taught me that the past really does have to be laid to rest now.’
‘All of it?’
She looked at him again, leaning back against the wall beside him. ‘No. Not all of it. You know which bits I’m talking about.’
‘Yeah. I do.’ He looked over towards the bar where Dominic and Reece were talking. ‘So, is everything okay then? With Mr Movie Star over there?’
She looked over to where he indicated, saying nothing for a few seconds as she watched Dominic. He truly was one of the most incredible-looking men she’d ever laid eyes on, but did she love him? She’d told him she did, but did she really love him? And did it actually matter, in the grand scheme of things? After all, look where love had got her in the past. Maybe she’d just gotten sucked in by everything that had happened here in Vegas over the past couple of months, let her feelings run away with her.
‘Everything’s fine,’ she replied, not entirely comfortable with the fact she was feeling a touch unsettled all of a sudden. Maybe she just needed a drink to relax her.
‘Just ‘fine’? You mean, you’re not hearing those violins or experiencing ridiculous stomach somersaults every time he looks at you?’ Kenny was aware he was being slightly flippant, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He could read India like a book, and he was just curious to see if he could gauge anything from her reactions tonight.
‘Maybe,’ she said quietly, still looking at Dominic as he threw his head back and laughed at something Reece said. Her handsome co-star. Her ex-husband’s son.
Kenny took her succinct yet vague reply as a glimmer of hope that maybe all was not the moonlight and roses he’d thought it was in this Walsh/MacDonald relationship, and then mentally reprimanded himself for wishing yet more confusion on his best friend. ‘I just want you to be happy, India.’
His voice shook her back to reality and she turned to look at him – the one man who’d been there for her through thick and thin, the one man who always would be there, no matter what. No matter what. ‘I know you do, Kenny.’
‘It’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.’
She smiled, playing with the collar of his jacket. ‘You look good tonight, has anyone told you that?’
And he did look good, but then, Kenny always looked good. He always had done, and, despite being the wrong side of forty-five now, he still looked incredibly sexy dressed in dark jeans, black T-shirt and scruffy jacket. His dark hair was growing longer, the beard was back, and India couldn’t help staring at him. He was one hell of a great-looking guy, Kenny Ross. One hell of a great-looking guy.
‘What’s the matter?’ Kenny asked, his eyes locking onto hers, a million wishes flying through his head, but he only really wanted one of them to come true.
‘Nothing’s the matter. I’m just looking, that’s all.’
In what was an almost involuntary action, Kenny reached out and touched her cheek, stroking it with the back of his hand, looking into her eyes, until she brought the moment to an end by taking his hand and moving it away.
‘I’d better get back to Dominic.’
‘Why? What’s the rush?’
She looked at her very best friend, trying to work out exactly what was going on here. ‘There is no rush, Kenny, I… I just want to get back to him, okay? I mean, we’re the two leads in this movie, aren’t we? Me and Dominic. We’re supposed to be mingling.’
‘Then go mingle,’ Kenny said, indicating the room with a sweep of his arm, taking a swig of beer as he did so.
India frowned slightly. What had just happened there? Why had his mood suddenly changed? It was like he’d just flicked a switch or something. ‘I’ll see you later, Kenny.’ She didn’t really feel like sticking around to analyse his behaviour. She just wanted to get back to Dominic. So, winding her way through the growing mass of people, stopping briefly to say hello to more than a few of them, she walked back over to Dominic, sliding an arm around his waist as she leant up to kiss him quickly. ‘My dad gone, then?’
‘Gone to find Martha, yeah. Is Kenny alright?’
India shrugged, sliding a hand round the back of Dominic’s neck, smiling as she pressed herself against him. ‘I don’t want to talk about Kenny. In fact, I don’t really want to talk about anything; I just want