Dan turned his attention back to Libby, who was flushed with humiliation, and he softened his tone. ‘I’m sorry, it’s just that I promised Amy I wouldn’t go to another strip club after … well …’ He shook his head to clear it, his eyes desperate and clearly keen for a subject change, ‘and Will is at a really impressionable stage and I don’t want him to think that – ’
‘Oh for fuck’s sake,’ snapped Amy, and all of them started in surprise. ‘You misogynistic hypocritical caveman.’
‘Aims, look – ’
A growl cut him off.
An actual growl.
And Amy did not growl in a cute adorable girly way; no, she growled like a furious six-foot cage fighter gearing up for an arse-kicking. How her small body could produce such a low, menacing sound was a mystery. She looked over at Libby, saw her flushed cheeks and mortified expression, and moved to wrap her arm around her shoulders.
‘I expect there’s a reason you know about Libby’s other career?’ Amy raised her eyebrows and Dan shifted uncomfortably on his feet. ‘Right, so it’s okay for you perverts to go to a strip club and leer over women, just as long as they stay in their proper place and don’t encroach on your real life. Well, I’ve got news for you lot; women like Libby don’t just exist on a stage, wrapped around a pole. They have lives and responsibilities, just like the rest of us, and I’m sure Libby is making the best of a tricky situation.
‘God knows if you had had the option of stupid women paying crazy money to seeyoushakeyourarse when you were Libby’s age you would have gone for it. Are you telling me Will wouldn’t have suffered without your family’s support in the early years when you were starting out in the city? What would you have done if you’d had full custody and no super-rich family behind you?’
‘Okay, okay,’ Dan held his hands up in surrender. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked over at Libby. ‘I’m sorry, really. I didn’t mean anyth – ’
‘It’s fine,’ Libby said, forcing a strained smile and holding up a hand to silence him. ‘Honestly, I totally understand, and I think it’d be better if I take Rosie and – ’
‘Dan, Amy, would you both please just get lost for a minute?’ Dr Grantham cut in. Amy gave Libby’s shoulders another squeeze before narrowing her eyes at her husband and dragging him off towards the children.
‘Okay,’ Dr Grantham said, stepping forward into Libby’s personal space and putting his hands on her shoulders. ‘Please give us another chance. This was supposed to be me making things up to you, and now … ugh, Dan issucha tosser.’
‘He’s just being honest. I can respect that.’ When Dr Grantham went to speak Libby held up a hand to silence him. ‘But I don’t want to be around it.’
‘Bugger,’ he muttered, his eyes dropping down to their feet, only inches apart. ‘We were only there for a stupid stag, we don’t – ’
‘That’s fine. Totally fine if it’s all in fun, but not when it leaks into my life. Not when it makes me feel like crap.’
‘I swear I’ll make it up to you.’
Libby turned away and slowly shook her head.
‘Rosie will be so sad,’ he went on. ‘She’s so excited. Just a couple of hours. I’ll send them away if you want. Hell, if you don’t come with us I’ll send them away anyway. There’s another boat they can go on.’
‘Another boat?’ Libby’s voice rose. Of course this family had another bloody boat. They probably had a whole fleet of them, the posh bastards.
‘Uh …’ Jamie shifted uncomfortably. ‘Yeah, a sailing boat though, so dickhead Dan will make a fuss cause it’s a bit of a faff with the baby. But he can just suck it up.’
Libby saw Seb and Rosie crouching down next to each other, squealing, as something, either woodlouse or spider, scuttled from one of their hands to the other. She sighed.
‘Okay, just for a couple of hours,’ she said eventually. Dr Grantham’s face split into a wide grin and he pulled her forward into an unexpected tight hug. Her face was pressed into the soft fabric of his T-shirt and her head suddenly started feeling light. He smelt of washing powder and sandalwood, and she could feel the broad planes of muscle against her cheek. She felt him nuzzle her hair and take a deep breath in for a moment. A throat cleared from across the harbour and he jerked in surprise before setting her gently away from him. He gave a nervous cough and shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts. The expression on his face suggested he was almost more shocked than her.
‘Great,’ he said, his voice slightly strangled and the tips of his ears going a bright shade of red. ‘We should get going then. You good?’ He glanced at Libby briefly and she gave a quick nod, after which he patted her arm awkwardly. ‘Great, great. That’s … um … great.’
His pink ears, sudden affinity for the word ‘great’, and clear discomfort made Libby, for some insane reason, want to reach forward, pull his face down to hers and kiss the life out of him.
She shook her head to clear it. Two hours, she said to herself. She could do this for two hours. Beg, borrow or steal, she’d do whatever she had to for her daughter.
Chapter 15
Babies’ cry
‘That is the best thing I’ve doneever,’ cried Libby as she hauled herself up the ladder and onto the back of the boat.
Jamie had seen her smile before but not like this. Now she was beaming, her beautiful face animated with excitement as she shook out her long hair, which had fought its confines and was now plastered down her back. Jamie swallowed as she stood up and her figure – in the slightly-too-tight-around-chest wetsuit she had borrowed from Amy – was revealed in all its glory.
With annoyance he registered that he wasn’t the only one to notice: Will was staring at her with a dreamy expression and his mouth hanging open; and Dan had turned fully around from his position in the driver’s seat to watch her. Jamie deliberately stepped on Will’s foot and pushed the side of Dan’s head so that he was looking in the goddamn direction they were going, before he clambered over to Libby and grabbed her the largest towel he could find. He knew he should have sent those idiots home when he had the chance, but Libby made him promise to let them stay.
