A sudden need to get this right overwhelmed her.
She wasn’t usually a superstitious person, but she imagined she could sense the power in this one simple challenge. If she got this stone to bounce by herself, maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay.
She was throwing this for her pride and the return of her strength. To prove to Max—but mostly to herself—that she was resilient and capable and—dare she even suggest it?—brave enough to try something new, even if there was a good chance she’d fail spectacularly and end up looking foolish again.
Harnessing the power of positive thought, she drew back her hand, took a second to centre herself, then flung the stone hard across the water, snapping her finger like he’d taught her and holding her breath as she watched it sail through the air.
It dropped low about fifteen feet out and for a second she thought she’d messed it up, but her spirits soared as she saw it bounce twice before disappearing.
Spinning round to make a celebratory face at Max, she was gratified to see him nod in exaggerated approval, a smile playing about his lips.
‘Good job! You’re a quick study; but then we already knew that about you.’
The compliment made her insides flare with warmth and she let out a laugh of delight, elation twisting through her as she saw him grin back.
Their gazes snagged and held, his pupils dilating till his eyes looked nearly black in the bright afternoon light.
A wave of electric heat spread through her at the sight of it, but the laughter died in her throat as he turned abruptly away and stared off towards the house instead, folding his arms so tightly against his chest she could make out the shape of his muscles under his shirt.
He cleared his throat. ‘You know, this place is just like the venue where Jemima and I got married,’ he said, so casually she wondered how much emotion he’d had to rein in, in order to say it.
Ugh. What a selfish dolt she was. Here she’d been worrying about what he thought of her and her tales of woe, when he was doing battle with his own demons.
It had occurred to her earlier that morning, as she’d struggled to do up her dress, that attending a wedding could be problematic for him, but she’d forgotten all about it after the incident in the kitchen, her thoughts distracted by the unnerving tension that had crackled between them ever since.
Or what she’d thought was tension.
Perhaps it had been apprehension on his part.
And then, when he’d mentioned how transient and lonely his youth had been over drinks earlier, it had brought it home to her why Jemima’s death had hit him so hard. It sounded as if she’d been the person anchoring his life after years of feeling adrift and insecure. And this place reminded him of everything he’d lost.
No wonder he seemed so unsettled.
He’d still come here to help her out, though, despite his discomfort at being at this kind of event, which was a decent and kind thing for him to do and way beyond the call of duty as her boss. Her heart did a slow flip in her chest as she realised exactly what it must have cost him to agree to come.
‘I’m sorry for dragging you here today. I didn’t think about how hard it would be for you. After losing Jemima.’
He put his hand on her arm and waited for her to look at him before speaking. ‘You have nothing to apologise for. Nothing. I wanted to come here to support you because you’ve done nothing but support me for the last few weeks. It’s my turn to look after you today.’ He was looking directly at her now and the fierce intensity in his eyes made a delicious shiver zip down her spine.
‘Honestly, I thought it would be awful coming here,’ he said, casting his gaze back towards the house again, ‘but it’s not been the trial I thought it’d be. In fact—’ he ran a hand over his hair and let out a low breath ‘—it’s been good for me to confront a situation like this. I’ve been missing out on so much life since Jem died and it’s time I pulled my head out of the sand and faced the world again.’
Cara swallowed hard, ensnared in the emotion of the moment, her heart thudding against her chest and her breath rasping in her dry throat. Looking at Max now, she realised that the ever-present frown was nowhere to be seen for once. Instead, there was light in his eyes and something else...
They stood, frozen in the moment, as the gentle spring wind wrapped around them and the birds sang enthusiastically above their heads.
It would be so easy to push up onto tiptoe and slide her hands around his neck. To press her lips against his and feel the heat and masculine strength of him, to slide her tongue into his mouth and taste him. She ached to feel his breath against her skin and his hands in her hair, her whole body tingling with the sensory expectation of it.
She wanted to be the one to remind him what living could be like, if only he’d let her.
To her disappointment, Max broke eye contact with her and nodded towards the marquee behind them. ‘We should probably get back before they send out a search party. We don’t want to find ourselves in trouble for messing with Amber’s schedule of events and being frogmarched to our seats,’ he said lightly, though his voice sounded gruffer than normal.
Had he seen it in her face? The longing. She hoped not. The thought of her infatuation putting their fragile relationship under any more strain made her insides squirm.
Anyway, that tension-filled moment had probably been him thinking about Jemima again.
Not her.
They walked in silence back to the marquee, the bright sun pleasantly warm on the back of her neck and bare shoulders, but her insides icy cold.
Despite their little detour, they weren’t the last to sit down. It was with a sigh of relief that Cara slumped into her seat and reached for the bottle of white wine on the table, more than ready to blot out the ache of disappointment that had been present ever since he’d suggested they give up their truancy from the festivities and head back into the fray.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be here exactly; it was just that it had been so much fun hanging out with him. Just the two of them together, like friends. Or something.
Knocking back half a glass of wine in one go, she refilled it before offering the bottle to Max.
He was looking at her with bemusement, one eyebrow raised. ‘Thirsty?’
Heat flared across her cheeks. ‘Just getting in the party mood,’ she said, forcing a nonchalant smile. ‘It looks like we have some catching up to do.’
The raucous chatter and laughter in the room suggested that people were already pretty tiddly on the cocktails they’d been served.
‘Okay, well, I’m going to stick to water if I have to drive to the bed and breakfast place later. I think one of us should stay sober enough to find our way there at the end of the night. I don’t fancy kipping in the car.’
She gave him an awkward grin as the thought of sleeping in such close proximity to him made more heat rush to her face.
Picking up her glass, she took another long sip of wine to cover her distress.
Oh, good grief. It was going to be a long night.
The meal was surprisingly tasty, considering how many people were being catered for, and Cara began to relax as the wine did its work. She quickly found herself in a conversation with the lady to her right, who turned out to be Amber’s second cousin and an estate agent in Angel, about the dearth of affordable housing to rent in London. By the end of dessert, the woman had promised to give Cara first dibs on a lovely-sounding one-bedroom flat that was just about to come onto her books. And that proved to Cara, without a shadow of a doubt, that you just had to be in the right place at the right time to get lucky.
Turning to say this exact thing to Max, she was disturbed to find he’d finished his conversation with the man next to him and was frowning down at the tablecloth.
‘Sorry for ignoring you,’ she sai
d, worried he was getting sucked down into dark thoughts again with all the celebrating going on around him.
He gave her a tense smile and pushed his chair away from the table. ‘You weren’t. I overheard your conversation about finding a flat; that’s great news—you should definitely get her number and follow that up,’ he said, standing and tapping the back of his chair. ‘I’m going to find the bathrooms. I’ll be back in a minute.’
She watched him stride away with a lump in her throat. Was he upset about the prospect of her moving out? She dismissed the notion immediately. No, he couldn’t be. He must be craving his space again by now. Even though she’d loved living there, she knew it was time to move out. Especially now that her feelings for him had twisted themselves into something new. Something dangerous.
‘That’s a good one you’ve got there—very sexy,’ Amber’s second cousin muttered into her ear, pulling back to waggle her eyebrows suggestively, only making the lump in Cara’s throat grow in size.
Unable to speak, she gave the woman what she hoped looked like a gracious smile.
‘Hi, Cara.’
The voice behind her made her jump in her seat and she swivelled round, only to find herself staring into the eyes of the woman she’d been trying to avoid since spotting her in the church earlier.
Her meal rolled uncomfortably in her stomach.
‘Hi, Lucy.’
Instead of the look of cool disdain Cara was expecting, she was surprised to see Lucy bite her lip, her expression wary.
‘How are you?’ Lucy asked falteringly, as if afraid to hear the answer.
‘Fine, thank you.’ Cara kept her voice deliberately neutral, just in case this was an opening gambit to get her to admit to something she really didn’t want to say.
‘Can I talk to you for a moment?’
Cara swallowed her anxiety and gestured towards the chair Max had vacated, wondering what on earth this woman could have to say to her. Whatever it was, it was better to get it over with now so she didn’t spend the rest of the night looking over her shoulder. Straightening her back, she steeled herself to deal with anything she could throw at her.
Lucy sat on the edge of the seat, as close as she could get to Cara without touching her, and laid her hands on her lap before taking a deep breath. ‘I wanted to come over and apologise as soon as I could so there wasn’t any kind of atmosphere between us today.’
Cara stared at her. ‘I’m sorry? Did you say apologise?’
Lucy crossed her legs, then uncrossed them again, her cheeks flooding with colour. ‘Yes... I’m really sorry about the way you were treated at LED. I feel awful about it. I let Michelle bully me into taking her side—because I knew she’d turn on me, too, if I stood up for you—and I was pathetic enough to let her. I want you to know that I didn’t do any of those awful things to you, but I didn’t stop it either.’ She shook her head and let out a low sigh. ‘I feel awful about it, Cara, truly.’
At that moment Cara felt a pair of hands land lightly on her shoulders. Twisting her head round, she saw that Max had returned and was standing over her like some kind of dark guardian angel.
‘Everything okay, Cara?’ From the cool tone in his voice she suspected he’d be more than willing to step in and eject Lucy from her seat if she asked him to.
‘Fine, thanks, Max. This is Lucy. She came over to apologise for her unfriendliness at the last place I worked.’
‘Is that so?’
Cara couldn’t see the expression on his face from that angle but, from the sound of his voice and the way Lucy seemed to shrink back in her chair, she guessed it wasn’t a very friendly one.
Lucy cleared her throat awkwardly. ‘Yes, I feel dreadful about the whole thing. It was horrible working there. In fact, I left the week after you did. I couldn’t stand the smug look on Michelle’s face any more. Although—’ she leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner ‘—I heard from one of the other girls that she only lasted a month before he got rid of her. She couldn’t hack it, apparently.’ She snorted. ‘That’s karma in action, right there.’ Clearly feeling she’d said her piece, Lucy stood up so that Max could have his chair back and took a small step away from them. ‘Anyway, I’d better get back to my table; apparently there’s coffee on the way and I’m desperate for some. Those cocktails were evil, weren’t they?’
‘Why are you here today?’ Cara asked before she could turn and leave, intrigued by the coincidence.
‘I’m Jack’s—the groom’s—new PA.’
Cara couldn’t help but laugh at life’s weird little twist. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah, he’s a great boss, really lovely to work for.’ She leant forward again and said in a quiet voice, ‘I don’t think Amber likes me very much, though; she didn’t seem very pleased to see me here.’
‘I wouldn’t take that too personally,’ Cara said, giving her a reassuring smile. ‘She’s an intensely protective person.’ She put a hand on Lucy’s arm. ‘Thanks for being brave enough to come over and apologise, Lucy; I really appreciate the gesture.’
Lucy gave her one last smile, and Max a slightly terrified grimace, before retreating to her table.
Max sat back down in his chair, giving her an impressed nod. ‘Nicely handled.’
Warm pleasure coursed through her as she took in the look of approval in his eyes. Feeling a little flustered by it, she picked up her glass of wine to take a big gulp, but judged the tilt badly and some escaped from the side of the rim and dribbled down her chin. Before she had time to react, Max whipped his napkin under her jaw and caught the rogue droplets with it, stopping them from splashing onto her dress.
‘Smooth!’ she said, laughing in surprise.
‘I have moves,’ he replied, his eyes twinkling and his mouth twitching into a warm smile.
A wave of heat engulfed her and her stomach did a full-on somersault.
Oh, no, what was happening to her?
Heart racing, she finally allowed the truth to filter through to her consciousness.
It was, of course, the very last thing she needed to happen.
She was falling in love with him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AFTER THE MEAL and speeches, all the guests were encouraged to go through to the house, where a bar had been set up under the sweeping staircase in the hall and a DJ in the ballroom was playing ambient tunes in the hope of drawing the guests in there to sit around the tables that surrounded the dance floor.
Waiting at the bar to grab them both a caffeinated soft drink to give them some energy for the rest of the evening’s events, Max allowed his thoughts to jump back over the day.
He’d had fun at the lake with Cara, which had taken him by surprise, because the last thing he’d expected when he’d got up that morning was that he would enjoy himself today.
But Cara had a way of finding the joy in things.
In fact, he’d been so caught up in the pleasure of showing her how to skim stones, he hadn’t thought about what he was doing until his hand was on the soft curve of her hip and his body was pressed up close to hers, the familiar floral scent of her perfume in his nose and the heat of her warming his skin. He’d hidden his instinctive response to it well enough, he thought, using the excessive rush of adrenaline to hurl more stones across the water.
And then she’d been so delighted when she’d managed to skim that stone by herself he’d felt a mad urge to wrap his arms around her again in celebration and experience the moment with her.
But that time he’d managed to rein himself in, randomly talking about his own wedding to break the tension, only to feel a different kind of self-reproach when Cara assumed his indiscriminate jump to the subject was down to him feeling gloomy about his situation.
Which it really hadn’t been.
Returning with the drinks to where he’d
left Cara standing just inside the ballroom, he handed one to her and smiled when she received it with a grimace of relieved thanks. The main lights in the room were set low and a large glitter ball revolved slowly from the ceiling, scattering the floor and walls with shards of silver light. Max watched them dance over Cara’s face in fascination, thinking that she looked like some kind of ethereal seraph, with her bright eyes and pale creamy skin against the glowing silver of her dress.
A strange elation twisted through him, triggering a lifting sensation throughout his whole body—as if all the things that had dragged him down in the past eighteen months were losing their weight and slowly drifting upwards. The sadness he’d expected to keep on hitting him throughout the day was still notably absent, and instead there was a weird sense of rightness about being here.
With her.
Catching her giving him a quizzical look, he was just about to ask if she wanted to take another walk outside so they could hear each other speak when Jack and Amber walked past them and onto the empty dance floor. Noticing their presence, the DJ cued up a new track as a surge of guests crowded into the room, evidently following the happy couple in to watch their first dance as husband and wife.
Max found himself jostled closer to Cara as the edges of the dance floor filled up and he instinctively put an arm around her to stop her from being shoved around, too. She turned to look at him, the expression in her eyes startled at first, but then sparking with understanding when he nodded towards a gap in the crowd a little along from them.
He guided them towards it, feeling her hips sway against his as they moved, and had to will his attention-starved body not to respond.
Once in the space, he let her go, relaxing his arm to his side, and could have sworn he saw her shoulders drop a little as if she’d been holding herself rigid.
Feeling a little disconcerted by her obvious discomfort at him touching her again, he watched the happy couple blindly as they twirled around the dance floor, going through the motions of the ballroom dance they’d plainly been practising for the past few months.
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