‘I’ll do it.’ There. She said the words before she had too much time to think any more. To mull things over.
And Will did the thing she’d longed for. He sealed it with a kiss.
* * *
The interviews were set. The voting lines would be announced tomorrow. With so much publicity for the homeless charity and the papers filled with all his ex-fiancées everyone seemed to have forgotten about the picture of him and Rose in the press. Everyone but him.
For the first time in his life he’d cut a picture from the press. He’d even saved it and printed it from one of the press Internet sites.
He loved it. He loved the way they were captured in it. Daisy was the photographer in Rose’s family and he’d heard her talk with passion about her pictures and what she wanted to capture in them. But he’d never really got it before.
Not before now.
Not before he could see the look on both his and Rose’s faces. Captured for an eternity. And he loved it. He was actually going to frame it.
But it made him nervous. Now, everything else paled in comparison to how he felt about Rose. He could see it now. He could see the infatuation. But he’d never felt the love. Not like this.
How would she be when he told her what he’d done? If she felt the same way he did, everything should work out fine. If she didn’t?
He’d need to learn to live with having a runaway bride.
CHAPTER NINE
PAUL SCHOLAND WAS her favourite ever TV presenter. With his bright, sparkling blue eyes and prematurely grey hair the female audience just loved him. He had all the exes eating out of the palm of his hand and had got the mixture of personal and publicity just right. Rose’s tightly tied-up stomach was finally starting to relax. Particularly when she got a text about the sudden upsurge in voting. Things were going better than she could ever have imagined.
Will had spent most of the morning pacing around the room; Violet had come in every now and then to howl with laughter at some of the comments and then left again. Will’s segment had been pre-recorded and when his face filled the screen Rose took in a deep breath.
The camera loved him. She’d always known it, but she’d never really appreciated it before. His eyes were even more remarkable than Paul’s, his dark hair framing his face, with tiny lived-in lines around his eyes enhancing his good looks. But better than everything was his easy, laid-back attitude. The whole world was falling in love with him right now—her included—and Rose was feeling sparks of jealousy.
This was her Will. Hers. She didn’t want to share him.
‘Is it over yet?’ He was watching from beneath his fingers. She nodded. ‘Just about.’ She turned her phone towards him. ‘Look how things have gone.’
His eyes widened and he dropped his hands. ‘How much?’
She smiled. ‘Yeah, that much. And it’s only the first day. You were on the front page of one of the red tops today, too. People are talking about this—talking about your charity.’
He looked a little doubtful. ‘I’m being made a laughing stock on national TV.’
Rose stood up and walked towards him. ‘Paul handled those interviews really well. In the meantime, money is being raised for your charity. You’ve got another interview on the main news channel tomorrow. That will give you an opportunity to speak about your friend and why you’re doing this. You’ll be able to talk about the night on the street, too. It will all balance out, Will. This is a good thing that you’re doing.’
He stood up next to her. ‘I know. I just wonder what I’m going to end up doing.’ He shook his head. ‘It could be a disaster.’
‘It will be fine. No matter what it is at the end of the day, it’ll be worth it.’
He nodded slowly. ‘You’re right. Of course you’re right.’ He lifted his hand and twisted his finger through a lock of her hair. ‘So where are we with your list?’
For a second her thoughts were jumbled, then her woolly brain came into focus. ‘The wedding list, yes.’ She turned and walked over to the table and picked up her black planner. ‘Okay, venue, marquees, food, band all sorted.’
‘Is your dad playing at his own wedding?’
She sighed. ‘Of course he is. But not till later. Their support band is playing for most of the main event. But there’s no show without punch. At some point my dad and the guys will want to get up there and rock out.’
She ran her finger down the rest of the list. ‘Violet’s doing the flowers—apparently my mother’s already given her instructions. Mum’s got her dress and we’ve all picked ours. Daisy is doing some of the wedding pics and her assistant is doing some others.’
‘What about everything else?’
‘Well, the wedding favours and chocolates are sorted, as are the chair covers and balloons. I’ve just got to sort out a wedding cake and to choose wine and a drinks list for the bar.’
‘When do you need to do that?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘In around an hour. I was kind of hoping you would come with me and help me choose the last few things.’
Will shrugged. ‘I can choose wedding cake and the wine is already sorted. Sounds like every guy’s dream date.’
She opened her mouth to stop him, to tell him it wasn’t a date, and then stopped. She was almost glad he was thinking like that. It felt kind of nice.
She took a few minutes to finish up with emails and phone calls, finalising the flight arrangements for the reporter flying in from New York to write her father’s book. She’d worked with Tom Buckley on numerous occasions and he was great. The only hiccup this time was the scheduling. Tom was on another job and the soonest he could get here was the same day as her mother and father’s wedding renewal. She’d have to leave at night to pick him up from the airport. It couldn’t be helped.
Will finished on his phone around the same time she did. ‘Ready?’
She nodded and they walked outside to his car. ‘Do you have an address?’
She bit the inside of her cheek and turned her phone around to show him. He blinked. Twice. ‘Really? What on earth...?’
‘Yeah, I know. When I phoned Angie to ask her to take part in setting a dare she asked me how things were. Before I knew it, I’d told her about my parents’ wedding renewal and how difficult it was to find everyone at short notice. She said her sister would be delighted to make the wedding cake.’
‘Does she know I’m coming along?’
Rose looked at him nervously. ‘It might be a little awkward but I’m sure it will be fine.’
‘I sure hope so. Otherwise we’re both in trouble. You won’t get any cake and I’ll probably end up wearing some.’
She laughed. ‘I’m sure it won’t end up like that. Angie was great on the phone. She couldn’t have been nicer. She seems really happy now she’s married with a baby of her own.’
He looked thoughtful as they continued along the road. ‘Angie is nice. She’s great, in fact.’
The words did strange things to her insides. She liked Angie. She really did. She just didn’t want to think about the history between her and Will. She couldn’t even bear to think about it.
‘She just wasn’t right for me—like I wasn’t right for her.’
It was like a wave of relief washing over her. And it was almost as if Will realised her apprehension because one of his hands left the wheel and squeezed her leg through her dress as he glanced sideways at her.
‘You’re right. I’m sure it will be fine.’ He put his hand back on the steering wheel and they continued along the road until they eventually reached the address.
Angie’s sister Deb was the ultimate professional. Small and petite with a bright red bob, she had a whole portfolio of cake photos to show Rose along with lots of samples of her baking.
They were all laid out before
her. ‘Here are the sponges—try a bit of each. If there’s a special request I can make it. I have traditional fruit cake, carrot cake, chocolate cake, strawberry and white chocolate, dark chocolate and orange, coconut and vanilla sponge, lemon sponge and coffee sponge.’ Each one was more delicious than the last.
‘Do you like them?’
‘I love them all.’ Rose kept flicking through the cake book. It was difficult to know which style and what kind of decorations to choose. She turned the book towards Will. ‘What do you think? A traditional tiered cake or something more novelty?’
‘What do your parents like best?’
‘That’s just it. I don’t know. For birthdays we quite often have novelty cakes. But I’m not sure if they’d want that for their wedding.’
‘How many tiers do you want? Do you know how many guests are coming?’ Angie’s sister had her order book poised.
Rose groaned. ‘It could be three hundred.’
Deb blinked twice. ‘Do you want some advice?’
Rose nodded. ‘Gladly. I know nothing about this kind of stuff. I just don’t have a clue.’
Deb flicked through her portfolio. ‘Keep it simple—or as simple as you can with that amount of guests. How about an eight-tier cake with one of every kind of sponge? That way your guests will be able to find something they like. I can cover it in royal icing with some pale ribbons and you could get your florist to do a display for the top that matches your mum’s flowers.’
Rose nodded quickly. She was happy to take any suggestion right now that made things a little easier. Deb pointed to the cakes in front of her. ‘I’ll go and make you some tea. Just pick which sponge for each layer.’ She handed over a diagram. ‘Remember sponge one will be the biggest and sponge eight the smallest so all you need to do is decide the order. I’ll give you some space because this can take a little bit of time.’
She left Rose and Will together in the room. Will had barely said a word since they got there. ‘Are you okay?’
He gave the tiniest nod. ‘It’s just weird, that’s all. She hasn’t even mentioned the dares or the press stuff.’
‘She probably doesn’t want to.’ Rose pointed to all the sponges. ‘This is her business and doing Mum and Dad’s cake will be good publicity for her portfolio. I’m expecting her to charge a lot more because of the short notice but I’m just so relieved to have someone.’
Will frowned. ‘This wedding is costing a lot of money.’
Rose nodded.
‘But doesn’t that kind of go against your mum and dad’s principles?’
She wrinkled her nose. ‘I know what you mean. To be honest they probably give away the same amount of money that they spend.’ She shrugged. ‘From a strictly PR perspective the wedding will look ostentatious. It will feed the public image that they’re successful and doing well. But it also means that they can continue to give to all the charitable causes they want to—with or without publicity.’
Will nodded. He looked thoughtful and picked up a piece of one of the sponges. ‘Which is your favourite?’
‘I can’t decide. They’re all delicious.’
‘What would you pick for your wedding cake?’ It was a simple enough question. ‘If it was up to me I’d have the whole thing chocolate.’
‘Oh, no.’ She waved her hand. ‘I wouldn’t want a wedding cake anyway.’
‘You wouldn’t?’ He was surprised. He knew she’d said she didn’t want a big wedding. But just how small did she actually mean?
Rose shook her head and waved her hand. ‘I don’t want any of it. Any of it at all.’
A horrible feeling crept over him. ‘Do you mean the wedding?’
She tilted her head to the side. ‘No, but that’s all I want. The wedding. A dress and a bunch of flowers for my hands.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘And presumably a groom?’
She threw back her head and laughed. ‘Well, hopefully that’s part of the package and not an optional extra.’
Relief started to flood through him. It was odd. He hadn’t actually realised that when Rose said small, she actually meant minimal. It wasn’t quite what he’d imagined. But the more he got to know her, the more he understood.
Rose lifted a little piece of carrot cake and nibbled. ‘This one is delicious.’ She sighed and lifted up the strawberry and white chocolate. ‘But I like this one, too.’ It crumbled as she bit into it and Will reached over and put his hand under her chin. She spluttered as he caught the crumbs. ‘Never thought of you as a messy eater.’ His eyes twinkled as he lifted some of the chocolate cake. ‘Here, try my favourite.’
She hesitated. There was something so intimate about being fed by someone else. Even if it was in the middle of the day in someone else’s house. Her eyes darted to the door. Deb was nowhere in sight.
She opened her mouth as he positioned the light, moist sponge at her mouth. The chocolate frosting was perfect, sending little explosions around her mouth, to say nothing of the ones as his fingers contacted her lips.
His thumb smudged across the edges. ‘You’ve got a little bit stuck,’ he whispered.
‘Where?’ She looked around for a napkin.
‘I’ll get it,’ he offered as he bent forward to kiss her. His lips touched hers, lightly at first, delicately, before he eased her lips apart and joined their mouths together. His hand slid around the nape of her neck and through her hair, making her want to beg for more. This was it. This was what he did to her. Gave her a little taste that left her begging for more.
The voices started in her head. She was getting in too deep. Every kiss took her a step closer to never wanting to go back. Angie’s sister’s house floated around her head. There was a thought to chill her heated blood. She pulled back and made a grab for a napkin. It was perfect timing as Deb appeared with the tea, her bright smile still firmly in place.
Rose picked up the diagram and quickly numbered each tier of the cake with the sponge she wanted. ‘Thank you so much, Deb, for doing this. Let me know how much I owe you.’
Deb hesitated but shook her head. ‘It’s fine, but I’d be really grateful if you could get a photo with your mum and dad and the cake for my portfolio.’
‘Of course. Of course. No problem at all.’
Deb gave a hopeful smile. ‘Thanks.’
It only took them a few minutes to get in the car and leave. Rose was feeling happy. All the things on her wedding list were finally ticked off. For once, she could relax. All she needed to focus on now was making the bangle for her mum.
Then there was the horrible sinking realisation that she really had no reason to spend time with Will any more. All of a sudden his proposition about being on the streets one night didn’t seem quite so scary.
Will seemed laid-back. ‘So, are you ready for your night on the tiles with me?’
‘When a guy invites a girl for a night on the tiles he doesn’t usually mean it literally.’
Will glanced over at her. ‘I like to do things a little differently. Anyway it will take my mind off those hideous dares. Have you heard any more about them?’
She nodded and smiled. ‘It’s a definite split vote between the gladiator, the thong and the total body waxing.’ She shrugged. ‘Personally I thought people might be more inclined to go for the more venomous one—the dunking in the Thames. But no, it seems it’s humiliation all the way.’
‘Does the total-body hair wax include the hair on my head?’
‘Absolutely.’
He shuddered. ‘It just doesn’t seem that appropriate for a homeless charity.’
‘But dressing in a thong and working in a lingerie department does?’
His eyes were fixed on the road but his lips turned upwards. ‘No, that’s definitely pure humiliation all the way.’
He was taking it real
ly well. The whole dare thing didn’t seem to bother him or annoy him. He was prepared to take it on the chin.
It was just another reason to like him all the more. Somehow she knew spending a night out on the streets with Will wasn’t going to be the best idea in the world. He was already ticking so many boxes for her. Was she really prepared to let him tick the last few?
‘What will I need?’
‘Warm clothes, especially a jacket and shoes. It can be really cold at night.’
‘Do you think we’ll get any sleep at all?’
‘I have no idea. I guess we’ll find out. Is one of the reporters from the paper coming along?’
She screwed up her face. ‘He’ll do a cover story. It took quite a bit of persuading. But I don’t think he’ll stay all night.’
Will’s phone sounded and he lifted his hip slightly. ‘Can you pull that out for me?’
She stretched over and slid her hand into his pocket. The skin next to the thin cotton lining of the pocket was warm. She tried not to focus on that as she made a grab for the phone. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
‘It’s Violet. She wants you to phone her.’ Her stomach did a little flip. This was her sister. Will was Vi’s best friend. She had no reason to feel jealous.
Will gave a slight nod of his head but said nothing. It just made her feel worse.
‘Just drop me back at home,’ she said abruptly. ‘I need to spend some time on my mother’s bangle.’
‘Okay.’ They drove in silence until he reached her parents’ house and she jumped out of the car as quickly as she could. ‘Thanks. I’ll text you about Saturday night.’ She slammed the door quickly as she strode inside, passing Violet in the corridor. ‘Is Will outside? I need to talk to him.’
Violet wandered past her and outside as Rose made her way to her workshop. She needed to get a hold of herself. She needed to get things into perspective. Her mind was playing tricks on her these days. Making her think irrational thoughts. Was this what it felt like to be in love? Because if it was—it wasn’t good. All of a sudden she felt sick to her stomach.
A Bride for the Runaway Groom Page 13