Page 52 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
Instinctively, she stepped closer and gave him a hug, and realised she didn’t want to pull away.
It was Matt who gently pulled back first. “I’ll bet I’m gladder than you.”
She gave a small smile, knowing he was doing his best to make her feel better. She wouldn’t think about tomorrow.
“Best birthday ever,” she whispered, half to herself.
Gently, he tipped back her chin. “Birthday kiss?”
Don’t overthink it, Daisy.“Birthday kiss.” A pulse beat wildly in her neck as Matt pressed his mouth to hers. Then she closed her eyes, and kissed him back.
CHAPTER 23
MyStarScope Taurus: With Mars in ascension this week,
somebody may threaten a close relationship.
“Mrs Jones, the best thing you can do is to make a wish list for your kids: careers, marriage, how many grandchildren you’d like.” Laura paused. “Of course I’m not joking – feng shui is a serious business. Now, make the list and we’ll see what we can fit in the budget.” She put down the phone and looked over at Daisy. “Mrs Feng Shui. She’s on a tight budget, so one child might have to choose between kids and a career.”
Daisy grinned, her day-and-a-half old hangover rapidly vanishing. “You really can’t take the piss, it’s not professional.”
“I’m just embracing the madness of my client.” Laura gave Daisy a long look. “You don’t look great.”
“Yeah.” Daisy sighed. “Is it possible that I could still be hungover?”
“Doubtful, babes.” Laura turned her attention to the screen.
Daisy slipped in behind her own desk. Clearly, the churning sensation in the pit of her stomach was something else, she thought. Guilt, probably, over the small matter of having kissed her ex, at a party organised by her current boyfriend. She’d blame everything on drink. God, she was delusional. She couldn’t just blame it on drink! The truth was, the last time she’d had a big birthday bash, there’d been no awards to win, or mortgage to pay, or a live-in boyfriend who spent way too much time with the twenty-three-year-old who rented their spare room. And who’d skipped out on her before they’d hardly spent a single moment together on her big night! In fact, she’d spent half the evening fending concerned queries about his disappearance. In the end, she’d told everyone he’d gone home with a migraine. “I didn’t realise James suffered with migraines” – her mother had sounded sceptical.
Daisy looked over at Laura. “So, wasn’t Saturday amazing?” she demanded. “Did you have a good time? I had a great time.”
Laura flicked some imaginary specks of dirt off her slim-fitting skirt. “I’m glad.”
Daisy wondered if Laura somehow knew about the making-out incident. She could have seen them. Or maybe somebody else had seen them and word had got around, and now everyone was wondering if James knew. God, what had she done? Nothing, she’d done nothing! It was a birthday kiss! Okay, maybe a bit more. She’d replayed it over and over in her head, recalling how they’d closed every last tiny space between them, fitting together like a perfect memory during those impeccable few moments.
“Did you send me all the photos you took?” Daisy said casually. She’d barely lifted her head from social media all day Sunday, as she’d searched through countless Instagram storiesfrom the previous night, checking for incriminating pictures of her and Matt together. Thankfully, there’d been nothing.
She struggled to organize her thoughts for Laura. “James told me you helped organise it.”
“Hmm.” Laura shrugged. “You can thank me for the choice of venue. James wanted to rent out some bar in your local hotel.”
Daisy tried to think of something witty to say but failed. So he hadn’t picked the actual venue. It didn’t matter now.
James had been asleep when she’d got home and, by the time she’d got up, he’d barricaded himself into his office, and she’d told herself she was too hungover to face him. The truth was, all she could think about was how James and Alma had left the party together, hours before anyone else. Worse, she couldn’t seem to find the words to tackle him about it. Anything she said would just cause a row.
When he’d finally surfaced again, she’d asked if he’d managed to sort his work problems. James had mumbled something about more complications, and asked her if she’d had fun at the party, but Daisy had stopped listening. She couldn’t believe that he’d gone to so much trouble to organise a surprise party – and then almost ruin it by refusing to put her first for a single night.It had been Matt who’d rescued the evening for her. She’d forgotten what a good dancer he was, how much fun he could be, how he kissed and what his body felt like when –
“Did he get over his migraine?” Laura flicked her a sharp look.
“What? Oh, James, yeah, he’s fine.”
“Hmm.” Laura smoothed a hand back over her hair. “Didn’t Alma leave around the same time?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Daisy did her best to sound off-hand. “She didn’t really know anyone there, so she just came along for a while to be polite. I mean, Jameshadto invite her.” Although she could have made an excuse not to come – she didn’t have tosay yes! She stabbed the power button on her laptop. “Where’s Fionn? Did he come in?”
“I sent him for coffees.”
Daisy sighed and searched around for another topic. “How’s Stephanie?”
