The crowd applauded, as if on command, and then turned back to their own conversations. The moment the attention was off her Melissa’s face dropped back into a disapproving scowl once more. She strode across to where Dan and Laurel were standing with their parents, Riley tailing behind.
‘Something you’d like to tell me, sister?’ Melissa asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Laurel felt her chest start to tighten again. ‘Um... Well...’
Dan’s fingers splayed out across her bare back—a reassuring presence. ‘Melissa. It’s so lovely to finally meet you,’ he said, all politeness. ‘Obviously I’ve heard plenty about you already, but it’s nice to actually meet my sister-in-law-to-be in the flesh, so to speak.’
Melissa blinked up at him, wrong-footed by the polite tone. ‘Of course. It’s lovely to meet you too. Dan. I just wasn’t aware that you were so well acquainted with my sister.’
Half-sister, Laurel’s brain filled in. Melissa always referred to her as her half-sister, unless there was something to gain by claiming the full connection. In this case, she guessed, that would be guilt. Laurel’s guilt, particularly. She wanted Laurel thinking, How could I possibly do this to my sister at her wedding?
And, of course, that was exactly what she was thinking.
‘Dan and Laurel were just about to tell us how they met, darling,’ Angela said, leaning over to kiss her daughter on the cheek. ‘You look stunning, by the way.’
‘Thank you,’ Melissa replied, accepting the compliment automatically, as her due. ‘That’s a story I’d be very interested to hear. It’s really quite difficult to imagine how or when you two might have been able to meet and start a relationship. Or what on earth you’ve found in common.’
You mean, what on earth does he see in me? Laurel translated. She’d been interpreting Melissa’s put-downs and comments for enough years now to figure out exactly what their underlying message was. It helped to know that whenever Melissa next got her alone, Laurel could be sure to hear the unfiltered version—the cutting words she wouldn’t say in front of other people. Laurel had taken to treating it as a game, a way to distract herself from the hurt Melissa’s comments caused, scoring herself on how accurate her translations were rather than dwelling on what truth there might be in her half-sister’s words.
‘Oh, we got chatting over email to start with,’ Dan said lightly, answering the question Melissa had actually asked rather than the implied one. ‘All that wedding planning, organising flights and such. I had some scheduling issues, and Laurel helped me sort them out. Went above and beyond, really.’
All true, so far, Laurel observed. Obviously he was banking on the fact that the truth was easier to remember than a lie.
But next came the part where he started making things up.
‘Then I got a call inviting me over to London for some meetings with a couple of people in the industry here,’ Dan said, shrugging. ‘At that point—well, it seemed natural that I suggest we meet up for a drink while I was over here. One thing led to another...’
‘I don’t think we need to hear about that, Daniel,’ Linda said sharply, and Laurel hid her grin.
‘You never said, man!’ Riley beamed at his brother and held out both hands, clasping Dan’s between them. ‘This is so great! We’ll be like, brothers, but we’ll also be, like, brothers-in-law!’
‘It’s all still fairly new,’ Laurel cautioned, sensing that Riley was about to get carried away.
The last thing she needed, after the humiliation of one broken engagement, was for her family to start believing she’d be the next one up the aisle, when in truth they hadn’t even made it to a first date. Which was kind of a shame, really. Under normal circumstances maybe she and Dan could have gone out on a date like normal people. That was one thing this charade had taken firmly off the table, though.
Not the right place, not the right time, and not the right prince. She had to remember that.
‘But it’s serious,’ Melissa said, looking at them both thoughtfully.
Apparently she’d bought the lie, Laurel realised. Which only made her more nervous about what Melissa planned to do with the knowledge.
‘Very,’ Dan lied, pulling Laurel closer.
Laurel tried to smile in agreement.
‘Because obviously you wouldn’t want to steal my thunder like this for a casual fling, would you?’
There it was.
‘Of course not,’ Laurel said, knowing that there was no way out now. This mock relationship had to make it all the way through to the wedding or all hell would break loose. The only thing Melissa would consider worse than Dan and Laurel getting together at her wedding, distracting attention from her, was them splitting up in any kind of public way between now and the wedding.
Which meant they were stuck with each other for good. Or at least for the next five days. Which kind of felt like the same thing. Laurel had found it impossible to see past New Year’s Day for months now...the idea of a world in which she wasn’t organising Melissa’s wedding was just a strange, faraway dream.
‘I’m afraid that true love just doesn’t work to order, Melissa.’
Dan kissed the top of her head, and Laurel tried not to feel the walls closing in on her.
‘Let’s get some more champagne,’ Eloise said, clapping her hands together and drawing the attention of a passing waiter.
‘What a marvellous idea,’ Laurel agreed.
* * *
It was a couple of hours before Dan finally managed to drag Laurel away from the welcome drinks. As the wedding planner, she’d insisted on staying until the bitter end, making sure that everything went according to her schedule. At least their parents had all toddled off to bed around midnight, shortly after Melissa’s precisely timed and highly orchestrated departure. And, despite Dan’s best efforts to get his brother alone for a chat—thwarted mostly by the endless stream of friends wanting to buy the groom a drink—Riley had sloped off shortly after Melissa, with far less fanfare, presumably to the room that was supposed to be Dan’s.
So when all that was left was a few of the hardcore drinkers, doing shots at the bar, Dan steered Laurel towards the door.
‘Come on. There’s nothing left for you to do here. I’m shattered, and you must be too. Let’s go get some sleep. It’s going to be another long day tomorrow.’
Laurel smiled up at him wearily. ‘You’re right, I know. I just hate leaving before everything is finished and tidied away.’
Dan glanced back towards the bar. ‘You could be here all night with this lot. Better save your energy for a more important battle.’
Which, in Dan’s case, he suspected would be trying to sleep in the same bed as Laurel without touching her. It was one thing to decide that a woman was off-limits, employing that famous control he was so proud of. It was another thing entirely to like it. Resisting temptation was always harder when temptation was lying right next to him.
‘Like managing Melissa,’ Laurel said, and sighed. ‘Yeah, okay.’
They made their way up to their room in companionable silence, but Dan couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing the same thing he was—mentally reliving their evening together.
The strangest thing, he decided, was the difference in Laurel when she spoke to her sister. With her father and stepmother she’d been reticent, as if she was holding back from saying what she really felt. She’d had no such compunction with his parents, he realised. She’d been polite, charming, but forthright with it—and left them in no doubts about her views.
A warm feeling filled his chest when he remembered the things she’d said about him and the importance of living according to your own talents, dreams and values, not someone else’s. For the first time in years he had honestly felt as if someone understood what he was doing, what he wanted. Understood him.
&n
bsp; It was almost a shame it was all an act, really.
Besides, that confidence and conviction had disappeared the moment Melissa had entered the room. He’d watched it drain away from her, as if Melissa had sucked it out, leaving her half-sister empty.
He hadn’t liked seeing Laurel like that. Since the moment they’d met she’d been so bright and vivacious—except when Melissa was there, in person or on the phone, commanding her complete attention and energy.
‘Here we go,’ Laurel said, rubbing her eye with one hand while the other fumbled with the key.
Dan took it from her and opened the door, letting her through first. As it swung shut behind him he headed straight to the mini-bar. ‘Want anything?’ he asked, staring at the contents as he tried to decide if one more drink would make things better or worse. Alcohol wasn’t always the best thing for retaining his control.
Of course his control would be a lot easier to hold on to if he knew that Laurel wasn’t at all interested. Maybe he should just ask her—get it out of the way. She’d tell him once again that she was holding out for a hero, or whatever, and that all they could ever have was a fake relationship. Then he could move on, safe in the knowledge that there was no risk of anything more at all.
Except...there were hints. Tiny ones. Hints Laurel might not even be aware of but he couldn’t help but catalogue and add to his list of things he knew about Laurel.
The way she leant into his touch. The warmth in her eyes when she looked at him. The shiver he’d felt go through her when he’d first touched the base of her back...
Laurel had told him herself that she was a terrible actress. So why was she acting as if she was as attracted to him as he was to her?
Dan stared balefully at the tiny bottles of spirits in front of him, knowing that the chances were they wouldn’t help at all.
Laurel shook her head. ‘I’m done.’
‘Me too.’ He let the fridge door close. ‘Want to use the bathroom first?’
It was a gentlemanly offer, and had the added advantage that Laurel looked so exhausted that if she got into bed first Dan was pretty sure she’d be passed out before he even managed to slip between the covers.
At least that way she wouldn’t notice if he couldn’t sleep at all.
As she locked the bathroom door behind her Dan took the opportunity to strip down to his boxers and a T-shirt. That was acceptable nightwear, right? Usually he didn’t bother, but he figured even sleepy Laurel would object to complete nudity when she woke up in the morning.
Sitting on the edge of the bed to wait his turn, Dan tried not to imagine what Laurel might be doing in there. Whether she was naked, most specifically. What she wore to bed. How she looked sleep-tousled, her hair loose around her shoulders...
It didn’t matter. She was off-limits.
As much as he might fantasise otherwise.
Finally she was done. She waved a hand to motion him towards the bathroom as she passed him, and before he could stand she’d already slipped under the covers—on the side of the bed he usually slept on. Fantastic.
Still, she looked so tired he couldn’t even object.
In the harsh light of the bathroom he stared into the mirror at his familiar old face and tried to convince himself that this wasn’t a big deal. So he was sharing a bed with a beautiful woman? So what? It wasn’t as if it hadn’t happened before. And he sure hoped it would happen again. Often.
So why was his heart hammering just a little too fast in his chest? And why did his hands shake as he reached for his toothbrush?
Okay, fine. He knew exactly why, and he couldn’t even claim it was all down to Laurel.
It was the Cassie thing.
But Laurel didn’t know that he hadn’t spent a full night in bed with another woman since his divorce—and she didn’t need to know. Yeah, it might feel a bit strange, but so what? This wasn’t romance, and it wasn’t love—they’d been clear about that, if nothing else. He wasn’t going to get his heart trampled on when Laurel looked around and found someone better.
This was platonic. All he had to do was keep his hands to himself for the night and it would all be fine.
Pep-talk over, he switched off the light and headed back into the bedroom, trying to be as silent as he could to avoid waking Laurel.
But to his surprise, when he settled under the covers, she murmured, ‘Goodnight,’ and he realised she wasn’t asleep at all.
‘Night, Laurel,’ he whispered back.
And then he lay there, staring at the ceiling and listening to her breathe.
She wasn’t a heavy breather, at least. Her shallow breaths were barely audible, even in the stillness of the night. He waited almost without realising he was doing so for them to deepen, for her breathing to grow slow and steady, the way it did when a woman was sleeping. Usually it would be a signal that it was time for him to leave. Tonight...tonight maybe it would mean that he could sleep.
Except her breathing didn’t even out. It didn’t grow deeper.
Because she wasn’t sleeping.
Dan held in a sigh. One of them was going to have to cave and fall asleep first—and it wasn’t going to be him.
In which case... Well, since they weren’t sleeping anyway, they might as well get to know one another properly, at last.
CHAPTER FIVE
LAUREL STIFLED A sigh as Dan remained resolutely awake beside her in the darkness. He lay motionless under the covers, but even with her back turned to him she could tell that he hadn’t relaxed a single muscle. How was she supposed to sleep with the world’s tensest man in bed with her?
And why on earth was he so tense anyway? He was probably used to sharing a bed—a guy who looked as good as Dan did couldn’t be short of partners when he wanted them. She, on the other hand, hadn’t shared anything with anyone since she’d broken up with Benjamin—and even before that, he hadn’t stayed over for months. Well, not with her, anyway.
She was used to her own space. Used to spreading out starfish-style, in the bed. Used to not having to worry if she snored, or if her hair looked like bats had been living in it, or if she’d missed a bit of last night’s mascara which was now smeared across her cheek.
She was not used to having a big, gorgeous, untouchable man taking over her space.
‘Why are you scared of Melissa?’
And asking her difficult questions in the middle of the night.
Laurel’s body tensed at Dan’s words, and she forced herself to try and relax. ‘I’m not scared of her.’
‘Really?’
The covers rustled as Dan turned on his side, and Laurel could feel the movement of the mattress, of his body, even if she couldn’t see it. She stayed facing away from him, her eyes tightly closed, and hoped he’d give up. Quickly.
‘Really,’ she said firmly. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I’m trying to get to sleep.’
‘No, you’re not. You’re lying there wide awake, same as me.’ Dan shifted again, and the warmth of his body radiated out towards her as he grew closer.
Her eyes flew open. ‘What are you doing?’ Dan’s face loomed over her as she flipped onto her back.
‘Proving my point.’ He pulled back. ‘I’m not asleep...you’re not asleep. We should take advantage of this time to have that getting-to-know-you conversation we should have had before we decided to stage a fake relationship this week.’
‘You mean the primer we needed before we had to meet each other’s families?’ Laurel asked, eyebrows raised. Talk about shutting the barn door once the horse had stood around, drunk too much champagne and been vaguely insulting to everyone. Wait...that probably hadn’t been the horse...
‘So it’s a little late?’ Dan shrugged, pulling himself up to a seated position, his back against the headboard. ‘Doesn’t mean it’s not still wo
rthwhile. I mean, we have to spend the whole week with these people.’
‘Fooling them,’ Laurel agreed reluctantly. They really did need to talk. And if they didn’t do it now, goodness only knew when they’d get the time.
Dan obviously sensed her agreement. He patted the pillow beside him and she dragged herself up, tugging the slippery satin of her pyjama top with her to make sure she was still decently covered. The problem with curves like hers, she’d always found, was that they liked to try to escape, and normal clothes weren’t always built to stop them.
‘But you definitely get to start,’ she said as she settled herself down. It felt oddly intimate, talking in the darkness with Dan. ‘Everyone in the world already knows everything there is to know about my family and Melissa.’
‘Not everything,’ Dan said quietly.
His earlier question echoed through her brain again. ‘Why are you scared of Melissa?’
‘Enough to be going on with,’ she countered. ‘So, your turn. What’s the deal with your parents? Can’t cope with their sons not going into the family medical business?’
Dan shook his head slowly. ‘Not exactly, I don’t think. Partly, I’m sure. As you probably noticed, they don’t have all that much respect for what I do.’
‘Or what anyone does if it isn’t saving lives?’ Laurel guessed. ‘Except they’re not like that with Riley. Or are they?’
‘Riley’s always been different.’
His voice sounded rough, as if it carried the weight of a thousand slights, of a hundred times he’d not been as good. Laurel wondered for a moment if that was how Melissa had felt those first sixteen years.
She waited, silent in the dark, until he was ready to fill the void with his story.
‘Riley was always the golden boy, from the moment he was born. I was...eight, I guess, so old enough to remember life without him. Before him everything just seemed normal. Probably because I didn’t know anything else. But when Riley was born...’ He sighed. ‘He was their miracle boy. The baby they never thought they’d be able to have. The doctors had warned them, after they had me, that my mother might struggle. But you’ve met my parents. They don’t give up without a fight. And they love to celebrate their victories.’
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