“Thank you,” I said. “I haven’t had much chance to dress up lately, so I thought I’d make an effort.”
“On behalf of myself, and that bloke over there who has been staring at your legs for the last five minutes, I want to say the effort was definitely worth it.”
Following Neil’s gaze, I noticed a young lad, probably no more than eighteen, checking out the lower half of my body with approval. When I met his eye, his cheeks turned red and he quickly turned away.
“You embarrassed him!” Neil laughed.
“He wasn’t being very subtle!”
“No. But I don’t blame him for looking.”
He slid a hand around my waist, and drew me closer to him. “What do you say we get out of here and go back to my place?”
I laughed softly. “Later,” I told him. “Definitely later.”
His smile made my legs buckle, but as he leaned in to kiss me, I felt a vibration against my hip.
“God, I hope that’s your phone,” he said, making me laugh again.
“It is.”
Expecting it to be Dominic again, I pulled my mobile out of my bag to reject the call, only to find that I had a voicemail.
Listen to it later. You’re having fun now. This is not the place to be thinking about work.
But I couldn’t ignore it. I had to know what Dominic wanted. Once I’d done so, I planned to turn the damn thing off so I could get on with my night in peace.
I gave Neil a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
By the club’s entrance, away from the loud music, I pressed play on the voicemail, waiting to hear Dominic’s voice. Instead, I heard a muffled sniffling sound. After a few seconds, Tilly’s voice said, “Madison? Madison? Daddy said we’re moving far away, but I don’t want to go. You have to tell him I can’t go. You have to.” Her voice gave way to some deep, heartbreaking sobs until her time ran out and she got cut off.
Tilly had memorised my number for emergencies. To her, this definitely qualified.
He told her? Right before bedtime, when there was no way she’d fall asleep knowing that news?
I glanced over to the bar where Neil ordered himself a drink while he waited, but I knew I couldn’t stay. I had to go home, to comfort Tilly and try to find a way to ease her fears. Tucking my phone back into my bag, I headed over to Neil, who greeted me with a smile. “Everything okay?”
I shook my head. “I have to go. Tilly needs me at home.”
He nodded in understanding, even though he looked a little disappointed. “Okay, but call me soon. We should get together sometime.”
“I’d love to,” I told him. I gave him a quick hug. “I’ll call you over the weekend, I promise.”
Even just those few minutes with Neil had been enough to remind me why I loved being with him. He was easy to talk to, and just so damn gorgeous. But Tilly was more important, and after telling Erica I had to go, I hopped into the nearest cab to go home.
“Sweetheart, calm down, please,” I heard Dominic say as I slipped in through the front door. Even though her room was a few doors away, I could hear Tilly’s huge, shuddering sobs and I dropped my bag on the floor in the hallway, slid my heels off, and hurried to her bedroom.
Dominic perched on the edge of Tilly’s bed, and she had her back to him, crying while he tried to soothe her.
“Hi,” I said, making them both jump.
Tilly sprang out from under the covers and leapt up into my arms, saying nothing, just weeping into my shoulder. I held her tightly, as Dominic stood up. “You came back.”
“Yes. Did you know Tilly called me?”
Confusion crossed his face. “How? I … Oh. She asked me to get her a drink of water about forty minutes ago. I guess she did it then. I’m glad you came, I don’t know how to calm her down.”
Of course you don’t. You’re never here long enough to know.