One Christmas Morning & One Summer's Afternoon Read Online Free Page B

Nearer the time, though, you are going to have to take it seriously if you want the play to be a success.’
    ‘I know,’ Lisa said sheepishly. Under all the spandex and foundation, she was a sweet girl. ‘It’s Gabe. He’s always been one for the practical jokes. He’s a bad influence on me. But I’ll get him into line, I promise.’
    ‘Friend of yours?’ asked Daniel, watching Lisa James’s miniskirted bottom as she walked away from the table.
    Laura explained the connection.
    ‘
That’s
the most virginal girl in Fittlescombe? I truly must get my act together and move here.’
    Laura laughed. ‘That’s the girl who was stupid enough to accept the starring role in a production full of live cattle and snotty primary-school children. And
this
is the girl who was stupid enough to agree to write and direct it.’ She pressed a hand to her chest. ‘I must have been out of my mind.’
    ‘I hear you’re going to the Furlings Hunt Ball.’
    Gabe Baxter had walked up to Laura’s table and interrupted her meal without so much as an ‘excuse me’. From the look on his face it was clear that his comment about the ball was an accusation rather than an observation.
    ‘That’s right,’ Laura said defensively, putting down her knife and fork. ‘Why, is there a problem with that?’
    ‘A problem? Why would there be a problem?’
    ‘I have no idea. Perhaps you weren’t invited and you’re irritated that I was. Is that it?’
    Gabe laughed loudly. ‘Please. I wouldn’t go to that love-in for show-offs and posers if you paid me. Who’s your boyfriend, by the way?’
    He nodded rudely at Daniel, a snide smirk plastered across his handsome face.
    ‘Boyfriend? I should be so lucky,’ said Daniel, languidly extending his hand but not getting up. It was a power play, albeit a subtle one, and Laura loved him for it. ‘Daniel Smart. I’m an old friend of Laura’s. And you are?’
    ‘Gabe Baxter.’ It was unspoken, but Gabe seemed suddenly to be on the back foot.
    ‘Gabe plays Joseph,’ Laura explained. ‘When he’s not playing the fool.’
    ‘Lady Muck here doesn’t approve of a bit of fun,’ said Gabe. ‘This is Fittlescombe, not the BBC or the Oxford Bloody Footlights.’
    ‘Actually, the Footlights are a Cambridge society,’ said Daniel. Laura could have kissed him. There was just a hint of amusement in his voice, but it was enough to make Gabe’s cheeks colour. ‘Laura’s a brilliant director. A brilliant writer, too. You lot are lucky to have her.’
    It was said light-heartedly, and with a broad smile that made it impossible for Gabe to disagree without sounding churlish.
    ‘Yeah, well, maybe. Enjoy your supper.’
    I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to get the better of him
,
thought Laura.
And Daniel does it in a sentence and a half.
    ‘He seems a bit chippy,’ said Daniel, tucking into his delicious butterscotch-soaked sponge. ‘What was that business about the ball? Have you two fallen out?’
    Laura rolled her eyes. ‘We don’t know each other well enough to “fall out”. But he’s an arse. And
you
just made him look like one. So, thanks.’
    ‘You’re welcome.’ They clinked wine glasses. Daniel’s hand lightly brushed Laura’s and she felt her libido switching back on like floodlights in a stadium. She was so buzzed, she was surprised the rest of the pub couldn’t hear her humming. ‘You’re not off the hook, you know,’ said Daniel. ‘I still want to know what’s been happening in your life. Why you left London to hide out here.’
    ‘I’m not hiding,’ lied Laura.
    Daniel paid the bill. Up at the bar, Gabe Baxter had pulled Lisa James onto his lap and was whispering filthy nothings into her ear. Laura didn’t want to watch them, but it was hard not to. Everything Gabe Baxter did was designed for an audience. He simply had to be the centre of attention.
    ‘Let’s go home,’ said Daniel. ‘Leave the Holy Family to it.’
    * * *
    After the noise and bustle of