Good Girl or Gold-Digger? (11 page)

He did. To the point where they didn’t actually have time for dinner before the show. It turned out that he’d booked tickets for one of Daisy’s favourite musicals,
West Side Story.
As the first notes of ‘Somewhere’ spiralled through the theatre, Felix’s fingers tightened round hers.

Could they find a place for each other? Daisy wondered.

He’d been so understanding about the dress, about the way she hated people trying to change her and make her feel that she didn’t measure up. Felix saw her for who she was.

Maybe, just maybe, she was enough for him.

That was when she realised: their mad, crazy affair was nothing of the sort.

Not for her, at least. She’d fallen in love with an intense workaholic with a charming smile and a heart of pure gold. Though Felix would never admit to the latter, she knew. And he’d run a mile if he had any idea how she really felt about him—not to mention the fact that her last relationships had gone down the tubes as soon as the word ‘love’ had been spoken aloud. So she decided it was best to keep this particular revelation to herself, until she’d worked out how to deal with it.

She loved Felix.

And, although he’d refused to talk about it, she knew someone had hurt him in the past, too, to the point where he’d sworn off love and marriage. Whether he’d let her past his barriers, she really couldn’t tell. Just hope.

After the show, they found a tiny bistro and Daisy insisted on picking up the bill. ‘You bought the theatre tickets,’ she said when Felix protested. And, just to make sure he wasn’t difficult about it, she made the excuse that she needed to go to the toilet and paid the bill on her way from their table.

‘Daisy, this was meant to be me treating you to a night out,’ he said in exasperation when he found out what she’d done.

‘You did. And what a night—the best seats in the house at my favourite musical.’ She reached across the table and squeezed his hand briefly. ‘Thank you.’

Felix hailed a taxi to take them back to Docklands, asking the cabbie to take the scenic route so they could see some of the most beautiful buildings in London lit up against the night.

Finally they wandered along the Thames towards his apartment block, arms wrapped round each other, watching the reflections of the lights on the water.

‘Tonight has been amazing,’ Daisy said softly.

‘It hasn’t finished yet.’ He stole a kiss. ‘Let’s go home.’

Back at his flat, his lovemaking was slow and so tender that she almost cried. And she loved the way he curled protectively round her, drawing her back against his body as they slowly drifted into sleep. Right here, in his arms, she finally felt that she belonged. And maybe, just maybe, they had a future together.

S
TAYING
at Felix’s marked a change in their relationship, because, when Daisy hesitantly suggested that Felix should stay at her place rather than in the hotel while he was in Suffolk, he actually agreed. He drove her crazy by tidying up, but he turned out to be a reasonable cook, taking another chore off her shoulders.

She’d never have guessed that such a hotshot businessman would have a domestic side, but she found it endearing. And she loved the fact that he didn’t insist on traditional roles, the way her ex had.

Life was perfect—until one Wednesday morning when Nancy came in to the workshop.

Normally, Daisy would have been delighted to spend a while chatting with her aunt, but there were lines of strain etched into the older woman’s face that worried her. She frowned. ‘Nancy? Is something wrong?’

‘Love, we need to talk.’

‘Come and sit down.’ Daisy found her a chair. ‘Can I get you a coffee, a glass of water?’

‘Nothing, thanks.’ Nancy drew in a shuddering breath. ‘It’s Bill.’

Daisy went cold. ‘What about him?’

‘I made him go to the doctor’s on Friday—and the doctor sent him for tests. We’ve got an appointment at the hospital next week.’

‘What kind of tests?’ Daisy asked.

‘His heart.’ Nancy bit her lip. ‘The doctor says he needs to cut his hours down.’

‘Down, or completely?’ Daisy asked.

Nancy sighed. ‘It depends what they find, but you know Bill. This place is his life. He’s going to resist it.’

‘I’ll take as much pressure as I can off him. I’ll put the restoration stuff on slow track and take over more of the paperwork.’

‘I know you’ll do your best, love. But you know Bill—he’s still going to be worrying.’

‘Then he’ll need to come back to the fair just for fun, not to work, and leave me to make the decisions.’ She gave her aunt her brightest smile. ‘We all know I was going to take over from him, Nancy. It’ll just be a bit sooner than any of us expected. Don’t worry. I’ll talk him round.’

Within a week, they knew for sure.

Bill had to retire, for the sake of his health.

‘I can’t dump all this on your shoulders,’ Bill said. ‘It’s too much of a burden.’

‘Of course it isn’t,’ Daisy said. ‘I’ve been trained by the best. And you know I’ll live up to your expectations—just as you did when you took over from Grandpa.’

‘I don’t know, Daisy.’ His mouth compressed to a thin line. ‘You’re still young.’

‘Not much younger than you were when you took over,’ she pointed out. ‘And being young also means that I have the stamina to deal with things.’

Bill shook his head. ‘It’s too much to ask.’

‘I was really hoping you weren’t going to make me play dirty,’ she said. ‘But you leave me no choice.’

His eyes narrowed. ‘How do you mean?’

‘Nancy and I, and the rest of the family, love you very, very much. We want you around for years and years to come. If you carry on as you are—’ her voice wobbled and her eyes filled with tears as she thought about the scenario ‘—then we might only have you for a matter of months.’ She gulped. ‘And that’s nowhere near long enough, Bill. Don’t make us lose you. Nothing’s worth that, even the fairground.’

He flinched. ‘That’s below the belt, Daze.’

‘No, it’s the truth.’ She rubbed the tears away before they could fall. ‘It’s not too much to ask me to take over. But it
is
too much to make me watch you work yourself to death instead of letting me do something about it. Let me take over, Bill. If I hit problems, I’ll talk to you about them. But, if you carry on as you are, your heart will give out and I’ll have to take over in any case—except you won’t be around to help me if I hit problems.’

She could see his eyes glittering with unshed tears. ‘Daisy…’

‘I’m so sorry.’ She hugged him. ‘You know I love you and I wouldn’t hurt you for the world. But, if this is the only way to make you see reason, so be it. You’ll still be chief trustee when we’ve finished sorting out the charity stuff. And I’ll still be asking your opinion and listening to you. If I get the remotest sniff of a ghost train, I’m borrowing Ben’s car and dragging you off to look at it to see what you think. But I want to take care of the stuff here, so you can take care of yourself.’

‘Ned and Diana don’t know how lucky they are,
having you,’ Bill said, hugging her back. ‘You’re one in a million. The daughter Nancy and I wish I had.’

‘Hey. You two are practically my second set of parents, and you know it.’ Daisy swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘So you’re going to be reasonable about this?’

‘I don’t see that I have any choice.’ Bill patted her shoulder. ‘All right. On condition you talk to me about any problems.’

‘Course I will.’ She gave him her biggest, warmest smile.

She knew she wouldn’t tell Bill about the big problem—the fact that taking over the complete running of the fairground meant that she’d have to find a mechanic to replace her, because there was no way she could do two full-time jobs at once, even if she worked crazier hours than she did now.

She really needed to talk to Felix.

She’d been through all the figures and she knew them off by heart. Right now, their finances couldn’t stretch to paying someone else; just like Daisy, Bill didn’t draw a full-time salary despite working more than full-time hours. What were the chances of finding a volunteer to work full-time for nothing? Practically zero. And, even when the charity paperwork was finally sorted out, any funding would pay for specific projects rather than for staff.

Felix had already talked an architect friend into designing a multi-purpose hall for them as a charitable donation, and had worked out a scheme where people could sponsor a brick to help with the building costs. He’d put his name down for an entire wall. She couldn’t ask him for more.

Well, she could…but she was involved with him, and they’d agreed to keep their business and personal lives separate. Asking him for more cash to prop up her
business was blurring the line way too much, in her view. But she
could
ask his advice, ask him to brainstorm things with her and help her work out a killer sponsorship deal that would tempt someone else to invest in a different area of the fairground.

It was the kind of thing they’d need to do face to face rather than on the phone. So she’d ask him on Saturday, when they planned a snatched weekend together. Steal a little bit of their personal time for business. Felix would understand, she was sure.

On Saturday morning, Felix was stocking up on Daisy’s favourite nibbles in the supermarket when a trolley collided with his.

He looked up automatically—and wished he hadn’t.

‘Felix! Hello.’ The petite, well-groomed brunette looked absolutely thrilled to see him.

He didn’t feel thrilled to see her. Far from it. Since he’d walked out, all communications had been via his solicitor. This was the first time he’d seen her in three years, and he was shocked to realise that it still hurt. He certainly didn’t love her any more, and he didn’t want her back in his life, but seeing her reminded him of why he’d walked out. How she’d taken his heart and stomped over it. ‘Tabitha,’ he responded coolly.

‘It’s so good to see you, Felix.’

He gave her a forced and very polite smile.

‘You’re looking well,’ she said, giving him her brightest smile in return. The kind of smile she used to give him before cosying up to him—and then she’d mention that she’d seen something just
darling
in a shop and it would go so nicely with her dress or her favourite shoes. With a price tag to match.

His gaze went automatically to her left hand. She was sporting an enormous diamond on her ring finger, larger even than the one he’d bought her. Maybe her new partner had enough money to keep her happy and it didn’t bother him if he wasn’t loved, the way it had bothered Felix. ‘You look well, too.’ Pampered. Just as she’d wanted to be.

Just as she had been, when she’d been engaged to him.

‘So, what are you doing here?’ she asked.

He indicated his basket. ‘Shopping.’ He almost added, ‘buying treats for my girlfriend’, but that sounded too defensive. And he didn’t want Tabitha thinking she’d rattled him. ‘You?’ And please, please don’t say you’ve moved from our old flat and have become a near neighbour, he begged silently. He really didn’t want to keep bumping into her, raking up the old hurt over and over again.

She shrugged. ‘Just getting a few things for a girly night in.’

Several bottles of wine, low-calorie dips and ready-prepared crudités.

Yeah. He remembered her girly nights in.

More than that, he remembered
that
conversation on their balcony. And the knife that had twisted in his heart when he’d overheard it.

From the colour staining her cheeks, so did she.

It wasn’t the kind of thing you could forget. Felix hadn’t forgiven it, either. It was a truism that eavesdroppers heard no good of themselves, but he hadn’t intended to eavesdrop. Though he was relieved that he’d heard her and discovered how she’d really felt before it was too late. Her self-justification and panic, once she’d realised that she’d lost her golden goose, had sickened him.

‘I’d better let you get on,’ she said, fluttering her lashes at him. ‘But maybe we could do lunch some time. Catch up on things.’

This was surreal. And certainly a lot more polite than their last conversation. Maybe that was it: she was just trying to be polite, and the offer meant nothing.

But then she added, ‘It’d be
so
good to see you, Felix,’ and placed her hand on his arm in the old familiar way.

What? He could hardly believe what he was hearing.

This was the woman who’d taken him to the cleaners. Did she seriously think he’d want to hook up with her again in
any
kind of capacity?

Then again, he’d let himself be blind to her faults first time round. As their relationship had developed, his judgement had gone out of the window, and he’d let her reel him in. All the way. Now, here he was, squeezing time out of his crazy schedule to find Daisy’s favourite treats.

He’d really learned nothing about relationships, had he?

‘I’d better get on,’ he said coolly.

He went straight to the checkout, regardless of the fact that he hadn’t quite finished. The idea of bumping into Tabitha in every single aisle really didn’t appeal.

He was still edgy when he met Daisy at the station. She was quiet, too; no doubt his mood had communicated itself to her. He was annoyed with himself for spoiling the weekend—it wasn’t as if they managed to get much time off together—but he just couldn’t shift the resentment that seemed to bubble through his veins.

Still, back at his flat, he made the effort. ‘Are you OK? You’re a bit quiet.’

She bit her lip. ‘Felix, I hate to ask…’

Another voice echoed in his head:
Felix, I hate to ask, but ‘I’m a bit short this month.
Because Tabitha had
spent all her salary on clothes—clothes she’d claimed to need to wear out to functions with him. He hadn’t seen why she couldn’t wear the same dress more than once, but she’d insisted otherwise.

‘What?’ he asked, aware that his tone was sharp.

She shook her head. ‘Never mind.’

But then she went quiet on him.

He could remember Tabitha doing that, too, if he’d been offhand with her when she’d interrupted him while he was concentrating on a set of figures. And it had always cost him afterwards—an expensive floral apology, dinner out, jewellery of some description. He ground his teeth.

‘Why don’t you save us both the time and spit it out?’

She looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. ‘Felix, what’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘You don’t usually growl at people for nothing.’

‘I’m not growling.’

‘No?’ She lifted her chin. ‘Look, Felix, if you’re not going to talk to me about whatever the problem is, and you’re going to be in this mood all weekend, I might as well go home, because this isn’t going to work.’

Tell her. Just tell her about Tabitha. Tell her that you saw your ex today and it’s rattled you.

But he couldn’t. Couldn’t be that weak. Couldn’t admit that he’d tried for the last three years to get past the fear that women saw him only in terms of what he could give them—and that even now there was a part of him that wondered if Daisy saw him for himself or for what he could give her business. Even though intellectually he knew he was being unfair to her, insulting her, he couldn’t shift the fear from his heart.

And he hated himself for it.

He closed his eyes. ‘I apologise for being grumpy. Don’t go.’

She stroked his face. ‘OK. If you’re sure you want me to stay. But I’m worried about you, Felix. I think you’re working too hard.’

Another of Tabitha’s favourite comments, usually followed by a complaint that he was neglecting her.

Oh, for pity’s sake. He had to
stop
this. If anything, Daisy was more of a workaholic than he was. She rarely took any time off—today was a snatched day.

‘I’m fine,’ he said.

Her expression said she didn’t believe a word, but to his relief she didn’t push him. How could he explain what was in his head?

But Daisy was quiet all afternoon, not like her usual self at all.

He knew it was his fault. Eventually, he sighed. I’m sorry I’m being difficult.’

‘It’s OK. I’m not great company right now, either. I haven’t been sleeping well.’

The admission surprised him but, now he looked at her, he could see shadows under her eyes. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘We’re not getting as many people as I’d hoped buying a brick to help build the hall.’ She bit her lip. ‘The way things are going, we’re going to need a lot more investment in the fairground. And not just for building work.’

Meaning that she expected
him
to invest?

Felix was taken right back to the moment when he’d walked into his flat and heard Tabitha and her friends talking on the balcony.

‘Of course I don’t love Felix
—
but I do love the lifestyle he gives me!

‘He’s pretty easy on the eye, Tab.’