the motherland’ bucket list?” Corinna asked. “There must be something you want to do before you go.”
Not something, but someone. Lainey’s move was as much about chasing her career dreams as it was about escaping the futility of her situation in Melbourne. She’d done something dumb. Idiotic. Monumentally stupid.
An action that might one day be documented in her memoir, under the title “Ways I Like to Torture Myself.”
Over the years, Lainey had developed a gigantic crush on the one guy who was totally and utterly out of reach. The one guy who wouldn’t look twice at her—Corinna’s big brother.
Worse, seeing Damian McKnight get married, divorced and then pimped out on Australia’s Most Eligible had torn her up inside. All her dreams for turning her adoration of rom-coms into a romantic reality had vanished. The only solution was to be somewhere else, so she could focus on the important stuff—like her career—and forget that she was doomed to have a miserable love life because she wanted the one man she couldn’t have.
“This is the perfect opportunity to go wild,” Corinna said. “You can do whatever you like here, then flit off to England without consequences. Surely there’s someone you’ve always wished you could have it out with. Maybe a crazy customer that you hate?”
“Or maybe I should tell your brother I think he’s hot,” Lainey said with a wink. Corinna pretended to stick her fingers down her throat, and the three women laughed.
It was a running gag—both Lainey and Imogen considered Damian McKnight to be the highest level of hotness—usually reserved for the Hemsworth brothers and Prince Harry. But jokes were the only thing keeping Lainey’s deep-seated attraction a secret—because the more she overplayed it, the less they believed it was anything serious. Therefore, she could hide in plain sight.
He was her Prince Charming, her Mr. Darcy, the Harry to her Sally. The Danny to her Sandra Dee. The only guy who’d ever truly known her.
“Speaking of Damian,” Corinna said, “did you know he scored a ticket to the Carmina Ball?”
“Wow.” Imogen blinked. “My sister’s stupid fiancé is going...without her, I might add, which has shocked absolutely no one.”
The Carmina Ball was something Lainey only knew about from drooling over red carpet dresses online. It was invite only and distinctly too upper-crust for lowly hairdressers like her.
“Apparently it’s five grand to attend,” Imogen added. “Five. Freaking. Grand!”
“I bet that’s a drop in the ocean to them,” Lainey said, rolling her eyes. “But still, Damian must be excited he scored an invite.”
“Who knows with him?” Corinna shrugged. “That guy seems to have a permanent scowl on his face these days. I told him to be careful—the wind might change and then he’ll be stuck with that ugly mug for the rest of his life.”
Lainey snorted. “I’d still do him.”
Imogen almost choked on her cake as Corinna visibly shuddered and said, “You guys are disgusting.”
“He’s cute, Cori. I know you’re related, but you have to admit it.” Imogen grinned.
“We are not talking about my brother,” Corinna said. “Besides, I want to know what the gossip is with your sister, Immie. You’re telling me Richie Rich couldn’t afford to get her a ticket?”
“He said that it’s going to be all business and that he’d rather spend the money to take her on a romantic getaway to some fancy-pants resort in Thailand than get her a ticket to the ball.” Imogen’s lips curled back into an uncharacteristic sneer. “But I think it’s because he’s cheating on her with someone who’ll be there.”
“Whoa.” Lainey held up her hands. “Since when is he cheating on her?”
“Penny said something that has been bothering me for ages. Dan goes to Sydney a few days each month for work.” Imogen toyed with her pearl earring. “Last month I was at the Boatbuilders Yard in South Wharf having drinks with people from work, and I saw him.”
“But he was supposed to be in Sydney?” Corinna asked.
“Yep, and I’d spoken to Penny that afternoon. She said he wasn’t coming back until the following night.” She gritted her teeth. “I didn’t know what to do. He was with this blonde and they looked like they were flirting, but I lost him in the crowd.”
“Did you tell Penny?” Lainey asked.
Imogen sighed. “I tried to, but she accused me of hating him from day one. She wouldn’t listen.”
“Perhaps he came home early,” Lainey suggested. “He might’ve been called back for a meeting. It could be completely innocent.”
“I can’t explain it...” Imogen sighed. “I know something is going on. I’m sure of it.”
“What are you going to do?” Lainey asked.
Imogen fished her phone out of her pocket and pulled up a photo of a woman wearing a mask. It was covered in pink stones, the colour of rosé. White feathers sprayed up from the top, and lengths of super-fine chain in rose gold hung down in elegant loops on either side.
“Is that you?” Lainey asked, and Imogen nodded. “I’m not following.”
“I’m going to sneak into the Carmina Ball. Then I’m going to catch him in the act and make sure my sister doesn’t walk down the aisle with the wrong guy.”
Lainey squinted at the picture, the intricate design of the gems and beads mesmerising her. It was impossible to see Imogen’s features. Add some dramatic makeup and a wig or change of hair colour, and her identity would truly be concealed.
“You’re crazy,” Corinna said with a shake of her head. Her phone buzzed and she snatched it off the table. “Sorry, ladies, it’s Joe. I need to take this.”
“Hi, Joe!” Lainey and Imogen chorused when she answered the phone, dissolving into laughter when Corinna rolled her eyes and headed into the house.
“Where’s the loyalty?” Imogen said as she reached for her champagne and sloshed a little over the edge. They were definitely getting an Uber home tonight.
“He does seem like a decent guy,” Lainey said. “She has better luck than me, that’s for damn sure. I haven’t been on a date in months.”
Imogen laughed. “That means your life hasn’t been unnecessarily complicated for months.”
“I thought you enjoyed hearing about my dating disasters.” Lainey grinned and scooped some icing off what was left of the cake. Her message was now an incoherent mess. “Solid entertainment value there.”
Disasters was certainly the right word. While Corinna always attracted cute, decent men, Lainey ended up in every kind of impossible, couldn’t-make-it-up dating scenario there was. She’d dated a guy who turned out to be as old as her father, two ex-cons and a circus performer who liked to watch her walk around wearing only a pair of mismatched socks.
“In a kind of masochistic
