Chapter 11

Laurens face was a picture when they arrived at the hotel, she'd seen them all the time driving past and wishing she could see inside, and now she was. Granted the circumstances were different to how she'd ever imagined, but she was happy she was getting to see how the other half lived so to speak.

Joey caught her amazed stare as she eagerly took in all of the scenery as they drove up the grand driveway. "It's pretty amazing isn't it?" She gave a soft nod, still too engrossed in the surroundings to really listen to what he was saying. The car stopped and Joey got out, surprising Lauren when he opened her door and took her hand to help her from the car. she suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, she was in sweats looking highly unattractive whilst everyone else was dressed to the nines. "you look fine" Joey said as if he knew what she was thinking.

"I didn't pack any clothes for this type of thing…I don't even think I own anything that would be remotely appropriate for this…" She was becoming flustered now as they walked through the corridors, Joey having already booked them in.

"Stop worrying, I have something for you…I told my sister to get you something appropriate, I guessed you size" his eyes trailed up her body, and he knew he'd got his guess right. She was usually drenched in oversized jumpers but she was much smaller and petite now she was wearing less. Of course he had remembered her state of undress when they first met (that was an image banked for life) and had used that memory to make an educated guess. "it should be in the room" Lauren raised her eyebrow as he pushed open a door and let her in. "What? It would have looked suspicious if we had different rooms wouldn't it?"

"I'm not having sex with you!" she said firmly eyeing the giant double bed in the centre of the room- the only bed in the room.

There was a laugh from joey as she spoke "You have a one track mind. I said nothing about sleeping with you" he shifted uncomfortably as he watched her the thought of actually having sex with Lauren was certainly causing a reaction from one part of his anatomy. There was a knock on the door – saved by the bell Joey thought "Make yourself comfortable" he said quickly making an exit to let in whoever was his saviour.

*JL*JL*JL*

"Are you going to let us in then?" Lauren frowned when she heard the female voice, followed by the undeniable sound of a chaste kiss, butterflies intruded her stomach. He said he didn't have a girlfriend, her face flushed red when she realised she was getting irritated for no reason, this was all part of her job…she couldn't help it though. She slammed her bag on the bed and noticed the beautifully wrapped box , did he buy her dresses too? she frowned at her own stupidity, was she jealous?

The sound of approaching heels brought her from her thoughts and she saw Joey standing opposite her with a shorter woman (who was the owner of said noisy heels) and a very sweet looking little girl. The woman looked at her sceptically for a second and then smiled "you must be his girlfriend then?"

Well that answered one of her questions, she definitely wasn't Joeys girlfriend "I erm… I guess" she stuttered and the woman giggled.

"Leave her alone Al, Lauren this is my sister Alison or Alice, Al this is Lauren…." He didn't end the sentence so Lauren was unsure how to go about this, if Alice knew the situation or whether she did actually think she was Joey's girlfriend.

"It's nice to meet you" Lauren smiled "I Should thank you for the dress too, I'm sure it's lovely"

Alice waved her off "It was nothing, I just picked it up, Gok Wan over here chose it and paid for it. I just collected it" that did surprise Lauren, she hadn't expected him to have gone to that much trouble, he never usually did, she was the one that made most of his decisions.

"Uncle Doey…who dat?" Joey lifted the little girl from the floor and held her tight.

"This is Lauren…she's my friend and is coming to the party tonight. Can you say hi?" she looked shyly at Lauren and raised her hand.

Lauren stood up and walked to them "Hello there pretty girl, wow I like your bow" Lauren said touching the little bow clip in her hair. "It's very pretty"

"Lowan pitty" she said with a smile looking at Joey so innocently.

"Yes Lauren is pretty" he glanced at Lauren, biting back a smile when she blushed, she had a terrible habit of doing that. "Can you tell Lauren your name?"

"Marfa Lane Faday !" she said proudly

"It's Martha Jane Faraday, we're learning though aren't we darling?" Alice took her from Joeys arms "come on then Missy, lets take you to get a bath, say bye to Lauren…"Martha waved happily "It was nice to meet you Lauren, I'll see you later at the ball. Joey can I talk to you?"

He turned to Lauren "I'm going to go talk to Al, and then I'll go and have a drink with my Dad and uncle, so have a bath if you want…and be ready for half 7 ok?" she nodded in agreement "and Lauren?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for doing this" he said awkwardly, leaving quickly after to follow his sister.

*JL*JL*JL*

They walked silently down the corridor, just the mumbles of Martha as she sang jingle bells to herself.

"Ok, spit it out. You obviously have something to say so just say it…"

Alice sighed and came to a standstill "What was that back there?"

"what was what?" he asked, although he had an idea what she was taking about

"cut the crap Joey, you're talking to me not Mum, you were blatantly flirting with her the 'yes Lauren is pretty' and 'thank you for doing this'."

"well she is pretty and I was thanking her, she doesn't have to do this." He shrugged "your imagining things Alison" he began walking again but Alice still stopped.

"You look at her the way George looks at me! You might want to deny it but I can see it Joey, you really like her…coming to these charity balls alone has never bothered you before, and now you suddenly need to be with someone? it's a load of crap. You should have just asked her to come with you as your date, not lied to her about it."

Well well well, What is Mr Branning up to ? A LOT of thing went down in that chapter! Back tomorrow xxx