* * *
As there was no sign of dinner and everyone was still mingling, Kate armed herself with another pair of gin and tonics and dutifully did the round of her relations, who all asked jovially when she would be giving them a day out. With a pain in her face from pretending to take this in good part, she decided she wasn’t quitepissed enough yet to deal with them and drifted towards the bar in search of reinforcements.
She was seething at the unfairness of it all. For once she had a boyfriend she could parade in front of them and now when she mentioned him they looked at her as though she’d made him up. What was the use of having a boyfriend if you couldn’t pull him out on occasions like this, like a trump card?
‘Hello, Kate.’ A familiar baritone shook her out of her private strop.
‘Will, hi!’ She turned, smiling at him.
He bent to kiss her cheek.
‘I haven’t seen you in ages,’ she said, immediately realising how idiotic that sounded. They had just spent the afternoon in each other’s company at the wedding and posing for photographs. ‘I mean, you know, before this afternoon,’ she babbled. ‘I hadn’t seen you for ages.’
God, what the hell was she saying? She’d had too much to drink. Still, she thought, maybe it was just as well – the booze might loosen her up. She was ridiculously shy with him. It was ludicrous that after more than ten years she still felt that night after the Trinity Ball hanging in the air between them whenever they met. She wondered yet again if Will had any recollection of it. She’d probably never know.
‘You look fantastic,’ he said.
‘Thanks.’
‘You’ve lost weight, haven’t you?’
‘I’m surprised you noticed!’
‘It suits you.’
‘You should see me without this dress on.’
‘What?’ Will spluttered.
Kate blushed to the roots of her hair. ‘I didn’t mean, you know, the full monty or anything. I just meant this dress is somassive I’m amazed you can tell I’m a bit thinner,’ she explained, in a desperate attempt to save face. Too late – Will was already smiling at her like the idiot she was.
God, she’s cute,Will thought.I wouldn’t half mind seeing her without that dress on.Immediately, he gave himself a mental slap, appalled at where his mind was straying. He had been down that road once before – how far he didn’t know – but he should have learnt his lesson. The O’Neills had taken him in when his life was falling apart, and he was repaying them by lusting after the baby of the family.
‘I heard what happened with Tom’s hair,’ Kate was saying. ‘It was really nice of you to get yours done in sympathy.’
‘Well, we couldn’t hang the poor sod out to dry, could we?’
‘It looks cool.’ She gestured at his shaved head. ‘It suits you.’
Will smiled wryly. ‘It doesn’t look so cool now Phoenix has turned up. We look like wannabes.’
‘Well, it looks cooler than this.’ Kate pointed to her shining mahogany hair, which had been scraped back from her face and piled on top of her head, complete with flowers. ‘It actually hurts. I wish I could take it down.’
‘I’m sure it’d be okay now that the photographs are done.’
‘Oh, I think I’d beallowedto, I just don’t think it’s possible. Even if I took out all the pins and stuff, it’d stay exactly where it is. I think the hairdresser sprayed some kind of all-weather woodstain on it. It’d withstand a hurricane.’
‘It does look sort of… sturdy.’
‘Just what every girl wants – sturdy hair.’
‘Well, I’d better go over and say hi to Phoenix and the guys. Why don’t you come and meet them?’
‘Oh, I’m sure they don’t want to be bothered by a load of plebs.’
‘They’re not exactly surrounded by adoring fans,’ Will said. ‘Everyone’s so concerned about not bothering them that no one talks to them.’
‘Still…’
