All the fame and the partying? All the money?’
Danny looked away again. ‘We never really had half as much money as people thought we did.’
‘But you were always out at parties, always seen at the best restaurants, photographed in exotic destinations having fantastic holidays. That kind of lifestyle doesn’t come cheap, surely?’ Aimee was slightly distracted by something going on over by the harbour side and she squinted slightly to get a better look, trying to peer past the steady stream of tourists walking past the restaurant because she was sure she’d just spotted Laugh-a-minute-Lydia trying to rally her excursion group back onto the coach – hang on, was that her mother? With Brendon? She had to squint a bit harder to get a better look but her mother was hard to miss in her banana-yellow kaftan, and it looked as though both her and Brendon were slightly the worse for wear. An afternoon of over-indulging on the local wine, maybe? And where was Ricardo?
‘It was all a front though, half the time,’ Danny said, his voice shaking Aimee back to the here and now. ‘The record company paid for a lot of what you saw,’ Danny went on, refilling their glasses with the last of the wine. ‘All the restaurants we visited, most of the holidays we took, the parties we went to. I don’t know if you noticed, but a lot of the time photographs of us out enjoying ourselves coincided with a new album release or a tour or an up and coming TV appearance. A lot of it was staged, Aimee.’
Aimee sat forward, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at him, the expression on his face almost clouding over at the memories.
‘Were you really happy back then, Danny?’
He looked at her, smiling, because he didn’t want to spoil this perfect afternoon with talk of his sometimes less-than-perfect days in one of Britain’s biggest bands. ‘We were very young, and we were very naïve or, at least, some of us were.’
He hadn’t meant to say that out loud and of course it got a reaction from Aimee. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We let our management get away with too much,’ Danny replied, not really wanting to get into the real reason why he still felt some bitterness towards those old days, despite the fame it had afforded him. Fame he’d grabbed with both hands and made the most of, no doubt about that, but knowing what he knew now, well, he just wished he’d known it back then. When it was happening. Because things might have been very, very different if that had been the case. ‘Anyway,’ Danny went on, determined to turn the subject around before he said something he shouldn’t. ‘Last night, it was… it was really… it was something I needed. And I think you needed it too, am I right?’
She looked at him, that smile spreading across her face again. He looked so bloody sexy sitting there and it was all she could do to keep her hands off him. ‘Yeah. You’re right.’
‘So, everything was… everything was okay?’
She really couldn’t stop smiling. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to stop smiling on this holiday, not if it carried on like this. ‘What do you think?’
The look he gave her spoke volumes, and Aimee felt those butterflies increase, the breath in her throat catching and she had to close her eyes for a second, just so’s she could compose herself. If this was what being in lust felt like she could quite happily feel this way forever.
‘I think I want to make love to you, all over again,’ Danny whispered, leaning forward, reaching out to take her hand.
‘And I think I want to let you,’ she said quietly, not really caring that they were in full view of everyone, not really caring that people were watching as he kissed her long and slow, a beautiful kiss that seemed to go on forever. A kiss that only heightened every feeling that was building up inside her and she knew, just as much as he did, that their afternoon of exploring this lovely little harbour town was over. It was back to the boat for them, and an afternoon of getting to know each other in the only way they really cared about at the minute. And Aimee didn’t really feel like arguing with that.
‘Come on,’ he smiled, grabbing her hand. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
She clung onto him tightly as they almost ran out of the restaurant, jumping into the first Taxi they came across, laughing like a couple of teenagers about to do something they shouldn’t all the way through the short journey back to the boat.
‘Hopefully Cal’s out somewhere this afternoon,’ Danny said, slightly out of breath as he and Aimee finally headed up the gangway back onto the boat, making their way as fast as they could to his cabin on Deck 4.
Swiping his key card in the door, he pushed it open with his shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief as nothing but silence and an empty cabin greeted them. ‘Looks like we’re in luck.’ He took the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign off the door handle and hung it out front, closing the door behind them, and it was all Aimee could do to stand upright as those ice-blue eyes of his looked deep into hers, his face breaking into a knowing smile as he walked over to her.
‘Y’know, you were my fantasy man back in the 90’s,’ Aimee smiled back as his arms slid around her waist, his hands in the small of her back pushing her against him. ‘Are you gonna prove to me that you still deserve that title now?’
‘I thought I’d already done that last night?’ he smirked, his hands sliding up under her top.
‘Well, that was a start,’ she whispered, running her fingers over his rough jaw line. ‘But I think you’ve got a bit more work to do, don’t you?’
And with that, he turned her round and pushed her back against the wall, his mouth on hers, kissing her hard and deep, a kiss that sent her heart into overdrive and her body into a quivering mess. She was only able to stand up because he was holding onto her, his hands pulling at her clothes and hers at his until they’d both found a way that made it possible for them to enjoy each other in the only way they wanted to right now.
It was crazy! She’d come on this holiday for one reason and one reason only, and that was to forget about Robbie Cartwright and everything he’d put her through. She certainly hadn’t expected to become involved with anyone else, never mind her very own pop idol. A holiday romance had been the last thing on her mind, but boy, it was the best thing that had happened to her.
She closed her eyes and laughed out loud as Danny whispered something in her ear, something rude, something naughty, something she’d spent many, many nights dreaming he’d whisper in her ear when she was nothing but a fan lusting after him from afar, and it was one hell of a kick to be here with him now, her fingers buried deep in his soft, dark hair as he pushed inside her in a way she’d only ever been able to fantasise about before. But sometimes fantasies became reality, and she was living proof of that now, wasn’t she?
‘Danny!’ she groaned out loud as he pushed deeper into her, taking just minutes to reach a climax they both felt with every inch of their bodies, and once again she was grateful that he was holding onto her because she could feel her legs literally buckle as a wave of white hot, beautiful pain shot right through her, from the tips of her toes to the top of her head. ‘Oh, God! That was amazing!’
He laughed that now increasingly sexier-every-time-he-did-it low, deep laugh and she slipped her arms round his neck, resting her head on his shoulder as he pulled her close, their breathing still heavy and fast. ‘So, do I still deserve the title of your fantasy man, then?’
She lifted her head up to look at him, his mouth quickly kissing hers. ‘Oh yeah. I think you just passed that little test with flying colours, Mr Pop Star.’
He smiled, kissing her again, a little bit harder and a little bit faster. ‘Glad I haven’t lost it after all these years then. Could’ve been a real ego-batterer that.’
Aimee smiled too, not really knowing what to do next so she moved away from him, quickly pulling herself back together, grabbing her scattered clothes up off the cabin floor and hurriedly dressing.
‘Aimee…’
She turned to look at him, running her fingers through her hair. She didn’t
want to look as though she’d been pulled through a hedge backwards on the walk back to her cabin, especially as she was thinking about stopping by the Lido Café first. Sex always gave her a bit of an appetite and afternoon tea was still going on down there. Yeah. Scones and raspberry jam and a nice cup of tea sounded just the ticket. Oh God, that didn’t half make her sound old. If this had happened ten years ago she would’ve been heading straight to the Calypso Bar for a Pina Colada.
‘This is turning out to be the best time; I just want you to know that.’
She felt her stomach flip over as she looked at him, standing there, most of his incredible body still on show, his dark hair all over the place, those ice-blue eyes staring right into hers.
‘I know,’ she whispered, hoping with all her heart that her memory was recording every single second of this because she intended to relive these moments over and over again when she got back home. Talk about something to tell the grandkids! Well, maybe she wouldn’t tell the grandkids everything.
‘I’ll just go grab a quick shower,’ Danny smiled. ‘Leave you to finish getting ready.’
She’d no sooner finished fixing her hair and make-up at the dressing-table mirror than she heard the shower turn off, and she stood up, swinging round to look at a still-half-naked Danny, his toned and tanned body with the still-evident six-pack covered only by a small white towel and just the sight of him made her knees go so weak she had to grab onto the dressing-table for support. She wondered if she should stay a little while longer, maybe see what else the afternoon could offer, but she really should go and find Jemma. She couldn’t spend the whole holiday being a selfish friend. Besides, she had a lot to tell her, didn’t she? And Jemma was never one to turn down a good gossip session. No, as much as the sight of this incredibly sexy man in front of her made her want to stay and play, she’d go and find Jemma and head off to the Lido Café. She could murder a pot of tea, anyway.
‘Come here,’ Danny smiled, indicating with his head for her to come over, which she did, stepping back into his arms. ‘You’re so good for me, do you know that? You’ve saved me from what could have turned into the most disastrous two weeks of my life.’
‘Oh yeah?’
‘Yeah. All this shit with Davina… I was ready to just go for it, y’know? I was this close to going back to my old ways, just to forget the crap that was going on. But then I met you. And you saved me from pressing that self-destruct button.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ she smiled back, knowing she was going to have to make a move to leave as soon as possible before her resolve weakened and she ended up staying. ‘You’re really having fun then?’
‘More than you could ever imagine,’ he whispered, gently kissing her neck. ‘Much, much more.’
And there was only one thing on Aimee’s mind now – tea and scones were just going to have to wait.
7:05pm
‘I swear, Aimee, it was hilarious! Laugh-a-minute-Lydia’s face was a frigging picture! Your mam could barely stand upright, and she was laughing so hard she kept saying she’d wet herself, and Brendon was lucky to get up the gangway in one piece. I tell you, I couldn’t have timed it better, going back to our cabin to get changed just as that excursion was arriving back on board.’
Aimee looked at Jemma as she relayed the story. So it had been her mother and Brendon she’d seen in Cassis, boarding the coach down by the harbour. Not that there’d been any doubt, really. Her mother was hard to miss in her choice of clothing these days.
‘So, where’s my mam now then?’ Aimee asked, pulling a comb through her just-washed hair.
‘Having a lie down, apparently. Sleeping it off, according to Ricardo. I bumped into him when I was walking through the Clipper Bar on me way to The Pub to meet Bob and Barbara. He was playing in the ship’s Bridge tournament with a woman who was the double of Dame Judi Dench, I’m telling you, she looked so much like her I could’ve sworn it was her if only this holiday wasn’t something that’s probably way beneath the kind of thing she’s used to. And Ricardo is not amused with the way Brendon’s leading your mam astray, by the way. And when I say not amused, I mean really not amused.’
Aimee nearly choked on the mouthful of water she’d just swallowed. ‘Sorry? Leading my mother astray? Nobody can lead Marcie Marcello astray. She can find her own way there quite easily. I don’t think she needs some Irish bloke with a love of anything alcoholic to help her. And don’t tell me she’s got the two of them fighting over her now. She’ll love that. She’ll no doubt use it as “research” and encourage it at any opportunity until a viable future plotline’s reached.’
‘Well, at least it’s keeping her out of our hair,’ Jemma pointed out, sticking her head upside down and running some kind of product through her hair with her fingers, throwing her head back and shaking her hair out.
‘True,’ Aimee agreed, quite glad that she didn’t have to worry about keeping her mother amused, especially now that Danny was on the scene.
‘Is that your mobile beeping?’ Jemma asked as Aimee slipped into her skin-tight black trousers and electric-blue off-one-shoulder top, all ready to sample another night of fun and entertainment aboard the cruise ship Atlantica.
Picking up her phone from the bedside table Aimee looked at the screen to see that a new message had arrived. From Robbie. What the hell did he want? Well, she wasn’t going there again so she pressed delete without even opening it and threw the phone back down on the table.
Jemma looked at her. ‘Text message?’
Aimee nodded, slipping on black stiletto-heeled ankle boots, despite her still-irrational fear that one night she was going to fall arse-over-tit walking through the Show Lounge on her way back from the toilet. ‘From Robbie.’
‘Robbie? What did he want?’
‘Haven’t got a clue. I deleted the message.’
‘Without reading it?’
‘Yep,’ Aimee replied, standing up and checking her reflection in the full-length mirror. ‘Because I’m not in the least bit curious about anything he has to say anymore.’
‘Good girl!’ Jemma smiled, folding her arms and nodding her approval. ‘Who needs Robbie the Rat anyway when you’ve gone and nabbed yourself a bona fide pop star.’
‘Ex-pop star, Jemma.’
‘For now, maybe, but those boys are going places again. Mark my words. Cal says so.’
Aimee looked at Jemma, smiling. ‘Cal says so, does he? Are you and Cal getting closer then?’
‘Not as close as I’d like,’ Jemma sniffed, examining her nails. ‘But he’ll weaken. Eventually. He’s a bloke after all, isn’t he?’
Aimee zipped her bag shut, shook out her hair and slipped her arm through Jemma’s. ‘Well, I can’t argue with that one, no.’
‘You’re in a very good mood today, I have to say,’ Jemma said, looking at Aimee out of the corner of her eye as they closed the cabin door behind them. ‘Your day with Danny Boy must have been really good. Anything you’re not telling me?’
Aimee shook her head, still smiling, which was something she did a lot of these days – smile. ‘Absolutely nothing.’
‘But if there was…?’ Jemma asked, pressing the button for the lift to take them up to Hemingway’s for their now regular pre-dinner cocktail.
Aimee winked at her. ‘You’d be the first to know.’
*
‘Thank God we haven’t got a show tonight,’ Frankie groaned, stretching his legs out in front of him as him as all five members of Bon Voyage enjoyed some down time in The Pub, although Brummie Barry was still hanging around somewhere, last seen accompanying Ross to the bar to film him buying three pints of John Smiths and a packet of cheese and onion crisps. ‘I think I’ve pulled me hamstring again.’
‘I told you not to attempt that back flip the other night,’ Cal said, draining the last of his lager. ‘You’re not twenty-one anymore.’
‘Don’t I frigging know it. And what’s up with your face?’ Frankie asked Danny as he sat staring into a ha
lf drunk pint of bitter.
‘He’s in love,’ Cal smirked, immediately receiving a sharp kick in the shin from Danny. ‘Jesus, Dan, come on! That fucking hurt, man. I was only joking. What’s the matter with you?’
‘Nothing’s the matter with me. Just keep your bloody nose out of my business – all of you.’
‘To be fair, mate, that’s pretty hard to do when you’re practically flaunting it in our faces,’ Andy pointed out.
Danny glared at him. ‘I’m not your mate, alright? And I’m not flaunting anything. We’re on a frigging ship, and it’s a bit difficult to get any privacy when I’m stuck with you lot and Birmingham’s answer to Martin frigging Scorsese over there always on me back.’
‘Nobody’s on your back, Danny. We’re just worried about what you might be getting yourself into – this relationship you’re having…’ Andy began, before another look from Danny shut him up.
‘Whatever is going on in my life right now, Andy, it’s none of your business. Have you got that yet?’
But Andy wasn’t ready to stay silent this time. Not when there was a lot to lose – for all of them. ‘No, you see, that’s where you’re wrong, Danny. Because when it starts affecting the future of this band then it becomes my business. It becomes everyone’s business…’
‘And how the hell do you work that one out?’
‘Jesus Christ,’ Cal groaned, sitting back in his seat, letting out another groan as Barry approached their table, obviously having got wind of a potential TV gold moment. ‘Here we go again.’
‘This whole reunion – us, the band getting back together, it all depends on what happens on this cruise. It all depends on what goes out on that TV programme.’
‘Bollocks!’ Danny spat, taking a long swig of beer. ‘That’s absolute rubbish and you know it. We’re not squeaky clean – we never were, and you of all people should know that.’
Both Cal and Frankie turned to look at Danny when he said that, but neither were willing to get drawn into this confrontation by asking what he’d meant by it.
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