The Naughty Girls Book Club by Hart Sophie

Author:Hart, Sophie [Hart, Sophie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2013-04-21T23:00:00+00:00

21

‘Oh darling, you look gorgeous!’

‘Do I?’ Gracie asked disbelievingly. She was wearing a leopard-print dress with a sweetheart neckline, and matching peep-toe heels. Her hair was styled half-up and half-down, pulled back with an oversized black bow. Nervously, she tugged at the hem of her dress, staring uncertainly at her mother.

‘Of course you do. You’ll blow his socks off,’ Maggie assured her. A large, glamorous woman swathed in a multi-coloured kaftan, she was curled up on the sofa reading Theodora by Stella Duffy, but she put the book down when she saw the expression on Gracie’s face. ‘Are you okay, darling? Feeling a bit nervous?’

‘I’m fine,’ Gracie insisted. ‘Besides, it’s not really a date, as such. More of a meeting between friends.’

‘Riiiight,’ Maggie nodded sceptically. ‘So where’s he taking you, this … Reggie, is it?’

‘Yes, Reggie. I’m not sure. He said it was going to be a surprise.’

‘Let’s hope it’s a good one,’ Maggie said wryly, taking a sip of the gin and tonic that sat on the low Moroccan table beside her. ‘So is he the one from this book club of yours?’

‘That’s right,’ Gracie confirmed, applying a final slick of fuchsia lipstick in the mirror above the fireplace, then dabbing her wrists with eau de cologne.

Maggie looked puzzled. ‘I thought you didn’t like him? I thought you said he was rude and pompous and didn’t have a sexual bone in his body?’

Gracie flushed, as she remembered her words. ‘Well, perhaps I judged him a little harshly at first.’

‘That doesn’t sound like you,’ Maggie teased, thinking that forming instant, sweeping opinions sounded exactly like her daughter. Although, Maggie had to admit, that was largely her fault. She’d always encouraged Gracie to take a strong stance and hold firm to her beliefs.

‘Well I hope for your sake he’s better than some of those oddballs you’ve dated in the past.’

‘Oh, here we go …’ Gracie muttered under her breath.

‘That last one – what was his name? Jackson?’

‘Jason.’

‘Yes, him. You found him wearing your underwear, didn’t you?’

‘Apparently he was going through an experimental phase …’ Gracie reminded her, through pursed lips.

‘And the one before that? I’ve forgotten his name now, there’ve been so many—’

‘Not that many, Mum!’

‘Well who was the one who was secretly married to that South American girl?’

‘That was Christian, and it was only for the visa. Anyway, it was months ago.’

‘How time flies,’ Maggie sighed.

‘Look, I’d really appreciate it if we could change the subject,’ Gracie pleaded. She knew her relationship history wasn’t the best, but moments before she set off on her date with Reggie didn’t seem like the best time to trawl through it.

‘And you think this one seems normal, do you?’

‘Well, I don’t know if I’d say normal … ‘Gracie confessed, thinking of Reggie’s many idiosyncrasies. ‘But he seems very sweet. Very … different.’

‘So will you be wanting to bring him back here afterwards?’ Maggie asked, her eyes twinkling. ‘Should I make myself scarce?’

‘Mother!’ Gracie exclaimed.

‘Well I don’t know, do I?’ Maggie retorted. ‘Especially not with everything you’ve been reading recently.

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