From Bridal Designer to Bride

by Kandy Shepherd

  Again he thought how much Tori would like Eloise. He wished Tori would contact her twin soon. The longer Tori left it, the deeper Josh got into this friendship with Eloise—which was more than a friendship but less than a relationship or even an affair—the more difficult it would be to explain his role in their reunion when it ultimately all came out.

  In the interests of transparency, he had called Tori that morning, Sydney time, to tell her his business dealings had taken him back to Sydney. It was stretching the truth somewhat, as, while he had actually made business appointments, the primary purpose had been that inexplicable and compelling urge to see Eloise again.

  He’d told Tori about the lunch. Then casually mentioned he was acting as plus-one for a wedding on the upcoming weekend.

  Immediately Tori had pounced. ‘Are you sure you’re not getting in a little too deep, Josh? I asked you to get a close look at her. Not to get close to her.’ She’d paused. ‘You’re not developing a thing for her, are you?’

  ‘Of course not,’ he’d denied, knowing he was blustering, knowing he was not quite telling the entire truth.

  Whatever Tori defined as a thing, he wasn’t feeling it for Eloise. He found her undeniably hot, beautiful, smart. He liked her. She made him laugh, loosened him up, made him relax. Inspired him to do crazy things like pretend to be her fiancé to help her vanquish a business threat. But it wasn’t a thing. He wasn’t falling for her, definitely not. Tori needed to be absolutely clear about that.

  So did he.

  Now Eloise pulled him aside so they could speak without being overhead. ‘Are you free for practice after work tonight?’

  ‘Practice?’

  ‘Fiancé practice.’

  His thoughts ran in one rather exciting direction but he suspected she didn’t mean that. ‘Run that by me again?’

  ‘We’re meant to be an engaged couple and we have to be convincing at the wedding. That influencer woman will pick a phony couple a mile off. We have to seem genuine. That means we have to get our stories straight—you know, how we met, how long we’ve been together, that kind of stuff.’

  ‘I didn’t realise it would involve all that.’

  ‘I didn’t either until I started to think about it. I’ve never been a fake fiancée before. Or any kind of fiancée actually. Do you want to back out? You can at any time, you know. I won’t hold you to it.’

  ‘No, not at all. I gave my word.’ He frowned. ‘But I didn’t realise it would involve so much lying.’

  ‘Might be wise not to think of it as lying. Rather...’ She thought about it for a moment ‘Not a lie as such, but rather a targeted business strategy of purposeful evasion.’

  He laughed. ‘Where did you get that from?’

  ‘I did a business course when I knew I’d be setting up on my own,’ she said. ‘I can talk the talk when I need to.’

  ‘Well, I guess that’s something I should know about you. There must be more.’

  ‘Exactly. That’s why we need to practise our stories.’

  ‘Okay. Count me in.’

  ‘Why don’t I pop round to your hotel after I finish work? It’s only around the corner. We could maybe get a pizza or something.’ She put up her hand. ‘No. Wait. As my fiancé, you would be expected to be familiar with my apartment. Do you mind coming round to mine? I’ll give you the address.’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘In the meantime, you think of a few questions to ask me, and I’ll think of a few questions to ask you. I’ll pick up some Thai take-out on my way home.’

  * * *

  Eloise was only too aware that Josh, charming as he might appear, was a tough, driven businessman. No one got to be a billionaire before the age of thirty without a finely honed edge of ruthlessness. His comments on her business revealed a shrewd eye for potential profit. That was verified in the many news and finance pages she’d delved into online to find out more about him.

  Yet his revenge strategy for @lindytheblonde had shocked her. His eyes had narrowed and his face set hard as he’d outlined his plan. His fluency made her think he had exacted such a revenge before against someone who had crossed him. Perhaps more than one opponent. She realised she would have to keep her wits about her in any dealings with him. Who knew how ruthless he might be towards people in his personal life?

  And yet she’d seen a different side to billionaire Josh. A man kind to a scruffy little dog. A man with a sense of humour who had completely won over her fiercely protective best friend, Vinh—not to mention everyone else in the atelier. Then there was the man who’d offered that whacky solution to her problem with @lindytheblonde. She considered herself to be a creative thinker but a fake engagement wouldn’t have crossed her mind in a million years.

  Accepting his off-the-wall offer had kicked her relationship with Josh up to a different level that taking him as a plus-one to the wedding would not have. He was no longer a stranger, yet not quite a friend—she was way too attracted to him to put him in the friend category. She didn’t have lustful thoughts as she did for Josh with her male friends. Yet their situations meant he couldn’t be a potential boyfriend either.

  They were co-conspirators in a fake engagement and that would involve a disconcerting level of fake intimacy. But it really was a good idea. If only she—they—could carry it off. Because if they didn’t, if she and Josh were revealed as frauds, she’d be a laughing stock. And what that meant for her business could only be bad.

  Now she sat opposite Josh, the coffee table between them, each on one of the two squashy cream sofas that formed the focal point of her living room. A half-empty bottle of white wine and their two glasses sat on the coffee table.

  She’d inherited this spacious nineteen-thirties apartment from her grandmother—the same one who had taught her to sew—and it was her haven. That grandmother had loved her unconditionally, and had helped her understand the reasons her mother had kept her adoption from her. Still, she’d never been quite able to shake off the knowledge that her grandmother had known and been part of the conspiracy. Even someone as close and doting as her grandmother had lied to her.

  She knew how fortunate she was; the price of real estate in this suburb was astronomical. In fact, Double Bay was the wealthiest area in the state with this adjoining area coming in second. The bow-fronted windows looked out over Rushcutters Bay Park and beyond to the waters of the harbour. She could actually see the spot where Daisy had so fortuitously redirected her ball to Josh.

  Josh had changed into black jeans and a black cashmere sweater. He looked comfortable, relaxed and super-hot. Not only was he handsome, but he also exuded a male virility that she could not help but respond to with thoughts bordering on the sinful. She wouldn’t have any trouble pretending to be attracted to him as his fake fiancée. Keeping her hands off him might be the problem.

  They’d chatted generalities as they’d polished off the Thai dinner but, the meal cleared, it was time to get down to the business of prepping themselves to be a believable couple.

  ‘Okay, let’s start our preparation for operation fake engagement,’ she said. ‘Have you ever done any acting? Theatre? Drama studies at school?’

  ‘No.’ His expression told her he found the very idea disdainful.

  ‘Me neither,’ she said. ‘I freeze with nerves the second anyone so much points me in the direction of a stage.’

  ‘I find that hard to believe,’ he said. ‘You seem so confident.’

  ‘On a one-to-one level maybe,’ she said. ‘But that does nothing for me when stage fright hits. So when it comes to playing our roles as an engaged couple, we’re going to have to wing it.’

  ‘Improvisation is what they call it,’ he said.

  She nodded. ‘We have to think about what a real engaged couple would do and then improvise accordingly. Heaven knows I see enough of them around me.’

  ‘My friends a
re starting to succumb to the lure of matrimony, so I know a few,’ he said. He said succumb as if they were being felled by some noxious disease. With her own opinions on marriage being blasted all over the internet, she could hardly be critical of his.

  ‘They’re super-sweet to each other,’ she said. ‘Most have cutesie pet names.’

  Josh shuddered. ‘Can we please not go there?’

  ‘I agree. I don’t think I could do the pet names with a straight face. But some of my close friends call me Ellie. I won’t mind if you drop the occasional “Ellie” in the interests of authenticity.’

  ‘“Ellie”. I like that. It suits you. But please, don’t even think of calling me “Joshy”.’ The pained expression on his face made her laugh.

  ‘Okay, no calling you J—No, I can’t even say it in jest.’

  She paused, not sure how to bring up the next subject. ‘Engaged couples are usually very affectionate towards each other. Physically affectionate, I mean. Dropping little kisses on their beloved, lots of snuggling and smooching. You know.’

  He looked at her for a long moment, and again she had that heady sense of connection. She realised she was leaning towards him, as if straining to be in his arms, and he was leaning towards her. He cleared his throat. ‘I don’t think we’ll have any trouble doing that,’ he said.

  She sat back on her sofa. ‘Me neither. In fact I... I...well, I think we—that is to say I—might have the opposite problem. Being too enthusiastic perhaps.’

  ‘Yes,’ he said slowly.

  ‘So only public displays of affection. We need to turn down the dial in private. It’s not that I don’t trust myself... Well, it is, actually. But we’ve agreed that neither of us is ready for a relationship and I don’t want—’

  ‘I know,’ he said hoarsely.

  ‘So that’s agreed?’

  He nodded. ‘Hands off in private.’

  Eloise tucked her feet up under her on the sofa. She’d changed into skinny, cuffed nineteen-fifties-style jeans and a red-and-white-checked shirt. ‘I’m thinking of the questions people might ask us at the wedding.’

  ‘You go first,’ he said.

  ‘Where did we meet?’

  He indicated the front window with a wave. ‘The dog park out there.’

  ‘Correct. And that would mean we were presenting as an engaged couple just a week after we really did meet. Not very believable in my opinion.’

  ‘You’re right. This takes a bit of getting used to,’ he said. ‘Let me think. How about we first met in the US, say a few months ago?’

  ‘Did you happen to be in Los Angeles at the time of Roxee’s wedding?’

  ‘So happens I did.’

  ‘I was there too. Perhaps we met in LA. At a party. There were a number of parties leading up to the wedding.’

  ‘To which, sadly, I was not invited,’ he said with a mock-mournful expression.

  ‘Shame. There was a party at a waterfront venue in Santa Monica. I went outside for a breath of fresh air. You were outside—’

  ‘Taking a break from a particularly boring business dinner.’ He paused. ‘And I saw this dark-haired girl leaning against a palm tree. I was struck by her beauty.’

  Eloise giggled. ‘I like that. So what happened?

  ‘I opened a conversation with a witty remark.’

  ‘I responded with something equally witty.’

  ‘We struck up a conversation. You hung on to my every word.’

  ‘Huh! How about I made you laugh?’

  ‘You do that in real life, so that could work. Then you said you had to get back to the party.’

  ‘No! I’m sure I would have wanted to stay with you.’

  ‘Would you?’ he said.

  ‘Yes.’ Her gaze connected again with his in that surprisingly intimate way.

  ‘Really?’ he said, his voice husky.

  ‘Really,’ she said. Just as she had found an excuse to have coffee with him at the park. Deny it to herself all she liked, she’d been attracted to him from the start.

  She snapped her eyes away. This was just a game. A game the success of which was important to her business, but a game just the same. She mustn’t get carried away.

  ‘So that’s sorted.’ She injected a no-nonsense briskness into her voice. ‘What did you do next?’

  ‘I got your number. And I called you straight away to check I’d got it right.’

  ‘So when did you call me?’

  ‘I asked you to call me when the party was finished. You did and we met up. Then I took you back to your hotel room.’

  ‘And...?’

  ‘We talked all night until the sun came up,’ he said, a smile dancing around the corners of his sexy mouth. ‘I was a gentleman.’

  ‘And I was wishing you weren’t.’ She slapped her hand over her mouth. ‘Scratch that!’

  He laughed. ‘But I wasn’t such a gentleman the next night.’

  ‘Really?’ she said, trying to sound prim instead of turned on.

  It took a real effort not to focus on imagining the exciting details of his fictional ungentlemanly behaviour and her fictional response. Since that first kiss she had spent too much time fantasising over the prospect of making love with Josh. Now he sat so near to her in the privacy of her home, it was impossible not to acknowledge that intense physical pull. ‘And we spent as much time as we could together before you had to go back to Boston.’

  ‘We did. In fact, we hardly left your hotel bedroom.’ His tone was so exaggerated in its lasciviousness it made her laugh.

  ‘If you say so,’ she said.

  ‘I wished so,’ he said with a grin.

  She was glad she had decided not to sit next to him on the sofa. It would be only too easy to let this game get out of hand and practise for real.

  ‘Let’s be serious,’ she said. ‘After the big celebrity wedding was over, I had to go to New York City to meet with one of Roxee’s friends who’d just got engaged and wanted me to design her wedding gown. That part of the story is true.’

  ‘So I flew to New York and we took up where we left off.’

  ‘Don’t say it, we hardly left the bedroom again and I saw nothing of New York.’

  ‘Actually, this time you said it,’ he said, laughter still warming his voice.

  ‘Yes, I did,’ she admitted. What a slip.

  ‘You pick up the story now,’ he said. ‘What happened next?’

  ‘I stayed in New York for as long as I could, but I had to get back to my work in Sydney. We said a sad goodbye.’

  ‘We kept in touch via video chat.’

  ‘And had lots of phone sex.’ Again she clapped her hand to her mouth. ‘I’m sorry—I don’t know how that slipped out. Too much of that white wine you brought to go with the Thai food.’ Was it wishful thinking that was causing her to blunder like this?

  ‘I’m sure it would be the case if...if our story were true.’ Was he humouring her? Or did he feel it too?

  ‘We realised it was more than a fling,’ she said.

  ‘Then I flew over to Sydney last week to surprise you and propose.’

  ‘And of course I was delighted.’ She sat back in the sofa. ‘That works for me. I think we’ve come up with a reasonable story. We just have to remember the details and stick with them.’

  And not feel inexplicably sad because it sounded like a really romantic story and for a minute there she’d found herself wishing she were in it. On that beachfront at Santa Monica and falling in love with a stranger. Only the man in the story wasn’t a stranger. It was Josh, real-life Josh, who was playing along with the game. And who looked so hot in those black jeans.

  She untangled her legs, took a sip from her wine glass. ‘Next question. Have you thought of anything you want to ask?’

  He shook his head. ‘I think you mi
ght know more about the subject of engagements than I do.’

  ‘I know one question we’re sure to be asked: When is the wedding? The second anyone gets engaged people start asking that.’

  He frowned. ‘That’s got me stymied. To be honest, it’s not something that has ever crossed my mind. What do you suggest?’

  ‘We can’t go wrong by saying spring. That gives us time to organise the hypothetical wedding. Say November, which is spring Down Under. That’s actually a lovely time to get married.’

  ‘November it is,’ he said. ‘And the wedding is in Sydney not Boston?’

  ‘Of course, as it’s the bride’s home town.’ She had to say the bride. She simply couldn’t bring herself to say my.

  ‘Might they ask if you are intending to move to Boston after the wedding?’ he said.

  ‘Or if you intend to move to Sydney?’

  They both fell silent. ‘It’s a tricky one,’ she said finally. ‘Why don’t we say we’re still fine-tuning the details?’

  ‘Because actually Boston is your home town too,’ he said slowly.

  The silence that fell between them was more uncomfortable than the mock-marriage plans warranted. Finally Eloise broke it. ‘So, moving on. The other question we’re sure to be asked is Can I see the engagement ring?’

  ‘I didn’t think of that.’ He swore under his breath. ‘Will I have time to buy one in the morning before we leave for the wedding?’

  ‘Thank you for the thought, but there’s no need. I have a ring we can use. I inherited it from my grandmother. It’s a gorgeous ruby and diamond ring. She called it a cocktail ring but it will suit our purpose. I’ve had the ring resized to fit me but never had a chance to wear it. Let me go and get it.’

  Eloise got up from the sofa and went into the bedroom, glad of the excuse to escape from Josh for a moment and get back her equilibrium. She was shaking. This game was a dangerous one. She’d too easily become engrossed in the fiction of falling in love with Josh, a man who, the second the hypothetical scenario of their wedding came up, immediately assumed she’d be moving to Boston. It was only an off-the-cuff remark, meaningless in its context. But it underscored the reasons why no matter how much she enjoyed his company, no matter how much she fancied him, she could never allow herself to even think about falling for Josh in real life. He didn’t appear to be controlling, but he certainly had a ruthless side to him. Who knew what he was really like?