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Nick jerked his head in Robert’s direction. ‘Are you and he …’ He shrugged, leaving her to mentally fill in the gap with whatever relationship she thought appropriate.
She dragged her gaze back from Robert and gave Nick her full attention. ‘Robert and me?’ She managed a laugh. ‘Heavens, no, we’re just good friends. I’ve known him since I was in my cradle. He’s more like a brother.’
‘Is that right?’ He grinned. Well, he did have an exceptional set of teeth, dazzlingly white against the tan. ‘It must be brotherly concern, then. But since your good friend looks as if he’d like to put a knife in my back, maybe we should move on. Try a club, maybe?’
Why not? The brunette was clearly intent on getting her wicked way with Robert. Another five minutes and he’d have totally forgotten the bacon sandwich deal, if he hadn’t already. Forgotten about her, in all probability until the next time he needed someone to stick a maggot on a hook, or fill in as a date at a dinner party. Well, that was the way she’d chosen to play it, and he did always come back to her for tea and sympathy. If she was careful, he always would.
In the meantime it was rather pleasurable having a good-looking man showing a more than passing interest.
As she looked up at him, it occurred to Daisy that Nick would impress the heck out of her mother. Well, why not? ‘Do you have anything planned for two weeks today?’ she asked.
Nick opened his mouth, closed it again, then said, ‘Not that I can think of.’ He flashed his teeth at her again, using them in much the same way as the brunette was using her eyelashes. It could get boring, she decided. ‘What do you have in mind?’
‘Nothing exciting. I wondered if you’d like to come to my brother’s wedding, that’s all.’
‘Brother as in brother?’ He glanced across at Robert. ‘Or brother as in ‘‘good friend’’?’
‘My brother Michael is the one getting married. Robert is just the best man.’
‘Then I’m sorry, because I’d love to have come. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a good wedding. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Perth.’
She considered the logistics of getting him from Scotland … Then the penny dropped. ‘You mean Perth, Australia, don’t you?’
He was grinning again. She was beginning to suspect he advertised toothpaste for a living. ‘I’m afraid I do. But we could still have that date. Give your brother’s wedding a miss and come with me. We could have a wedding of our own.’ On the other hand there was nothing boring about a man who issued that kind of invitation. Eccentric, perhaps. Over-endowed with imagination, maybe. Drunk, even. Although he didn’t sound drunk.
‘Well, that’s different. But I’m afraid I’ll have to say no. I’m fourth bridesmaid, you see.’ Although the fact that her mother would never speak to her again if she jetted off to the other side of the world with a complete stranger simply to avoid being fourth bridesmaid might be considered a positive reason for accepting his invitation.
Of course, if she ran away to get married she might just be forgiven. It would certainly put her out of reach of temptation where Robert was concerned. No comfortable backsliding into gap-filling if she was in Australia. Unfortunately, Nick and his teeth were part of the package.
‘They won’t miss one bridesmaid, will they?’ he pressed, when she didn’t immediately answer.
‘I’m afraid they would. Three would look so untidy on the photographs. Besides, I make it a rule never to accept proposals of marriage from men I’ve only just met.’
He wasn’t deterred. ‘We’ve got three days before I leave. Plenty of time to get to know one another. Why don’t we start with a dance?’
‘Three whole days?’ she repeated as he relieved her of her glass in a masterful manner and, taking her firmly about the waist, pulled her close. He was more heavily muscled than Robert. Undoubtedly the consequence of hours spent on a surfboard getting that improbable tan. ‘You don’t waste much time, do you?’
‘Life’s for living, not wasting.’
he had a point, but she laughed anyway. ‘You’re crazy.’
He looked hurt. ‘Why? Because I want to get to know you really well? Suppose we were made for each other and you went to this wedding and I went back to Oz and we never found out?’
‘That’s a risk I’ll just have to take,’ she said, although she didn’t think it was that big a risk. She had the strongest suspicion that he meant getting to ‘know’ her in the physical sense, rather than intellectually. In fact she suspected that the frank, open, bighearted act was just that. An act. He was just looking for a girl to fill the gap between now and catching his plane, and he wasn’t particularly fussy about which girl.
Okay, so she didn’t object to filling Robert’s little gaps. But she loved Robert. Well. Maybe not right at this moment. At this moment she felt like telling him that he was crazy, too. That life was a two-way street and that if he wasn’t careful he’d end up old and lonely. Of course she’d just be wasting her breath. And who was she to tell him that he’d end up old and lonely, when it was far more likely that she’d be the one who was everyone’s universal greataunt rather than anyone’s grandmother?
He’d probably still be pulling all the best-looking nurses when he was in his dotage, and she’d probably be the sap pushing his Bath chair.
‘Wouldn’t you like to find out?’ Nick asked, as he came to halt in a corner.
She hadn’t been paying too much attention to what he was saying, but this seemed to require an answer. She looked up. ‘Find out what?’
Stupid question. The lights were dim, they were in one of those little out of the way corners, and he needed no further invitation to lower his mouth to hers and kiss her.
It was pleasant as kisses went. Nothing heavy. Just a testing-the-water kind of kiss, and Daisy pulled back before it got too serious, looking up at the big, bronzed hunk with just a touch of regret. Her mother would have really loved Nick.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I think I’d rather just leave it like this. With you wondering.’ She already knew. Had known since her cradle that there was only one man in the world for her.
For a moment Nick looked puzzled. Then he laughed. ‘I think I like you.’
‘You see? Right decision. Will you excuse me?’ She eased herself out of his arms, turned, only to be confronted by Robert.
‘You haven’t forgotten our deal, have you?’ he said, glaring past her at Nick.
Deal? He was still planning on taking her home? ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Robert, go away and flirt with someone your own age,’ she said crossly.
‘Later. Let’s dance.’ He didn’t wait for an answer, but slipped his arm about her waist. Not like Nick. There had been nothing subtle about the way Nick had held her. He’d held her close, leaving her in no doubt what he was thinking. Robert, of course, didn’t see her that way. Usually by this time he’d forgotten all about her. Was he really so upset about Janine’s desertion, or was the party lacking in the kind of girls that caught his fancy? ‘I’d ask if you were having a good time, but the question would appear to be redundant.’
‘It’s been interesting,’ she said, as they moved together in time to the music. Her cheek was against the peachy twill of his shirt and she could feel the slow thudding of his heartbeat. He didn’t dance with her often enough for her to get used to it. Each time was special. The chance to touch him, hold him, feel the hard muscle and bone of his shoulder beneath her hand, breathe in the scent of him, warm and faintly musky. His arm tightened about her possessively and for a long blissful moment she allowed herself to drown in the pleasure of their closeness. Then, because breaking away was so very hard, she added, ‘I’ve already had one proposal of marriage.’
It had the desired effect. He stopped, pulled back a little, his forehead creased in a frown. ‘No, I mean really. You seem a bit edgy. Not quite your usual self. You would tell me …’
‘What?’
There was a long pause before he said, ‘Well, if things weren’t … all right.’
‘All right?’ Of course things weren’t all right. He wasn’t supposed to take it for granted that she was joking about the proposal, for a start. Okay, so she was, but, really, he might try and play along. ‘Well, I may have broken his heart,’ she said, ‘but I’m sure he’ll recover.’
‘What?’ He frowned. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’
‘He lives in Australia, you see. If I went to Australia I couldn’t be Ginny’s bridesmaid. Could I?’
‘Er, no, I suppose not.’ He seemed bemused and Daisy sighed. ‘I’m fine, Robert.’ She gave him a little push. ‘Go. You’ve done your duty. I’m going to see if Monty needs a hand with the food.’ She headed for the kitchen. Robert followed her, stopping in the doorway as their host greeted her with delight.
‘Daisy, my darling! Just the girl,’ he said, handing her an apron. ‘The caterer left boxes and boxes of stuff but I haven’t got a clue what to do with it.’
‘Stuff that lot in the oven to heat up and put those on plates. Of course it would save time, effort and washing up if you just lined the boxes up on the table. I don’t suppose anyone would notice.’
She saw Robert and Monty exchange a startled look, and without another word she tied the apron around her waist, but it occurred to her that she would be better occupied getting to know Nick Gregson, trying to forget about Robert, than acting as unpaid kitchen hand. Probably.
She shrugged and gave her attention to the task in hand, arranging a pile of little savoury tarts on one plate, heaping chicken goujons around a bowl of sauce on another. When she turned to put them on the table, Robert was still standing in the doorway.
It was disconcerting to be the focus of his attention. He didn’t usually take so much notice of her, and she couldn’t believe that the silver and black top she was wearing was so spectacular that he was unable to take his eyes off her.
‘There’s another apron if you want to help,’ she said.
It had the desired effect. Robert helped himself to a pastry and deserted without another word.
A couple of hours later she’d had enough. She’d passed around food, caught up with the gossip, danced rather more than usual. It was a lovely party, except that every time she turned around Robert seemed to be there, watching her. It was unsettling. She didn’t want him looking at her. Not with that little crease that might just be concern dividing his brows. She’d thought she knew everything there was to know about the way his mind worked, but this was different.
Not that things had changed that much. He was still the focus of attention for every unattached girl at the party, and quite a few who weren’t, and she had no expectation that, come the witching hour, he would still be looking for a cup of coffee and a bacon sandwich. But there was no way she was going to allow him to delegate the task of seeing her home to anyone else.
Taking advantage of a distraction caused by the still hopeful brunette, she retrieved her coat and considered looking for Monty, but decided instead to phone him later in the week. Nick cut her off before she reached the door.
‘Hey! You weren’t thinking of leaving without me, were you? We’re almost engaged.’
Torn between irritation and a certain satisfaction that someone was capable of seeing more to her than a girl who could fill the gaps, or pass around the canapés, she found herself laughing. ‘No, we’re not.’
‘You’re playing very hard to get.’ He made it sound as if she was the one being unreasonable.
‘I’d hoped you realised I was playing impossible.’
‘Nothing is impossible. Once, in Las Vegas, I married a woman I’d only just met.’
‘Really?’ Why didn’t that surprise her? ‘Only once?’
‘Well—’
‘And are you still married to her?’
‘Of course not.’ He looked hurt at the suggestion. ‘I’m not a bigamist. That’s the great thing about Las Vegas. Married today …’ he clicked his fingers ‘… divorced tomorrow.’
‘Just like that?’
‘Well, very nearly.’ She wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. On balance she was rather afraid he was telling the truth. ‘Where would you like to get married? We could stop over somewhere exotic and have one of those beach ceremonies. I’ve always rather fancied one of those. What about Bali?’
It was a tough choice. Right now Bali sounded a lot more fun than yellow velvet, but it wasn’t really any contest. The dress, after all, was just for a few hours whereas, unlike Nick, she viewed marriage as a lifetime commitment. ‘I’m allergic to sand,’ she said. ‘And I’m scared of flying.’
‘Are you?’ That seemed to throw him momentarily. ‘A shipboard wedding, then? The ship’s captain doing the honours?’
‘It’s a myth that you can be legally married by the captain of a ship,’ she told him. The joke was beginning to wear very thin. ‘And right now all I’m interested in is going home. Alone.’ She turned and walked out into the street.
He wasn’t that easy to shake off. ‘The streets aren’t safe for a woman on her own,’ he said, following her.
‘Maybe not, but how safe are they with you?’
And this time when he smiled she fancied it was less a sexual display of teeth than genuine good humour. ‘As safe as you want them to be. Scout’s honour,’ he promised.
Before she could tell him that she didn’t believe he had ever been a Scout, he had hailed a passing black cab.
‘Daisy!’ Robert. ‘There you are, sweetheart. I was looking for you. I’m just about ready for the coffee and sandwich you promised,’ he said, taking her arm and smiling cordially at Nick as he opened the taxi door and held it for her while she stepped inside. ‘Thanks for the taxi, Gregson. Black cabs are as rare as hen’s teeth at this time of night.’
And with that he stepped in after her and closed the door, leaving Nick Gregson standing alone on the pavement as they drove away.
CHAPTER THREE
SUNDAY 26 March. Church with family for final reading of the Banns for Michael and Ginny’s wedding and everyone home for lunch afterwards. Mother will be in her element.
Robert offered me a lift. I said I’d rather walk. I do hope he didn’t take me seriously.
‘Daisy?’
She knew it was him as soon as the doorbell rang. Even at the crack of dawn her heart gave one of those painful leaps that betrayed her every time.
She glanced at her watch, yawned, tightened the belt of her dressing gown about her waist. Why was it so much harder to get up in London than in the country? ‘Go away, Robert. It’s the middle of the night.’
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