The Decoy Date

Chapter Seven

"SURPRISE!"

Imogen watched her father's reaction, he was shocked at the number of people gathered in his living room and was giving her mother a look of mild annoyance. As he looked round and caught her eye, he smiled and nodded. Everyone in the room began to crowd around him and wish him Happy Birthday, so she decided to hang back and wait for him to find her.

Just behind the group assembled around her father, she noticed Daisy talking to their mother and behind them Sam looking a little awkward carrying Daisy's handbag. She always felt sorry for him, he was quite a shy person and always looked uncomfortable in the background behind Daisy, who liked to be centre stage. However when her sister turned to him and gave him a tender kiss, she knew the two of them were completely in love with each other.

"So what was this story about Aunt Sally getting the smell of sick out of her clothes?" Charlie pulled her attention away from her sister, she turned to face him.

"My mum organised a party like this for my dad's fiftieth, only she didn't know he'd gone out on the lash with his mates. Mum sent out a search party when he didn't come home and he turned up two hours later plastered and threw up over mum and Aunt Sally. It was hilarious really, you'd have thought mum would have learnt her lesson about organising surprise parties; the thing is dad wouldn't mind a meal with family and friends if he was asked first." She watched as he cracked up with laughter and looked at both her mother and Aunt Sally and doubled over once again.

It was completely different being the one that was laughed with and not laughed at she thought, Charlie finally managed to tone down his laughter to a small giggle that was so infectious she started herself. At school she'd never noticed how good he looked when he was smiling and laughing, she'd always been escaping; but he really was handsome, beautiful even, a word she'd never used for a man before. His deep blue eyes shone like the sea when the sun glimmered on it, while a fun, sexy twinkle danced through them; his mouth spread into a wide grin that framed perfect teeth and lit up his whole face. He looked younger when he laughed, mirroring his teenage self but with a few more lines and that stubble that made him a little less polished and a little more human and attractive.

Her stomach began doing somersaults as she looked at him smiling at her, she tried to stop the sensation but it only increased. She'd always wanted a man to look at her like that, but definitely not him and definitely not when he was pretending it was real. A lump formed in her throat as she thought about the man in front of her again and what he had done to her in the past, she had to try and keep it hidden from her parents and Daisy, who knew what they would do if they found out it was him.

"That reminds me of a party I went to a few years ago, it was the works' do of a woman I was going out with. Everybody was getting pissed and there was one girl who was completely off her face, I mean she would not be able to remember a thing about the night. She was all over every bloke in the room, myself included. Honestly she was like this." He grabbed her round the shoulders, taking her by surprise and moved his face close to hers. "I thought she was going to strang-"

Before she knew what was happening, Charlie was crumpled in a heap at her feet. She looked around confused and saw Daisy dusting off her hands and scowling down at Charlie.

"There's no need to thank me sis." She smiled at her older sister and drew her into a bear hug, Daisy was only small and slight but she had the strength of a superhero, Imogen wouldn't be surprised if she saw her lift a car of a stranded child.

"You just knobbled my boyfriend in the nether regions, I may never have children now." She smiled at her sister and leant down to help Charlie to his feet, his eyes were closed and he was holding the place between his legs. As she pulled him up, she had to supress the giggle that was threatening to burst free. When he was standing again, he breathed out hard and groaned before looking at her.