by Laura Ziepe
‘I do it because I love you.’ He had calmed down now and his tone had changed. ‘Come to the club afterwards and meet us.’
‘But it’s our stag and hen nights,’ Emma said, feeling as though it was a bad omen or something. ‘Shouldn’t we just see each other in the morning when we wake up? I thought we were meant to spend it apart.’
‘I don’t care about all the rules, Em. I want to be with you.’
There was silence for a few moments and Emma thought about how quickly Charlie could turn from angry to nice.
‘I’ll text you where we’re going and see you there, okay?’ he said.
It was more of an order than an invite and Emma sighed inwardly, telling herself it was normal for a man to get jealous if his fiancée was at a strip club. It was nice that he wanted to see her. She tried to pretend it wasn’t Charlie being controlling at all.
Chapter 11
Holly
‘Right girls, we’re off to Tryst at The Wynn now,’ Fran told them excitedly.
The strip show was over and Holly was looking forward to a change of scene.
‘Actually girls,’ Emma said, biting her lip hesitantly, ‘I told Charlie we would meet up with them. They’re at The Bank at the Bellagio Hotel. I hope you don’t mind?’
‘Really? I had sorted it with a promoter that we would go to The Wynn though? Shouldn’t you two have at least this one night apart?’ Danni said, looking disappointed.
‘No, I’ve told him we will go there now,’ Emma replied, an unreadable expression on her face.
‘Okay,’ Fran shrugged helplessly. ‘It’s your hen do, so we’ll go where you want.’
‘He’s got a table there for us all. It will be fun,’ Emma told them.
They jumped into several taxis and Holly noticed Rob had sent a message earlier on that she hadn’t read. She opened it, pleased to see it was some photos of the children. She ignored the fact that Lottie was wearing a t-shirt from last year, clearly too small for her (where had he even found that? She’d organized all their clothes for each day and realized he must have had it at his place.). She also choose to turn a blind eye to the fact they had food smeared round their chubby little smiling faces and their hair desperately needed brushing. She’d been so keen to have a break away, but now she was seeing their innocent happy faces, she wanted nothing more to kiss and hold them. She missed them and her heart burst with pride as she stared at the image. They looked like they were having fun whatever they were up to. She felt grateful that Rob kept her up to date with what they were doing. She tapped a message back.
Give them a big kiss from me and tell them I love them xx
Twenty minutes later, after standing in the queue for the club, they were let in, escorted by a man when they told him they were on Charlie’s table. The nightclub was rammed.
‘Wow, don’t they look handsome?’ Kim spoke loudly into Holly’s ear, looking into the distance to the table where Max and Callum were facing them. Charlie, Frankie and a few others were on the other side of the table.
Holly followed Kim’s gaze, her stomach full of butterflies as she noticed them. She couldn’t answer. All Holly could do was stare. Max was wearing dark blue jeans and a tight fitted white shirt showing off his tanned skin. He flashed them a wide smile as he walked over, which made Holly feel weak inside. Callum looked gorgeous too and Holly realized she actually found his kind features and friendly smile rather endearing; he wasn’t as flash or confident as Max, and he seemed more mature somehow, as though he was a few years older. Perhaps it was because he was a father, Holly decided. She imagined him to be a good dad too, from the way he’d spoken about his daughter, Eva. The type of dad who cooked homemade meals instead of lazily running to McDonalds at the last minute. The type of dad who played with his child and gave them attention, helping with their homework and watching them perform in their school assembly. He just gave that impression.
‘Hey girls. You’ve scrubbed up well,’ Max winked as he made room for them to sit down. He let Holly in first and she felt pleased she was the one to be sitting next to him. It would have been a bit difficult to chat otherwise. ‘You’re both looking beautiful,’ he said to them, but his eyes were mainly on her. It made her cheeks begin to flush, as though she was still in the warm sunshine.
‘Thanks,’ Kim replied, taking a glass of champagne that the waitress handed her. They clinked glasses and Holly could sense Max’s gaze was still on her. It made her feel giddy with anticipation. She wondered if he had plans to kiss her again that evening – she hoped so. She felt like a teenager with her first crush.
Kim pretty much necked her champagne in one, holding out her glass for the waitress to refill it.
‘Wow Kim, maybe slow down a little,’ Holly encouraged in a hushed tone. Kim hadn’t been hungry when Holly had ordered room service before they went out for the night and she didn’t drink much any more; she really didn’t want her to get too ill from all the booze. Or embarrass herself and fall over or something.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Kim shot back, lifting her chin. ‘Honestly, stop worrying about me.
Holly knew Kim couldn’t really handle her drink and would most likely end up going overboard, but wasn’t this what she wanted? Kim to be fun again? How could she moan that Kim was now having too much fun? Kim was a good mother and she was always with her children. She never got a break. Holly had told her before she needed to ask Andy to help more often, but Kim would have none of it.
‘I like things done my way where the children are concerned,’ she’d explained. ‘They’re my job.’
Holly had wondered if Andy wanted to be more involved. She thought her friend should have given him the chance, but she’d kept silent, not wanting to get involved. Perhaps that was the way it worked for them? Holly was always grateful to have Rob there whenever she needed him. She certainly wasn’t keen on doing everything herself.
Holly picked up her drink and clinked glasses with Kim. They were going to have a great night, Holly told herself, the sour bubbles of her champagne fizzing in her mouth as she sipped it.
‘I love this dress you’re wearing,’ Max complimented Holly as his eyes roamed her body as though he was undressing her.
‘Thanks,’ Holly replied shyly. ‘You look nice too.’
Holly couldn’t help but notice Max flash the pretty waitress a grin as he ordered some more drinks. The waitress fluttered her lashes at him, welcoming the attention. Holly could tell Max loved girls. He knew he was good-looking and aware of the effect he had on women. He lapped it up. He was just one of those guys who couldn’t help but adore the opposite sex. He was charming and sexy. Whether or not he behaved differently when he was in a relationship was something Holly was unsure of. He was the type of man Holly’s mother would tell her to steer clear of.
‘Too good-looking for his own good, that one,’ Holly remembered her mother saying once about an ex-boyfriend, when he’d treated her badly. He’d been the most popular boy in their school. ‘The problem is, he’s always had girls throwing themselves at him. He’s never had to make an effort for anyone.’
She’d been right. Edna was always right about everything.
The drinks were constantly being poured and thirty minutes later, Holly could tell that Kim was a little drunk by the way she was swaying to the music and slurring her words.
‘Shall we dance?’ Kim asked enthusiastically.
‘Sure,’ Holly said, walking over to the dance floor with her friend. A group of American men came over to them and Holly chatted away to them politely, unable to help but notice that Max was watching them from the table. It was good for him to see that other men were interested. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. They were standing close to the DJ booth and Holly could hardly hear what the men were saying over the music, and eventually they made their excuses and walked back to the table.
‘Who are your new friends?’ Max asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘Oh you know, just some of our many admirers,’ H
olly replied dead-pan, enjoying the fact he was so interested. He was obviously bothered by it.
‘Oh really?’ he answered, enjoying the game. ‘How many others do you have then? Sounds like I have competition,’ he said, pretending to be worried.
Kim tapped Max’s shoulder and began to chat to him and Callum turned to Holly. ‘How long are you staying in Vegas for?’
‘We’re leaving two days after the wedding. What about you?’
‘Same.’ He paused. ‘It’s nice to have a break away but I’m looking forward to seeing Eva, I’ve got to say,’ Callum admitted. ‘I didn’t see her the week before I left as it wasn’t my turn with her and I’ve missed her. It’s not easy when you can’t see your children as much as you’d like. Do you and your ex-partner get on?’
‘We do,’ Holly replied, thinking of Lottie and Jacob again and feeling a wave of love. ‘It’s the one thing I’ve tried to make sure of. We split amicably though so I guess we’re very lucky. He has a new girlfriend now. In fact, my children will probably be meeting her tomorrow for the first time.’
‘How do you feel about that?’ Callum asked.
Holly paused thoughtfully. ‘It was a huge shock when he first told me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I kind of felt betrayed or something, which doesn’t make sense because we’re no longer together.’
Callum nodded, looking as though he understood. ‘Eva’s mum, Hayley, has a new boyfriend. He also has a little boy who’s three who Eva has started to call her brother. It’s complicated when you have a child together; I found it really hard too when Hayley announced she was with someone else.’
‘I’ve met her though, his new girlfriend, and she’s actually really nice. I’m happy for them. At the end of the day, Rob and I just didn’t work together, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to find love with someone else.’
‘What went wrong with the pair of you?’ he asked. ‘Why didn’t it work?’
Holly sipped her drink. ‘Before kids, I used to love how laid-back Rob was. Nothing really fazed him and I used to wish I were more like him. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I would have liked him to help around the house a bit more,’ she rolled her eyes with a smile, ‘I’m organized and he’s the opposite, but I think once the children came along, all the things I used to love about him really started to annoy me.’
‘Like what?’ Callum asked.
‘I feel bad saying it, because he is a good dad, but we just always seemed to argue about little things,’ Holly said. ‘I like to keep on top of things in the house, but when Lottie and Jacob came along it just became more of a struggle for me to keep up to date with the washing and tidying up. It never used to bother Rob, he was always saying I should relax more, but I felt like I needed more help from him. He would think I was being over the top worrying about the house and the truth is, we were just different. He’s so laid-back with the children too and I had to always be the disciplinarian; I always felt like the bad cop. We just had different ways, I don’t know,’ she shrugged, deep in thought. ‘I remember once when we went to a farm and went into the café for lunch, when I came out of the toilet, Lottie was crawling round on the dirty floor while he just sat there on his phone. She was filthy, but he just told me I was making a big deal over nothing. He seemed to always be on his phone and it drove me crazy. I wanted to enjoy some rare family time together at times, but I just felt like I enjoyed the children more when I was alone. You probably just think I’m coming across like a bit of a nag …’she broke off with a little laugh, hating the way she sounded.
‘Not at all,’ Callum told her seriously. ‘Things change when you have children. Your whole relationship changes and sometimes it’s not for the better. Sometimes you can be better parents apart.’
‘Exactly,’ Holly agreed. ‘Rob adores our children and I know he spoils them rotten when he sees them. They love being with him. He’s just more relaxed than me on the whole, I guess, and we clashed when parenting. Suddenly, what were once odd arguments were happening continuously. I knew it wasn’t healthy for our children to be around it.’
They sat chatting away about their children and drinking and Holly could feel herself getting drunk. It was so easy to get carried away when there was a waitress constantly topping up your drink. So easy to forget you needed to stop. Callum made her feel comfortable too, and she was opening up about things she hadn’t really spoken about before. He was so down to earth and open. They actually had lots in common. Callum pulled out his phone and showed Holly a photo of Eva. She looked adorable with a mop of blonde hair and had his green eyes.
‘She’s gorgeous,’ Holly said honestly.
‘Takes after her mum,’ Callum said modestly.
But Holly could see she looked just like her father.
Max interrupted them moments later. ‘Hey, I think she needs to get home,’ he told them, nodding to Kim who was now falling asleep at the table.
Holly shook Kim gently and she opened her eyes, looking confused as she squinted at her.
‘Come on, shall we go back?’ Holly said gently.
A frown crinkled Kim’s brow. ‘No, I’m fine here,’ she responded mulishly. ‘I don’t want to go back yet.’
Holly sighed, knowing how stubborn her friend could be. When Kim was enjoying herself, she never wanted to go home. She’d always been the same. Holly had completely forgotten this side to her.
‘Just tell her we’re going back to your hotel room for drinks,’ Max suggested.
It was a good idea and one that worked. As soon as the four of them got into the taxi, Kim had fallen asleep.
‘How are we going to get her into the hotel room?’ Holly giggled.
They managed somehow to carry her to the lift, before she woke up, leaning on them for support as they walked her to their hotel room. As soon as they got Kim onto the bed she was fast asleep again. Holly tucked her in and pulled the covers up, knowing there was no way she was going to be able to get Kim undressed while she was in such a state.
‘There’s no point in you going to bed as well,’ Max declared, a faint smile on his lips. ‘We’re staying on the floor above; why don’t you just come up to ours for a few drinks? We’ve got some vodka and gin in the fridge.’
Holly hesitated. It would probably be best if she just went to bed now seeing as she was back in her room. But as she glanced at Max’s handsome face, she knew she couldn’t resist spending more time with him. ‘Okay,’ she said, making sure she had a room key, ‘maybe just one.’
When they made their way up to the room, Max turned to Callum. ‘You’re going to meet the others, aren’t you?’
Callum looked puzzled as he squinted his eyes. ‘Yeah,’ he answered slowly. ‘That’s right.’
Holly could tell Max had just made that up. She knew by the look on Callum’s face that Max just wanted him gone. He wanted to be all alone with Holly. She wasn’t silly. She wasn’t some young teenager, completely naïve to what Max’s intentions were.
‘Night, Holly,’ Callum smiled at her.
Holly watched Callum walk away, wondering whether she should go with him instead, to where there were other people. To where it was safe from her doing anything she might regret. She knew for certain she wasn’t going to able to resist him if he made a move. She wanted him; she hadn’t felt so in lust in a very long time. There was nothing she wanted more than to be with Max, but it was ridiculously soon, wasn’t it? She couldn’t stop her thoughts turning to Rob; Holly had made sure she waited at least a month when they’d first started dating. She hadn’t wanted to jump straight into bed with him and for it to become a casual fling, and she thought it would just complicate things when they had been going so well. Why was she even thinking about him now? She had moved on just as much as he had, but she couldn’t help but acknowledge that she hadn’t been with another man since him. Her eyes flicked over to Callum as she watched him strolling towards the lift. She could just catch up with him if she walked away now.
‘Comin
g in?’ Max asked, opening the door.
Holly smiled sensuously. She deserved some fun. She followed behind him, closing the door.
Chapter 12
Emma
Emma woke up with a headache. She wondered how many calories she’d consumed last night in alcohol alone. Not that it mattered that much; she was down to her target weight, getting married in two days and she was on holiday. She’d been so good in the lead up to Vegas, eating healthily and exercising constantly in the gym, that she was allowed a break. What was the point in living otherwise? You needed to treat yourself occasionally. After the wedding she was going back to being good though. She had to in order to maintain her figure, and she knew Charlie would be put off if she put weight on. When she’d shown her some old photos a few weeks back he had an expression on his face that read yikes.
‘Were you really that size when I first started training you?’ he said, turning his nose up in revulsion. ‘I did a bloody good job getting you down to the size you are now, didn’t I? Lucky you met me and I agreed to marry you!’ He’d guffawed, leaving her feeling hurt. She knew he liked her looking after herself and keeping herself trim. She’d just told herself it was because it was Charlie’s job, which was why he was so health-obsessed and body-conscious.
Emma rubbed her temples, her head fudgy from the previous evening. She’d had too much to drink. She couldn’t recall getting home. She was wearing her silky pyjamas, she noticed as she looked down – had she put those on? Or had Charlie dressed her? She had a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach that she’d upset him. She had that feeling every time she drunk alcohol and couldn’t really remember the previous evening. In fact, even when she didn’t drink she felt that way. Her first thought most mornings was ‘Is Charlie speaking to me?’
Charlie began to stir and Emma’s heart hammered in her chest. Was it normal to feel this way about your husband-to-be? She brushed that thought quickly under the carpet, reminding herself that no relationship was perfect. It was just one of Charlie’s flaws that she had to accept. She had her own flaws too, didn’t she? She cleared her throat. ‘Good morning,’ she said gently, leaning over to him and resting her head on her shoulder.
