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She just stared at him. What she always wanted…
She’d wished, dreamed and prayed night after night, day after day, from the day she had left him for what she really wanted, and now, here he was.
‘O—kay.’ She spun away from the man who’d stolen her heart and turned her life upside down. ‘Is everyone happy with their outfits?’
There was a murmur of assent.
‘Skye—’ Nick’s voice was deep and close.
‘Right. Well, carry on then. I’m around if you have any questions,’ she said to the men in general, ignoring Nick. She glanced at her folder, the words still refusing to be legible. ‘Nice seeing you again, Nick…Mr Coburn.’
She forced herself to put one foot in front of the other.
‘How about we have coffee later? Catch up a bit?’ Nick was right behind her.
‘I am trying to work here, folks,’ Charlie whined, scuffling along the floor on his knees after Nick’s trousers.
‘No, I’m sorry. I can’t.’ Skye pushed through the doors, desperate to escape. The last thing she wanted to do was spend time with the man. She could hardly look at him for the wrenching ache in her chest, the sting behind her eyes and the torturous secret that stabbed her heart like a shard of glass.
He could never know.
Nick tore his gaze from the doorway.
He rolled his neck, massaging the muscles. It was only natural for him to react to her. She was even more beautiful than when they’d met four years ago. She was all woman now. And didn’t he know it.
Her rich curves made his hands itch and just the thought of her full breasts, hidden beneath her white blouse, shot bolts of desire through his body.
Memories of trailing kisses over her smooth olive skin clawed at him, her deep red lips fired his blood and her sweet voice…Cripes, how had he ever let her go?
‘Please sir, keep still.’
Nick stood motionless.
Her dark hair had grown. It was no longer a chic bob but long and sweeping, pulled back with wisps escaping and framing her gorgeous face.
Nick clenched his hands by his sides. He still had a thing for her!
Any wonder? Nick rubbed his jaw. She was the one that had got away.
At least she had the decency to look embarrassed about running into him. Cripes. After what she had done to him, it was amazing that she could look him in the face.
He hadn’t seen a ring on her finger. Maybe the bastard that had stolen her away from him hadn’t come up with the goods. Maybe he’d dumped her.
Nick smiled. That would be justice for all the months he’d tossed, sleepless, in his bed alone.
‘Kindly stand still, sir.’
Nick looked down at the thin man hemming his trousers. He would have preferred one of the girls. He looked over to Pete who was chatting up the young blonde hemmer, and across to Tony, who was struggling to win a smile from the redhead.
Nick looked at the door. He’d prefer Skye at his feet, begging forgiveness…
He had really thought they’d had something magical.
Four years…it seemed like yesterday. They’d been clicking on all fronts. She’d understood his commitment to his career, could talk with him, and make his body wild in the bedroom. She was all he had ever wanted in a woman.
For six months they’d been together—it had felt like no time at all, as if he’d been cheated—then she was gone.
He hadn’t realised she’d been seeing someone else. He should have guessed. He had sort of felt that she had been slipping away in those last weeks. The more time they’d spent together talking about what he wanted in life the more she had seemed to distance herself from him.
He had thought it had been just a mood, or a phase. He clenched his fists by his sides. It had been another man.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He never wanted to experience that sort of pain again.
He shrugged, trying to douse the fire deep in his body, trying to still his pounding heart and push the image of her wide, dark eyes from his mind. And the rest of her beautiful body.
He still had it bad. Cripes. Even after all these years…
He straightened tall and threw out his chest. He was older now, and a hell of a lot wiser. He knew what he wanted and what he didn’t. And he didn’t want to be haunted by Skye Andrews any more.
He was going to get that two-timing vixen out of his mind, body and heart, once and for all.
‘All finished, sir,’ the man at his feet stated dryly, getting to his feet and shooting him a far-from-pleased look. ‘Finally.’
‘Thank God.’ Nick strode to the changing room, tearing the tie from his neck and flicking open the buttons on the jacket and the waistcoat.
Because he wasn’t finished with Skye Andrews, not by a long shot.
CHAPTER THREE
SKYE gripped the phone tightly, her mouth dry. ‘Tara, have you been in touch with Bridal Creations?’
‘Not lately,’ her older sister responded matter-of-factly.
‘Weren’t you going to snaffle one of their planners?’ Skye crossed her fingers. Please say yes. Please let her say she has her. Please say she didn’t have to put up with Nick Coburn in her face for the next couple of weeks.
She bit her lip, the reality seeping into her. As if a new girl could jump right into an ongoing wedding—she was delusional. She was stuck with the guy.
There was a tinge of hope for her—if the new planner teamed up with her and did the Harrison-Brown wedding with her then she could be Skye’s assistant, and deal with the best man while Skye dealt with the bride and groom.
‘I am thinking about it,’ Tara said coolly. ‘But there are several issues to consider when enticing an employee away. The main one being if she shows no loyalty to them, what chance is there that she’ll show loyalty to us?’
‘Money talks,’ Skye blurted.
‘And money invariably costs. More and more.’ Tara paused as though she was considering. ‘I’ll have to think of a way to entice her to work for us that goes beyond just a pay-packet.’
‘Think faster.’
‘Have you got a problem?’
Skye paused. She’d successfully kept the identity secret of the man who had changed her life years ago. Tara hadn’t needed to know all the details then, and definitely not now.
Skye knew exactly what her sister would do and there was no way she wanted her bull-headed sister crashing into Nick and throwing accusations around and making demands…
She shivered. She didn’t want a lecture from her sister either and Tara was damned good at those, having been in charge of the family’s business for over three years.
Skye sighed. ‘Just taking on Mum’s wedding client on top of—’
‘I’ve got everything else under control, Skye. I have two weddings of my own on the go, as you know, but Maggie and I will take care of all the bookings and follow-ups with everyone but the clients themselves.’
Skye sagged back in her chair. ‘But you don’t know—’
‘You’ve documented your progress well.’
‘I have?’ She sat a little taller. Praise from her older sister was rare, but then, having a man like Patrick in her life made a big difference. It was amazing what a little love could do.
‘So don’t panic. I spoke to Mum just an hour ago. She has every confidence that the Harrison-Brown wedding will go off without a hitch if she’s not back on board before the fateful day,’ Tara stated dryly. ‘Oh, and she sounds terrible so please don’t hassle her unless absolutely necessary.’
‘Sure.’ Skye stiffened. There was no way on earth she could talk to her mother about this. She was worse than Tara when it came to being bull-headed. ‘I don’t foresee any problems.’
‘Good.’
Skye rang off. No problems. Except that the man she’d walked out on four years earlier was back in her life!
Breathe. Just breathe. There was no reason to panic. She would hardly see the guy, probably didn’t need to see him at all. She nibbled her lower lip. She could probably avoid the man completely until the rehearsal and the wedding.
She strode to the window and stared out at the busy street. Was one of the cars outside his? Had he gone yet? Had he had his fitting done, taken off that amazing tux, and gone back to his life? She crossed her fingers and leant her head against the cool glass.
Did he have someone in his life? She bit her bottom lip, a chill sweeping through her.
She stared out at the sky. Nick probably didn’t even think twice about running into her. Odds were it had to happen eventually. She just wished it was still years down the track, when she was older, more mature, stronger and far more capable to cope with surviving an ex-boyfriend who was a lawyer.
Skye sighed. Nick had probably already dismissed her from his mind as an old girlfriend, over and done, and that was all she was. He had enough of those running around the city, from what the papers reported.
She licked her dry lips. It was probably a daily occurrence for him. There was no reason to think there was anything more to it.
She heard the knock and the door open. ‘Just put the cup on my desk, Maggie.’ She needed the cuppa desperately, but she wasn’t about to show Maggie that, or the fact that she was bothered.
‘I would,’ said a distinctively male voice. ‘But I don’t have the cup and I’m not Maggie.’
Skye swung to face him, her insides coiled tight. Nick!
Nick Coburn wore a dark suit that silhouetted his shoulders as nicely as the tuxedo had. His white shirt and deep green tie were neat, pressed and tidy. Did he have someone ironing his shirts for him? She stiffened. Or was he just sending them out? ‘What are you doing here?’
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. ‘I told you, I’m the best man.’
She took a deep breath. Where was her professionalism? Where was her detachment, and all that cool, calm sense that she’d employed in her life so well over the last few years?
‘What can I help you with?’ she asked as calmly as she could, avoiding looking at the man directly, trying to slow the thunderous pounding of her heart and the flood of heat to her face.
‘I’d like to discuss my speech at the reception. I need some advice.’ He strode across her small office and dropped into the white fabric sofa in the corner as though he was perfectly at ease.
She lifted her chin. ‘Oh, of course.’ Professional she could handle. She just couldn’t afford to go anywhere near personal, or go into details of what exactly had happened four years ago.
‘Shoot.’
He scrutinized her, his gaze intense, as though he was looking into her very soul…
A shiver raced down Skye’s back, sending ripples of awareness across her skin and into her body. She crossed her arms over her chest and concentrated on breathing and not on the barrage of questions tossing around in her head.
Nick arranged several of the red heart-shaped cushions around him and then gazed directly at her. ‘I’m not sure whether I should go with a joke to start my speech with, or not?’
The tension in her eased a little. Work mode, she could do. ‘There is a popular misconception that the best man has to be witty, funny and entertaining.’ Skye strode behind her wide white marble-topped desk, sitting down in her red chair, pretending this was just any other man in her office. ‘Be funny if funny works for you. But it’s more important to be genuine.’
‘So your advice is—?’
She arranged some papers in front of her, concentrating on what she usually said to the best man and not on the rush of blood in her ears. ‘Keep it simple, genuine and brief.’
‘Okay.’ Nick clapped his hands together and rubbed the palms against each other, not taking his eyes off her. ‘Understood.’
Skye stood up, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. ‘Is that all?’
Nick didn’t move. He looked at her, the intensity in his deep blue eyes disconcerting. ‘Don’t you want to hear it?’
‘What?’ She bit her bottom lip. Why he’d come? Why he’d shown up in her life now after all these years or what he’d heard somewhere, what he suspected? Her heart pounded against her ribs. Or what he wanted now?
‘My speech.’ He leant his elbows on his knees, his blue eyes gleaming. ‘Do you want to hear it?’
Her knees gave out beneath her and she sagged back into her chair. ‘Sure.’ She waved him on. ‘Sure, go ahead. I’m all ears.’
He rubbed his hands together. ‘Terrific, but it’s not quite ready at the moment so I’ll be back when the first draft is done.’
‘Great.’ She sighed. She should have seen that one coming. ‘Not a problem.’
He leant forward, his eyes probing hers. ‘Are you sure? You seem a bit tense.’
Skye lifted her chin. ‘I assure you, Mr Coburn, that no matter what went on with us in the past I am a professional. I’ll do my job where the Harrison-Brown wedding is concerned. No problem at all.’
He shot her a curt nod. ‘You don’t have a problem with me being the best man?’
‘Of course not.’ She was obviously transparent. She pulled back her shoulders and met his deep blue eyes. ‘It was four long years ago, Mr Coburn. It has no relevance here today.’
A muscle quivered in his jaw. ‘I’m interested in finding out how your life has gone during those long years, Skye.’
Her name on his lips sent a shiver down her spine. She raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t see that it’s any of your business.’
‘I’d like to make it my business. We were friends once,’ he said, his voice low and smooth. ‘Don’t you owe me at least a cup of hot chocolate?’
Her chest tightened. He’d remembered her favourite drink! She shook her head vehemently. ‘I don’t think so. Besides, we didn’t part on the best of terms.’ She’d made sure of that. She couldn’t have him looking her up a few months down the track. She’d had to make it final.
