In the Name of Love (12 page)

Charlie took a sip of coffee before launching into the story of her doomed romance with Felipe.

‘Bloody hell, Charlie, you have worse luck with men than me!’ Aidan commented when she had come to the end. ‘And that’s saying something … So you haven’t heard from this Felipe at all? Great name, by the way.’

‘God, no! And I don’t want to either.’ That was a super-sized lie but Charlie didn’t want to admit that, in spite of Felipe treating her appallingly, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

‘Are you sure about that? Maybe by now he’s calmed down and realised that he got it all wrong.’

The chances of that seemed a million to one. Charlie shook her head. Aidan knew better than to push her. Charlie might come across as confident and able to
deal
with anything but he knew she was more sensitive than that.

‘And what happened to you in the meeting?’

Charlie hesitated. She had always hoped to keep the riding accident a secret from people at work, but now she desperately needed Aidan’s advice on what she should do. She couldn’t keep it to herself any longer.

‘So you had a flashback?’ he said after she’d told him everything.

Charlie picked up a sachet of sugar and fiddled with it. ‘A panic attack. It’s pathetic, I know, I should be over it by now.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe it’s for the best things didn’t work out with Felipe. I mean, if I can’t be around horses and he’s a horseman … how incompatible can you get? It’s like the universe is playing the ultimate joke on me.’

‘Have you ever had therapy?’

‘I went to see someone once, but it didn’t work out and actually made me feel worse. They just wanted me to talk over the accident and my feelings about it. It was horrible, like reliving it all over again.’

‘That was very unlucky, but don’t write off all therapy because of it. I seriously think you need to see someone.’ Aidan was looking through his wallet. He pulled out a business card.

‘This is my therapist’s card. Dr Rosie Mackay. She’s brilliant. I saw her when I was suffering from anxiety attacks a few years ago, after my flat was burgled. She totally sorted me out.
Please
go and see her, it’s the only way. It’s not an admission of failure. If you’d hurt your leg you’d go and see a doctor, right?’

‘Yeah, I suppose,’ Charlie muttered reluctantly. She picked up the card and slipped it into her bag, but knew she had no intention of using it. That bad experience had put her off for life. She would have to get over the accident all by herself.

Aidan gave her an encouraging smile, clearly believing that he had won the argument. He picked up the invitation, ‘So will you be my plus one at the dinner if the lovely Felipe doesn’t get in touch?’

‘He won’t. And I would love to be your plus one.’

Chapter 8

‘KEEP STILL,’ MARIANA
ordered as she attempted to do up Felipe’s white bow tie, while he fidgeted with his mother-of-pearl cuff links. ‘Honestly, you are worse than a teenager!’

‘I still cannot believe I let you talk me into going to this waste-of-time event. It’s an entire weekend out of my schedule!’ he grumbled. He, Mariana and Luis were over in London, staying at the exclusive Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair, getting ready for the charity dinner.

‘It’s important for your profile,’ Luis told him. ‘And a great chance for you to promote the equestrian centre. There are going to be many, many wealthy people there.’

‘I don’t need their money,’ Felipe said abruptly. ‘Haven’t you finished yet, Mariana? Christ! I feel like a prize stallion being groomed for a show. Are you sure you don’t want to brush my hair and check my nails?’

‘You
do
need their money,’ Luis corrected him. ‘You said yourself that you didn’t want to rely on handouts
from
your parents. So you are going to do your very best to smile and look pretty tonight.’ He patted his friend affectionately on the shoulder. ‘And if you’re good I’ll give you a carrot … maybe even a sugar lump if you’re extra good.’

‘And who knows who we’ll meet?’ Mariana put in, winking at her husband.

She was looking gorgeous in a fuchsia-coloured silk-chiffon evening dress that made her olive skin glow. Felipe noticed the wink, and wondered what Mariana meant by it. Going to a charity dinner was the very last thing he felt like doing. He hated the thought of making small talk all night with people he didn’t care about, when the one woman he did care about was lost to him …

It had been three weeks since they had flown back from the Caribbean, and so far no story about his ill-fated romance with Charlie had come out in the press. By now Felipe realised that she was not going to sell a kiss-and-tell; she never had been. She had been telling the truth when she said she had no idea who he was. She must surely loathe him after he had humiliated her like that. He had well and truly screwed things up.

Charlie pulled a face at her reflection in the mirror while Zoe gave her a last-minute pep talk. ‘You look gorgeous, stop stressing! You’re going to have a great time.’

Charlie remained to be convinced. Since Felipe had turned on her, she had suffered a crisis of confidence. After work she’d barely gone out, other than to the
gym
or for a quick drink with Zoe. She definitely wasn’t in the mood for this night out. She had far too much on her plate to want to dress up and socialise with people she hardly knew. She was worried about her brother as the director still hadn’t called her back. And in spite of everything he had said, Felipe was never far from her thoughts.

‘Are you sure this dress will stay up?’ she asked, tugging at the daringly low neckline of the bodice. She was wearing a red satin strapless gown closely fitted to her curves, the fishtail skirt fanning out in elaborate ripples at the back. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with the amount of cleavage revealed by the dress and it had taken all Zoe’s powers of persuasion to get her to choose it. Charlie had wanted to go for a black number. In fact, given the choice, she would have been far happier in black skinny jeans and a black jacket.

‘Yes, it will stay up,’ Zoe said through gritted teeth. ‘God! I thought I was used to high-maintenance clients at the boutique, but you take the bloody biscuit!’

She picked up a Valentine card that was lying on the dressing table. On the front was the drawing of a cutesy brown bear holding up a love heart. It was exactly the kind of thing Charlie loathed. ‘Who is this from?’ she asked, opening the card. The handwriting looked like a twelve-year-old’s and there was a biro-drawn love heart over the i of Charlie.

‘No idea. Someone who doesn’t know me at all.’

‘Well, I’m guessing it’s not from Felipe. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would send a woman a card with a picture of a bear on it.’ Zoe warmed to
her
theme. ‘His card would be dramatic, passionate, and sexy. Say a black-and-white photograph of himself lying naked on a bed scattered with rose petals, with maybe a rose … No! Not big enough … a bunch of roses held in a strategic position.’

Charlie glared at her. ‘Why did you have to mention him?’

For some reason Zoe looked a bit shifty. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to.’

Charlie didn’t have a chance to pursue this conversation as the doorbell rang then. It was Aidan, who had called round in a taxi to collect her. Zoe answered the door while Charlie grabbed her bag – a red satin clutch to match her dress – and a black feather bolero. Charlie grimaced as she draped the feathers round her shoulders. It was barely above freezing outside and there was no way this flimsy bolero was going to keep her warm. She’d have to smuggle her black leather jacket out of the flat, away from Zoe, aka the Style Police. But just as she was walking out of the flat, Zoe caught her red-handed and confiscated the jacket.

‘Perhaps you’ll meet a handsome man who’ll lend you his jacket, if you’re cold.’

Aidan buttoned up his own jacket protectively, and joked, ‘Don’t look at me, Zoe, I’m freezing my nuts off out here.’

‘Oh, I didn’t mean
you
!’ she replied. ‘It’s just that you
never
know who you’ll meet at events like these, do you? Think of Cinderella!’

‘What are you on about? It’s a dinner, not a ball,’ Charlie called out.

‘Oh, you know what I mean!’ Zoe blew the pair of them a kiss as they got into the taxi.

‘I think Zoe may have overdone it on the Mojitos, she’s been talking complete crap,’ Charlie commented to Aidan who was holding the taxi door open for her. ‘You look totes hot by the way.’

‘And you look beautiful,’ he replied, then sighed. ‘I’m not looking forward to tonight. I could really do without it, if you must know.’

‘Oh?’ It wasn’t like Aidan to be negative; he generally threw himself into social events and was the life and soul of the party.

He lowered his voice so the taxi driver couldn’t overhear. ‘I received something in the post this morning and I don’t know what to do about it.’ He pulled out an envelope and handed it to Charlie. She instantly recognised the handwriting on the front. Silently she pulled out a publicity photo of Aidan that he had autographed. Scrawled across his face in thick black marker pen was written:
When are you coming out?

‘I don’t want anyone to know at work. If it does get out, forever after I’ll be known as the gay sports presenter. I want to be known for what I do professionally, not for my private life. Why would anyone send something like this? It’s so needlessly spiteful.’

Aidan was wound up and stressed. Again this wasn’t like him. But Charlie knew that the comment on the photograph would have hit a nerve. Aidan’s ex-boyfriend was always going on at him for not being out at work. It was one of the main reasons they’d eventually split. Aidan had been devastated.

‘Actually, I had something like this sent to me the other week,’ she told him.

‘Are you a lesbian now then?’ Aidan tried to joke.

‘No, mine said,
“Bitch, you don’t deserve this job”
.’

‘Nice,’ he said sarcastically.

‘So what do you think we should do about it? Is there anyone we could speak to at work? Say someone in Security?’ Charlie slid the photograph back into the envelope and handed it to Aidan.

He shoved it into his inside pocket. ‘I’d rather not. Let’s hope someone’s got their nasty little digs out of their system. But keep your note, just in case there are any more.’

Charlie patted his shoulder. ‘Tonight we could pretend that we’re an item, if you like? That will disrupt their mean little scheme, if they see any pictures of us together. Not that I can believe anyone is that interested.’

The comment raised a smile from Aidan. ‘Don’t you realise you’re going places? You’re beautiful and smart and great on TV. People are definitely watching you, Charlie.’

‘You too,’ she told him, as ever finding it hard to take a compliment.

‘I’m pushing thirty-five, remember? My TV days are numbered. I’ll be on the presenter’s scrap heap soon, forced to appear in a humiliating reality show where I lose all dignity.’

‘Don’t be silly, you’d be great in something like
Strictly Come Dancing
,’ Charlie replied, trying to cheer him up.

Aidan shook his head. ‘Too classy. It’ll be
Celebrity
Big
Brother
for me. I’ll get drunk and snog someone in the hot tub.’

Oh, dear, he really was on the downward spiral. ‘Listen, you’re a silver fox like Swoony Clooney, and I don’t see his career stopping any time soon.’

That at least raised a smile from Aidan.

The dinner was being held at The Dorchester on Park Lane. Charlie could still remember going on a double-decker bus tour of London as a child and marvelling at this grand avenue with its expensive hotels, little imagining that one day she would be sweeping up the red carpet herself. Hordes of photographers were milling around expectantly, eager to capture the stars, and it had been rumoured that David Beckham was turning up. Aidan helped Charlie make an elegant exit out of the taxi and the two of them linked arms as they walked up the red carpet and posed for a couple of pictures.

‘Charlie Porter and Aidan Shepherd, have you got something to tell us?’ one of the paps called out cheekily.

The couple laughed and shook their heads and Aidan whispered in Charlie’s ear, ‘If there ever could be a woman, I swear it would be you.’

‘I’m not sure that’s a compliment,’ she whispered back. Then, laughing, they swept into the grand hotel foyer together.

Inside the lavishly decorated ballroom, with its gold pillars and glittering chandeliers, Felipe stifled a yawn. He had been up since half-past four this morning, wanting to fit in a ride in the indoor school before
catching
the flight to London. So far he hadn’t met anyone who could help with the financial crisis the stables were in. He would have been better off staying at home and continuing his training. Luis and Mariana were in high spirits, though. He smiled as he watched them across the room, chatting together and drinking champagne. He was on his way to join them when a very pretty young woman passed by him and stumbled, her foot catching in the hem of her cobalt blue gown. Ever the gentleman, Felipe reached out his hand to steady her arm.

‘Thank you so much!’ the young woman exclaimed breathlessly. She really was exceptionally pretty with long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. ‘It’s my own stupid fault I can’t walk in these ridiculous shoes.’ She raised her skirt to reveal the culprits: diamanté sandals with five-inch heels.

‘It was my pleasure,’ he replied, dragging his eyes away from her slender ankles and long tanned legs. A white-jacketed waiter was circulating with a tray loaded with champagne flutes. ‘Can I get you a drink?’

‘Oh, yes, please. I’m Darcy by the way.’

He clinked his glass against hers. ‘Felipe. Pleased to meet you.’

Maybe tonight would not be entirely wasted if he could spend it with this attractive woman. Later they might possibly go back to his hotel room. It had been nearly a month after all and Felipe felt he needed the release that only sex could give him … However, within ten minutes he had scrapped that idea. He was bored out of his mind. Darcy might be stunning but he found
her
dull. There was no spark there for him as they talked about where he was from and what he thought of London. He found himself remembering his first encounter with Charlie. She had instantly intrigued him. As well as being beautiful and sexy, she was so feisty and refreshing. But there was little to be gained from thinking about her.