I glance up to see her attention is fixed on where we’re joined. I press a quick kiss to the inside of her wrist, my tongue licking at the cloying scent.
“Hmm,” I say quietly, “I like it.” I run my nose against her arm, pressing gentle kisses along her skin, smiling when goosebumps erupt in my wake.
She gulps and I release her, stepping to the side to gesture to Gérard who quickly escapes to the store room to grab a bottle of the perfume.
“Are we done?” Anya says, her pink tongue flicking against her lip.
“You have to get something from Pip.”
“I just did!”
“No,” I say, resting my hand on her hip and whispering in her ear. “That was for me.”
A tiny moan escapes as I press a kiss to her cheek. “Keep looking.”
Chapter 29
ANYA
Danny hovers behind me like a shadow, desperate for me to spend his money. If I wasn’t so morally against wasting money on clothes that would only look good on a runway model, I would be having the time of my life. Or maybe if we were in a Le Creuset store so I could stack up on tiny espresso mugs.
I have my bottle of expensive perfume that I’ll now forever associate with him, I’m more than ready to cut this little shopping trip short and escape home but he practically bars the exit.
I guess it’s a nice thing that his sister has planned this for me. Like she’s accepted me as Danny’s…something. But maybe we should have a sit down and discuss what is and what isn’t an adequate gift for a girl sleeping with your brother.
I eventually find a small collection of sunglasses. Jackpot. Surely these will be cheaper than the embroidered jackets with a price tag in the thousands. Danny hums appreciatively as I place each pair on my nose and present my face for his inspection.
“I like the second ones,” he nods and I try them on again. They’re not too big that they swallow my face and they’re so dark it makes the already dim store almost pitch black.
“They’re really light, I can barely feel them.” I muse.
“Good.” He pinches them gently off my nose and gestures to Gérard who quickly swipes them out of his hand.
“Are we done now?” A bottle of perfume and the cheapest item in the store, surely I’ve done my time.
He winks and hooks his arm around my waist guiding me out of the store. “Good job, freckles. Pip will be pleased.”
Gérard hands my tiny shopping bags to Jaques and he turns to me, “Did you have fun?” he asks in English.
I grimace playfully, “I picked the cheapest thing in the store.”
Jaques raises his eyebrows and glances at Danny. I turn to the man trying to usher me into the car. “Didn’t I? The sunglasses weren’t too expensive were they?”
I can see the smirk Danny is not attempting to hide.
“Were they?”
“Get in the car, freckles.”
Chapter 30
DANNY
It’s almost wrong to be on set. To be pretending to be someone else when I finally,finally,feel like myself. I’ve played music and people have encouraged me, I have the perfect girl warming my bed basically every night, and I’m firmly ignoring my fathers calls. It feels wrong to be doing anything else.
When I read the script sat at that conference table, I never imagined that my life could look so different. The resentment that weighed me down has lightened considerably thanks to the new direction Anya’s steered me in. So even though I’d rather be anywhere else, I know that I can at least do a good job on this film. Not for myself and the career I can finally admit isn’t what I want, but so I can make Anya proud.
The thing about a good mood is it can always turn bad. Mostly by the presence of the worst human in the world. McBride loves finding anything to get under my skin, to wind me up. And today, he’s definitely found it.
