No Matter What

by Michelle Betham

  Right now they were all in Palm Springs, a trip organised by Reece for Terry’s thirty-second birthday. Michael was there too, even Kenny. It may have taken time and a lot of effort on the part of some people but they’d all eventually accepted that Kenny was in India’s life to stay, whether they liked it or not.

  Vince Maine had also come along, taking a break from Vegas to spend a bit of time with them all. He was Michael’s closest friend therefore India had gotten closer to him too, over the years, and she liked him. She liked him a lot. He was funny and kind and he always made her laugh. She’d been to Vegas a few times over the last few years and he’d always made sure there’d been one of his best penthouse suites ready for her when she’d arrived. She’d always had a good time there, and that had always been down to Vince.

  The hotel they were staying in here in Palm Springs may not have been like anything she’d stayed in over in Vegas, but it was doing its absolute best to make this weekend perfect for them all. A party had been arranged for them in one of the private houses in the hotel grounds, and from what India had seen over the course of the day when she’d visited the house, no expense appeared to be spared. Thanks to Reece. Terry wasn’t used to this kind of fuss on any kind of day never mind his birthday but he was going to have to get used to it. She wanted him to have a good time, relax a little while he was here, and after a day playing golf with Michael, Vince and Reece, she was sure this party was just what he needed to let his hair down a bit. Something she’d never really seen her brother do.

  She was ready for a good party herself that was for sure. It had been a while since she’d really had fun and she badly needed to have some, before she forgot how to. She’d been away in Canada filming for the past few months and she couldn’t wait to spend some much needed time with everybody, have a few drinks, a bit of a dance, it was going to be a good night. She could feel it.

  There was a knock at the door of her private suite and she quickly stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself and another one round her wet hair as she ran out into the living room.

  “Who is it?”

  “It’s Michael, honey.”

  She opened the door and smiled as he stood there, holding a single white rose which he held out for her and she took it, standing aside to let him in.

  Their relationship was still a very grey area, she was still wary of taking that step forward from friends to something much more than that, but she was enjoying being with him. That she did know. He was so far removed from Kenny, so different to anyone else she’d been out with and he was just what she needed right now. So he was a bit older, so what? Maybe that was the attraction. All she cared about was that he made her feel good. Who knew where it was heading? They hadn’t even so much as kissed yet - not outside of a film set anyway – but it was nice just taking one day at a time, letting it all happen slowly. He wasn’t pushing her and she wasn’t letting herself rush into anything.

  “I was going to ask if you were ready yet but I can see you’re not,” he smiled. “Unless you’ve just discovered the latest fashion trend, in which case, I must say, you carry it off beautifully.”

  She shut the door behind him and laughed, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll be five minutes, I promise.”

  He followed her into the bedroom as she ran off into the en-suite bathroom.

  “Five minutes? Without make-up and hair to do their magic? You sure about that?”

  She stuck her head round the door and poked her tongue out at him. He laughed, sitting down on the edge of her huge bed, listening to her running around the bathroom, knowing she didn’t need any help at all to look beautiful. She was just fine as she was.

  Michael Walsh couldn’t believe how perfect his life had become lately. Kenny Ross had done his worst and the one person she’d turned to had been him. Just like he’d planned, just like he’d hoped she would. She’d come to him, leaned on him and needed him. And he’d been there. There was no other place he was ever going to be. Ok, so the relationship was still growing slowly – India didn’t want to be rushed into anything and he understood that - but they were getting closer all the time, little by little, bit by bit. Every time he took her out to dinner, every time he accompanied her to a premiere or a party, it was all adding up, all making her see just how good they could be together. The only blot on this otherwise perfect scenario was that Kenny Ross was still very much a fixture in India’s life, but Michael had quickly realised that to oppose that in any way would only alienate him from her life, and he cared too much about her for that to happen. So he’d just decided to keep a very close eye on Kenny, and make sure he never got close to India in that way again.

  He looked up as she came out of the bathroom, make-up light on her tanned skin, her blonde hair tousled around her shoulders, the towel still wrapped around her body.

  “Do you want me to leave while you get dressed?” he asked, standing up and making his way to the door.

  “No, you’re ok,” she smiled. “I’ll just nip into the dressing room, and I really will be five minutes, honest.”

  He smiled back, wanting to just stay here with her, pull that towel away from her and spend the night making love to her, but that would come. He knew those times would come, and the days of wishing and hoping would soon be over.

  “We can go down together then, can’t we?” she went on, running into the dressing room.

  He walked over to the mirror and looked at his reflection. At almost forty-four he looked younger than his years, and that was probably thanks to coming off the alcohol and drugs when he had. There were lines round the eyes Of course, those tell-tale signs you couldn’t hide unless you wanted to go under the knife, and he didn’t, but somehow they worked on him. And the fact that he still had the most piercing of blue eyes was always something that made him stand out from the rest. He hadn’t been short of female attention over the years, he just hadn’t been interested. He only wanted one woman and anyone else was only ever going to be a very poor substitute.

  “Ok. I’m done.”

  He turned round as she came back into the room and he almost gasped out loud at the sight of her. She looked incredible. Why she needed all those make-up people and hairstylists around her at home when she could do her own magic in ten minutes was beyond him.

  She was wearing a short, strapless, skin-tight cobalt blue dress that went perfectly with her tanned skin and showed off every curve of her perfect body. Her hair was loose in her trademark, tousled rock-chick style, her make-up light, and the whole thing was finished off with knee-high stiletto-heeled boots. Sexy didn’t even begin to describe it.

  “Wow! You ... you look stunning!”

  She smiled at him, that beautiful smile. “You don’t look too bad yourself, Mikey.”

  “India ...”

  She looked up from fastening her bracelet. “Yeah?”

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and he couldn’t wait any longer. His mind was made up. He was going to tell her how he felt, tonight, now. He was going to tell her.

  She was still looking at him, waiting for him to say something.

  “Can we … can we have a drink first? Before we go join the party, can we just go and have a drink in the bar or ... or something?”

  “Sure ... is everything ok?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, Of course it is,” he smiled, pushing a hand through his hair. “I just want ... I just want to say something to you, that’s all.”

  He was looking at her, trying to read her expression, trying to work out what she was thinking. Did she have any inkling? Any feeling at all about what was going on inside his head? The look in her eyes had changed, he was sure of it. The expression on her face was different, serious all of a sudden.

  He stood completely still as she walked over to him, standing in front of him, so close he could smell her perfume and she took his hand, holding it tightly in hers. That feeling of her fingers wrapping themselves around his, knowing she was holding onto him, it neve
r ceased to make his heart miss a beat. Every small touch, every tiny smile, it all made him want her more and more.

  “You mean the world to me, do you know that?” she whispered, putting a hand to the side of his face and stroking his cheek gently with her thumb, looking so deep into his eyes he didn’t think he’d ever be able to look away. “The way you’ve helped me, been there for me these past couple of years ... I don’t know what I would have done without you. You’ve been a good friend and, do you know what I really want to hear you say, Michael?”

  What was the point in holding back any longer? She was going to go with her heart and see where it took her. Something inside her was telling her this was right, and that’s all she needed to know.

  His heart was pounding so loud and heavy he thought it might burst, his head starting to spin as she moved her mouth closer to his. Was this finally happening? Was it all finally starting to happen?

  “I don’t want to hear you say anything,” she said quietly, her other hand letting go of his, moving to the back of his neck, stroking it so gently it made his skin tingle. “But I do want you to do something.”

  His mouth was so dry he didn’t know if he could speak. “And what’s that?” He wondered if he was reading this right and he paused for just a second before slipping one arm around her waist, resting it in the small of her back, pulling her in gently against him.

  “I want you to kiss me, Michael. I just want you to kiss me.”

  This was it, he thought. Every dream was starting to come true, every wish, every dream, it really was all starting to happen, but it had still caught him a little off guard.

  “I can do that,” he whispered, gently pushing a strand of hair away from her eyes as he lowered his mouth down onto hers, her lips soft and slightly open as he kissed her, and she pushed her body closer against his, kissing him back a little harder, her tongue gently running along the roof of his mouth. He didn’t ever want to let go, he didn’t ever want this to stop incase it was just some crazy dream and he’d wake up to find out she was still nothing but a faraway fantasy. And although he’d done this before - he’d kissed her for the cameras - it had been nothing like this, it hadn’t felt like this because that hadn’t been real and this was very, very real and it was happening now. Michael Walsh hardly dared believe that he finally had his girl but she was here in his arms and in no rush to let go and he knew now that all that waiting had been worth it, every single agonising second of waiting. She was his walking fantasy, his beautiful dream girl, an angel. And now that he had her nobody, but nobody was going to take her away from him. Not now. Not ever. Not without one hell of a fight.

  ***

  Reece checked his watch. Everyone was here except India and Michael but nobody else seemed to even realise they were missing.

  Thanks to his lawyer, Reece had had a trouble free time over the past couple of years. Listening to Max and letting him sort out the “problem” he’d been having had been the right decision. He’d heard nothing for the past three years - no letters, no ‘phone calls. He was finally letting himself relax, finally letting himself think that this whole mess might actually be behind him now and he could, at last, start thinking about what he was going to tell India. Because she needed to know the truth. And she needed to know it soon.

  Thankfully Terry had backed off a bit, he appeared to have become less suspicious. Since he’d moved to L.A. and started work he’d obviously had other things to think about and Reece had been grateful for that because if Terry found out the truth, he’d be bound to tell India. He was her brother, of course he would tell her. But that wasn’t the way this was going to work. Reece knew it had to come from him and nobody else.

  He’d watched India grow from this fresh new talent, this new shining star in the Hollywood galaxy, into this beautiful and incredibly accomplished actress and he was so proud of her. But where it became hard was when she was hurting, when people got in the way of her happiness, like Kenny Ross had done in the past. Reece could only let her know he was there for her as a friend when every inch of him ached to tell her the truth. But the time wasn’t right. Not yet. But when it was he’d make sure he made up for everything. In the meantime though, he had to continue watching from the sidelines as she got on with her life, and just try and make sure he was always in it. As close as he could be.

  “Hey, Reece, you seen India?” Terry asked, bounding over from the bar, a huge smile on his face. Reece couldn’t help but smile back.

  “No. She’s probably just finishing getting ready; you know what women are like.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Terry smiled. “And thanks for this party by the way. It’s bloody amazing here, never had a party like it! I can’t wait to tell the guys back home.”

  Reece laughed. “You’re welcome, Terry. You just enjoy it, ok?”

  “No problems there, mate.” He turned round, suddenly catching sight of India walking into the room, hand in hand with Michael, and he squinted to get a better look. “Are they holding hands?” Terry asked, not taking his eyes off them as they moved farther into the room. “Jesus! They are you know.” He looked at Reece, who felt his heart sink a little. “Are they ..?”

  Reece shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  He’d known they were close friends but he’d had no idea the relationship had moved onto anything more than that. But the way she was looking up at Michael, the way her arm was now clinging onto his waist, there was no doubt about it. When the hell had that happened?

  “There’s about sixteen years between them, isn’t there?” Terry asked, watching as Michael leaned over to gently kiss India’s mouth.

  “Something like that, yeah,” Reece said quietly.

  She hadn’t really been involved with anyone since divorcing Kenny but he’d had no idea she had any feelings for Michael Walsh. Not in that way.

  Terry’s voice cut into his thoughts again. “What do you reckon about that then?”

  “Hmm? Sorry?”

  “India and Michael Walsh. What do you reckon to that?”

  “I don’t know to be honest. It’s come as a bit of a shock, I have to say, but she’s a grown woman. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing.”

  Terry picked up a glass of champagne from a passing waitress and knocked back a large mouthful. “She didn’t where Kenny Ross was concerned, did she?”

  “That was a long time ago, Terry. I think she’s learned a lot of lessons from that.”

  “He isn’t going to be too happy about it though, is he?”

  “Who?”

  “Kenny. It’ll be interesting to see his reaction to this one.”

  And as Kenny joined the party, surrounded by two pretty young dark haired girls, both clinging onto him like star-struck limpets, they wouldn’t have too long to wait to find out.

  ***

  India had surprised even herself but she suddenly felt happier than she had done in a long time. She’d avoided relationships so carefully, deliberately walking away from any kind of commitment for years and yet now she’d just crash landed into something without even realising it had happened. But when she thought about it, this had obviously been on the cards for a while now. Michael had always been there for her, always around when she’d needed him and she’d just realised that he was more than a friend, that’s all. He was much more to her than that. He made her feel safe and warm and happy, and that was worth a lot. She’d looked at him, there in her room, looked at his face, looked into his eyes and she’d seen something that had overwhelmed her - somewhere along the line she’d fallen in love with this man, and she didn’t know when it had happened, she couldn’t work out the exact time her feelings had changed; she just knew that they had. She loved how he made her feel. She loved being with him. The next move had been obvious.

  “You ok?” Michael asked, squeezing her waist.

  “I’m fine. Not sure about everyone else though,” she smiled, catching sight of a couple of very surprised faces; her brother’s be
ing the funniest.

  “I guess they never really saw it coming,” Michael smiled back.

  “Well, neither did I so I guess that makes us all surprised.”

  He turned her round so she was facing him, gently pushing the hair from her eyes. “Are you ok with it? With us, I mean.”

  “I won’t deny it’s a bit of a shock, but it feels right. It’s the right time for me - the right time and the right person.”

  He pulled her in for a small, quick kiss. “You’ve no idea how long I’ve waited for this, India. No idea.”

  “Well, mister, you’ve got me now.” She kissed him again, and the feeling it gave her was incredible. She felt like an excited teenager out on a first date and all she wanted to do was hide away in a corner and kiss him for hours. It was new and exciting and it had been a long time since she’d felt this way. Or even wanted to feel this way.

  “It’s such a pity it’s my brother’s party, otherwise I’d just skip it and go do something much more interesting,” she smiled, playing with the collar of his shirt.

  “And what’s that then?” he asked, noticing how her cheeks had become flushed, making her look so much younger. So much more beautiful, if that was really possible.

  She moved her mouth close to his as she spoke. “Well, for starters, we would never have left my suite.” She closed her eyes and rested her mouth on his, feeling the warmth of him against her as he kissed her. “I don’t want to be alone tonight, Michael.”