‘Who said anything about being love-struck?’ India laughed, taking another sip of tea, if only to stop her from giggling. ‘He’s making me laugh, that’s all.’ She indicated Kenny with her head just as Dominic walked over, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his handsome face carrying that movie star smile off to perfection as he threw it in the direction of anyone who looked his way.
‘And here we have the other half of the problem,’ Bobby said, without looking up, still tapping away on his phone.
‘Why do you always refer to my relationships as “problems”, Bobby?’
Bobby stood up, raising his eyebrows and sporting an expression on his face that gave India the answer to her question without him having to say a word. Then he just walked away, talking into his phone.
She turned to look at Kenny, who also just raised his eyebrows and said nothing, so she kicked him again. ‘You’re supposed to back me up.’
‘Only if the other person’s talking crap, India.’
‘Okay, I’m out of here,’ Reece sighed, pushing his chair back and walking over to India, who stood up to give her famous father a big hug. ‘I’ll see you on set, kiddo.’
‘Yeah, see you, Dad.’
India watched him walk away, tensing up slightly as he stopped briefly to exchange a few words with Dominic. An exchange which, thankfully, involved a smile or two, and India breathed an inward sigh of relief.
‘Hey, beautiful,’ Dominic sauntered over to India, sliding an arm round her waist and pulling her against him for a long, slow kiss; a kiss that literally made her knees go weak, and that was something she hadn’t felt since JJ.
‘Hey, handsome,’ India smiled, banishing any thoughts of her soon-to-be-ex-husband to the back of her mind as she gently stroked Dominic’s face, looking up into those incredible ice-blue eyes.
‘Right, I’m out of here too,’ Kenny sighed, sensing this was going to turn into something he didn’t much feel like staying around to watch. India was loved-up with another member of the Walsh family – albeit a slightly reluctant one – and the last thing Kenny wanted was to hang around to witness the early stages of her falling for another man. Even after twenty years it still hurt too much.
‘Are you not coming on set today?’ India asked, turning to look at Kenny but not letting go of Dominic’s waist, leaning into him like a teenager out on a first date.
‘Maybe later,’ Kenny replied, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his worn-out jeans, smiling at the girl he loved so much. The woman he cared about more than anything else in the world. ‘I want to go visit Greg and Anita over in Spring Valley this morning. I said I’d drop by and see them when I was in Vegas.’
India nodded, knowing that Kenny had promised to go see their two friends from back in the day, when they’d hung out at biker rallies and rock gigs; went to surf parties together down on the beach.
‘Has Anita had the baby?’ India asked, letting go of Dominic for a second to give Kenny a hug.
‘A couple of days ago. A little girl.’
‘Give them my love. Tell them I’ll give them a call soon, okay?’
‘Yeah. Sure,’ Kenny smiled. ‘See you later.’
‘Is he alright?’ Dominic asked, reaching out to take India’s hand, swinging her back round to face him.
‘Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?’
Dominic shrugged. ‘No reason. He just seems to find it difficult to look me in the eye, that’s all.’
India started playing with the collar of his shirt, his hand resting in the small of her back, stroking the base of her spine gently with his thumb.
‘He’s very protective of you, isn’t he?’ Dominic went on, tilting her chin up so she was looking at him. ‘Kenny, I mean. Very protective.’
‘He’s my best friend, Dominic. My closest friend. He’s been through some of the worst times of my life with me and he’s always been there to pick up the pieces, always been there to put me back together again so, he’s just wary, that’s all.’
‘Of me?’
She couldn’t help smiling. ‘Well, looking at your résumé, Mr MacDonald, you’re a little high-risk, you have to admit.’
He pulled her closer, kissing her slowly and India just fell against him, closing her eyes as his open mouth covered hers, their lips moving gently together in perfect sync, his hand in the small of her back keeping her body pressed against his and all she