Except Laurel. She’d thought his outfit was perfect—if only because it would annoy her sister. Which was a good enough reason for him to keep wearing it.
Melissa’s mother—Laurel’s stepmother, he supposed—wore a peacock-bright gown that looked too flashy next to her faded blonde hair. Her make-up was heavy, as if trying to hide the lines of her age, but somehow making them all the more obvious.
Then Laurel turned slightly, glancing over her shoulder—maybe looking for him? Dan stepped forward, ready to play knight in shining armour for his pretend girlfriend even if he couldn’t manage to be a real prince.
‘Laurel.’ He smiled, resting his fingertips against her shoulder as he moved behind her. ‘There you are. Do you have a moment, honey? I know you’re busy working, but there are some people I’d like you to meet.’
Or rescue him from. It was practically the same thing, right?
The relieved smile she sent up at him told him he’d done the right thing, even if her parents were looking rather less impressed at the interruption.
‘Dad, Angela, this is Dan. He’s my...’ She faltered for a moment, then started again. ‘We’re together.’
‘Dan?’ Angela’s eyes narrowed. ‘You didn’t say you were bringing a date to the wedding, Laurel. I know we talked about the exclusivity of the guest list, under the circumstances. It’s not like this is any old wedding.’
‘And I’m not any old date,’ Dan said cheerfully as he held out his hand to Laurel’s father. ‘Dan Black, sir,’ he said as they shook. Then he turned to offer his hand to Angela. ‘Riley’s older brother.’
Angela’s face tightened as her handshake turned weak and she tugged her fingers from his. ‘Riley’s brother.’ She turned to glare at Laurel. ‘Well. This is unexpected. Does Melissa know that you two are...?’ She waved a hand vaguely between them, as if articulating the relationship was too disgusting even to contemplate.
‘Not yet.’
Laurel’s words came out small, subdued, and Dan reached out to touch her again, to remind her that she wasn’t alone. Wasn’t that the whole point of this charade, anyway?
‘We thought we’d share our good news with her this evening,’ Dan said, trying to keep his tone bright and his expression oblivious to the glares Angela was spreading around their little group. ‘I’m sure she and Riley will be very happy for us.’
‘I’m sure they will,’ Laurel’s father said, apparently also immune to the glares. At least until Angela elbowed him in his soft middle. ‘Oh, but...perhaps tonight isn’t the night to tell them, darling,’ he added, having finally got a clue. ‘It’s a very big night for Melissa.’
‘It’s a very big week all round,’ Dan agreed. ‘But, really, I do always think that keeping love a secret sends the wrong message, don’t you? And I wouldn’t ever want Laurel to doubt my feelings about her.’
Maybe that was going a little far, judging by the way Angela’s face paled and Laurel’s father’s cheeks turned a rosy shade of red at the reminder of how she’d been his mistress for almost two decades. Dan tested his conscience and discovered he didn’t care. If they couldn’t take it, he decided, they really shouldn’t spread such poisonous looks and comments around in the first place.
‘Now, if you’ll excuse us a moment?’
He reached an arm around Laurel’s shoulders, trying hard only to touch the dress and not her bare skin—which, given the design, wasn’t easy. But he knew that if he placed his hands on that long, lean back he’d be done for. And he needed all his wits about him if they both wanted to make it through the evening intact.
‘You shouldn’t have said that,’ she whispered to him as they turned away.
‘Probably not,’ he agreed. ‘But you have to admit it was fun.’
The secret smile she gave him was reward enough.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked as he steered her across the room.
‘Ah.’ As much as he wished he could just lead her out of the bar, back through the endless hotel corridors to their room, he had promised his parents he was coming back. With her. ‘Well, if you consider your parents the frying pan...let’s just say our next stop could be thought of as the fire.’
Laurel groaned. ‘I’m going to need more champagne for this, aren’t I?’
‘Definitely,’ Dan said, and flagged down a passing waiter.
CHAPTER FOUR
LAUREL’S MIND WAS still replaying the moment Dan had managed to insult and embarrass her father and stepmother all in the same moment, with just one passing comment, as he handed her a glass of champagne and they continued their journey across the huge hotel bar. She had a feeling she’d be reliving it all week, as an antidote to whatever repercussions Angela deemed appropriate for the injury. The thing was, of course, she couldn’t actually disagree with anything Dan had said. Just the implications, and the suggestion that he had every intention of sharing the news of their relationship with the bride that evening.
Melissa, Laurel knew, would be livid. The thing she hated most in the world was people stealing her thunder. And while at her own wedding that might be moderately understandable, the fact was it wouldn’t matter what the circumstances: Melissa hated anyone else getting any attention at all—especially if she felt it had been taken away from her.
Perhaps it was a hold-over from her childhood when, ignored by her own father for sixteen years, she’d had to try and win attention in other ways. Maybe that explained why she’d become not just an actress, but a celebrity, whose every move and look was pored over by the press and the public.
As far as Laurel was concerned it certainly explained why she’d become a stone-cold witch.
‘Brace yourself,’ Dan muttered as they approached another older couple—far more polished and professional-looking than her own father and stepmother, despite Melissa’s insistence on stylists for them both for the week.
‘This is the worst Meet the Parents evening ever,’ she murmured back, and Dan flashed her a quick smile.
‘And we’re only halfway there.’
Halfway. That was something. She’d survived her own parents—with Dan at her side had done more than just survive. She’d left on her own terms and with the upper hand—something she wasn’t sure had ever happened before in the history of her relationship with them.
Now she owed Dan the same.
‘Mother. Father.’ Dan gave Laurel the slightest push so she stood half in front of him. ‘I’d like you to meet my girlfriend—Laurel.’
There was no hesitation in his speech, no hitching of his voice over the lie. He seemed perfectly comfortable introducing an almost total stranger to his parents as his one and only love. Maybe she should be a little more concerned about sharing a bedroom—and a fake relationship—with such a consummate liar.
But Dan’s parents’ attention was entirely on her, and there was no more time to worry about it. It was time to put on the show.
‘Laurel, these are my parents—Wendell and Linda Black.’
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you both at last,’ Laurel said, pasting on her prettiest smile. ‘Dan’s told me so much about you, and of course we’ve been in touch over the wedding planning.’ She just hoped they didn’t ask exactly what he’d said about them, since the sum total of her knowledge of them was their names and what she’d scribbled down in her notebook when Melissa had been running through the guest list.
‘You’re the organiser woman,’ Wendell said, clicking his fingers. ‘Of course! All those detailed schedules and flight plan options. Well, Dan, I have to say, she’s not your usual type!’
‘Which can only be an advantage, I suppose,’ Linda added drily.
She scrutinised Laurel so closely that she felt almost as if she were on a doctor’s examination table.
‘So. You’re a wedding planner.’
‘She owns the business organising Riley and Melissa’s wedding,’ Dan corrected her, before Laurel could answer. ‘The biggest celebrity wedding of the year. Quite the coup, I’m sure you’ll agree.’
‘Unless your sister is the bride,’ Linda said, and Laurel gritted her teeth.
Melissa being her sister had only made this job harder, not easier, and the truth was she’d done an amazing job in difficult circumstances. Somehow, she didn’t think Dan’s parents were the sort of people to appreciate that.
‘So, you purposely set out to build a business that...organises people’s weddings for them?’ Wendell was frowning, as if he couldn’t quite make sense of the idea. ‘Why? I mean, you’re obviously a bright young woman. You’d have to be good with details and planning to pull off this sort of affair. Why not use your talents somewhere they could really matter?’
‘Maybe you were wrong, Wendell,’ Linda put it. ‘Seems like she’s just like Dan after all.’
Beside her Laurel felt Dan stiffen, and wondered how many times they’d said the same thing to him. That he was wasting his time doing what he loved, running the company he’d built from the ground up all by himself. That his success didn’t matter because he wasn’t doing something they approved of. That he was wasting his time on something unimportant.
Did they feel the same way about Riley? Or was his celebrity status enough of an achievement to avoid their censure?
Dan hadn’t spoken, and when she glanced up at him his expression was stone-like, flat and hard and unyielding. She hoped the glass stem of his champagne flute was strong, given the tight grip he seemed to have on it.
Time for her to return the parental put-down for him.
‘You’re both doctors, aren’t you?’ she asked, still smiling sweetly. ‘Very successful and famous ones, by all accounts.’
‘That’s right,’ Wendell said, puffed up with his own pride.
Linda nodded a little more cautiously.
‘I think that’s marvellous,’ Laurel said honestly. ‘I think it’s wonderful that your natural talents have led you to a field where you can make such a difference in the world. I think it’s so important for everyone to follow their natural talents, wherever they lead, don’t you?’
‘I suppose so,’ Wendell agreed, but he was frowning as he spoke.
‘Some talents are obviously more valuable than others, though,’ Linda added.
Laurel tilted her head to the side. ‘Do you really think so? I’ve always believed that every talent is equally valid and valuable. I mean, imagine if everyone in the world only possessed the same sort of talent! If we were all doctors there’d be no one left to do anything else. You’d suddenly find yourselves spending your whole days learning how to design a car, or having to clean your own home, or write your own books to read—and have no time left for medicine at all.’
‘Well, I hardly think that’s going to happen.’
Linda folded her arms over her chest, and for a moment Laurel wondered if she was simply going to walk away from her. But she didn’t. Whether it was politeness or morbid curiosity, she was going to wait and see where Laurel was going with this.
Good.
‘Of course not,’ Laurel agreed. ‘Not everyone is going to be a doctor. Or a wedding planner, for that matter. But the thing is, the people I organise weddings for...quite often they’re not good at the same things as me. They’re not good at the details, or the inspiration, or the planning. I can take that off their shoulders so they can get on with what they are good at—whether that’s saving lives, educating children, or starring in movies. And at the same time I get to do what I love—and make a decent living out of it, thank you. So it works for everyone.’
‘Not to mention the fact that a wedding can be the most important, memorable day in a person’s life,’ Dan put in. ‘Laurel makes sure that it is perfect for them. She literally makes their memories. I think that’s pretty important, don’t you?’
He reached out to rest a hand at the small of her back and Laurel froze at the contact, feeling the warmth of his touch snake all the way up her spine. Why on earth had she chosen this dress? Couldn’t she have picked something with a little more fabric? Something that didn’t make her feel as if she was naked in front of his parents?
Of course when she’d packed it she hadn’t expected to be spending the evening as someone’s girlfriend.
‘And the same goes for Dan’s business, of course,’ Laurel added, smiling dotingly up at him. ‘He’s made a hugely successful career out of doing what other people can’t—what they wouldn’t dare to try. I imagine Riley’s career in blockbuster action movies would have been a lot less successful without people like Dan stepping in to do the really wild stuff. Don’t you agree?’
Even if they did, Laurel was sure Wendell and Linda wouldn’t say so. But sometimes, as she’d found with her parents, just letting them know that their opinion wasn’t the only one was enough. Enough to make her feel a little better about never being quite good enough for them.
And, from the way Dan’s fingers caressed her spine, she suspected he felt the same.
Leaning in against his side, she let herself imagine for a moment that this wasn’t an act. That he really was there to support her.
Wait. That part was true. They might not be a couple, might not be in love, but they were both there to help the other through the week from hell. And suddenly Laurel realised that that might be all she needed after all.
‘Linda! Wendell!’
Laurel stiffened again at the sound of her stepmother’s voice. Yes, that was what this situation needed—more awful parents.
‘Angela.’ Linda’s voice was tight, her smile barely reaching her lips. ‘And Duncan. So lovely to see you both again.’
‘Well, we should probably—’ Dan started, but Angela interrupted him.
‘Oh, no, Dan, do stay. I mean, now we’re all going to be family I’m sure we’re all just dying to hear exactly how you met our Laurel and how you came to be together. Such a surprise—don’t you agree, Linda?’
‘A total shock,’ Linda said flatly. ‘But then, we’re rather used to those from Dan.’
‘So, how did you two meet?’
Laurel glanced up at Dan at her father’s words, hoping he might have a suitable story prepared. Why had she wasted so much time hiding from him in the bathroom when they could have been preparing for this exact question?
‘Well...’ Dan said.
Laurel held her breath, waiting for the lie.
But before he could start to tell it the main door to the bar flew open and there stood Melissa, resplendent in the forest-green gown her stylist had finally got her to agree to, after twenty-two other dresses had been deemed unsuitable. Riley was half hidden behind her, his tux making far less of an impact even with his all-American good looks.
‘Friends! My fiancé and I are just so delighted to welcome you all here to celebrate our wedding.’ Melissa beamed around the room and Riley stepped out of her shadow, looking awkward in his dinner jacket, and gave a little wave. ‘I hope you all have just the best time—’ She cut off abruptly, her sideways smile replaced by a sudden scowl as her gaze fell on Laurel and Dan.
Oh, dear.
Laurel made to move away from Dan’s side—just enough to give them plausible deniability until Melissa had finished her public announcements. But Dan’s arm tightened around her waist, holding her close, and when she looked up at him his eyes were locked with Melissa’s.
He wanted this. Wanted the conflict and the declaration and Melissa’s wrath. But why? Just to see her reaction?
Laurel couldn’t help but feel she was missing half the story, here, and she really didn’t like it.
‘What the hell is going on here?’ Melissa demanded, still staring at them, her hands on her hips.
‘We...’ Laurel started to speak, but her mouth was too dry and the word came out as little more than a whisper. Her whole body felt too hot, flushed with panic and the sort of intense guilt and fear that only Melissa could make her feel. Only the half-sister whose life she’d stolen, whose happiness she’d lived, even when she hadn’t known Melissa even existed.
She could never make that up to Melissa, no matter how hard she tried. But Laurel knew she had to keep trying, regardless. That was only fair.
And now she was ruining Melissa’s big night. She was a horrible person.
From nowhere, Eloise appeared, looking slightly flustered and flushed, her cheeks a shade of pink that clashed horribly with her red hair. She swooped in and put an arm around Melissa’s shoulders, whispering fast and low into the bride’s ear. Slowly Melissa’s thunderous expression retreated, to be replaced with the sweetness-and-light smile that she usually displayed for the crowds and her public.
‘Anyway, I do hope you are all enjoying your evening,’ she went on, as if her previous outburst had never happened.
Whatever Eloise had said, it seemed to have worked. The tightness in Laurel’s chest started to ease just enough to let her breathe properly again. Dan stroked the base of her back once more, and she relaxed into his touch. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t the only one Melissa was furious with right now. Whatever happened next, she had back-up.
And that meant a lot today.
‘I’m looking forward to talking with every one of you, and welcoming you personally to Melissa and Riley’s Wedding Extravaganza!’ Melissa finished, with a flourish, holding out her skirt and giving a slight curtsey.
As sponsored by Star! magazine, Laurel added mentally. It was still all a show to Melissa. She wondered if the actual marriage part—the bit that came next and theoretically for the rest of their lives—had even really registered with her half-sister. She hoped so. Because otherwise she had a feeling that Dan would be having words with his brother, and she really didn’t want this whole thing called off at the last moment.
Proposal for the Wedding Planner Page 6