One Passionate Night
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But it was the atmosphere that struck Daniel the most, the excited energy that was coming from the well-dressed guests, most of whom were already seated. At Daniel’s appearance on the red carpet, all heads had jerked up and around, everyone either smiling or staring at him.
Of course, Daniel didn’t know a single face amongst them, except Charlotte’s mother. Betty—dressed in pink—was beaming over at him. Beaming and waving a gloved hand.
A banging sound behind him made Daniel whirl round. The two uniformed attendants had shut the doors, which, Daniel noticed for the first time, were not clear glass but heavily stained. Impossible to see through them.
‘That’s so you don’t see the bride till the time is right,’ Brad explained. ‘Brides like to make an entrance.’
‘I see,’ Daniel bit out, wishing now that he’d thought to have a couple of glasses of something intoxicating and soothing. He hadn’t appreciated till this moment just how much of an ordeal this would be.
‘This way, mate,’ Brad said with a wry smile, and gave Daniel a nudge.
They proceeded along the red carpet towards the spot where Vince was waiting for them, looking suitably dignified and older than his thirty-seven years in a dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and muted grey tie. His dark wavy hair, which was usually on the long side and decidedly wayward, had been cut this morning to make him look less like a Bohemian and more like a marriage celebrant. They’d already planned not to act as if they knew each other, Daniel shaking Vince’s hand as though they’d just met. Brad did likewise after winking slyly at both of them.
As they turned together to face the stained-glass doors, the music suddenly changed from the softly romantic number currently being piped into the room to the more robust and stirring Wedding March.
Charlotte, it seemed, was not going to be late.
The stained-glass doors were flung open and a hush came over the guests as necks craned to get a view of the bride.
Daniel felt his chest tighten.
But it was the bridesmaid who appeared first, walking slowly along the red carpet. Louise, he presumed.
Tall and slender, she was elegantly gowned in a strapless blue dress that draped around her bust then fell in soft Grecian folds to the floor. Her hair, which was almost as red as her bouquet, was straight and sleek, and swung around her face as she walked. Her face was equally angular, but her mouth was full and sultry. Her eyes, which were possibly set too close for real beauty, were, nevertheless, striking in their blueness. Or was it their boldness?
Daniel concluded rightly that Louise would be a handful for any man. Brad had his work cut out for him if he was to succeed in his goal to marry her.
‘Wow,’ Brad enthused by Daniel’s side. ‘See what I mean? She’s hot, man.’
As she drew closer, those bold blue eyes narrowed on Daniel in an assessing fashion, making him squirm a little.
Poor Brad. This female would run rings around him.
‘Mmm,’ she murmured in an unnervingly droll fashion when she was close enough for him to hear. ‘I see what Charlotte means.’
Daniel would have liked to ask her what that meant, but this was hardly the time or the place. Later, maybe. Instead, he plastered a cool smile on his face and said a soft hello.
She gave him a killer look in return, then turned a full-wattage smile Brad’s way.
‘You look gorgeous, lover,’ she whispered to Brad, before taking her place on the other side of Daniel, leaving plenty of room for Charlotte.
Daniel’s focus returned to the entrance to the conservatory, where he could see a cloud of white in the dimmer light just beyond the open doors.
The bride, waiting to make her entry.
Daniel’s throat suddenly went bone-dry. He swallowed, then swallowed again. Was Charlotte as nervous as he was? Was that why she was taking so long to appear?
‘What’s she doing?’ he whispered over to the redhead.
‘Taking off the small face veil, I think. She thought it didn’t look right with her new hairdo.’
The words ‘new hairdo’ barely registered before the cloud of white came into focus and Daniel was confronted by a Charlotte he could never have envisaged.
If his throat had been dry before, it felt like parchment now.
She wasn’t just beautiful. She was devastatingly beautiful. A fairy-tale princess of a bride in a dress designed to make any husband-to-be go ga-ga.
Daniel complied with a raw rush of desire.
Like Louise’s, Charlotte’s gown was strapless, but, where her friend’s bodice was draped, this one was smooth and tight, bolstering up Charlotte’s already impressive breasts whilst constricting her waist into hand-spanning size. The skirt, by contrast, was full and frothy, brushing against her father’s legs as he accompanied her down the red carpet.
But her crowning glory was her hair.
Gone was the long, straight curtain of blonde hair, replaced by soft, glossy, shoulder-length waves in a glorious dark brown that glinted red when the light hit it. The rich walnut shade was a perfect foil for the dazzling whiteness of the dress and the honey-coloured skin of her bare shoulders and arms. Framing her striking face and hair was a short but very feminine veil, which was anchored on top of her head by an exquisite tiara decorated with diamante ´s and pearls. She wore no jewellery around her elegant throat. She didn’t need any.
The sight of her literally took Daniel’s breath away.
He was barely aware of the camera flashes going off, or the video man off to one side filming everything. His eyes were riveted on his bride, his heart pounding in a way it hadn’t pounded in his entire life.
CHAPTER NINE
A WAVE of emotional confusion swamped Charlotte as she started to walk down that red carpet on her father’s arm, her eyes dropping agitatedly to the bouquet she was holding.
Was she happy or sad? Regretful or resentful? Nervous or excited?
All of those things, she realised.
Happy that her hair had turned out brilliantly. But sad that she’d spent so long as a blonde, trying to please Gary. Regretful that she was wasting so much of her dad’s money today, and resentful that Gary didn’t give a damn. Nervous over pretending to marry Daniel, but also appallingly excited.
All day, one overriding thought had dominated Charlotte’s mind.
Tonight.
Difficult to think of anything else.
Was Daniel as excited as she was?
Her eyes lifted at last to look at him.
Her step faltered. Her heart as well.
Had there ever been a more handsome groom?
People said brides always looked beautiful in their wedding dresses, even the plain ones. But the same could be said for grooms, in Charlotte’s opinion. There was something about a tuxedo which made the most of any man. It gave him stature, and styling, and sophistication.
Daniel had been handsome in a business suit and impossibly sexy in jeans. In the elegant black tuxedo he was wearing today, he was so handsome and sexy, it was criminal.
Just looking at him was a turn-on. Being with him was going to be incredible. She could feel it in every fibre of her being.
Her resolve not to take him with her to the Hunter Valley tomorrow immediately went a bit wobbly. If the earth moved in Daniel’s arms tonight, how could she possibly give him up after just one night?
But if she prolonged their affair, wouldn’t that make losing him later on all the more terrible? And wasn’t she just making the same mistake again, going from one relationship disaster to another, this time in a shockingly short space of time? After Dwayne it had at least been a few weeks before she met Gary. It had been less than two days since Gary had jilted her.
‘Are you all right, love?’
Charlotte’s head turned slowly to find her father frowning at her.
It was a defining moment for Charlotte, a moment when she realised she was sick and tired of fighting her feelings for Daniel.
She wanted to be with him. OK, so they might only have a few days together. But those few days would probably be better than a lifetime with another man.
‘Yes, Dad,’ she said, resigning herself to the fact she was setting herself up for some serious heartbreak this time. But what she felt was too powerful to ignore.
‘I’m fine,’ she added. And forced a smile to her mouth.
Her smile reassured Daniel. Till he saw her eyes.
There was sadness in her eyes.
Was she wishing it were Gary standing here, waiting to marry her?
Surely not. She didn’t love Gary any more than Gary had loved her.
Daniel supposed that might be what was making her sad, her having been so mistaken, not only about Gary’s feelings but also her own. No one liked to feel a fool.
Did Charlotte feel a fool?
He hoped not. Because she was far from foolish. She was sweet and brave and loving, and that stupid bloody Gary didn’t deserve her. As for that Dwayne guy… Daniel would have liked to punch his lights out, the miserable jerk.
Still, Charlotte was better off without either of those two. Hell, they couldn’t even make her happy in bed! The least a man could do was make his woman happy in bed.
He smiled back at her as she approached, determined that he wouldn’t let her down. Tonight could not come quickly enough.
‘You look so beautiful,’ he whispered when her father handed her over to him.
Her blue eyes sparkled this time. ‘Thank you. So do you.’
Vince cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to the moment at hand.
‘We are gathered here today,’ he started, his having decided on a very traditional ceremony, chiefly because that was the only one he’d been able to find a copy of last night, ‘to celebrate the marriage of…’
Daniel’s mind drifted away from the words to concentrate on Charlotte. She was wearing more makeup today. But her glorious dark hair and the glamorous white wedding dress demanded it. With blue eye-shadow and black eye-liner, her eyes looked so big and blue. And that red gloss on her mouth made Daniel long to kiss her.
When his eyes dropped to her cleavage, he had some difficulty keeping his thoughts from straying to her beautiful breasts and the many ways in which he wanted to make love to her tonight.
Daniel determined to make it impossible for her to send him on his way tomorrow. He might not be good marriage material but he was a good lover.
He was working out his sexual strategy when he heard Vince ask who gave this woman in marriage.
Her father answered, ‘I do,’ proudly and then the ceremony began in earnest.
Daniel winced over being called Gary Cantrell, but swallowed his pride and said ‘I do’ at the right moment. Charlotte made them all suffer with a heart-stopping hesitation before she said ‘I do’. At least she didn’t have to promise to obey.
The exchange of rings carried more tension, mainly because his was a tight fit. How was he ever going to get the darned thing off afterwards?
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ part. The worst was over. Now he got to kiss the bride.
They were already facing each other, with Charlotte gazing up into his eyes with an expression Daniel found extremely flattering. No, she certainly hadn’t loved Gary.
A sudden panic zoomed into her face. She didn’t want him to kiss her, that much was evident.
Daniel felt put out, till he realised she might be worried he was going to kiss her as he had kissed her yesterday in the hotel lobby. That had been some kiss!
He decided he could wait till he had her behind closed doors before he unleashed his still smouldering passion. Though damn it all, controlling himself once his lips were on hers was not going to be easy.
Steeling himself, he took her face gently between his hands and gave her the softest, sweetest kiss on the mouth. No pressure. No pushing open her lips. Daniel suspected embarrassing things might happen if he did that.
But he wanted to. Hell, he wanted to desperately.
The reception loomed ahead as a far bigger trial than this wedding, because it was longer. Hours, maybe. But there was no getting out of it.
Meanwhile, he would have had to be careful not to let his frustration show. And not to drink. He had to be stone-cold sober to perform as he wanted to perform tonight.
‘Love the hair,’ he complimented after his mouth lifted. ‘And the dress.’
He could have added love what’s in it, but he didn’t, of course. That would have been crass. And Daniel was not crass.
Aroused, but not crass.
She stared up into his eyes with the oddest expression. Kind of dazed.
‘Better than blonde?’ she asked with a charming tilt of her head.
‘Much,’ he said. ‘You made a beautiful blonde, but you’re a ravishing brunette.’ He certainly wanted to ravish her. Right now.
She smiled. A happy smile. No, a dazzling smile.
Daniel stifled a groan and managed to smile back. ‘I’ve always been partial to brunettes,’ he said truthfully.
Vince stopped any further conversation with a touch to Daniel’s elbow. He led them over to the table to sign the pretend papers, which they did, along with Brad and Louise. Cameras continued to flash. The video rolled on. Daniel murmured a discreet ‘thank you’ to Vince, who said he would be going straight home to tell Beth all about it.
Beth, it had been obvious last night, thought this whole pretend wedding thing was so romantic. There again, Beth had always been an incurable romantic.
‘Smile, please,’ the photographer ordered. ‘The groom! Smile, please.’
Daniel smiled.
CHAPTER TEN
‘EXCUSE me a moment, please, Charlotte,’ Daniel said, and pushed back his chair.
Charlotte’s eyes followed him as he stood up and walked to the table where her father was seated. There was an empty chair next to her dad, her mother having temporarily vacated it.
The reception had been in full swing for over an hour, with the entrée and the main meal having been served. Charlotte had chosen the menu herself, but hadn’t really enjoyed any of the food. In fact, she’d just picked at it.
From the moment Daniel had said she was ravishing, her hunger hadn’t been for food.
Her eyes were still glued to him when he suddenly glanced back over his shoulder at her. Embarrassed at being caught staring, she pulled her eyes away and picked up her glass. She might not have eaten much but she’d been downing the wine. Chardonnay. Her favourite.
‘See what I told you would happen?’ Louise whispered to Charlotte. ‘He can’t take his eyes off you.’
‘More like the other way around. I… I’ve never wanted a man like I do him. I think I will take him away on my honeymoon holiday after all.’
Louise gave a softly knowing laugh. ‘Aah, so you know now what I feel when I’m with Brad. Nothing like a bit of good old-fashioned lust, is there?’
‘Lust…’ Charlotte frowned. ‘How can I be sure that’s all this is?’
‘What else, at this early stage? Goodness, don’t go thinking what you feel is love, girl. I have to admit, if I wasn’t so taken with Brad, I might bat my eyelashes in Daniel’s direction as well.’
‘Did I hear someone mention my name?’ Brad said from his seat on the other side of Daniel’s vacant one.
Louise rolled her eyes. ‘Amazing how his ears always prick up every time he hears his name. That’s men for you. Yes, Brad, we were both talking about you and how yummy you look in your tux.’
‘I was thinking the same about you, babe.’
‘What, how good I’d look in your tux?’
Brad laughed. ‘You’re a crack-up, Lou. You really are. Aah, here’s Dan back again. Ready for your speech, mate? We’re on soon.’
‘Ready as I’ll ever be,’ Daniel replied as he sat down. ‘Your dad tells me he’s up first, Charlotte.’
‘What were you talking to him about?’ she asked, her mind still pondering Louise’s assertion that what she felt for Daniel was just lust.
‘Nothing for you to worry about.’
The MC’s announcement that the father of the bride was going to speak had Charlotte falling silent, but her head was still spinning. She supposed Louise was probably right. Louise knew what she was talking about where lust was concerned, whereas Charlotte was a right novice.
But even if it was just lust stirring her, Charlotte still worried that several days spent with Daniel could make her feelings for him deepen. Louise was made of tougher stuff than she was. She didn’t appreciate the risk.
But Charlotte couldn’t see herself resisting the temptation. Not unless tonight was a disaster.
Her father’s tapping the microphone cut into her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. The speeches. It was not a moment she’d been looking forward to.
‘I’m not one for giving speeches, as you probably all know,’ her father began. ‘I’m a farmer and farmers are at their best with their backsides on a tractor and their mouths shut.’
Everyone laughed. Everyone except Charlotte. She was too aware of Daniel sitting next to her, too strung up with nerves.
‘We’re best left in the country, too. But I’m not just a farmer. I’m a father, too. And a father will do anything for a daughter. So here I am in this fancy city hotel, eating fancy food and drinking fancy wine. But I can tell you right now that I’ve never had a happier day in all my life.’
Charlotte jumped in her seat when Daniel suddenly picked up her hand and squeezed it. ‘Do try to look a little happier,’ he whispered. ‘You’re supposed to be wildly in love with me. Smile a bit more.’
Somehow she found another smile, though her mouth was beginning to ache with all the smiling.
‘Yes, that’s it,’ he said, giving her hand another squeeze. ‘Not long to go now. Hang in there.’
‘Of course, we all know that Charlotte has not followed the usual path of a country girl,’ her dad continued. ‘There were moments where I thought I would never see her as she is today. As a bride. And for that I have to thank Gary. I only had to know my future son-in-law for ten seconds before I understood why our Charlotte had fallen head over heels with a man I thought she hardly knew. As for Gary…have you ever seen a man so handsome, or so much in love?’
Everyone clapped and cheered. Charlotte wanted to cry.
‘They say you can tell a man by his actions more than his words. Gary told me to keep this a secret but I want to tell you that just now, my new son-in-law is going to pay for this wedding.’
More clapping and cheering.
Charlotte, however, was speechless.
‘Oh-oh,’ Daniel said out of the corner of his mouth. ‘You don’t look pleased. I thought you’d be happy that your father wouldn’t be out of pocket.’
‘But it wasn’t your place! I would have paid him back after I told him we’d separated. Every single cent.’
‘Hey, hush up, you two,’ Brad said.
They hushed up, leaving Charlotte to simmer in silence. If he’d been her real groom, it would have been an incredibly generous gesture. As it was, she suspected it was more a corrupting gesture, a type of advance payment on services to be rendered.
The thought infuriated her. But it also flattered her. Right from the start, Daniel’s pursuit had been incredibly aggressive. Clearly, he would stop at nothing to have her.
What woman wouldn’t thrill to a man being so taken by her charms? What she had to keep remembering, however, was that it was just a sexual interest. Wealthy playboys like Daniel didn’t want women for anything else. They might pretend to value other things in their partners, but the bottom line was sex. Plus the challenge of the chase. Charlotte suspected that once she’d capitulated and he’d had her a few times, Daniel’s passion would begin to wane.
His own sister had warned her that his girlfriends came and went.
Charlotte tried to stay angry with her logical, if somewhat cynical, thoughts. But it was impossible. She just felt more and more excited. Louise was right. This was just lust on her part. She couldn’t think about anything else.
Her father spoke for another couple of minutes, giving them some advice over the tolerance necessary for a happy marriage then wishing them all the happiness in the world before offering the official toast to the bride and groom.
Charlotte plastered a plastic smile on her face and willed for the reception to be over. She couldn’t wait to be alone with Daniel, and to have him kiss her once more. Not the way he’d kissed her after the ceremony. The way he’d kissed her in the lobby yesterday.
After her father sat down, it was Brad’s turn to speak. Charlotte winced as he stood up. Lord knew what he was going to say. Something embarrassing, that was for sure.
‘My job as best man today,’ he began, ‘is a little awkward. A best man is usually the groom’s best mate, or his big brother. Someone who has known him for yonks. But I only met this good-looking fella a couple of hours ago. The other times I’ve been best man at a wedding, it’s been dead easy to tell some naughty stories about what the groom has been up to over the years. I have those kind of mates,’ he added, grinning. ‘But I can’t do that with Gary here. But you know what? I reckon there are no naughty stories in Gary’s past. Pete said he knew straight away what kind of bloke was marrying his daughter. I felt the same way. This man here,’ he said, resting a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, ‘is one of the good guys. True blue, in our Aussie language. I told him when we were getting dressed that he’d made a fantastic husband for our beautiful bride here and I meant it. By the way, she is beautiful, don’t you agree?’
More clapping and cheering. Charlotte groaned. Talk about torment!
‘But it’s not my job to gush over the bride. That’s Gary’s. My job is to gush over the bridesmaid. Not a hard job to do, considering we’re an item,’ he added with a wink Louise’s way. ‘I might be biased but I’ve never seen a better-looking bridesmaid. And that dress… Wow, babe. You should wear blue more often. Although I’d really like to see you in white.’
More clapping and cheering and shouts of, ‘Hear! hear!’
Louise blushed furiously, which was a first for Louise.
Brad proposed the toast to Louise, Charlotte grateful for another swallow of the delicious champagne.
Daniel, she noticed, barely sipped his.
She didn’t look up at him when he stood up, but kept her eyes focused on the back part of the room.
‘Brad might have been to a good few weddings,’ were his opening words. ‘But strangely, I’ve never been to one. So forgive me if my speech doesn’t follow the norm. Firstly, I want to thank my best man for doing such a sterling job today, and the lovely Louise for all the help and friendship she has given Charlotte. I also want to thank the Gales for the wonderful way they have welcomed me into their family. I can honestly say that I have never met their like before. Charlotte is very fortunate to have such exceptionally loving parents. Very fortunate indeed.’
Charlotte resisted the temptation to roll her eyes, but heavens to Betsy, did he have to lay it on that thick? Clearly, he was relishing the role of man of the moment. Every single person in the room was smiling at him. Of course, all her relatives already thought he was the ant’s pants because he was taking troublesome Charlotte off the single shelf. If they only knew!
She sighed, then made the mistake of glancing up at Daniel.
When he smiled back down at her, she found she could not look away. Her gaze remained locked to his, her insides dissolving. She was helpless when he smiled at her like that. Helpless and hopeless.
‘What can I say about Charlotte?’ he said quietly, his eyes caressing hers. ‘She is beautiful, there is no doubt about that. But she is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. That might sound clichéd but with Charlotte, nothing is clichéd. She is a remarkable woman and any man would be lucky to have her as his wife. No, not lucky. Privileged. My life hasn’t been the same since the first moment we met. Actually, Brad was wrong when he said there were no naughty stories to be told about me. There have been. Quite a few. But no longer. I’m a changed man. Charlotte has changed me.’