Gigi suspected she had one, in the other room, but letting Lulu know that wasn’t going to help.
After all she’d said about him over the last couple of days, she couldn’t blame Lulu for being suspicious.
‘I gave him the presentation and he seemed interested. Then he ran me home because of the journalists.’ Even as she said it, it sounded weak.
He’d brought her home and effectively diverted her from her task, which had been to show him the old memorabilia, by asking her about her mother.
Then he’d kissed her. Tenderly at first. She touched her lips.
Lulu’s eyes zeroed in on the gesture and her expression turned mutinous. ‘Has he even said anything about the cabaret? Or is this all just about getting in a showgirl’s knickers?’
Lulu blushed as she said it, but she said it nonetheless.
‘It’s not like that!’
Lulu folded her arms. ‘“Nobody should date Kitaev”—quote, unquote.’
‘I know...I know.’
Lulu’s expression softened to its more natural lines. ‘Gigi, just think for a minute. How are you going to explain any of this to the other girls?’
‘The other girls won’t know.’
The words just slipped out, and Gigi knew then that she was sunk.
‘You want to do this behind everyone’s backs? Really, Gigi?’
‘No, of course not.’
Lulu knew about her past. Knew how fiercely she felt about deceit.
Her father had put her on the vaudeville circuit at the age of fourteen—a front for his petty crime spree as they travelled from town to town. And four years later, when she’d confronted him outside the court on that rainy day when he’d been convicted and she’d got a slap over the wrist, he’d told her that he hadn’t thought it would matter as long as she didn’t know...
Ignorance wasn’t an excuse for culpability under the law—she knew that now, better than most.
She’d made a vow when she’d walked away from court that morning seven years ago that she was going to look life straight in the eye.
She looked Lulu in the eye now. ‘It won’t happen again.’
She couldn’t promote the theatre and compromise her position.
The world could be a cold, hard place, but you didn’t need to cheat and steal to survive in it. She had fought to make her own colourful, honest corner and she wasn’t going to mess it up now.
Khaled was still talking on his phone when she re-emerged. Lulu followed her, arms folded. He indicated the door with a nod and headed out, clearly expecting her to follow him.
‘Do not make any plans with him,’ whispered Lulu.
No, no plans.
Outside on the stairs he pocketed his phone and said briefly, ‘We’ve got a problem.’
‘Yes, we do.’
She had a huge problem, given she still couldn’t pull her eyes off him. But she was guessing it wasn’t such a big problem for him, because she was looking at his back and he was taking the steps by threes, those big shoulders squared as he headed back out into the big, bad world.
‘There are photographs of us in the lobby of the Plaza.’
That wasn’t the problem she’d been thinking of, but... ‘Okay...’
Because, really, what did he want her to say? She was sorry, but she had told him she was happy to go on her way. He was the one who’d gone all he-man over fixing up her feet. Her heart performed a little tumble and roll at the thought.
‘No, it’s not okay, Gigi.’ He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned around. His expression was taut. ‘They imply a sexual relationship.’
Gigi rocked back on her heels. Okay. She could deal with that. Just. The other girls were going to kill her, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Was it?
She examined his fierce expression. Told herself she wasn’t bothered that he seemed to think this was a disaster. I mean, some guys actually thought she was pretty hot stuff. She might not be beating them off with a stick, like most of the other girls, but she got asked out, a lot...and if she wasn’t working most evenings she’d probably go...
‘I suggest you don’t step onstage for the next few nights.’
What had he just said?
‘But that’s impossible!’
‘Nyet, it’s very possible. You need to keep a low profile—although after today it’s probably asking the impossible.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
He leaned against the banister, effectively keeping her on the second to last step, which gave her a slight height advantage although he still made her feel tiny.