Engaged at The Chatsfield

by MELANIE MILBURNE

  He reached for the button on the wall. ‘Can’t have your friends thinking I’m a miser, can we?’

  * * *

  They left the jeweller’s soon after and walked back to the hotel. Marcus continued to hold Juliet’s hand even though there were no paparazzi outside the front of the hotel; evidently Lucca Chatsfield and his harem of girls had drawn them to a rear exit.

  It somehow felt natural to be walking along hand in hand with Marcus. His impressive height made Juliet feel feminine and tiny in comparison. Every now and again his shoulder would brush hers as they navigated their way through the knots of people bustling along the pavement. It sent a shockwave of delight right through her body, making her wonder what it would feel like to be wrapped in his arms, with nothing between them except their skin.

  She couldn’t get her mind off their kiss, couldn’t stop reliving it. The way his lips had felt, the way his tongue had played with hers in such a tantalising fashion. His hands had cupped her face in such a gentle way and yet the explosive power of his mouth had sent an earthquake through her senses. Her feelings for him ballooned inside her until she could think of nothing but how it would feel to make love with him, to be possessed by him...preferably without anyone watching.

  ‘About what happened back there...’ Marcus said as they entered the suite back at the hotel.

  Juliet knew what was coming. It was the ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ speech she had heard from every guy she had dated in the past. Not that there were many. She hadn’t had much luck on the dating scene. She found it hard to be comfortable with men she didn’t know well. She knew it was old fashioned and a little out of step with modern dating mores, but she couldn’t help it. She was the way she was. She was a hopeless romantic like her father and her mother. ‘It was just a kiss, Marcus,’ she said airily. ‘No big deal.’

  He was looking at her with a frown between his brows. ‘You know I would never do anything to compromise my friendship with your brother, don’t you?’

  Pity, Juliet thought. What had her brother got to do with it? If they were attracted to each other why couldn’t they leave Ben out of it? But Marcus was a man of honour. He didn’t do rash, impulsive things. He went about his life in a careful and considerate manner because his experiences as a child were so chaotic. He liked order and routine because he could control his life better that way.

  Hadn’t she done the same? Living a quiet life in Bath, spending her days with dust jackets and dust mites. Living in the past because she was too frightened of the future. That’s why being part of Kendra’s Clan had always been so important, to prove she had what it took to be a modern girl. But did she really have what it took? Why wasn’t it feeling as good as she hoped it would?

  Juliet moved across the room to put her purse on the coffee table. ‘What plans have you got for this evening?’

  ‘Work.’

  She turned and looked at him. He was wincing as he rubbed the back of his neck as if his muscles were causing him pain. Guilt assailed her. She had caused him so much bother. He was tired and travel-weary and under work stress, and she had thrown him into a crazy sideshow. How he would hate every minute of pretending to be something he was not. He hated falsity. He hated pretence. He hated shallowness. He had an important meeting on Monday and she had thrown him a curve ball. She had jeopardised everything for him. If he lost the Chatsfield project it would be all her fault. ‘I’m sorry.’

  He dropped his hand and met her gaze. ‘For?’

  ‘For ruining your weekend,’ she said. ‘You’ve a right to be cross with me. You’ve worked so hard to get here for the meeting, never once dreaming you would get a walk-on part in a farce of my making. For all I know you might have had plans for a romantic weekend with someone special and I’ve stuffed it all up. Majorly. Probably permanently now it’s all over social media.’

  ‘I wasn’t meeting anyone.’

  ‘Not only that, I’ve made you buy a hideously expensive ring you probably won’t be able to take back and get a refund now it’s been used.’ Juliet grabbed at the sides of her head in frustration. ‘Argh! Why do I get myself in these situations? I can’t seem to get anything right. How can I be so dumb? Why did I have to pretend I had a boyfriend? I mean, who is going to believe it? Seriously? I’m too fat and stupid. Who would want me?’

  ‘Lots of guys want you.’

  ‘Name one.’

  The silence stretched for a beat or two.

  ‘I want you.’

  Juliet swallowed. Did he mean it? Of course he didn’t. How could he? That was her dream. It wasn’t reality. ‘You’re just saying that. You feel sorry for me. I know you do. You pity me. You probably talk about me with Ben. “Poor old Jules, hasn’t had a boyfriend since Simon Foster cheated on her with that skinny blonde, how many years ago was it now? Four? Five?” Go on, admit it, that’s what you say, isn’t it?’

  He came over to her and took her by the shoulders, his fingers warm and strong as they came in contact with her flesh. His sapphire-blue eyes held hers in a mesmerising lock; his body was so close and tempting she could feel her own reacting in little shivers and quivers as each sensually charged second passed. ‘I’ve wanted you for a long time. I haven’t acted on it because—’ he stroked the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip ‘—I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.’

  Juliet’s lip buzzed as his thumb passed over it again. ‘Why does it have to ruin our friendship?’

  He looked at her mouth for a long moment. ‘I’m not planning to settle down anytime soon, if ever.’

  She tried to quash the pang of disappointment that besieged her. ‘Just because your parents were unhappy doesn’t mean you will be.’

  He gave her a rueful twist of a smile and dropped his hands from her shoulders. She could tell he had made up his mind. A shutter had come down. The decision had been made. He wouldn’t go back on it. ‘You want the husband and the house and the hound by the fireside. I’m not that guy to give you that. Sorry.’

  Juliet watched in dismay as he moved across to his laptop. He was focussed on work now. Not on her. She had been rejected years ago for a size-zero blonde and now she was being rejected for a laptop.

  Story of her life.

  * * *

  Marcus pretended to be engrossed in the PowerPoint presentation he had prepared on his laptop when Juliet came out of the bathroom dressed for the nightclub party. She was wearing a black cocktail dress with a scooped neckline that showcased her breasts rather spectacularly. She had on sky-high heels and her shiny brown hair was swirled up on top of her head in an artfully arranged style that somehow looked casual and elegant at the same time. Her eye makeup highlighted the depth and shape of her brown eyes and the mascara she was wearing made her eyelashes look like miniature black fans. Her lips were full and glossy with a shimmering lip gloss, and she smelt of summer flowers with an understory of musk that sent his senses into a tailspin. How he had kept himself from proving how much he wanted her earlier was still a mystery to him. It had been touch-and-go. He could still feel the throb of longing in his body.

  It didn’t matter if she was dressed up or dressed down, make-up on or make-up off, hair loose or tied up. He wanted her.

  How could he endure this torture? He had two nights to get through with her in the bed beside him. It was bad enough listening to her having a shower. His mind was still filled with images of her luscious body all wet and soapy and slippery. His fingers had itched to open the door and join her, to slide his hands over her delicious curves, to bury himself deep inside her.

  ‘Don’t wait up,’ she said.

  Marcus clicked on the next slide. ‘What time will you be back?’ Sheesh, you sound like her guardian.

  ‘Not sure.’ She fiddled with her droplet earring. ‘I’ll see how it goes. I might get lucky. Who knows?’

  Marcus swiv
elled on his chair to look at her front on. His frown was so intense he could feel his eyebrows touching. ‘You’re supposed to be engaged. That means you don’t flirt with other guys. You don’t accept drinks from other guys and you sure as hell don’t go back to their room. Okay?’

  She gave him a pert look. ‘Who’s going to stop me?’

  Who was going to stop her? She had a perfect right to go out and have a good time. She was young and single. She was gorgeous and sweet. Some other guy would snap her up in a heartbeat. It wasn’t as if he was offering her anything...was he?

  He worked his jaw. ‘Look, I know you’re a little angry with me about not taking things further but—’

  ‘It’s fine, Marcus. Really.’ She picked up her evening purse, popped a wand of lip gloss inside it and snapped it closed. She gave him a bright smile. ‘How do I look?’

  Ravishing. Sexy. Irresistible. ‘Can you walk in those heels?’

  ‘Not really, but then I can hardly breathe in this dress.’ She smoothed her hands down over her hips, a little frown pulling at her forehead. ‘I wonder if I should’ve got the bigger size?’

  Marcus had to work hard to keep his eyes above her neckline. ‘You look great.’

  ‘It’s not designer or anything,’ she went on as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘That’s why I cut the label out. Besides, I don’t want Harriet peeking at what size it is and posting it on Facebook or Twitter.’

  ‘Why do you let her get to you?’

  Her teeth pulled at her lower lip. ‘I don’t know what you mean....’

  ‘Yes, you do. You let her bully you. You’ve let her put you down since you were a teenager. Why don’t you stand up to her? To all of them?’

  Her eyes moved away from his. ‘I have to get going. I don’t want to be late.’

  ‘They’re not your friends, Juliet,’ Marcus said as she opened the door to leave.

  She sent him a frosty look. ‘So, you and Ben think I can’t get a man and I can’t attract genuine friends. Thanks a bunch. Love the confidence you guys have in me.’

  Marcus winced as the door clicked shut. ‘Nice job, Bainbridge.’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  JULIET WAS DETERMINED not to be the first to leave the nightclub party. She danced with the girls until her feet were aching and her ears were ringing from the loud music. She was having fun. Of course she was. She was out partying with her friends. Marcus could think what he liked.

  Kendra came over with a cocktail in one hand and party streamers in the other. ‘Have you seen Harriet?’ she asked.

  Juliet scanned the dance floor. It was a pulsating mass of scantily clad female bodies with some impressive male ones doing all sorts of gyrations she thought were anatomically impossible. ‘Not recently. She might have gone to the ladies’ room. Do you want me to find her for you?’

  ‘No, that’s okay.’ Kendra sat on the leather love seat beside her and eased her feet out of her stilettoes. ‘God, my feet are killing me.’

  ‘Same.’

  Kendra wriggled her neatly manicured toes. ‘Can I ask you something?’

  Juliet glanced at her but she was still looking at her feet. ‘Sure.’

  The leather squeaked as Kendra turned to look at her. ‘How did you know Marcus was The One?’

  Juliet had no trouble thinking of an answer. It was just there. In her head. In her heart. How had she not realised it until now? ‘I just knew. I think maybe I’ve always known on some subconscious level. But the first time he kissed me sealed it.’

  Kendra’s smile had a touch of wistfulness about it. ‘You’re lucky.... To be so certain, I mean.’

  Juliet looked at her with a frown. ‘And you’re not? About Hugh?’

  Kendra let out a sigh and directed her gaze back to her feet. ‘I don’t know.... It felt so right when he proposed. But now with the wedding just a week away I’m not so sure.’

  ‘Maybe it’s just wedding jitters.’

  ‘Maybe.’

  A silence slipped past...not that it was really a silence given the loud music thumping in the background.

  Juliet wondered what had brought on Kendra’s uncertainty. She was normally such a confident, outgoing type. Juliet had always envied Kendra’s self-possession and poise. Kendra had been Head Girl at school. She was Head Girl wherever she went. She was rich and beautiful and popular. She had a fiancé who loved her. A real fiancé. Hugh Pritchard was gorgeous and successful and had dated Kendra for three and a half years. He wasn’t a phantom fiancé who would disappear on Monday morning.

  ‘I wish I hadn’t asked Harriet to be my maid of honour,’ Kendra said.

  Juliet wondered if it was the alcohol talking. Kendra had been knocking back the cocktails with gay abandon and Juliet hadn’t seen her eat a thing all evening. ‘What makes you say that?’

  She lifted one of her thin, spray-tanned shoulders in a little shrug. ‘I don’t know...I guess I thought she’d do a good job.’

  ‘She is doing a good job.’

  ‘I know but it’s not like I’m close to her. I mean really close.’

  ‘I thought you were best friends?’

  Kendra turned the engagement ring on her finger a couple of times. ‘She’s so...out there, you know? It gets a little wearing after a while.’ She stopped twirling and looked at Juliet with a wry smile. ‘Maybe I’ve finally grown up.’

  Juliet smiled back. ‘Maybe we all have.’

  * * *

  Marcus was sitting in the bar area taking a long time to drink a brandy and dry when he saw Juliet come out of the nightclub. He convinced himself he’d only come down to check she didn’t leave with some totally unsuitable guy. But the truth was he was here because he wanted to be with her himself. How could he not want her? How had he resisted her for so long? Where were his reason and logic now? His impulses were in the driver’s seat and they had their foot to the floor. He didn’t want her hooking up with some stranger. If she wanted to hook up with someone, she could hook up with him.

  Her evening purse was swinging from its chain where it was curled around one of her fingers. Her hair was more down than up, her lip gloss had worn off, and it looked like she was limping, but he had never seen her look more beautiful.

  He left his drink on the bar to intercept her. ‘Hey.’

  She blinked and then smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘I’m only talking to you because we’re supposed to be engaged.’

  ‘I guess there’s logic in that statement somewhere.’

  She flashed him a narrowed look. ‘Are you checking up on me?’

  ‘Do I need to?’

  She let out a sigh that made her shoulders drop. ‘No, of course not. I was coming up to bed—’ Her cheeks went bright red. ‘I mean up to the room.’

  ‘Fancy a drink first?’

  Her brow puckered. ‘A...a drink?’

  He kept his expression poker-faced. ‘It doesn’t have to be alcohol. We can have a hot chocolate if you prefer.’

  She scowled at him from beneath her lashes. ‘I’m not twelve.’

  He stroked her pink cheek with his fingertip. ‘Don’t be mad at me.’

  He felt her quiver under his touch, her brown eyes softening, and her pursed lips relaxing. ‘One drink, okay?’

  ‘And a dance?’

  Her eyes rounded. ‘You want to...to dance?’

  Marcus took her by the hand. ‘Are your feet up to it?’

  ‘I’ll take my shoes off.’

  ‘Just your shoes?’

  She angled her head at him, a tiny glint sparkling in her eyes. ‘Are you flirting with me, Marcus?’

  He brought her up close and then lowered his mouth to hers. ‘I haven’t even started.’

  * * *

  Juliet couldn’t recall la
ter how they got to the suite. It seemed one minute they were kissing in the middle of the bar area and the next they were in the privacy of their hotel room. All she could remember of the trip up in the elevator was the thrill of Marcus’s mouth fused to hers. She was dazed by his desire for her. She could feel the hardened heat of him as he crushed her mouth beneath his as he walked her into the suite. It was as if her entire life she had been waiting for this moment. For the moment when he would take her in his arms and claim her. To own his need of her.

  ‘I want you naked,’ he said against her mouth, his hand warm and firm on her hips.

  ‘I thought you didn’t want to—’

  ‘I want to.’ He kissed the side of her neck. ‘I want to so badly.’

  ‘I’m going to need some help with this zip.’ She turned and lifted her hair out of the way, shivering when his hands slid the zipper down to the dip in her spine.

  He kept her there in front of him, his mouth blazing a hot trail against the sensitive skin of her neck. ‘Do you have any idea of how long I’ve wanted to do this?’ He unclipped her bra and slid his hands around to cup her breasts. The feel of his hands touching her so intimately made her shudder with pleasure. His thumbs found her nipples, rolling over them in tantalising movements that made her toes curl into the soft carpet. She could feel his erection against the cheeks of her bottom, a spine-tingling reminder of the erotic power they were about to unleash.

  He spun her around and looked at her with hungry eyes, feasting on her, taking in her naked breasts and the curve of her belly. She had never felt more desirable. More beautiful. He made her feel like a goddess by the way he was touching her with his gaze, heating her flesh to boiling point. ‘You’re so gorgeous.’ He circled her nipples in turn, making her shiver in delight.

  Juliet set to work on his shirt buttons but her fingers were as good as useless. In the end he whipped it off over his head and tossed it to the floor. She undid his belt and trouser fastening and he stepped out of them as she shimmied out of her dress.