Page 11 of For Love or Money
She couldn’t help thinking Al looked a bit pissed off. He was probably fed up of being overshadowed by his hot cousins.
‘Anyway,’ Al continued, breaking into her thoughts, ‘I thought the best pretext for you spending time with my family would be if you were to, er ... be my girlfriend.’
5
‘Oh.’ Lesley was conflicted. On the one hand, the prospect of working undercover to expose a gold-digger was about as thrilling as it got. She’d be like a modern-day Miss Marple. On the other, being Al’s girlfriend would put rather a damper on any chance of getting off with Rafe Bradshaw.
‘Would I have to be your girlfriend?’ she hedged. ‘Couldn’t I be ... I don’t know ... your maid maybe?’
‘Mymaid?’ Al screwed up his face.
‘Well, I don’t know,’ she said huffily. ‘Don’t you have a housekeeper or something?’
‘I have a cleaner who comes once a week, but we don’t socialise.’
‘That’s very elitist of you.’
‘What can I say? She has her life and I have mine. The arrangement suits us both.’
‘Well, I could be your assistant, then – your PA.’
‘Nope.’
‘Why not?’
‘My family know Janine.’
‘Who’s Janine?’
‘My PA. Besides, I have no reason to bring a PA on holiday with me.’
‘You want me to go on holidays with you?’ Lesley perked up at the thought of a holiday.
‘My family have a place in Nice, and we all get together there every summer. As my girlfriend, you would naturally come with me.’
‘All of you? The whole family? Would Rafe Bradshaw be there too? And Scott Bradshaw?’
‘Yes, both my cousins would be there.’
‘Rafe Bradshaw would definitely be coming?’ Lesley felt it was important to clarify this point.
‘Yes,’ Al said wearily, ‘TV’s Mr Darcy will be there. So you see, we’d be living in the same house as Stella for two weeks. It’d be the perfect opportunity for you to get close to her.’
And to Rafe, Lesley thought. ‘What else would I have to do as your girlfriend?’
‘Nothing too arduous. Just accompany me to family dos, and try to look at me like you think I’m the greatest thing since ... Ryan Gosling.’
Lesley laughed.
‘We should probably have the odd PDA, for authenticity.’
‘What sort of PDA exactly?’
‘Just some light hand-holding, perhaps the occasional snog.’
‘No tongues,’ Lesley said quickly.
‘What do you take me for – a Kardashian?’
