“Look, I’m sorry about the bed. I didn’t think about it when I confirmed. You can take it; I’ll have the chaise longue,” she said, gesturing to the long, royal blue couch beside the balcony.
“You can take the bed. I’ll sleep on there.”
“No, I insist. I dragged you down here. It’s the least I can do.”
Adam chuckled, removing his tie, and unbuttoning the top of his shirt. “I’ve slept in much worse places than a sofa in a five star hotel.”
“Really?” She smirked, trying not to be distracted by his sexy, laid-back state as he removed his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves, revealing strong, tanned forearms. She had to get used to this. “You don’t look the sort to rough it.”
“I used to camp – as a kid.”
Luckily, he didn’t unbutton any more of his shirt, though Sophie really wanted to see what he was made of underneath. Oh God, this weekend was going to be intense. Day one and already drooling over him.
He appeared so relaxed and she needed to calm down, before he thought she was a nervous mess.
“Well, in that case, if things get pretty bad, you can always pitch a tent on the golf course.”
“Things won’t get bad,” Adam said, sounding more serious than Sophie had intended her joke.
Sophie smiled. “Good.” She turned and started to lift her case, thinking unpacking would probably be a better way of spending her time than watching Adam – though he was very hard not to watch. She wouldn’t get bored, that was for certain.
“Here, let me help you.” Adam grabbed hold of the handle, his arm brushing hers, and lifted the luggage onto the stand beside the wardrobe.
"Thank you," she said, knowing she should move out of his personal space, but found herself entranced by him. Sophie unzipped her case and started to hang her clothes. Adam did the same, emptying his own case.
"No problem.” He gave a genuine smile and that small gesture lifted her heart. The perfect gentleman. Would she get used to being in his company all weekend?
She hadn’t been prepared for how nice he would be, having it in her head you couldn’t trust the ridiculously good looking ones; they only knew how to hurt you, cause damage. She’d been fretting about whether they would get on, whether the conversations would go down like lead. But on the journey here, he’d done everything right. She imagined him arrogant, yet he’d been charming. The impression she received from James was Adam had a different girl on his arm every time James saw him. She wondered whether he was the sort to settle for one girl … like Sophie.
Not that Adam would be even remotely interested in her. Of course he wouldn’t. Scruffy engineer on the arm of an immaculate account manager – I don’t think so.
But then, maybe Sophie had him all wrong, and she shouldn’t judge him on what James had said. They’re men after all. They see things in completely different ways. Maybe he just hasn’t found the right woman to settle down with …
Head out of the clouds, girl. You’ve watched too many chick flicks!
She remembered his touch in the roadside cafe, wiping the chocolate from her lip and she’d panicked, not prepared for how good his touch felt, how she liked it. She needed to get control of her irrational response to this man. But was it irrational? He was absolutely gorgeous. It took every inch of self-control not to touch him, smell him – or kiss him.
Get a grip! The man’s doing you a favour, the least you can do is stop gawping. Everything is imaginary.
Although there was no need to pretend now, in the safety of this room, no one observing. They were acting normally around one another. And it felt nice. She could be herself, not worry what others were thinking – except for Adam. She’d probably always worry about what he thought.
As she grabbed another hanger from the rail, she remembered last night, fretfully packing, going through her wardrobe and trying everything on, worrying because she’d be hanging on Adam’s arm. She had to look the part. Adam had class. She was grateful her mother had insisted on all those shopping trips, because what good clothes she owned were thanks to Mum.
“By the way, you're out with the boys tonight,” she said. Adam looked at her with surprise. “Sorry,” she cringed, “I’m going out with the girls.”
“You don’t need to apologise. It’ll be good to meet the groom and the best man.”
Sophie’s expression dropped, and she busied herself, continuing to unpack her case. “Yeah, yeah, it will.”
Perfect opportunity right there. He has to know the truth.
She’d tell him once she’d showered.
***
While Adam finished hanging his shirts in the wardrobe, he churned over something Veronica had said.
“Ah yes, your boyfriend – the one you haven’t told us enough about.”
Veronica spoke as if she’d heard about him, as if Sophie had been dating him for a while. They’d only agreed to this last Friday. He needed to talk to her. She wasn’t telling him everything.
Adam didn’t like being lied to and if this was to work …
A knock at the door broke his train of thought. He looked towards the bathroom where the shower was still running.
As the knock repeated, harder, he shook his head, hurrying to open the door.
“Oh, you must be the boyfriend.” A young woman grinned, looking Adam up and down as she leaned against the doorframe. She looked similar in age to Sophie, with short, black, bobbed hair and a pretty face. In her arms she held a long, burnt orange, satin dress wrapped in clear plastic. “She wasn't letting on much about you, when we spoke the other week.”
Adam’s eyebrows knitted. The other week?
“Adam,” he replied, holding out his hand. The young woman shook it, moving a little closer towards him, her large, blue, confident eyes fixed on him. He smiled.
“Cassie.” The woman grinned back. “I’m a friend of Sophie’s, although technically we are related in some way, but it’s far too complicated to explain.” Cassie spoke fast, rolling her eyes. She tried glancing over his shoulder. “Is Sophie there?”
“She’s in the shower at the moment. Do you want to come in?”
“Oh, no, no, so much stuff to do, being the chief and all. Janice – the bride‘s mother – is sending me on all sorts of errands.”
“Chief?”
Cassie laughed. “Hey, not as in Indian,” she did a little impression patting her hand over her mouth, “but as in bridesmaid.”
Adam nodded. “Ah, I see.”
Cassie held out the dress in both arms. “Okay, well, as I said, busy, busy, busy. So this is Sophie’s dress. Tell her Aunt Rose will adjust it further if it needs it.”
More aunts. Adam needed to keep up.
He took the satin dress from Cassie, looking at it, frowning.
“She didn’t tell you she was a bridesmaid?”
Adam’s eyes widened as he looked at her, but he shook off the surprise.
“Probably slipped her mind,” he said, shrugging calmly. “She’s been under pressure at work lately.”
“Bloody hell, where’d she get you?” Cassie playfully nudged him, giving him an appreciative glance up and down. “Please tell me you have a brother.”
“Sorry, only child.”
“Bum!” She snapped her fingers, then gave a wicked smile. “Sophie’s far too modest for her own good. I approve already.” Cassie winked at him and Adam couldn’t help but smile. “Boy, you'll knock the socks off Simon.”
“Simon?”
“Simon. You know, her ex-boyfriend?”
Adam stared at Cassie blankly. His expression sobered and his stomach dropped into his gut. Cassie cringed.
“She didn‘t tell you about Simon, either? Okay, Cass, you've said enough.” Cassie backed away. “Shit! Okay, tell Soph I said hi, and I’ll see you both later.” She called out as she walked down the corridor, “We’re all meeting downstairs in the bar at eight.”
Adam closed the door, shaking his head. Bubbly girl, although he ha
d the impression there was a screw loose. He hung up the dress in the wardrobe with the rest of Sophie‘s things.
So she’s a bridesmaid? And there’s an ex-boyfriend.
James, what have you got me into?
“Who was it?” Adam turned to find Sophie in one of the hotel bathrobes, with her hair wrapped up in a white towel. Her face shone, her cheeks were rosy from the steam. He swallowed, imagining her body moist, fresh and naked underneath.
“I heard voices,” she said.
“Cassie.”
“Ah, yes, sorry. Should have explained about Cassie. She’s completely off her rocker, but a really sweet friend.” Sophie chewed her lip, then hesitant, she asked, “What did she want?”
“She came to drop off your bridesmaid dress.”
“Oh, um, I was going to tell you. Honestly, I was.”
“You were coming to this wedding with or without me,” Adam said, frowning with confusion. A shot of anger pulsed through him. Had she tricked him into coming away with her? James had been the one who’d talked him into it – so he couldn’t get mad at her. Not yet.. “You were never going to cancel, were you?”
Sophie met Adam's gaze and then quickly looked at the floor, shoving her hands into the robe’s pockets.
“And I’ve been trying to work out something your aunt said earlier, about you mentioning a boyfriend but not going into detail. Then Cassie said she’d talked to you over a week ago about me. We only arranged this last week. So how do they know about us already?”
Sophie sighed and dropped onto the chaise longue, wrapping her arms around herself. “They all assumed from the beginning I had a boyfriend, so I played along with it. I thought, by the time the wedding arrived, I might have found someone to come with me, and then I wouldn’t have been lying.”
“But you didn’t find a boyfriend, did you?”
“No, because I didn’t even try. Hardly going to find him down The White Lion on a Friday night.” She looked up at him and then shrugged her shoulders. “Which I’m fine with. I don’t need or want a boyfriend. If they hadn’t jumped to conclusions …”
“It seems a bit much to cancel, especially as you're part of the wedding party. They’re your friends and family. They’d understand. You don’t seem the type of person to let people down.” James always spoke highly of Sophie – she was always the one who was there to the end, getting a project finished. She’d had a nerve to call him a workaholic earlier.
She didn’t look at him, staring out the balcony window. Any anger he had been feeling vanished with the devastation he’d seen in her face. Adam sat beside her.
“That’s not all of it, is it?” He rested his hand on her shoulder and resisted pulling her into him, fighting the desire to inhale the scent of soap lingering on her. “Simon is the real reason you didn’t want to come to this wedding?”
“How’d you know –?” She instantly turned to meet his eye. “Oh, let me guess, Cassie and her big mouth?”
Adam watched her closely. He squeezed her shoulder. Something was eating away at her. He had a knack of knowing when someone wasn’t telling him everything – usually applied to sales negotiations. He was also good at keeping his own secrets. But he needed some answers for this weekend to be effective. And he certainly didn’t like seeing her this anxious. They’d come a long way today, and he’d only just started seeing her relax.
“Sophie, for this to work, I need to know what’s going on. I can’t play along if I don’t know everything.”
Sophie nodded. “I wanted to tell you. I needed to find the right moment. It felt so …” Sophie sighed, met his gaze and then stared at her hands in her lap.
He waited patiently.
“Simon’s the best man,” she said.
“And?”
“And the reason I didn’t want to come here on my own.”
Chapter Four
“Sophie, are you ready?”
“Just finishing my make-up!” Sophie called from the bathroom.
Adam looked at his watch. They had five minutes yet, but what was it that took a woman so long? He smiled to himself, rubbing his brow. She might be a plain Jane in the office, but it didn’t mean that she’d make less of an effort to look nice. Let her take her time. She wouldn’t be the first woman to keep him waiting … and unlikely to be the last.
She’s probably anxious too. He could feel his own nerves with the idea of going downstairs and performing. Especially now the stakes were bigger for him, up against an ex-boyfriend.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Sophie said, emerging from the bathroom, clipping her small, glittery handbag closed and putting it over her shoulder.
Adam cleared his throat and smiled, staring at her transformation. Wow. She wore more make-up than she’d been wearing today, or down the pub when he’d first seen her. She was definitely dressed for a night out, not to blend in with her engineering colleagues. If her appearance this morning was a surprisingly pleasant change, tonight she was devastatingly sexy, intending to create a stir - a midnight-blue, strapless dress clinging to her figure perfectly, cut above the knee, heels and jewellery. She looked like a woman he’d love to have on his arm.
“How do I look?” she asked, smoothing her dress.
Did James – and the rest of the design team for that matter – even realise they had a beautiful woman in their department? Why would she hide herself in the background?
And she really did have great legs.
You made James another promise, remember. Stop thinking about her.
But was her effort for him, or Simon? And why did that thought grate upon him?
Sophie shook her head. “Oh sorry, what a typical thing to ask. You don't have to answer it.”
Realising he’d taken too long to respond, he said, “I was going to say you look good.” Which was an understatement, stunning was more like it, but Adam decided it was best to keep his thoughts to himself. He needed to play this cool where Sophie was concerned.
Sophie let out a laugh. Something, or someone, had really hit her confidence, and he wanted to know why.
“So, how do I look?” Adam asked, straightening his tie and adjusting his black jacket.
“You know damn well how good you look.”
He gave a sly smile and they walked out of their hotel room.
***
As the lift door opened they could see across the atrium and into the bar. A small crowd waited for them. Sophie took a deep calming breath, trying to not let her nerves get the better of her. She glanced at Adam. He appeared relaxed. She should do the same. She had a very handsome, competent man holding her hand – literally. She’d be fine. Relax.
“Sophie!” Cassie shouted across the bar, waving at them.
“Here goes nothing,” Adam whispered in her ear, wrapping his arm around Sophie’s waist, pulling her closer to him. To everyone watching it probably looked like an affectionate whisper, a kiss. She slid her arm around him. She realised she had a tight grip on his jacket, and loosened it.
No need to show everyone the whites of your knuckles.
“Hi, everyone, this is Adam.” Sophie made her introductions, noticing Adam still kept his arm around her, keeping her close. She really liked it – so reassuring. “Adam, this is Cassie, who you’ve already met. She’s Natalie’s cousin and a friend of mine.”
“Hello, handsome. You’re sure you haven’t got a brother?” Cassie winked at Adam, grinning at him. He laughed, shaking his head. “I’ve known Sophie for years.” She mischievously pinched Sophie. “Any secrets you want to know, I’m the person to tell you.”
Adam looked at Cassie with intrigue. “Secrets… okay.”
Sophie scowled at her.
“Only kidding!” Cassie held her hands up and backed off, winking again at Adam.
“This is Natalie, the bride.” Natalie gave a little wave. “Gareth, the groom.” Gareth shook Adam’s hand firmly. “And…” Sophie hesitated, “this is Simon, the best man.”
He hadn’
t changed, not really. Still the broad shoulders, muscles defined by his hard work as a builder. He owned a construction company now. When she’d met him, he’d always been sporty, so his physique had been impressive. He hadn’t lost it. Dark, short hair and mischievous eyes; distinctive looks that got him a long way, especially with the girls. She could see why she’d fallen for him – yet now he didn’t seem so attractive. Now she knew what he was capable of.
“Hi.” Simon shook Adam’s hand, too. Sophie noticed Simon made little eye contact with Adam, watching her instead. She couldn’t look him in the eye, instead ignored him, talked with the other guests. This was harder than she thought. She’d managed to avoid him for so long, but it still wasn’t any easier. Thank God she had Adam standing beside her. Her pillar of strength, her superhero – minus the tights.
“We’re waiting on the mums and then we’ll leave you boys in peace.” Cassie joyfully slapped Simon on the back.
“Good,” Simon responded, as two older couples approached the crowd.
“Those are the bride and groom’s parents,” Sophie whispered in Adam’s ear, now clutching his hand. It felt strange, but he'd squeeze it occasionally, like a silent message, telling her everything was working. She was grateful for it. She still wasn’t happy about this lie and was still wondering whether they would pull it off, but she had to stop worrying. Why wouldn't her family and friends believe it?
They were accepting it. So start believing, too.
The parents joined the group, Cassie making the introductions and Adam shook hands with each of them, giving his friendly smile.
As Adam talked, Sophie watched the group fall for his charm. Every now and then he’d make subtle loving gestures to her, squeezing her hand or stroking her arm, which she played along with. Adam pulled off the act superbly; however she felt nervous and hot. Did it show? She didn’t want to give the game away.
A part of her wondered if the heat radiating from her was due to him. It had been a very long time since she’d received these sorts of loving gestures. But she had to remember it was an act. She just hadn’t anticipated how great it would feel.
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