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Daniel absorbed all this information for future reference.
‘Ga-ry.’
Daniel was startled when Charlotte spoke up, the sweet smile on her face belying the dark irony in her eyes, and in her voice. ‘Could I have a moment? Mum. Dad. There’s something I need to discuss privately with Gary. Would you mind?’
‘That’s all right, love,’ her father said. ‘We’ll be back shortly. Give you two lovebirds time enough to sort out whatever it is you have to sort out.’
‘What in hell do you think you’re doing?’ Charlotte hissed under her breath as soon as her parents were far enough away.
‘I guess I’m going to marry you tomorrow,’ Daniel returned evenly, unable to stop a smile from pulling at his mouth.
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
‘Look, it won’t be legal,’ he reassured her calmly. ‘But it’ll stop your parents from having a really rotten day today. And tomorrow. You might feel a whole lot better, too. You look seriously stressed out, Charlotte.’
She was shaking her head in continued disbelief.
‘You’re insane!’
‘Absolutely not. I’m a lot of things but insane is not one of them.’
‘But we can’t possibly get away with it!’
‘Yes, we can. Your parents already believe I’m Gary. Everyone else will, too.’
‘Louise won’t. She knows Gary didn’t show up.’
Louise. Daniel searched his excellent memory bank and retrieved Louise from their conversation this morning. ‘Isn’t she supposed to be your best friend?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then tell her the truth and ask her to go along with it.’
‘But…but I’ve already cancelled things!’ she protested.
‘What things?’
‘The celebrant for starters, and the flowers, and the tux rental, and…and…’
‘Nothing that can’t be sorted out.’ Though the celebrant could stay cancelled, Daniel decided. He’d find someone else to act as a celebrant. As a lawyer, he couldn’t risk being guilty of any kind of fraud.
Vince would probably do it. For a doctor, he was somewhat of a thrill-seeker. Went skydiving for fun.
‘You haven’t cancelled the reception yet, have you?’ he rapped out.
‘No.’
‘Where’s the ceremony itself taking place? Not a church obviously, if you were having a celebrant.’
‘Here, in the hotel.’
‘No problems there, then.’
‘You are crazy,’ she muttered under her breath.
‘Crazy about you, beautiful.’
She stared up at him, stunned by the speed with which he’d arranged things, and taken advantage of his similarity to Gary.
Not that he was really like Gary.
‘I’ve never met a man like you,’ she said dazedly. ‘I’ll bet you wouldn’t romance a girl over the internet, ask her to marry you and then not show up.’
‘No, Charlotte, I definitely wouldn’t. Aside from being allergic to real marriages as opposed to pretend ones, I can’t stand the internet. Waste of time except for business reasons, and very bad for the eyes.’
She laughed. She couldn’t help it. This whole situation was bizarre. And it was whilst she was laughing that he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, right there, in the hotel lobby. In front of everyone.
At thirty-three, Charlotte had been kissed many times before. But this man kissed the same way he’d looked at her at the airport this morning. With a passion and intensity that was mind-blowing. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, his mouth white-hot on hers. She could feel herself dissolving under the sizzling brand of his lips. Not just her body, but also her mind. When his tongue joined in, every ounce of will-power she owned melted right away, replaced by the desire to surrender herself totally to what he wanted.
He wanted to pretend to marry her tomorrow?
Fine.
He wanted her to go to dinner with him tonight?
OK.
He wanted to take her to bed afterwards?
Yes, please.
Her father noisily clearing his throat had Charlotte finally surfacing from her liquid state to the real world. Once she stepped back out of Daniel’s arms, some semblance of common sense returned. But the smouldering inner heat he’d generated remained, teasing her with the thought that maybe this man could do for her what no man ever had before…
Charlotte tried not to blush at this thought, whilst Daniel looked highly satisfied with the situation. His mission had been accomplished.
Charlotte knew he wasn’t doing this for her parents’ happiness. Or for hers. He was doing it to put her in his debt, and in his bed.
Not that he had to go to such amazing lengths. She would have gone to bed with him, anyway.
Twenty-four hours ago, Charlotte would have scorned anyone who said she would ever be a pushover. The fact she was prepared to say yes to Daniel Bannister within hours of meeting him was as shocking to her as it was intriguing.
Why him?
Was it his movie-star looks? His charm? His intelligence? Or was it the power of his desire that was seducing and compelling her? Men had desired her before but never quite like this. This was something else.
Her cheeks continued to burn as her eyes met his, her heart-rate having not yet calmed. If she felt like this after a kiss, then how would she feel once she was in bed with him, their bodies totally naked, his flesh inside hers?
A quiver rippled down her spine at the thought, her heart flipping right over when he slid an intimate arm around her waist and pulled her back against him.
Daniel resumed the conversation. ‘Charlotte was confessing to me that you’d all organised a bigger wedding for us than we’d originally planned.’
‘Yes, well, I couldn’t give my youngest daughter a lesser wedding than my other daughters, could I?’ her father pronounced proudly, reminding Charlotte why she’d been sick with worry over disappointing her darling dad. She would be forever grateful to Daniel that she didn’t have to now, regardless of his ulterior motives.
Of course, it was still going to be awkward at a later date, explaining why her loving husband had to go back to the States, then extremely disappointing for her to confess that their marriage hadn’t worked out.
But she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
For now, her mum and dad were smiling. That was all that mattered.
‘Do you think we might get along to the restaurant, daughter?’ her dad said. ‘Haven’t had a bite since breakfast.’
‘I’m hungry too,’ Daniel said with a wicked glance at Charlotte.
The man was a devil, no doubt about it. But it was impossible not to like him, as well as want him. He must have cut a right swathe through the ladies in LA these past few years, Charlotte reckoned. That combination of magnetism, machismo and manners was lethally attractive.
‘I hope we’re not going to one of those places where they take hours to serve you,’ her father said with a frown.
‘Amen to that,’ Daniel agreed. ‘When I’m hungry, I have to be fed quickly.’
Charlotte cocked an eyebrow, just to show him she was well aware what he was up to with his double entendres. Then she shot him a sickeningly sarcastic smile. ‘I had a feeling you’d say that. Don’t worry, Dad, the bistro is just a short walk away. You boys could have a beer while we’re waiting for our meal. And, Mum, you could have a sherry. Or some white wine, if you’d prefer.’
‘A sherry would be lovely,’ her mother said, the warm approval on her face giving Charlotte a real buzz.
Charlotte rarely received her mother’s approval, unlike her two older sisters, who hadn’t put a foot wrong in their lives. They’d both done well at school. Both had married their childhood sweethearts, sons of local farmers. Both had produced children.
Charlotte, by contrast, hadn’t finished school, had never learned to cook, couldn’t take up a hem, regularly forgot important dates and, till recently, was yet to find a husband.
As a child, she’d often been described as difficult. And a dreamer.
‘Her head is always in the clouds,’ she had heard her mother say to Aunt Gladys one day when she was about thirteen. ‘I don’t know what’s going to become of her.’
What became of her was she bolted for the city when she was a couple of months shy of her sixteenth birthday, having secretly applied for and secured a hairdressing apprenticeship advertised in the SydneyMorning Herald. Her distraught parents weren’t able to force her to return home, or to finish her school certificate, because she was able to support herself. In the end, they stopped trying to convince Charlotte she was too young to live away from home in the big city.
Actually, hairdressing was just a means to an end. Her heart’s desire was to see what the world had to offer outside of farm life and country boys. Sydney was an eye-opener but soon it too was limiting. So when Charlotte finished her apprenticeship, she began a series of jobs on ships that cruised all over the world.
By the time she was twenty-five, she’d been everywhere an ocean liner could take her. By then, she’d grown a bit bored with ship life and decided to try working in some of the world’s luxury resorts.
Over the next few years, Charlotte worked mostly in Asia, but also in the South Pacific, on various tropical islands. She then did a brief stint in a top hotel in London, but had found the climate not to her liking. She also found herself suffering, surprisingly, from homesickness, something which astounded her.
So, shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Charlotte returned to Australia, where she spent a few wonderfully restful weeks with her folks on the farm before realising, rather reluctantly this time, that country life was still not for her. What she was craving, she discovered, was a more settled existence. She wanted to put down roots. Wanted a boyfriend who lasted longer than a few months. She wanted marriage, and children. Possibly even a house with a garden.
Charlotte was blown away by this last bit. Miss Wanderlust herself wanting what most Australian girls wanted. Amazing!
Not one to ever shirk from a goal, Charlotte set about achieving what she wanted with a passion. She returned to Sydney, got herself a job and a flat, then set about doing what girls of her age did when they were on the lookout for Mr Right. She made friends with all the single girls she worked with—networking was crucial. She went to all the right bars with them on a Friday night. She smiled at every available-looking guy. And—most important of all—she joined a gym.
Which was where she met Dwayne, one of their personal trainers. Dwayne made it obvious right from the start that he fancied her. Within two weeks they were dating. Within four he coerced her into bed with words of undying love. Within six they were living together.
But that was where their relationship stagnated for the next two years. Dwayne was not ready, he said, for marriage and kiddies just yet. He was only twenty-eight. But he hinted a proposal was definitely on the cards once he reached thirty. So Charlotte clung on, despite becoming aware that they rarely talked any more, their sex life had dwindled to once a week, and Dwayne was working late more nights than ever.
She should not have been shocked by his dumping her for another girl. What shocked her was the speed with which he married his new, already pregnant girlfriend.
Charlotte was left to wonder what the gym bunny had that she didn’t have. She couldn’t help thinking that the answer wasn’t the other girl’s blonde hair, but her sexual know-how.
‘Charlotte. Is this the place you were talking about?’
Her mother’s voice cut through Charlotte’s reverie, shocking her back to the present. Blinking a bit blankly for a second or two, she discovered they were standing outside the entrance to the bistro. She must have walked there on automatic pilot whilst she daydreamed.
‘Yes, yes, it is. Sorry. Just wool-gathering as usual.’
Her mother smiled indulgently. ‘That’s all right. A girl’s allowed some wool-gathering the day before her wedding. Most brides are a bit nervous.’
Her father laughed. ‘Nervous? Our Charlie? That’ll be the day. She’s just excited.’
Excited…
Charlotte glanced up into Daniel’s dark eyes, which glittered back down at her.
‘Just a tad,’ she confessed with considerable understatement. ‘Come on, let’s get you in here to eat.’
Taking her mother’s elbow, she ushered her into the bistro. Daniel and her dad trailed after them, chatting away as if they’d been best mates for years.
‘Have you decided what you might like to eat yet?’ she asked her mother after the woman had spent several minutes perusing all the options. Daniel and her dad had already ordered steaks, medium rare. Men, Charlotte had always found, were more decisive with food than women. She herself didn’t feel like eating at all. Stress always doused her appetite. Excitement, too.
She’d had more than enough of both for one day.
Her mother continued to dither whilst Daniel proceeded to the bar to order the drinks. Beer for the men. Cream sherry for her mother and a dry white wine for herself.
Meanwhile, her dad claimed a booth-style table for them next to one of the wide windows that overlooked the city street outside.
In the end, both her mother and Charlotte ordered the same as the men, though they chose smaller steaks and ordered them well done. Their drinks had arrived by the time they sat down. Charlotte immediately swooped up her glass and was having some soothing sips of the crisply chilled wine when a mobile phone started ringing.
Charlotte knew it wasn’t hers. Wrong tune.
It was Daniel’s.
CHAPTER SIX
‘EXCUSE me, everyone,’ Daniel said as he fished his slimline cellphone out of his back pocket, flipped it open and put it to his ear.
Charlotte gave him a slight dig in the ribs, reminding him he’d have to be careful what he said.
‘Hi there,’ seemed safe enough.
‘Beth here. I’m finally finished with the doc. Everything’s fine, though I’ve put on another damned kilo. So where are you and how did things go? Did you find out her name?’
‘I’m having lunch with Charlotte and her folks right now,’ he replied, hoping that would floor his sister into silence.
He was right. It did.
