New Year, New Man. Laura Iding

never said you were.’

      ‘But you think it. And, generally speaking, you’d be right.’

      ‘Don’t be so modest, Nick,’ Flora piped up. ‘You should see the huge plasma television Nick bought Jim and me a few weeks ago, for no reason at all except that he thought we’d like it. It has surround sound and its own built-in DVD. You can tape any number of shows and watch them later, when you have time. Jim’s in seventh heaven, watching cricket and tennis at all hours of the day and night.’

      ‘Why do you think I bought it?’ Nick quipped. ‘Had to do something to stop my right-hand man from spending every summer’s day glued to that TV, when he should be outside working. My motivation was purely selfish, I assure you. And don’t be expecting anything too expensive for Christmas, because I’m flat broke now.’

      ‘Oh, go on with you,’ Flora said laughingly.

      ‘Don’t laugh. I’ve made two dud movies already this year. And I’m damned worried about the one coming out in the New Year. We’ve had a couple of test audiences view it and they said the ending was way too sad. The director reluctantly agreed to reshoot it with a happy ending, but I’ve decided to go with his original vision. If this one flops, I might have to come to Sarah here for a loan.’

      Sarah was shocked by this news. She knew better than anyone that Nick’s ego would not survive becoming poor again. ‘I can give you as much as you need, come February. And it won’t be a loan, either.’

      ‘Lord, what am I going to do with this girl, Flora? I hope you haven’t made any similar offers to this boyfriend of yours. Don’t ever give a man money, Sarah,’ he told her sternly. ‘It brings out the worst in them.’

      Sarah shook her head at him. ‘How many times do I have to tell you? Derek doesn’t want my money.’

      ‘He will, when he sees how much you’ve got.’

      ‘Not every man is a fortune-hunter, Nick. Now, if you don’t mind, I do not wish to discuss Derek any further. I know there’s no convincing you that no man could possibly love me for myself and not my money, so I’d prefer not to try.’

      ‘Hear hear,’ Flora agreed. ‘I agree with Sarah. Another piece of caramel slice, love?’

      The ringing of Nick’s cellphone was a welcome interruption, not only to his incessant questioning about Derek, but also to her escalating exasperation. Tomorrow was not going to be a pride-saving exercise. It was going to be hell!

      ‘Hi there,’ she heard Nick say in that voice he reserved for girlfriends. ‘Yeah, that’d be great, Chloe. OK. I’ll pick you up tonight at seven. Bye.’

      He clicked off his phone and slipped off the stool. ‘Sorry, folks. Change of plan. Chloe’s had a last-minute invitation to a Christmas Eve party at some bigwig’s place, so I’ll have to dash out and do my present-shopping now. We’ll have to put off that talk till I get back, Sarah.’

      ‘Fine,’ she said, pretending not to care. But she did. She cared a lot. Not about the talk so much but about his going out this afternoon, then going out with Chloe tonight. Pathetic, really. The way she would accept the crumbs of his company.

      ‘Don’t forget I want a new car,’ Sarah called after him as he walked away. ‘A yellow one.’

      Nick stopped walking, then glanced over his shoulder at her. ‘Yellow,’ he repeated drily. ‘Any particular make?’

      She named a top-of-the-range model. ‘Of course. What else?’

      When he smiled his amusement at her, Sarah’s heart lightened a little. It was still there, that special bond between them. Because they knew each other.

      Chloe didn’t know Nick. Not the real him. She only knew the man who had graced the cover of Australia’s leading financial newspaper last year.

      ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said. ‘Bye, girls.’

      ‘Bye,’ Sarah trilled back, smiling on the outside whilst inside she was already sinking back into the pit, that moment of pleasurable intimacy wiped away in the face of where Nick would be going tonight.

      Do not succumb to jealousy, she lectured herself, or depression. Do not let him do this to you!

      ‘You don’t still have a thing for Nick, do you, love?’

      Flora’s softly delivered question was almost Sarah’s undoing.

      Gulping down the sudden lump in her throat, she straightened her spine and adopted what she hoped was a believable expression. ‘No, of course not.’

      ‘That’s good. Because it would be a mistake. There’s no future for any woman with a man like Nick.’

      Sarah laughed a dry little laugh. ‘Don’t you think I know that, Flora?’

      ‘This Derek chap, is it serious between you two?’

      Sarah hesitated to answer for a second too long.

      ‘I didn’t think so,’ Flora said. ‘You would have told me about him sooner, if that were the case.’

      ‘Don’t tell Nick,’ she blurted out.

      Flora’s eyes narrowed. ‘Is this Derek a real boyfriend or not?’

      Sarah bit her bottom lip. She knew it would be wiser to lie, but she couldn’t, not to Flora’s face.

      ‘He…he’s just a friend.’

      Flora gave her a long, searching look. ‘What game are you playing at, girlie?’

      Sarah sighed. ‘Nothing bad, Flora. I just wanted to bring someone to the Christmas lunch and Derek volunteered. I’m sick and tired of Nick’s girlfriends looking down their noses at me.’

      ‘So it’s a matter of female pride, is it?’

      ‘Yes; yes, that’s exactly what it is.’

      ‘You do realise Nick is going to give this poor Derek the third degree?’

      ‘Yes, he’s prepared for that.’

      Flora pulled a face. ‘I hope so. Because Nick takes his job as your guardian very seriously, love.’

      ‘Derek can hold his own.’

      ‘None of your other boyfriends could.’

      ‘Derek’s not a real boyfriend.’

      ‘But he’s pretending to be one.’

      ‘Yes.’

      Flora sighed. ‘Good luck to him, then. That’s all I can say.’

       CHAPTER FOUR

      SARAH decorated the Christmas tree on automatic pilot, her mind still on Flora’s last words.

      Flora was right, of course. Derek was going to be in for a rough time tomorrow.

      But I did warn him, she reminded herself. And he still wanted to do it. In fact, he seemed to find the prospect of pretending to be my boyfriend an exciting challenge.

      Sarah was beginning to find the thought terrifying. Nightmarish possibilities kept popping into her mind. What if Nick somehow discovered that Derek was gay? Or that their so-called relationship was just a sham? How could she explain such a crazy deception? Surely saving her pride wasn’t worth the risk of feeling more of a fool in front of him.

      And in front of Chloe.

      Chloe…

      Already she didn’t like the woman and she hadn’t even met her.

      Nick had implied earlier that Chloe wasn’t as skinny as his usual girlfriend. Was she blonde as well?