'I'll be seeing you when I get back from my gigs,' he said behind her in a deep, cool voice, the sound of it iced with a lingering memory of what she had said to him before their lunch arrived.
She nodded and followed Carmen out of the suite. By the time she saw Joe Aldonez again, she told herself sternly, she was going to have herself firmly under control again, her stupid heart obediently keeping its usual regular rhythm and her blood flowing around her body at a sensible speed. He wasn't going to see her blushing and jumping with nerves every time he touched her in future.
'What's the address?' Carmen asked her as the doorman held open the door of the small red car.
Quincy told her and slid into the passenger seat. A moment later they were weaving their way through heavy London traffic, turning south towards the Embankment along the Thames. The spring day was fading softly, the air cool and bright, but the sky a delicate lavender blue over the steel-grey river. Knots of barges passed slowly along the water towards the docks and a yellow-beaked gull screamed as it climbed above the choppy water.
'Your sister works in London, I suppose?' Carmen asked, giving her a brief cold look. Quincy distinctly got the feeling the other girl did not like her much, but Carmen Lister was the sort of girl who made you feel her own sex was not on her wavelength, she was strictly a man's woman; businesslike, tough and independent.
No doubt she used her sexual attraction, of which she probably had a plentiful supply, if she thought it useful, but Quincy could not imagine her losing her head or missing a night's sleep over a man. She talked to Billy Griffith as an equal, which, Quincy felt, was a betraying attitude, and although she smiled at Joe Aldonez with a definite glint in her eyes, Quincy wouldn't like to bet on it that Carmen was any more excited by him than she was by anyone else. Carmen had the hard eyes of a woman with her gaze set on her own future.
'She's a dancer with The Panthers,' Quincy said, and felt Carmen shoot another stare at her.
'Oh, is she?' There was thoughtful assessment behind that remark. 'What do you do, Quincy? I gathered you just helped at home.'
'I'm the receptionist in my father's surgery,' Quincy told her. 'I help my mother in the house, too, when she needs it.'
'A home girl,' Carmen commented, and she wasn't being complimentary, she made it sound like a purring insult. 'Haven't you ever wanted to do something more exciting?'
'No,' Quincy said defiantly. 'I like helping my father—I like animals and I hate to see them in pain, I get satisfaction out of knowing I'm helping them. I can't think of any other job I'd rather do—except be a vet myself, and I wasn't good enough to take the exams. There's too much to learn and it takes years.'
Carmen smiled, kind contempt in her face. 'Well, so long as you're happy,' she dismissed as she pulled up in front of Lilli's flat. Lilli had two small rooms on the ground floor of a narrow Edwardian terraced house several streets away from the river. It was a very good flat, the rent exorbitant, but it was central in the overcrowded city, and Lilli had been delighted to find it.
Carmen watched as Quincy rang the door bell. As the door jerked open Lilli flew through it, laughing. 'Quincy, I don't believe it, I really don't…' She stopped, seeing that her sister wasn't alone, and Quincy said politely: 'This is Carmen Lister, the editor of Vibes, the magazine who ran the competition— Carmen, this is my sister, Lilli.'
'Hi,' said Carmen, running narrowed and very sharp eyes over Lilli, her face reflecting the surprise of seeing someone so beautiful.
Lilli smiled back. 'Hello—come in, both of you.'
She was so supple you almost felt she was entirely boneless, her slender body light in movement, graceful as an autumn leaf floating down from a tree. Her awareness of her body was constant, she did everything as perfectly as it was possible to do it, her gestures and smiles elegant and delicate, with the sort of effortless perfection achieved only by years of hard training disguised deliberately so that art might be mistaken for sheer accident. She was wearing black jeans and a formal white shirt, ruffles of lace tumbling down the front of it. Her red hair burnt in the dusty London air as she walked across her tiny sitting-room.
It amused Quincy to see Carmen Lister's expression. The look of amused condescension had gone. Lilli was not someone to be treated with condescension.
'I'm having a hard time making myself believe Quincy has got herself a date with Joe Aldonez,' said Lilli, smiling. It wasn't an unkind smile, merely one of laughing disbelief. Quincy loved her sister, but she felt her teeth meeting as Carmen and Lilli looked at each other in comprehension.
'We're very happy with her,' Carmen said coolly. 'She's perfect for what Joe's press agent wants.'
'I can see why,' said Lilli, and laughed again. 'But I can't help thinking my little sister needs a bodyguard if she's going to be exposed to Joe Aldonez's charm. She'll be playing way out of her league. She won't have a clue how to tackle him.'
Carmen gave her a patronising smile. 'She'll cope just for one evening, it will be the memory of a life time, something to tell her grandchildren about.'
Quincy wanted to scream and bite the furniture. Who did they think they were talking about?
'We'll have a lot of work to do on her first,' Carmen added, and both girls looked at her with neutral, assessing eyes.
'You can say that again,' Lilli sighed. Her long, graceful fingers tapped on the curve of her chin, her nails polished and gleaming. 'What did you have in mind?'
The question sent a wave of chill alarm through Quincy. She did not like the way they were surveying her, like architects regarding a building they are about to tear down and mould closer to the heart's desire.
'Her hair,' said Carmen, shuddering. 'Just look at it!'
Lilli looked and made a wry face. 'And her clothes, of course,' she suggested. 'A good manicure, a facial, a few saunas and some hours in the gym…'
'Am I going out with a singer or training for the Olympics?' Quincy asked sarcastically, but they ignored her.
'First we have to set up a session with a photographer,' Carmen said. 'I thought we'd have some before and after shots—some pictures of her before she has the date with Joe and another set taken afterwards.'
What was this date supposed to do for her? Quincy wondered. Turn her into a raving beauty?