Nina Harrington - Her Sweet Surrender - The First Crush Is the Deepest

‘Eighteen pairs of designer loveliness.’ Amber sighed. ‘Worn once or not at all. Gorgeous but unloved. Kate wanted them but she has tiny feet so I am selling them on the Internet.’

‘You are selling your shoes.’ Sam snorted and tossed his head with a sigh. ‘Things must be desperate. Cash flow problems?’

Her tongue flicked out and she licked her lips once. And right there and then he knew that she was keeping something from him.

‘Don’t try and hide your enthusiasm. I knew that you would be excited by the opportunity. This is just part of the modern girl’s annual clearing out of last season’s couture so that she can buy new ones to take their place—and all the money goes to charity. Oh—and tomorrow gets even better. The lovely Saskia is trying to launch Elwood House as a private dining venue and her online presence is just not cutting it. She needs a professional writer to redesign the website and create a whole new photo gallery—and it has to be complete in time for my birthday party on Thursday.’

‘Is there any good news in all of this?’ he spluttered, while shovelling down more chickpeas and rice.

‘Of course. You have a front row seat at my birthday party, hobnobbing with the great and good of the London scene. Even if you are taking the photographs for Saskia’s website at the same time.’

Sam blew out slowly. ‘I am so grateful for your kind consideration. So that’s Saskia covered. Are you sure that Kate Lovat wouldn’t like me to stand in her shop window modelling a tartan dinner suit in my copious spare time?’

‘Hey, that’s not a bad idea. You might be able to fit it in after you have cleaned the spiders and mouse droppings out of her attic tomorrow. Oh. Didn’t I mention that? Silly me. And after you have sorted the ladies out, then you can pop back here. By then I should have sorted out my unwanted lingerie. I am sure you can come up with some suitable slogan like “as worn by Amber” when you put together the adverts for the Internet auction.’

Amber tilted her head to one side as he glared at her through slitted eyes.

And this was the girl he was thinking of asking to be his friend.

‘Not lingerie. Shoes I can understand. But I draw the line at photographing lingerie unless you intend to model it in person.’

‘But this is your audition, sweetie. Have you forgotten so quickly? Of course, if you are refusing to carry out my perfectly reasonable requests, well, I shall have to phone the journalist on the other paper and see if she is still interested... And no, my modelling days are over.’

She leant her chin on the back of one hand and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

‘You’re looking a little hot under the collar there, Mr Richards.’ Amber smiled. ‘How about some ice cream to cool you down? It’s delicious with humble pie.’

* * *

‘Well. What do you think? The emerald and diamond drop necklace or the sapphire white gold collar?’

Amber held one necklace then the other to her throat, slowly at first, then faster and then faster, using two fingers of her plastered wrist to prop them up against her skin.

‘Hey. Slow down, I’m still thinking about it.’

Kate sat back against Amber’s bed pillows in Saskia’s best spare bedroom and stretched both arms out above her head.

‘Decisions, decisions.’ Then she sniffed. ‘The sapphires. They are absolutely perfect with that dress. Although, if it was me, I would wear both and go totally overboard on the bling. Especially since you won’t be wearing either of them again.’

Amber smiled and dropped the emerald necklace, which had been a present from a fashion designer who had been trying to woo her into being their cover girl, back into the velvet tray. ‘True. But the way I look at it, some other girl has the chance to enjoy them and the charity gets the loot. The last thing I need is a load of expensive jewellery in a safety deposit box which has to be insured every year at huge expense. It makes sense to sell it back to the jewellers while it is still in pristine condition.’

Kate shuffled to the edge of the bed. ‘Don’t let the spy hear you say that. Can you imagine the headlines? “Injured pianist forced to sell her jewellery to make ends meet”.’ Then Kate pushed herself off the bed. ‘Here. Let me help with the earrings. I’m thinking some serious dangle and maximum sparkle and that is a tricky thing to pull off one-handed.’

She peered into the tray and pulled out a pair of chandelier diamond and sapphire drops. ‘Ah. Now we are talking...’ Then she took another look at the maker on the box and blew out hard. ‘Wow. Are these for real? My fingers are shaking. I never thought I would be holding anything from that jeweller. Oh, Amber.’

Amber reached up and wrapped one arm around Kate’s shoulders but, as her friend laughed and reached up to fit her earrings, she shook her head. ‘Not until you have tried them on first. Go on. I want to see you wear those earrings—and that necklace.’

‘What? My neck is too short and my ears are tiny. Nope. These are serious jewels for serious people. I’ll stick to my pearls, thanks all the same.’

‘Kate Lovat, I won’t take no for an answer. I know that my clothes and shoes are huge on you, so please, just this once, be nice and do what I ask. It is my birthday.’

Amber pushed her lips out and pretended to sulk.

‘Oh, stop it,’ Kate replied with a dramatic sigh. ‘You are ruining your make-up and it has taken me the best part of an hour to make it look natural. Okay, okay, I’ll try the jewellery on. But only because it’s your birthday, Look, I’m doing it. And... Oh, Amber.’

Kate stepped behind Amber and rested her head on her shoulder as Amber smiled back at her. ‘Absolutely gorgeous. Told ya. Right, that’s sorted. You’re wearing the jewels that Heath gave me. Done. Or do you want them to sit in the box up here in the bedroom unused and unloved because you have rejected them?’

Kate replied by reaching for a tissue. ‘Oh. Now look what you have made me do. Pest.’

Then Kate peered at herself in the mirror. ‘Do you think that Heath would like me in these?’

‘Pest right back. And he would definitely like you in those earrings,’ Amber replied and wrapped her arm around Kate’s waist. ‘Does Heath still hold the prize for the best emergency school party date a girl could hope for?’

Kate rested her head on Amber’s shoulder before answering with a small shrug. ‘Absolutely. Which must make me the stupidest girl in London. Here I am, surrounded by loads of handsome boys, and the only one who comes close to being my personal hero is living in Boston and doesn’t remember that I even exist unless you are around. Mad just about describes it.’

‘Oh, Kate. Don’t worry. You’ll find someone special, I know you will.’

Kate grinned and ran a tissue across the corner of both eyes. ‘Damn right. Who knows? My soulmate could be on his way to this very party this evening. How about that?’

‘Absolutely. Now shoo. I have to finish getting ready and you need to show your loveliness to all and sundry. Go. Have fun at the party. And Kate...make sure that Sam the spy takes your picture. You can’t miss him—he’ll be the one with the camera around his neck.’

‘You’ve got five minutes, young lady—then the posse will be up here to drag you downstairs.’

‘I would expect nothing less,’ Amber replied and waved to Kate as she waltzed across the carpet on her tiny dainty heels and the bedroom door swung closed behind her.

Only when she heard Kate’s sandals on the marble floor of the entrance did Amber feel it was safe to flop back down on her bed.

So her best friend Kate was still in crush with her stepbrother Heath. Oh, Kate. Maybe it was a good thing that Heath had already spoken to her from his lecture tour in South America and was not turning up for this party after all. He might have brought his lovely girlfriend Olivia with him. Not good. Not good at all.