skin tone perfectly, and the skilful tailoring accentuated all her curves. Somehow the dress made her look positively translucent.
An elbow made contact with Alice’s ribs. ‘Told you,’ Coreen said. ‘That’s her dress.’
Okay, perhaps Coreen had a point. But it wasn’t hard to look fabulous if you had a figure like Jennie’s. She was tall and slim, and she swelled and curved in all the right places. Finding a dress that did that for someone who had more angles than curves, and no chest to speak of at all, would be nothing short of a miracle.
Jennie twirled in front of the mirror. ‘I don’t care how much it is,’ she said, striking pose after pose and never once taking her eyes off her reflection. ‘I have to have it.’
Coreen grinned and high-fived Alice as Jennie glided away to get changed. When she arrived back at the stall she had a thoughtful look on her face. ‘I couldn’t help overhearing what you were saying earlier—about the fashion shows, that is.’ She looked from Alice to Coreen and back again. ‘I’ve got a proposition for the both of you. And, if I am right about this, this idea could put you well on the way to owning that shop you’re after.’
CHAPTER TWO
ALICE sat on the edge of her bed and gazed at the one good photo she had of her and Paul together. One word echoed round her head.
Why?
Why hadn’t she been good enough for him? Why had he gone back to Felicity when by all accounts the old trout had made his life a misery by being the ultimate high-maintenance girlfriend?
‘Alice,’ he’d said, ‘you’re such a relief after her.’
Relief.
At the time she’d been too caught up in the first flush of a new relationship to be anything but flattered. Now his words just stung.
Her nose was running badly enough for her to give in and sniff. She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry any more. She was made of sterner stuff than that.
A phone started to ring. Probably the one in the hall. It rang on.
Alice blew her nose.
It still rang.
‘Al-lice!’ It was one of her housemates. She shared a house with the two biggest geeks on the planet. The untidiest geeks too. Roy and Matthew were no doubt on their brand new games console, occupied with slaying aliens and zombies and saving the universe. There was no way they would shift themselves unless their thumbs had locked up and they’d gone cross-eyed. She swiped her eyes with the backs of her hands, then ran down the stairs into the hall and grabbed at the phone before this very persistent person hung up.
‘Hello?’ she said, not a little breathless.
‘Can I speak with Alice Morton?’ a male voice said.
Alice’s heart began to hammer a little. That was one sexy voice. Deep and warm.
‘Hello?’ he said again.
‘Hi…yes…sorry. This is Alice.’ She winced. Compared to The Voice, she sounded all silly and schoolgirlish.
There was a brief pause, and then he spoke again. ‘It’s been a long time, Alice.’
Was it her imagination, or had his voice got just a little bit softer and warmer—almost as if he were smiling?
‘Erm…who is this?’
Please don’t let it be a prank caller. Just for a few seconds she’d had the giddy feeling that a man was actually interested in talking to her, in hearing what she had to say. And if this turned out to be a huge joke it would make her life unbearably pathetic. Which was actually quite an accomplishment at this present moment.
‘It’s Cameron Hunter.’
Cameron? She didn’t know anyone called—oh.
‘Jennie’s step-brother…’ he added. ‘Didn’t she tell you to expect my call?’
Realisation hit Alice like a bolt of forked lightning. Of course! The voice was deeper, and more mature, but all of a sudden she recognised the quiet precision, the slight edge of dry humour.
‘Oh, of course. Erm…hi, Cameron.’
Blast. Jennie had warned her that Cameron would be calling some time soon. According to his stepsister, he was a bit of a control freak, and if they wanted him to agree to the idea that they’d hatched with Jennie for this new building launch party of his, either Alice or Coreen would have to pitch it to him. Alice had begged Coreen to do it—after all, she had all the experience—but Coreen had refused, saying Alice and Cameron had prior history. Alice had argued that reading books on the opposite side of a room from each other while their tipsy families had embarrassed themselves could hardly constitute a ‘history’, but Coreen would not be budged.
‘You’re right,’ she said, finding her voice had gone all soft and girly. ‘It has been a long time.’
‘Almost twelve years.’
Wow. He hadn’t even taken a few seconds to work it out—he’d just remembered. Not many people remembered things about her. Mostly because she kept her head down and kept herself to herself. If it wasn’t for her hair she’d be instantly forgettable.
Alice had been staring at the textured glass on the front door while she’d been listening to Cameron. Now she turned around and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen.
Jennie had obviously pitched her idea to him, and now she was going to have to convince him to agree to it. The plan had all seemed so stunningly brilliant when she and Coreen and Jennie had hashed it out over drinks last Thursday. The three of them had bounced ideas around, waved their hands in the air, and generally talked over the top of each other for most of the evening.
But now she was on her own, without the benefit of a couple of cocktails inside her, she suddenly realised there were gaping holes in her knowledge of the project. Like what Cameron Hunter’s company actually did.
There was no point trying to blag her way through this. The Cameron she remembered was too sharp for that, and besides, blagging was a foreign language to her. Maybe when all this was over she’d have to get Coreen to give her lessons. She had a feeling it might come in handy in her future career.
‘Jennie said your company is computerrelated?’ Might as well get the facts straight before she dug herself an even bigger hole. And she might find some common ground.
‘Trust my darling stepsister to be a little sketchy with the details. She’s normally very efficient, but recently…well, she’s been somewhat distracted. Just so you know, my company produces software.’
‘And how’s it going? I know myself that starting up your own business can be hard. Are you doing okay with it?’
She heard him smile. ‘Yes, I’d say I’m making ends meet.’
‘Good for you!’ she said
