You Had Me at Halo(54)

“You know I think it’s so sweet that he let himself be knocked out like that so you could have your test. I didn’t realize he was so nice. Or so funny.”

Holly shot her friend a startled glance. “Don’t tell me you fancy me...I mean Vince?”

“Please.” Gemma looked hurt. “That would just be weird on way too many levels. Anyway, I’m going on a date with Simon Trimmer.”

“Sorry.” Holly flushed as a jolt of relief ran through her. For some reason she didn’t like the idea of Gemma having a crush on Vince.

Her friend look at her strangely. “I just meant Vince is a nice guy. That’s all.”

“You’re right. He is nice. Not to mention clever and kind-hearted, and I don’t like to boast”—Holly lifted up her shirt and tapped Vince’s rock-hard stomach—“but there’s nothing wrong with his body, either.”

Gemma made a choking noise. “Holly...don’t tell me you have a thing for Vince?”

“What?” Holly spluttered. “That’s ridiculous. Of course I don’t. How can you even say that when I’m about to see Todd? Remember him, my almost fiancé?” There was no need to mention the two embarrassing bedroom incidents, since clearly they were only the result of now knowing how to handle all of that testosterone. Boy, it was dangerous stuff when in inexperienced hands.

“I know that; I’m just saying...oh never mind. Anyway, we should probably get going. I don’t want to be late for my date, and I doubt you want to miss Todd.”

Absolutely not, Holly shook her head. It was all about Todd. Todd, Todd, Todd. As for Gemma’s ridiculous idea…well her friend was just confusing admiration and friendship with something else. Again—it was all about Todd.

“Okay.” Holly turned the corner toward the understated entrance of the Pool Palace. “Now let’s go over the plan one more time.”

“Sure,” Gemma agreed. “That would be a great idea except there is no plan, which means we’re going to have to wing it.”

Holly stopped and groaned.

Wing it?

She needed this to work. After all, this was the guy that up until two weeks ago, she was going to marry.

It was going to be a beautiful wedding too. Todd’s nephew, little James, would be old enough to be the ring bearer by then and Holly’s dress was going to be the most ravishing thing this side of...well anywhere.

It was going to be perfect.

The sun would be shining, the birds would be singing. Most importantly of all, she wouldn’t be dead.

But now that dream was gone and in its place was nothing but a horrible future in horrible heaven, possibly with no memory of any of this. The only way she was going to get a chance to talk to the love of her life was to...wing it.

Gemma glanced around to check the coast was clear before reaching over and squeezing Holly’s hand. “It’s going to be okay you know. Trust me.”

“You’re right.” Holly felt a positive surge of energy soar through her. “It’s going to be fine.”

xxx

Everything about the Pool Palace was upmarket and sophisticated, from the tournament-size pool tables to the cutting-edge brown leather couches and discreet lighting.

Also, owing to the fact it was right next to The Fix, Holly and Gemma had spent quite a bit of their time there in the past. But tonight Holly felt completely out of place and she could suddenly see why Vince wasn’t a fan. All around her were young and fabulous things with lots of designer clothes and trust funds. Why hadn’t she ever noticed that before?

Not that Holly had tremendous wealth growing up and any designer clothes she had came from discount outlets, but she had been exposed to this environment from a young age. And she’d taken it for granted.

She watched Gemma saunter over to where Simon and Todd were sitting. Her heart did a little flip-flop. Todd looked gorgeous in a navy polo shirt and a pair of beige trousers and she longed to give him a kiss and snake her arms around his waist, but instead she was forced to slip into an empty booth just near the door.

She glanced over to see what was happening and was pleased Gemma was already standing on tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. Boy, at times like this, Holly wished they’d taught them useful tools in college. Like how to lip-read. It would’ve certainly been more helpful than knowing the square root of pi.

“Hey Murphy, what are you staring at?” a voice demanded and Holly realized Simon was studying her through a pair of narrowed eyes.

Oh great. Usually she thought it was funny when the guys goofed around like this but tonight definitely wasn’t one of those times. Especially when she recalled the little incident near Todd’s office earlier this afternoon. Had it really only been a few hours ago?

“Just minding my own business.” She gave what she hoped was a casual shrug.

“Yeah, well just mind you keep it that way.” Simon leaned on his pool cue and scowled. “And stop looking at Gemma like that, Todd told me what you tried to do at the funeral.”

Holly rolled her eyes. In the last fortnight she’d been accused of killing herself, talking too much, and having a bad attitude. Now she was being told to stop perving on her best friend. Just great.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Gemma, who had been deep in conversation with Todd, walked over and put a restraining hand on Simon’s arm while shooting Holly a pointed stare and nodded towards the door.