Hotly Bedded, Conveniently Wedded

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He needed to regain his composure.

But for the life of him he couldn’t let her hand go.

At the end of the play, he released her hand so they could clap. And his arm was only round her on the way out of the theatre so he could protect her from the crowds.

At dinner afterwards, they chatted animatedly about the play until their meal arrived.

‘Next time we’ll have to take Saskia as well,’ he said. ‘And Mum—if she’s up to it.’

‘How is she?’ Isobel asked.

‘You know my mother. She almost never admits to feeling under the weather.’ He sighed. ‘This lupus thing… I worry about her.’

Isobel reached across the table and squeezed his hand. ‘She’ll be fine, Alex. Saskia was telling me about it—I know they haven’t found a cure for lupus, yet, but they can keep it under control with medication.’

‘But it’s going to take a while for them to find the right treatment to help her.’ Alex grimaced. ‘I’ve read up on it. I was in Turkey when Helen rang me and told me—and although I came home straight away, a snatched weekend here and there isn’t enough. I need to be around a bit more. Living in the same country as my family would be a start.’ He smiled wryly. ‘I’m not planning to move back in with my parents, because I’m used to doing things my own way and I’d drive them crazy, not fitting in with their routines—but I want to do my bit. It’s not fair to leave everything to the girls. I’m the oldest, and our parents are my responsibility.’

Isobel raised an eyebrow. ‘I think your parents would say they’re their own responsibility.’

‘Maybe.’ Alex frowned. ‘Mum’s putting a brave face on things but I know she hates it when I’m away so much, and she worries every time she turns on the news and hears of some kind of political unrest which might be somewhere near wherever I am at the time. It’s extra stress she doesn’t need.’

‘Alex, it’s not your fault she’s got lupus.’

‘No?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s stress-related.’

‘And my money’s on most of the stress being caused by her job. Saskia says she’s been feeling a lot better since she changed her hours and went part-time.’

‘Even so, it doesn’t help if she’s worried about me.’

‘She’ll be pleased about your new job, then,’ Isobel said.

‘Hey, I’m not quite arrogant enough to count my chickens— I know I’m in the running, but if they decide that my career to date makes me too much of a risk, that I’ll stay in the job for all of five minutes and then leave them in the lurch when I get a better offer…’ He shrugged. ‘Well, something else’ll turn up.’

She frowned. ‘Alex, do you actually have to be married to make them think you’re settled, or would being engaged be enough?’

He thought about it. ‘Engaged would probably be enough.’

* * *

Alex needed her. And of course she wanted to help him. He was too proud to ask her again, she knew, so there was only one thing she could do. ‘Alex. I want to help you. I really want you to get this job and be happy.’ She took a deep breath. If she got engaged to him, it wasn’t the same as being married, was it? It wasn’t the same as tying him down to someone who might not be able to give him what he wanted in life. ‘Look, if we get engaged—after you get the job we can quietly break off the engagement and go back to being how we are now.’ And because they weren’t getting married, she wouldn’t have to tell him the truth about herself—about the miscarriages. Everything would be just fine.

‘You’d get engaged to me?’

‘Until you get the job, yes. If it’d help.’

She could see the relief in his eyes. ‘Thank you, Bel. I really appreciate this.’ He took her hand, raised it to his mouth and kissed her palm before folding her fingers over where his lips had touched her skin. ‘Any time I can return the favour, do something for you, you know I will.’

‘Hey. That’s what friends are for,’ she said, striving for lightness despite the fact that the touch of his mouth had sent desire zinging through her veins.

Though his words made her heart ache. Yes, there was something Alex could do for her. But it wasn’t going to happen, so there was no point in even letting herself think about it. A real marriage and babies weren’t on his agenda. Besides, the fact that Gary had a baby now proved that the problem was with her, not him.

‘To you,’ Alex said, lifting his glass. ‘My lucky charm.’

‘What was that you were saying about not counting your chickens?’ she asked wryly.

‘With you by my side,’ Alex said, ‘I could conquer the world.’

Oh, help. He sounded serious. She reverted to some childhood teasing. ‘Alexander the Great, hmm?’

He laughed. ‘Hey. I’m not going to make you change your name to Roxana. Though if you really want to…’

‘No, thanks!’

‘And this is an engagement of convenience.’

‘Exactly. Until you get the job. Which you will.’ She raised her own glass. ‘To you.’

‘To us,’ he corrected. ‘And to teamwork.’

‘Teamwork,’ she echoed.

CHAPTER FOUR

ALEX spent the weekend in the Cotswolds visiting his parents, and Isobel was shocked at how much she missed him, how empty the flat seemed without him.

Don’t get too used to this, she warned herself. Alex would move out once he’d got the job and decided where to settle. If he decided to move back to his own flat, he might stay for his tenants’ notice period, but he wouldn’t stay any longer than that. And their engagement was one of convenience, which wouldn’t last very long; there was no point in getting a ring.

She went out for a long walk on Hampstead Heath on the Sunday; when she let herself back into the flat, she was surprised to see Alex already there. And she was furious with herself for the fact that her heart actually missed a beat. ‘You’re back early,’ she said, keeping her voice deliberately light.

He looked grim. ‘Mmm.’

There was only one thing she could think of that would’ve made him look so upset. ‘Is your mum all right?’

‘She’s fine.’

‘Then what’s wrong?’

He raked a hand through his hair. ‘Things didn’t go quite according to plan.’

‘How do you mean?’

He sucked in a breath. ‘I took my parents out to lunch today. I was telling Mum about the job—and that you’d agreed to be my temporary fiancée, to give me the right profile. Except she didn’t hear the word “temporary”.’ He sighed deeply. ‘She thinks we’re really getting married, Bel. And her face… She looked so happy. As if a huge weight had been lifted from her. I just didn’t have the heart to correct her—not in the middle of the Partridge, anyway. I was going to wait until we were back home and then explain without having an audience listening in. But then I got out of the car and Dad was shaking my hand and slapping me on the back and telling me how pleased he was that I was finally settling down and about time it was too—and the next thing I knew, my mum had already gone next door to see your mum.’

Isobel blinked. ‘Marcia told my mum we were engaged?’

‘And Saskia. And Helen. And Polly. And half the street. I’ve only just managed to persuade her not to stick a notice in the local paper.’ He looked rueful. ‘I tried to ring your mobile to warn you, but your voicemail told me your phone was unavailable—and your landline went straight through to your answering machine.’

‘I went out for a walk—I must’ve been in a bad reception area.’

‘I sent you a couple of texts. Maybe they went AWOL.’

Or maybe she’d accidentally left her phone in silent mode. She took it out of her bag and checked the screen. There were three messages from Alex, all telling her to ring him urgently and not to listen to any of the messages on her answering machine until he got back to London.

She glanced at the answering machine. ‘Messages.’ The light was still flashing, so clearly he hadn’t listened to them.

‘I’m really sorry, Bel.’

‘Better find out what they have to say.’ She pressed ‘play’. The first message was from Alex. ‘Houston, we have a problem. Call me when you can—and if you’ve got other messages on the machine after this, don’t take any notice of them, OK? I’ll explain everything when I get back.’

Next was her mother. ‘Bel, Marcia just told me. It’s fantastic news—but why didn’t you tell me yourself, love? Get your diary and call me when you’re back. Your dad and I want to take you both out to dinner to celebrate. Love you.’

Then it was Alex’s mother. ‘Bel, we’re so pleased to hear the news—I wish Alex had waited until you were back from your course, so you could’ve told us together, but I know what my son’s like. He can’t wait for anything. See you soon, love. And we’re so pleased. We couldn’t have hoped for a better daughter-in-law.’

And then Saskia. ‘Oh, my God, you’re actually going to be my sister! Isobel Martin, how could you keep something like this quiet? And from me, of all people! Ring me the second you get this. I want details.’ She laughed. ‘And congratulations. This is brilliant. It’s the best news I’ve heard all year.’

Isobel sat down and looked at Alex. ‘Oh, blimey. They’re all so pleased.’

‘I know.’

‘And what course? Why does your mother think I’m on a course?’

He lifted a hand in protest. ‘She asked why you weren’t with me to share the news. I had to think on my feet. So I said the first thing that came into my head—that you were on a course. Which I know was a lie, and I know you hate lying, but what else could I do?’

‘You could’ve told them the truth.’

‘How?’ He sighed. ‘I’ve been racking my brain all the way here to work out how to fix this. Look, if you don’t mind going along with it for a while, then we can say I’ve done something terrible—I dunno, got drunk and disgraced you and gone off with another woman at a party or something— and you can break off the engagement in high dudgeon. And then we can just go back to normal.’

She shook her head. ‘Alex, that’s a hideously bad idea— it’ll hurt everyone. Your parents will never forgive you if they think you’ve treated me badly, mine will never forgive you either, and it’ll cause rifts all over the place. And I’m not going to tell even more lies. It’s enough of a mess as it is.’

‘Bel, you heard them all. They’re delighted that we’re together. It’s as if we’ve given them Christmas, a milestone birthday and a huge lottery win all rolled into one. If I tell them the truth, they’ll be so disappointed, so upset that it’s not happening. At least if we tell them it didn’t work out, it’ll let them down gently.’

‘By you being unfaithful? That’s hardly being gentle, Alex.’

‘Then I hope you’ve got a better idea, because I can’t think of any other way.’

Her mind had gone completely blank. ‘I can’t, either,’ she admitted.

‘Mum said she wondered how long it would take me to see what was right under my nose, and she’s glad I finally realised.’ He raked his hand through his hair. ‘She thinks I’ve been in love with you secretly since for ever.’

‘Of course you haven’t.’ Isobel shifted guiltily. Though could she say the same for herself? The fact that she could still remember howa kiss had felt twelve years ago…’ This is crazy.’

‘And it’s my fault. I’m sorry, Bel.’ He looked grim. ‘I’m just going to have to call everyone and put them straight. I apologise if it’s going to cause any awkwardness for you.’