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‘Wow,’ Brad enthused by Daniel’s side. ‘See what I mean? She’s hot, man.’
As she drew closer, those bold blue eyes narrowed on Daniel in an assessing fashion, making him squirm a little.
Poor Brad. This female would run rings around him.
‘Mmm,’ she murmured in an unnervingly droll fashion when she was close enough for him to hear. ‘I see what Charlotte means.’
Daniel would have liked to ask her what that meant, but this was hardly the time or the place. Later, maybe. Instead, he plastered a cool smile on his face and said a soft hello.
She gave him a killer look in return, then turned a full-wattage smile Brad’s way.
‘You look gorgeous, lover,’ she whispered to Brad, before taking her place on the other side of Daniel, leaving plenty of room for Charlotte.
Daniel’s focus returned to the entrance to the conservatory, where he could see a cloud of white in the dimmer light just beyond the open doors.
The bride, waiting to make her entry.
Daniel’s throat suddenly went bone-dry. He swallowed, then swallowed again. Was Charlotte as nervous as he was? Was that why she was taking so long to appear?
‘What’s she doing?’ he whispered over to the redhead.
‘Taking off the small face veil, I think. She thought it didn’t look right with her new hairdo.’
The words ‘new hairdo’ barely registered before the cloud of white came into focus and Daniel was confronted by a Charlotte he could never have envisaged.
If his throat had been dry before, it felt like parchment now.
She wasn’t just beautiful. She was devastatingly beautiful. A fairy-tale princess of a bride in a dress designed to make any husband-to-be go ga-ga.
Daniel complied with a raw rush of desire.
Like Louise’s, Charlotte’s gown was strapless, but, where her friend’s bodice was draped, this one was smooth and tight, bolstering up Charlotte’s already impressive breasts whilst constricting her waist into hand-spanning size. The skirt, by contrast, was full and frothy, brushing against her father’s legs as he accompanied her down the red carpet.
But her crowning glory was her hair.
Gone was the long, straight curtain of blonde hair, replaced by soft, glossy, shoulder-length waves in a glorious dark brown that glinted red when the light hit it. The rich walnut shade was a perfect foil for the dazzling whiteness of the dress and the honey-coloured skin of her bare shoulders and arms. Framing her striking face and hair was a short but very feminine veil, which was anchored on top of her head by an exquisite tiara decorated with diamante ´s and pearls. She wore no jewellery around her elegant throat. She didn’t need any.
The sight of her literally took Daniel’s breath away.
He was barely aware of the camera flashes going off, or the video man off to one side filming everything. His eyes were riveted on his bride, his heart pounding in a way it hadn’t pounded in his entire life.
CHAPTER NINE
A WAVE of emotional confusion swamped Charlotte as she started to walk down that red carpet on her father’s arm, her eyes dropping agitatedly to the bouquet she was holding.
Was she happy or sad? Regretful or resentful? Nervous or excited?
All of those things, she realised.
Happy that her hair had turned out brilliantly. But sad that she’d spent so long as a blonde, trying to please Gary. Regretful that she was wasting so much of her dad’s money today, and resentful that Gary didn’t give a damn. Nervous over pretending to marry Daniel, but also appallingly excited.
All day, one overriding thought had dominated Charlotte’s mind.
Tonight.
Difficult to think of anything else.
Was Daniel as excited as she was?
Her eyes lifted at last to look at him.
Her step faltered. Her heart as well.
Had there ever been a more handsome groom?
People said brides always looked beautiful in their wedding dresses, even the plain ones. But the same could be said for grooms, in Charlotte’s opinion. There was something about a tuxedo which made the most of any man. It gave him stature, and styling, and sophistication.
Daniel had been handsome in a business suit and impossibly sexy in jeans. In the elegant black tuxedo he was wearing today, he was so handsome and sexy, it was criminal.
Just looking at him was a turn-on. Being with him was going to be incredible. She could feel it in every fibre of her being.
Her resolve not to take him with her to the Hunter Valley tomorrow immediately went a bit wobbly. If the earth moved in Daniel’s arms tonight, how could she possibly give him up after just one night?
But if she prolonged their affair, wouldn’t that make losing him later on all the more terrible? And wasn’t she just making the same mistake again, going from one relationship disaster to another, this time in a shockingly short space of time? After Dwayne it had at least been a few weeks before she met Gary. It had been less than two days since Gary had jilted her.
‘Are you all right, love?’
Charlotte’s head turned slowly to find her father frowning at her.
It was a defining moment for Charlotte, a moment when she realised she was sick and tired of fighting her feelings for Daniel.
She wanted to be with him. OK, so they might only have a few days together. But those few days would probably be better than a lifetime with another man.
‘Yes, Dad,’ she said, resigning herself to the fact she was setting herself up for some serious heartbreak this time. But what she felt was too powerful to ignore.
‘I’m fine,’ she added. And forced a smile to her mouth.
Her smile reassured Daniel. Till he saw her eyes.
There was sadness in her eyes.
Was she wishing it were Gary standing here, waiting to marry her?
Surely not. She didn’t love Gary any more than Gary had loved her.
Daniel supposed that might be what was making her sad, her having been so mistaken, not only about Gary’s feelings but also her own. No one liked to feel a fool.
Did Charlotte feel a fool?
He hoped not. Because she was far from foolish. She was sweet and brave and loving, and that stupid bloody Gary didn’t deserve her. As for that Dwayne guy… Daniel would have liked to punch his lights out, the miserable jerk.
Still, Charlotte was better off without either of those two. Hell, they couldn’t even make her happy in bed! The least a man could do was make his woman happy in bed.
He smiled back at her as she approached, determined that he wouldn’t let her down. Tonight could not come quickly enough.
‘You look so beautiful,’ he whispered when her father handed her over to him.
Her blue eyes sparkled this time. ‘Thank you. So do you.’
Vince cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to the moment at hand.
‘We are gathered here today,’ he started, his having decided on a very traditional ceremony, chiefly because that was the only one he’d been able to find a copy of last night, ‘to celebrate the marriage of…’
Daniel’s mind drifted away from the words to concentrate on Charlotte. She was wearing more makeup today. But her glorious dark hair and the glamorous white wedding dress demanded it. With blue eye-shadow and black eye-liner, her eyes looked so big and blue. And that red gloss on her mouth made Daniel long to kiss her.
When his eyes dropped to her cleavage, he had some difficulty keeping his thoughts from straying to her beautiful breasts and the many ways in which he wanted to make love to her tonight.
Daniel determined to make it impossible for her to send him on his way tomorrow. He might not be good marriage material but he was a good lover.
He was working out his sexual strategy when he heard Vince ask who gave this woman in marriage.
Her father answered, ‘I do,’ proudly and then the ceremony began in earnest.
Daniel winced over being called Gary Cantrell, but swallowed his pride and said ‘I do’ at the right moment. Charlotte made them all suffer with a heart-stopping hesitation before she said ‘I do’. At least she didn’t have to promise to obey.
The exchange of rings carried more tension, mainly because his was a tight fit. How was he ever going to get the darned thing off afterwards?
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ part. The worst was over. Now he got to kiss the bride.
They were already facing each other, with Charlotte gazing up into his eyes with an expression Daniel found extremely flattering. No, she certainly hadn’t loved Gary.
A sudden panic zoomed into her face. She didn’t want him to kiss her, that much was evident.
Daniel felt put out, till he realised she might be worried he was going to kiss her as he had kissed her yesterday in the hotel lobby. That had been some kiss!
He decided he could wait till he had her behind closed doors before he unleashed his still smouldering passion. Though damn it all, controlling himself once his lips were on hers was not going to be easy.
Steeling himself, he took her face gently between his hands and gave her the softest, sweetest kiss on the mouth. No pressure. No pushing open her lips. Daniel suspected embarrassing things might happen if he did that.
But he wanted to. Hell, he wanted to desperately.
The reception loomed ahead as a far bigger trial than this wedding, because it was longer. Hours, maybe. But there was no getting out of it.
Meanwhile, he would have had to be careful not to let his frustration show. And not to drink. He had to be stone-cold sober to perform as he wanted to perform tonight.
‘Love the hair,’ he complimented after his mouth lifted. ‘And the dress.’
He could have added love what’s in it, but he didn’t, of course. That would have been crass. And Daniel was not crass.
Aroused, but not crass.
She stared up into his eyes with the oddest expression. Kind of dazed.
‘Better than blonde?’ she asked with a charming tilt of her head.
‘Much,’ he said. ‘You made a beautiful blonde, but you’re a ravishing brunette.’ He certainly wanted to ravish her. Right now.
She smiled. A happy smile. No, a dazzling smile.
Daniel stifled a groan and managed to smile back. ‘I’ve always been partial to brunettes,’ he said truthfully.
Vince stopped any further conversation with a touch to Daniel’s elbow. He led them over to the table to sign the pretend papers, which they did, along with Brad and Louise. Cameras continued to flash. The video rolled on. Daniel murmured a discreet ‘thank you’ to Vince, who said he would be going straight home to tell Beth all about it.
Beth, it had been obvious last night, thought this whole pretend wedding thing was so romantic. There again, Beth had always been an incurable romantic.
‘Smile, please,’ the photographer ordered. ‘The groom! Smile, please.’
Daniel smiled.
CHAPTER TEN
‘EXCUSE me a moment, please, Charlotte,’ Daniel said, and pushed back his chair.
Charlotte’s eyes followed him as he stood up and walked to the table where her father was seated. There was an empty chair next to her dad, her mother having temporarily vacated it.
The reception had been in full swing for over an hour, with the entrée and the main meal having been served. Charlotte had chosen the menu herself, but hadn’t really enjoyed any of the food. In fact, she’d just picked at it.
From the moment Daniel had said she was ravishing, her hunger hadn’t been for food.
Her eyes were still glued to him when he suddenly glanced back over his shoulder at her. Embarrassed at being caught staring, she pulled her eyes away and picked up her glass. She might not have eaten much but she’d been downing the wine. Chardonnay. Her favourite.
‘See what I told you would happen?’ Louise whispered to Charlotte. ‘He can’t take his eyes off you.’
‘More like the other way around. I… I’ve never wanted a man like I do him. I think I will take him away on my honeymoon holiday after all.’
Louise gave a softly knowing laugh. ‘Aah, so you know now what I feel when I’m with Brad. Nothing like a bit of good old-fashioned lust, is there?’
‘Lust…’ Charlotte frowned. ‘How can I be sure that’s all this is?’
‘What else, at this early stage? Goodness, don’t go thinking what you feel is love, girl. I have to admit, if I wasn’t so taken with Brad, I might bat my eyelashes in Daniel’s direction as well.’
‘Did I hear someone mention my name?’ Brad said from his seat on the other side of Daniel’s vacant one.
Louise rolled her eyes. ‘Amazing how his ears always prick up every time he hears his name. That’s men for you. Yes, Brad, we were both talking about you and how yummy you look in your tux.’
‘I was thinking the same about you, babe.’
‘What, how good I’d look in your tux?’
