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Chapter One
He noticed the girl in the bar right away. She was sitting on her own with her back to the entrance, so she wasn’t looking out for friends or for her husband or for her lover, and her elegant though tense back view didn’t give him the impression of someone who regularly frequented high-end bars on their own.
He strolled in to take a closer look. They had a history of sorts, though he doubted she’d remember him. She’d been too involved at the front desk when he’d arrived, trying to work out why the sumptuous Chatsfield Hotel, renowned as a haven of efficiency and discretion, had got her room reservation so badly wrong.
She’d drawn his attention for a number of reasons. She was quite unlike his usual type, in that she was naturally attractive, with mussed up hair, and an open, make-up-less face, but it was her manner that had really impressed him. The way she handled disappointment after a long journey when she discovered that she didn’t have a room at the hotel, had showed restraint and a high level of diplomacy. And now she really intrigued him, because the chain store clothes were gone, and in their place was a simple outfit that screamed money. She had transformed into a butterfly in less than an hour. Who wouldn’t be curious about that?
***
Privilege. Wealth. Status. And above all confidence. That was what set the Chatsfield hotel guests apart, Libby concluded. Catching sight of herself in the gilded mirror above the grand Edwardian bar, she almost laughed out loud to see she fit in so well – but only because she was wearing her cousin’s clothes. It was amazing what a change of look could do, and it amused her to think that she could change from mouse to vamp with nothing more than a few yards of cleverly engineered silk and a pair of stiletto heels.
She curbed the desire to laugh, guessing a peel of unrestrained laughter might not go down too well in the studied opulence of the hotel bar. She’d caused enough consternation in the Chatsfield for one day.
There had been some confusion about her room. More accurately, no hotel room had been reserved for Libby as she had been promised, because the wedding she was here to attend was off. Around the time Libby was scoring the last economy seat on the flight to London – right at the back of the plane between two very large men – the bride had done a bunk and the groom had too, leaving Libby one giant step behind everyone else in the bridal party.
Libby had missed her flight to pick up the alterations to her cousin Lucinda’s couture outfits, and then there’d been a mix-up with Libby’s suitcase, which had gone ahead with Lucinda and the rest of the oddly named ‘harem’. The hen party group for this most high-profile of weddings thought it was hysterically funny to call themselves this, simply because the now scandalously missing groom, was a sheikh.
Lucinda was a close friend of the bride Tahara – also scandalously missing – so there would be no meeting up in London for some girly time as previously planned, before returning to Sheikh Sayed’s fabulous desert kingdom of Zeena Sara. And now the hens had moved on again, from the Chatsfield, where the wedding was to have been held, to Monte Carlo where, according to the latest text from Lucinda who needed her new couture outfits NOW, the bride’s friends were drowning their sorrows over the cancellation of the wedding in pink champagne.
The desk staff had been open-mouthed when Libby had politely explained who she was. ‘But we thought we’d got rid of the harem,’ a smartly dressed girl behind the front desk had whispered, not so discreetly to her friend. ‘What are we going to do with her?’
A muttered discussion had followed. Apparently, only the hotel’s ‘emergency room’ was free. Covert glances at Libby suggested the desk clerks thought that would soon put her off, but Libby had stood her ground. She had to sleep somewhere tonight, and the emergency room sounded fine to her. It would be cheap, at least – cheaper, anyway – so she could afford it. It soon became obvious that the staff at the Chatsfield had assumed that ‘the harem’ was part of the sheikh’s pick ‘n’ mix selection, and Libby was the penny sweet that got left behind.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Hard-working, a little dated, and forced to scrimp and save best described Libby. She worked for her cousin Lucinda who, the instant Libby had returned home from university, had begged for help sorting out her life. In return for accompanying Lucinda around the world on what was a whirlwind social agenda, Libby received a small wage, though most times Lucinda forgot to pay her, and as Libby had been orphaned as a child and brought up by Lucinda’s parents, she didn’t like to ask Lucinda for money. Studying Business Management at university had taken up the small legacy Libby’s parents had left her, and she had no other means of support, so working for Lucinda was an opportunity to get something on her CV, and she had fallen willingly into the role of Lucinda’s gofer.
As soon as she had showered in her tiny bathroom at the Chatsfield, Libby had called Lucinda to check on her suitcase. ‘As it’s in Monte Carlo, I was wondering –’
She got no further. Lucinda might be scatty, but she had a heart as big as Texas. ‘Of course – wear anything of mine you like. What about that navy silk shift? You’d look amazing in it, Lib – and we’re almost the same shoe size, aren’t we?’
‘You sure you don’t mind?’
‘Well, you can hardly go round in public in a towelling robe and hotel slippers. And promise me right now Libby Lancaster, that you’re not going to spend the evening in your room. I feel so bad about asking you to collect those alterations, and then you missing the flight. You were ok, though? You did buy a First Class seat like I told you to?’
‘You know I’d never waste your money like that.’
‘Then wear the dress – I command it!’ Lucinda had insisted. ‘And then keep it. And the shoes – there are some amazing heels in there.’
‘If you’re sure.’
‘Does the queen wear blue knickers?’
‘Luce, I’ve got no idea –’
‘Enjoy! You deserve a treat working for me, Lib. Just make sure you get out of that room tonight. Understood?’
‘Aye aye cap’n.’
So, that was how she came to be putting on a front, along with wearing a king’s ransom in designer clothes. After Lucinda’s call, she had padded back into the bedroom where Lucinda’s monogrammed suitcase awaited her. She had opened it reverently, knowing exactly what was in there, having packed it herself.
There was one big problem. Libby’s underwear was hanging on the washing line over the bath, and Lucinda’s selection of skimpy thongs would cut her in two, while her boobs stood no chance of being safely contained wi
thin the scraps of ribbon and lace that constituted a bra in Lucinda-land.
Go commando?
Yes, it had been that, or stay in her room. And what had she promised Lucinda?
The dress Lucinda had suggested slithered out of its folds of tissue paper like a ready-made promise of glamour and excitement and she had hardly dared to put it on, imagining she was bound to stick a heel through the hem, or spill something sticky down it –
But as there was no alternative…
She would just have to be careful, Libby had assured herself, breathless with excitement, as she had stepped carefully into the whisper of silk.
And it felt wonderful. She even stood taller, held her stomach in and put her shoulders back, as Lucinda was always telling her to do. It was impossible to wear a dress like this and hide in a corner, Libby reflected as she smoothed the night-dark silk. She had to act the part. She had to have confidence. The dress gave her no option. She’d pinned up her long, glossy black hair in her version of a messy up-do, slicked on some lip balm and a spritz of scent, and then braced herself to look in the full-length mirror in her bedroom, hoping for a change for the better.
There had been a change.
She had turned from a mouse to, well, a guinea pig, maybe. You couldn’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, as dear old granny used to say.
She had decided that was quite enough procrastination for one night, but just in case this new version of Libby Lancaster failed to make the grade in the public part of the hotel, she had stuffed one of the complimentary hotel magazines into her bag so she had something to hide behind. Then, fingering the four-leaf clover she always wore on a slim chain round her neck, she drew in a deep, steadying breath, silently promising both her mother, who had given her the four-leaf clover, and Lucinda, who had lent her the clothes, that she wouldn’t let either of them down.
Once she was down in the lobby, the shadowy interior of the bar called to her. And, surprise, surprise, she was drawn to a shadowy corner, which was her usual cop-out when Lucinda and friends were living it large. But tonight something crazy had happened. Maybe it was the shoes? Libby reflected, sticking one foot out to take a look. They certainly made her walk differently. They made her feel confident. Lucinda was right about the heels, they were gorgeous, and they deserved a proper outing, so instead of heading for that shadowy corner, she had sashayed right up to the bar and plonked herself down there, on the only unoccupied stool.
