‘Congratulations,’ the registrar said to the two of them once the ceremony had come to a close. She didn’t seem at all fazed by the lack of guests or the sombreness of the occasion, but Xavier guessed she must have seen it all in the course of her duties.
‘Thank you,’ he said, giving her a nod of gratitude.
‘Yes, it was a lovely service,’ Soli added with a barely discernible quaver in her voice.
He glanced at her, wondering whether she was having a moment of regret, but she just smiled back at him as if nothing in the world was wrong. He appreciated her professionalism.
He’d not really looked at what she was wearing when they’d met in the lobby only minutes before their slot because the registrar had come straight over to introduce herself then whisked them straight in, but as he surveyed Soli now he realised she’d made a real effort with her appearance today.
Her wild curls had been tamed into an elegant up do and she’d put on more make-up than he’d previously seen her wear, which accentuated her big bright eyes and full, rosebud mouth.
The simple cream-coloured sheath dress she wore exposed her slim, toned arms and flowed over her curves, drawing his gaze to the tantalising swell of her breasts under the thin fabric.
Hoping she’d assume he was looking at the small posy of flowers she clutched in front of her, he cleared his throat and raised his eyes to give her a tight smile.
Yes, she definitely looked the part. She was a very attractive woman and no one would find it strange that he’d chosen to marry her. At least on the surface. As long as she kept her mouth shut about the terms of the deal they’d worked out, his secret would be safe.
Hopefully there wouldn’t be many opportunities for their charade to be discovered anyway. He’d asked her to be ready to attend functions with him but he wasn’t actually intending to take her along to many. Just one or two, so it didn’t look odd if anyone checked up on them.
He’d already alerted his great-aunt’s solicitor to the fact he was getting married and had been told to expect spot checks in the next few months, just to satisfy her conditions. After a year the title deeds to the house would pass into his name.
Then he’d be free to live his life as he chose again.
One year wasn’t too long a time to maintain this farce. He could manage it.
‘Well, Mrs McQueen, now that’s over, shall we get out of here?’ he suggested once the registrar had departed, more than ready to leave the place now.
To his surprise Soli pressed her lips together and pulled a mock horrified face. ‘You know, I thought Solitaire Saunders was bad, but Solitaire McQueen?’ She raised both eyebrows. ‘My father will be dancing with glee in his grave.’
The sad edge to her voice gave him pause. ‘How did your father die? If you don’t mind me asking?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t mind. I guess you should know now that we’re husband and wife.’ Taking a breath, she pushed her shoulders back a little, as if using the action to give her courage. ‘He was knocked off his bike by a guy who was texting whilst driving. He died instantly.’
A prickle of horror rushed up Xavier’s spine. ‘Ah, hell, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.’
There was an awkward pause while she blinked back the tears that had pooled in her eyes.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, smiling bravely. ‘I still miss him every day, but he’d want to know we were all getting on with our lives without him.’ She glanced down at the slim white gold ring he’d placed on her finger only minutes ago with an expression of incredulity on her face, then flashed him a wry smile. ‘I’m not sure what he’d think about me marrying a stranger though.’
‘I’m sure he’d approve if he knew you were doing it for the right reasons,’ Xavier pointed out.
Nodding, she let out a small chuckle. ‘Yeah, I’d like to think so. He always said I’d get myself in a knotty situation one day with my impulsiveness, but I don’t think this was quite the scenario he had in mind.’
Her cheeks had flushed an attractive shade of pink and he had the strangest urge to stroke his fingers across her skin and feel the heat he knew must be there.
Don’t be a fool, McQueen.
Instead he nodded jerkily in response to her joke, then gestured towards the exit. ‘Well, anyway, we should leave the room before the next wedding party arrives,’ he said stiffly, wishing he didn’t sound like such an uptight prig.
Giving her body a small jiggle, as if shaking off her melancholy, Soli nodded in agreement.
He marched ahead of her, trying to blank his mind of the way her voluptuous body had shimmied in his vision as he held the door open for her.
A hubbub of noise surrounded them as they entered the lobby and walked through a large group of people that had gathered there, presumably to attend the next marriage that was taking place in the room they’d just vacated.
Russell and the other witness appeared beside them as they made their way towards the exit. Xavier hadn’t noticed them slipping out while they were talking to the registrar, but he suspected Russell had suggested they made themselves scarce so he wouldn’t find himself having to answer any awkward questions.
‘Let’s go out to the front of the building and I’ll take a couple of photos of you both in your wedding gear, then we’ll see if we can grab a passer-by to take one with the four of us in it,’ Russell murmured into his ear.
‘Good idea,’ Xavier agreed, heading towards the large doors at the other side of the vestibule.
Once outside, they posed next to the register office sign while Russell fiddled with his XLR camera, which he stood on a tripod. Once it was set up, he directed them to stand closer together, with Xavier’s arm around Soli’s waist and her body pressed close to his. They shuffled awkwardly into the pose and Russell had just taken the first photo when a loud and uncomfortably familiar voice boomed out behind them.
‘McQueen? Is that you, old boy?’
Turning reluctantly, with his heart in his mouth, Xavier came face to face with the one person he really could have done without bumping into today.
‘Hugo. Good to see you. What brings you here today?’ he said, letting go of Soli and taking a deliberate step in front of her so she was obscured from Hugo’s line of sight as he shook the man’s hand.
‘A colleague’s getting married and I promised to attend.’ He leaned towards Xavier conspiratorially and cocked an eyebrow. ‘He’s on track to become my boss one day soon so I thought I’d do the smart thing and turn up today. Show willing, you know?’
‘Sure. I hear you,’ Xavier said. He knew exactly how these old boy networks worked. It wasn’t wise to snub someone who had the potential to either help your career or ruin it for you in the future.
‘Is Veronica with you?’ Xavier asked, a little panicked at the thought of having to save face in front of Hugo’s scarily perceptive wife as well.
‘No, she’s off on some girls’ retreat, lucky mare!’ he said loudly, adding in a jovial guffaw for good measure. It seemed Xavier’s attempt to hide Soli hadn’t been successful, though, because Hugo leaned to one side to peer past him. ‘And who is this, may I ask?’
Xavier swallowed down his exasperation. ‘This is Soli.’
She took a step forwards and held out her hand, giving Hugo a warm smile. ‘Solitaire McQueen,’ she said, as if happy to have the opportunity to test out her new name for the first time.
Bad timing, Soli. Very bad.
Not that she could have known that.
‘McQueen, you say?’ Hugo boomed, giving Xavier a confused glance, then looking towards where Russell stood with the camera. ‘Have the two of you—’ he waggled a finger between them ‘—just got married?’
‘Yes, just a few minutes ago,’ Soli confirmed, to Xavier’s chagrin.
‘Well. You are a dark horse, McQueen. We had no idea marriage was on t
he cards for you.’ Hugo’s confused frown deepened as he looked between the two of them.
‘No, well, it all happened very quickly,’ Xavier said, his heart sinking through his chest. ‘We’ve dated on and off for years but only recently decided we should make a proper go of it,’ he lied, silently begging his friend to take him at his word.
‘Really?’ Hugo said with a tinge of disbelief in his voice. ‘It happened so quickly you couldn’t even wait to invite your friends to the wedding?’
Damn. He was well and truly busted. He’d never hear the end of it from his old friends now.
‘Neither of us wanted a big do,’ Xavier said gruffly, feeling heat rise up his throat. The last thing he needed was Hugo and his old social group to find out he’d had to pay Soli to marry him in order to keep his family home. He hated the idea of that getting back to Harriet. His humiliation really would be complete then.
‘We thought we’d have a party for close friends and family some time in the near future,’ he said, deciding the only thing to do was to bluster his way through this.
Hugo flashed him a knowing smile. ‘Fair enough, old chap. I suppose I can understand why you’d choose not to shout about it to all and sundry.’ Turning away before Xavier could comment on that, he asked, ‘And what do you do, Soli?’
He noticed her shoulders stiffen at the question and silently prayed she’d be able to handle this unexpected confrontation without making Hugo suspicious about the real state of their relationship. ‘I’m a small-business owner in the catering industry and one of Xavier’s clients,’ she said, somewhat mechanically.
Xavier cringed at how that must have sounded to Hugo, but mercifully he didn’t seem to find anything odd about it.
‘Well, I must congratulate you, Soli; I never thought I’d see a woman manage to make an honest man of Xavier McQueen,’ he said, aiming a cheerful grin in her direction. ‘Any particular reason for getting married right now though? Do we have the patter of tiny McQueen feet to look forward to?’ Hugo asked with a sly wink.
‘No,’ Xavier stated coldly, feeling the atmosphere thicken between them. ‘It just felt like the right time for us both,’ he added, trying to smooth over the extremity of his reaction.
Hugo didn’t take offence though and slapped him hard on the arm. ‘Sorry, old chap, didn’t mean to put my foot in it. The wife’s always telling me off for that! Very happy for you both, obviously. I’ll have to tell Veronica I saw you; she’ll be delighted.’
He felt Soli look round at him but didn’t turn his head.
‘In fact,’ his friend went on, completely oblivious to the discomfort he was inflicting, ‘if you’re not going on honeymoon right away—’ He paused and looked at them expectantly.
The only thing they could do was shake their heads dumbly, caught out by the question.
‘Well, in that case, why don’t the two of you come over to our place next weekend? We’re having a bit of a do to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary—all Veronica’s idea, you know,’ he added with a pseudo grimace towards Soli. ‘I know she’d be delighted to see you, McQueen, and to meet you too, Soli.’
‘I’m not sure—’ Xavier began to argue.
‘Don’t be a bore, McQueen!’ Hugo broke in before Xavier had chance to air an excuse. ‘You can’t hide from us for ever. And Veronica will never forgive you if you don’t accept at least one of our social invitations. We’ve not seen hide nor hair of you for years! Now you’re married you’ve no excuse not to come along to see the old crowd. You don’t want folks thinking you’re shunning them, now, do you?’ he said this with a laugh in his voice, but Xavier knew it covered a real sense of hurt. Clearly Hugo was nursing a sense of resentment about being ignored and avoided for so long.
He was trapped. Damned if he did and damned if he didn’t.
They’d have a week to prepare for it though. That ought to be enough time for him and Soli to get to know each other well enough to convince Hugo and Veronica, and anyone else they’d invited, that they were a real, loving couple.
‘I’m pretty sure we’re free then,’ he conceded. ‘We’ll check our diaries and let you know.’
‘Great! I’ll get Veronica to send you an official invite,’ Hugo said with affable gumption. ‘You still in your aunt’s Hampstead pad?’
‘Yes. I’m still there,’ Xavier said, feeling a desperate urge to get away from his friend now so he could regain his shaky composure. ‘I look forward to receiving the invite, Hugo. Anyway, we’d better get on. We need to take a couple more photos, then we have some celebrating to do,’ he added in an upbeat voice that didn’t sound like his own, forcing himself to give Hugo a happy-looking smile.
‘You’ve picked a real charmer there, Soli,’ Hugo said with another wink in her direction. ‘I hope he’s intending to treat you like a princess today.’
‘Oh, I fully expect him to,’ Soli replied, smiling back. ‘He’s the most generous man I’ve ever met.’
Xavier experienced a rush of gratitude towards her for that.
‘I tell you what, Hugo,’ Xavier said, as a flash of inspiration struck him. ‘Since you’re here, let’s have you in the photo too. It’ll only take two seconds. We just need to grab someone to press the button for us—it’s all set up.’
‘Sure! Be happy to!’ Hugo boomed, clearly pleased to be included. ‘This lovely lady will do it for us, won’t you?’ he said, making a large beckoning motion to a woman in a big red hat who was just about to enter the doors of the register office.
‘Er...yes, of course,’ she said, looking over at first Xavier, then Soli, and giving them a warm, indulgent smile.
So they all bunched together and the lady took a couple of pictures of the five of them.
‘Thanks so much,’ Xavier said, pleased with his quick thinking. It would look much better to have at least two of his friends in the wedding photos.
‘We should do one more of just you and Soli, for safety,’ Russell said to Xavier, before they all dispersed.
‘Ooh, yes. You make such a gorgeous couple,’ the woman said, beaming at the two of them. ‘You should do one with the two of you kissing. I always think they’re the nicest ones to have displayed.’
There was a small pause where neither of them reacted.
‘Er...yes, good idea,’ Soli said a little too loudly beside him and he felt her slip her arm around his back and lean in towards him, giving him a slightly awkward cuddle.
For a moment he stiffened under her touch before realising how odd that would seem to the small group that were looking at them intently now.
Without allowing himself to think about it, he slid his hand against her jaw, tipped her head towards him and kissed her fully on the mouth.
She drew in a small, breathy gasp, but didn’t pull away, instead sinking into the kiss and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist as he instinctively opened his mouth against hers. The soft, flowery scent of her enveloped his senses and he breathed her in deeply, struck by the distinctiveness of her taste and smell.
Delicious.
Her lips were so soft and perfectly pliant he experienced the strangest sensation that they were somehow made to perfectly fit with his. His stomach swooped at the thought and he became aware of something deep inside him—long buried—beginning to stir.
Sensation fizzed along his veins, causing his breath to shorten and his heart to pound against his chest.
Oh, Lord, that’s not good.
Pulling abruptly away, he didn’t dare look her in the eye again in case she saw even a hint of the heavy need that now pulsed through him. ‘Was that okay? Did you get it?’ he asked Russell, who was standing behind the camera looking at the two of them with an odd expression on his face.
‘Yes, perfect. I got it,’ his friend replied, quickly rearranging his features into a smile.
Xavier’s stomach twiste
d as he realised that the spark he’d felt between them had outwardly showed. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. At least to Hugo it would have looked as though they were genuinely attracted to each other.
When he glanced back at Soli he noticed she looked as bewildered as he felt and his stomach knotted even tighter.
‘Well, I’d better get inside before I miss the beginning of this thing,’ Hugo said loudly, strolling over to give Xavier a slap on the back and jolting him out of his tangled thoughts. ‘Looking forward to seeing the two of you next weekend.’ And with that he gave them both a farewell salute and strode quickly away.
Xavier swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry and his head tight around the temples.
‘I’d better go too!’ the lady in the red hat said, glancing at her watch and moving towards the door of the register office. ‘Congratulations, you two, and good luck for the future!’
Luck? Yes, they might need a bit of that if this fake marriage was going to go without a hitch.
‘I guess we’d better get on, then,’ he said, pulling himself together and turning to look at Soli.
‘Okay. Sure. Great,’ she replied, her expression still a little shell-shocked. Something tugged hard inside him as a strangely protective instinct appeared from nowhere.
He shook it off.
He needed to get on top of this weird, edgy feeling that was messing with his head. It was this place, it had to be; it was bringing back too many long-suppressed emotions. He couldn’t allow himself to develop any kind of feelings for Soli, or encourage her to have any for him. It could cause all sorts of problems.
And extra problems were something neither of them needed right now.
CHAPTER FOUR
Snakes & Ladders—a frustrating game of ups and downs.
SOLI STOOD IN front of the register office, having just kissed her new husband for the very first time, trying to deal with a strange sort of unease at finding she’d enjoyed it much more than was probably healthy for a woman who was now expected to live a life of celibacy for the next twelve months.
A Contract, a Wedding, a Wife? Page 4