‘He’s going to have to live with it. Unfortunately, my cousin’s career is about to take a swerve.’ Oliver let out a deep breath. ‘Right, I’ll go get Dad and see you back at the table. Not long to go and we’ll be finished.’
As he turned away her heart stung a little at his words. Sure, she wanted it to be over. But she didn’t want it to end just yet. Not with him anyway. In fact, despite everything she wanted him to caress her hand again. She wanted to lean into him, to feel his gaze on her, to see the warmth in his face when he looked at her.
Yes, she knew now without a shadow of a doubt, she wanted this thing between them to be real. She wanted him to fall for her. As if. As if anyone would do that. Foolish, stupid woman. She knew better than to let herself believe in fairy tales. She needed to get the hell out and put an end to all this as soon as they were alone.
But for now she was going to act out of her skin and make sure she delivered her side of the deal. Unscathed.
Pressing her lips together she made her way back to the table.
Despite her ever-present anxiety the evening flew by and the conversation steered away from the engagement and focused much more on business talk. Stella was impressed with Victoria’s teaching and keen to hear about the pop-up stalls. Eric was a funny conversationalist and listened enthusiastically to Victoria wax lyrically about her dress designs.
Antoine’s lobster ravioli was divine, the champagne delicious. Other than Andrew’s dark, sceptical stares and the lack of truth in any of it, it would have been the perfect evening to meet a fiancé’s family.
Finally, after the best tiramisu Victoria had ever eaten, Stella leaned over. ‘Oh, I must ask. Have you set the date?’
Her appetite had returned just at the end of the meal, probably because it signalled the coming end of the interrogation. Licking her spoon Victoria turned to Stella. ‘For?’
Stella blinked, clearly confused. ‘The wedding, of course.’
Of course. The damned wine had gone to her head and made her forgetful and careless. She tried to cover. ‘Oh. No. We haven’t decided yet.’
Stella clearly had. ‘August. An August wedding will be perfect. I’ll call Barbara and make sure she keeps August free.’
The whole of August? What were they planning? A wedding festival? Did Victoria have a say in this? ‘Um… Barbara?’
Had she somehow missed mention of someone important?
Stella gave a sharp nod of her head. ‘The dog sitter. If she’s not free, then we’ll have to do it another time. I can’t have anyone but Barbara looking after my girls, Suky and Sali.’
‘Mum’s dogs,’ Oliver clarified. ‘Cavaliers.’
Stella frowned as if the use of the word dogs wasn’t good enough for her girls. ‘Pedigree. Suky won “best in breed” at Crufts two years in a row.’
‘Lovely.’ Their wedding was going to be arranged around the availability of her fake fiancé’s mother’s dogsitter?
‘Excellent. It’s settled then. An August wedding.’ Stella pulled out her phone and started to tap on it. ‘There’s a lovely little chapel in our village. I can have a word with the vicar on Sunday if you like?’
This was getting just a little too much. Victoria pigged her eyes at Oliver. Do something.
He grimaced. ‘Mother, I think you need to back off a little. We have a lot to work out.’ Oliver glanced over to his father. ‘And Dad’s looking a bit peaky. It’s getting late and he has treatment tomorrow. He needs his rest.’
An August wedding. Would Eric be well enough to attend it? Had anyone thought about that? Would he even be here? Victoria’s heart lurched. She liked this old man, she really hoped she’d see him again.
Stella fixed a smile. ‘Yes, of course, I’m sorry, it’s your wedding, I was just trying to be helpful, but I get carried away. Eric’s always telling me off about it, Oliver too. Can’t help it.’
‘It’s fine. Honestly.’ It clearly was the most hopeful thing Stella had in her life right now and Victoria didn’t want to take it away from her just yet.
‘We should go. It was delightful to meet you, Victoria.’ With a warm smile Oliver’s mother dropped her phone into a large Louis Vuitton handbag, stood and signalled for Antoine before kissing her son on his cheek. ‘Let me know the date soon, though, darling. We need to get it into the diary, you know how busy we get in the summer.’
An August wedding in a village chapel. Right. Only if Barbara was free. Stella was delightful but formidable. Victoria summoned a smile and silently wished the best of luck to Oliver’s future wife. She’d need the diplomacy of a hostage negotiator to wrangle a wedding she actually wanted. But, dogs and chapels on a warm summer’s day did sound lovely.
If she was getting married anywhere – and she couldn’t imagine a scenario where it would ever happen – it would be back in Devon surrounded by her friends and family. Zoe, Malie and Lily would be bridesmaids just like they’d always promised each other from way back at primary school. She’d make the dresses, she’d choose a bouquet very similar to the one on her vision board; cascading white roses and baby’s breath.
There she was with that fairy-tale thinking again.
The bill was paid, Oliver wheeled his father out and secured both parents in a taxi that purred at the kerbside. Andrew stood a few feet away, his coat collar pulled up tight, his eyes fixed on Victoria. The car wasn’t moving, Andrew wasn’t leaving, and they were all back to staring at her. She felt as if she was the monkey in a circus and they were expecting her to perform again.
‘What are we all waiting for?’ she side-mouthed to Oliver. But when he tugged her gently to face him and put his palm to her cheek her heart rattled hard. His face was so close, his eyes had that soft look he’d had earlier.
And then she knew. They were expecting The Kiss.
At the thought of kissing him her nerve endings burned. But how much harm could one little kiss really do? He’d kissed her cheek earlier and it had been fine. Sensual as heck, but she’d managed to keep control.
She edged towards him, those dark eyes drawing her nearer and nearer. His mouth was tantalizingly close. So close her heart beat out a desperate rhythm forgetting this was all make-believe. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Then his lips slid across hers.
Oh God. Just the softest of touches was enough to make her body quiver. He cupped her face, his fingers at her temples, his touch a torch to a flame that ignited inside her.
Without thinking she wound her arms around his neck and pressed against him. Everything around them seemed to blur. All she knew was his scent, his touch, those eyes glittering with desire, that invisible thread tugging them closer.
She leaned into him, opening her mouth. He tasted of wine and something quintessentially male. Sex. Heat. Need. It was supposed to be make-believe, but she didn’t have to act. It was as if her body had been made to do this. Instinct took over, her breath coming in soft stuttered gasps. A deep longing melted into her limbs, hot and liquid. She couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried.
Clasping her face with both hands he deepened the kiss, nipping at her bottom lip. A moan escaped her throat and she pressed closer against him feeling the hard ridges of his body. He wanted her.
She wanted him. Wanted this. Wanted more.
From somewhere behind her the taxi tooted, crashing her back to reality and she dragged herself away from his arms, only to catch his mother waving triumphantly from the car window as it disappeared into the darkness. Andrew had skulked away into the shadows.
Which left just her and Oliver out in the crisp night air, hearts racing, breath ragged. The aftermath of that kiss hovered over them like a sultry cloud. She hadn’t wanted it to stop. She wished they hadn’t.
She was glad they had.
This was all a huge mistake.
With shaking limbs, she stepped away, putting distance between them, to stop herself from going straight back into his arms for a rerun. ‘Oliver. I have to go. Early, you know… I mean it’s late. I
need to get up early.’
‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ Oliver held his hand out to her, his dark expression heated with lust, stealing the breath from her throat.
‘Ollie. I have to go.’ With every ounce of effort she could muster she waved her trembling hand towards another approaching black cab. She needed to get away from him before she got even more carried away.
Before she started to believe in this romance as much as Oliver’s parents did.
Chapter Ten
DAMN. WHAT THE HELL was he doing?
Oliver watched Victoria’s cab disappear around the corner and huffed out a deep breath. That had been no ordinary kiss. It had been a melding of wants and needs. The summation of the attraction growing between them. It had been pure and raw, and he hadn’t wanted it to end, and neither had she if the way she’d pressed herself against him and moaned into his mouth was anything to go by.
But they’d crossed a line they’d agreed was sacrosanct.
What the actual hell? It was supposed to be an act but every fibre in him wanted to take that kiss to its logical and inevitable conclusion. His house was mere yards from here. If she hadn’t stopped them he’d have suggested they go there. Asked her to stay. Asked her for more.
And then?
He’d have his eye off the ball. He’d derail the plans he’d put in place. He’d do something he’d never done before and allow himself to start thinking of a future, to start caring for someone.
Someone who had made it clear she didn’t want what he had to offer, so the last thing he needed to do was fall for her. He wasn’t prepared to waste emotions on someone who didn’t want him the way he’d felt his parents had when he was young. So he needed to follow their lead; withdraw, step away from connection, draw that line in the sand again and stay the hell on his side.
‘Lils, I’m a bad person. I’ve done a terrible thing.’ Within five minutes of getting home Victoria had video-called her friend, and, true to form, Lily was there for her, despite having to clear up after a busy night at the restaurant.
Victoria lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, trying to put the feelings she had whirling around in her chest and low down in her belly into a metaphorical box. But they wouldn’t go in. She couldn’t close the lid. Even now, her body was trembling and her skin was alight at the memory of his touch.
Lily gave her a reassuring smile. She was good at steering her friends back on course. ‘You? Never. I can’t imagine you ever doing anything terrible, V.’
But they both knew differently. ‘Don’t go there. We both know I have.’
Lily shook her head as she sat back on her tall stool. Behind her Victoria could see the familiar shiny stainless-steel kitchen, pristine as always and closed down for the night.
‘Oh, honey. How many times do we have to tell you? The accident wasn’t your fault. The coroner’s verdict cleared you of any wrongdoing. Claudia was both high and drunk when she slammed into us.’
They’d been over and over this, their school friend had been trying to overtake them and had lost control of the car. Victoria had been absolved of any blame. On paper at least. But she wasn’t convinced. Had she been too distracted? Had she paid enough attention? Had she braked too late? Too early? Had she steered the wrong way? There had to have been something she could have done to prevent the accident.
‘There was nothing you could have done, OK?’ Lily asserted. ‘So, no, you have never in your life done anything terrible. What happened?’
‘I just met his parents.’
‘Oliver Russell’s?’ Her friend’s eyebrows rose. ‘So soon? I thought V-day wasn’t until the first.’
V-day. Victoria laughed, Lily was a hoot and always so upbeat. ‘It was a total surprise. They’re in town for…’ Victoria didn’t want to mention Eric’s medical treatment because it was no one’s business but his. ‘They sprang a quick visit on us.’
‘How did it go? Did they believe you were dating?’
‘I think so.’ Judging by Stella’s triumphant fist pump, then yes. ‘Totally.’
‘What’s Eric like? On the TV he looks a bit unapproachable and aloof. But I guess that comes with the territory, right? You can’t be a hard businessman without being ruthless.’
Victoria thought about the frail man she’d spent the evening with. How he’d winced as the wheelchair had bumped over the carpet. The way he’d patted her hand. Her heart squeezed. Her feelings were getting all jumbled up inside her. The weight of wanting, willing, longing for Oliver to touch her had been almost too much to bear, but when his skin burned against her could he see the affection in her eyes? Did she hide it enough?
Did it fool him and his parents? Did it make them believe she was the doting girlfriend who wanted to spend the rest of her life in the Russell fold? Strike one to her if it did. Strike a million against her if she started to believe the lies too.
Because, she wasn’t fooling herself. She liked him. Almost too much. Liked his parents too. Enough to make her heart hurt at the thought of walking away. And the thought she might hurt them by doing that made her too sad.
How could they stop this pretence from spiralling out of control? ‘No, not at all. Eric’s lovely. They both are. Very down to earth and friendly.’
‘So, the problem is?’
‘I’m lying to them.’ Victoria’s stomach tightened. ‘It seemed OK when they were strangers I’d read about in the media, but they’re genuine and nice and interested in me.’
Lily nodded. ‘And you’re worried you’ll hurt them?’
‘They were talking about an August wedding. Stella is set on the idea and I don’t want to lead her on, but I don’t want to jeopardize their happiness either. And there’s more.’
Lily smiled softly. ‘You’re worried you’ll get hurt?’
Bingo. Victoria wasn’t sure whether she wanted to admit to her friend that she’d not only kissed Oliver but that she was at serious risk of falling for him.
‘Yes. I am. He’s kind and funny and…’
Her lips tingled at the thought of the kiss. Her heart thumped. She pressed her fingers against her mouth where his lips had been.
Lily’s smile grew a little more suspicious… and mischievous. Almost like she knew what had happened. ‘Come on, V. There’s more to this. Spill the beans.’
Victoria thought that if she didn’t just say it out loud, she was going to burst. ‘I kissed him!’
‘Oh, I knew it! I could just tell by your smile.’ Lily’s eyes grew wide as she peered into the camera. ‘And…? Was it terrible? Is that why you’re panicking? Because you’re going to have to do it again to keep your side of the deal?’
‘No. It was amazing. And it’s all wrong.’ And too hard. Victoria ran her hand across her forehead. Kissing someone who was terrible at kissing would be bad enough, but kissing someone who was the best kisser she’d ever known was a whole lot worse. ‘We’ve agreed to pretend until the first of December then we go our separate ways. Even if I wanted anything more to happen – and trust me, that would be a very bad idea – there’s no way any of it could work. I am so not ready to go down that track again.’
‘Maybe you’re putting up barriers when you don’t need to. Not everyone’s like our exes. There are some good men out there…’ Lily gesticulated randomly in front of her. ‘Somewhere. Give him a chance. If you keep putting up barriers, you’ll never give yourself the chance of more amazing kisses.’
‘How do I know if they’re real, though? Or if he’s just acting?’
‘You’ll know, V. You’ll just know.’
Would she though? He’d seemed to be enjoying himself and surely no man could fake what was going on in the trouser department. Yes. She definitely didn’t imagine that! But… oh, she didn’t want to make a fool of herself. ‘God, Lils, I’m so rubbish at relationships. Real or fake.’ It was so messy and they always ended in her heart hurting. ‘Tell me something nice to cheer me up.’
Lily frowned as she thought, the
n her smile grew. ‘It’s Malie’s birthday next Thursday so all four of us will be together for a Lost Hours call. It’s too long since the last time.’ No matter what they were doing, or what time zone they were in, the four friends always made sure they had a get together, virtual or real, on each other’s birthdays.
This was the best something nice and Lily’s smile was infectious. Victoria sat up and put the laptop on the bed, her heart happy for now. ‘Oh, yes! That makes me so happy. Especially for Malie. I always feel sad for her on her birthday, with her brother gone and things between her and her parents being so difficult, it’s nice if we make a special effort for her.’
When Malie’s brother’s cancer became so far gone that he couldn’t surf, her parents closed their surf school. Their idea being that if Koa couldn’t surf then none of them could.
But surfing was Malie’s passion and therapy so she’d started to sneak out and do it behind their backs. As soon as she could escape Devon she’d borrowed some money and gone travelling, ending up in Hawaii working at her godfather Kailani’s surf school. Feeling as if they had now all but lost a second child, her parents were heartbroken by Malie’s actions and things had become difficult between them all.
Lily shook her head. ‘I never did understand why they’re so upset with her, just because she’s following her passion. I mean, who wouldn’t want their kids to be who they want to be and do what they want to do?’
Like Oliver. Who had never been given a chance to decide who he was or what he wanted and instead had been pushed into the family firm. And, just like that, Victoria’s thoughts tumbled back to him. And the kiss.
Hot damn. That kiss made her ache for him. Her breasts felt heavy and she could almost taste him again.
‘Ahem.’ Lily’s voice came from the laptop.
‘Oh?’ Victoria’s cheeks burned as she tried to push those thoughts back into that box. ‘Sorry. Yes. Oops. Listen, on Thursday don’t mention this thing with Ollie, please. No one’s meant to know about it until… V-day.’
Meet Me in London: The sparkling new and bestselling romance for 2020. Perfect escapism, for fans of Lindsey Kelk and Heidi Swain. Page 13