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What was so clever about pouring yourself into a tight dress that left nothing to the imagination? Any idiot could plaster themselves with make-up and pout, couldn’t they?
Angry and hurt, she stomped towards the back entrance of the department. She’d actually been looking forward to Dino’s party, but now she didn’t want to go. It was going to be another one of those social events that felt like a competition. I love your shoes. Oh, that dress is so gorgeous. A room full of gorgeous Georginas all staring at her and judging.
Meg always wears jeans.
Maybe she’d just tell Dino she wasn’t well. But then Jamie would be horribly disappointed and she’d earn herself another lecture from her mother.
Pushing open the doors of the emergency department, Meg paused as the cold air rushed forward to meet her. In the distance she saw the jagged outline of the mountains, topped with snow and sparkling under the winter sun. Just looking at them made her feel instantly better.
Really, she had to get over this. It was just a party. One party. Not a big deal. Nothing worth getting herself into a stew over. She was being pathetic.
Meg breathed in the fresh mountain air and suddenly felt stronger.
Two girls dressed as elves hobbled past her into the building, chatting together. A mother with a pushchair loaded with Christmas shopping negotiated the icy pavement on her way home. Life, Meg thought. A mixture of good and bad. Easy and difficult.
The door swung closed behind her and she saw Dino waiting for her, the collar of his jacket turned up against the cold, his phone in his hand as he scrolled through his messages.
She could ask him why he’d invited Melissa. She could tell him she wasn’t coming. Or she could play this another way.
Meg gave a slow smile.
And have some fun.
CHAPTER EIGHT
DINO checked on the caterers and adjusted the volume of the music. People had been arriving for the past hour but there was still no sign of Meg and Jamie.
A tinkle of female laughter scraped against his nerve endings and he clenched his jaw and glanced over his shoulder at Melissa. She stood with her back to the fire, the shimmering light turning her skin-tight black dress transparent. He wondered if she knew her underwear was on display and decided that she did. Melissa did nothing by accident. He knew her type well. Her dress was a message. I’m yours.
Except that he didn’t want her.
He hadn’t invited her, but she’d arrived as part of the group of nurses from the emergency department. Given that the purpose of the party was goodwill, he’d decided to overlook it. But now he was remembering that Melissa had been the reason Meg had run out on him the night of the ball. Had she found out that Melissa intended to show up? Was that why she wasn’t here?
If she didn’t know, she was going to find out soon enough. And she was going to take one look at Melissa’s ultra-short dress and shiny red mouth and turn and run. Again.
Dino felt tension ripple across his shoulders. He’d told her it was casual, hadn’t he? He’d set this whole thing up as somewhere comfortable and safe where she could socialise without worrying about what everyone was wearing. He hadn’t factored in that it was Christmas and most of the women were looking for an excuse to dress up and flutter their feathers.
Meg was going to arrive in her jeans and feel out of place.
He wondered whether he should call her mobile and warn her. But if he did that, she would definitely freak out and not show.
‘Hi, Dino, great party.’ One of the consultant radiologists shook his hand firmly and introduced his wife, who was heavily pregnant. ‘This is a fantastic place you have here.’
Looking at the throng of people filling his house, Dino gave a humourless smile. Interesting, he thought, how a house could be full of people and yet still feel empty just because of the absence of one person.
Extracting himself from small talk, Dino glanced through the expanse of glass, watching for headlights. People were arriving in a continuous stream, but there was still no sign of Meg.
He was just exchanging a few words with an equipment officer from the mountain rescue team when the room suddenly fell silent. The steady buzz of conversation faded to near silence. Exploring the cause, Dino turned his head and saw Meg standing in the doorway. She was wearing a sparkling blue dress that made Melissa’s choice of semi-transparent black look positively dowdy.
Scanning her from the tumble of golden curls to the long, graceful length of her legs, Dino tried to remember how to breathe. What had
possessed him to invite all these people when there was only one person who interested him? Why hadn’t he just invited her and made it a private party for two? She looked stunning.
And sophisticated.
A pair of killer heels made her legs look impossibly long and the shimmering dress skimmed her athletic physique in a way that suggested rather than shrieked.
‘Dino!’ Jamie flew across the room, dressed as a superhero, his cape flying behind him. ‘Sorry we’re late. We were on a mission.’
