Married By Christmas

by Carole Mortimer

  He replied ruefully, ‘I believe that should be Lilli’s line.’

  Maybe it would be—if she could actually speak. But all she could do was stare at the ring. It was too much. Just too much. It must have cost a small fortune!

  She had been brought up within a well-off family, could never remember being denied anything she had ever wanted, but this ring, and what it must have cost, had suddenly brought home to her exactly how wealthy Patrick was. Such wealth was, in its own way, quite frightening. And she was about to marry into it!

  ‘You don’t like it,’ Patrick said, his gaze narrowed on the sudden paleness of her face.

  She moistened dry lips. ‘It isn’t that...’

  ‘Richard, you mentioned showing me the Turner you have in the dining-room?’ Geraldine prompted.

  Lilli looked sharply at the other woman, her mouth tightening at the obvious ease of the relationship between this handsome woman and her own father. ‘There’s no need to leave Patrick and I alone, Geraldine,’ she announced. ‘We aren’t about to have an argument.’

  She had to admit, for a few minutes she had been thrown totally by the ring Patrick had bought for her, but that one glance at how close Geraldine was standing to her father was enough to shake her out of that. Yes, the ring was beautiful. Yes, it had cost a small fortune. But then, Patrick Devlin wouldn’t expect his future wife to wear anything but the best. The very best. The ring wasn’t actually for her, it was for Patrick Devlin’s fiancée—who just happened to be her. Once she had all that sorted out in her mind, there was no problem.

  ‘Of course I like it, Patrick,’ she assured him lightly. ‘Any woman would,’ she added with cool dismissal.

  His eyes glittered dangerously. ‘I’m not interested in “any woman’s” opinion, Lilli,’ he rasped. ‘I wanted you to like it. I should obviously have let you choose it yourself.’ He snapped the ring-box shut. ‘We’ll go out tomorrow and look at some others—’

  ‘You chose this ring, Patrick.’ She grasped his wrist to stop him putting the blue velvet box back in his pocket.

  He looked down at the paleness of her slender fingers against his much darker skin, before slowly bringing his gaze back to her face.

  Lilli withstood his probing assessment of her unflinchingly—although she couldn’t say she wasn’t relieved when he finally smiled. She couldn’t have held his gaze for much longer, would have had to look away. ‘The ring, Patrick,’ she reminded him chokily.

  ‘Only if you’re sure it’s what you want.’ His smile had gone again now; that harshness was back in his face.

  ‘I’m sure.’ There was a challenge in her voice, and she slowly released his wrist, leaving the next move to him.

  ‘Well, I’m not sure I am,’ her father asserted. ‘This whole thing is ridiculous—’

  ‘The ring is absolutely gorgeous, Daddy.’ Lilli smoothly stopped what she was sure was going to be her father’s tirade.

  ‘Lilli, you have no idea what you’re doing,’ he told her exasperatedly. ‘You don’t have to do—’

  ‘Daddy!’ She silenced him. ‘Let’s drink our champagne. After all, this is supposed to be a celebration.’

  ‘I see nothing to celebrate!’ Her father slammed down the glasses he had been holding for them. ‘In fact—’

  ‘Richard, I really would like to see that Turner.’ Geraldine was the one to interrupt this time, taking a determined hold of his arm.

  For long moments it looked as if Lilli’s father would refuse, and then he acquiesced with an abrupt nod of his head, his back rigid as he and Geraldine left the room.

  ‘I gather he doesn’t approve of your choice of husband?’ Patrick drawled softly as he watched the other man depart.

  Lilli looked at him with flashing green eyes. ‘Did you honestly expect him to?’

  Patrick shrugged. ‘I think he could be a little more understanding of what you’re doing—’

  ‘Understanding!’ she echoed scathingly. ‘I think he’s too angry and upset at the moment to understand anything!’

  ‘I did warn you he would need convincing this marriage was something you really want’

  ‘And just how am I supposed to do that?’ she scorned. ‘You can’t be trusted, Patrick. You totally deceived me about that night we spent together—’

  ‘That really rankles, doesn’t it?’ he mocked.

  ‘Of course it rankles!’ She had thought of little else since parting from him this afternoon. ‘You—’

  ‘Would you rather we had spent the whole night making mad, passionate love to each other?’ he taunted.

  ‘Of course not!’ Her cheeks went hot with embarrassment just at the thought of it.

  ‘Of course not,’ he mimicked softly, suddenly very close. ‘Lilli, your first time should be gentle and sensitive. Special. Not a night you don’t even remember!’

  She swallowed hard, moved, in spite of herself, by the seduction in his voice. ‘You still lied to me—’

  ‘When I said you were a ten?’ he supplied.

  Her blushed deepened. ‘About the whole thing! You—’

  ‘I never lied, Lilli,’ he assured her. ‘I never lie. Remember that,’ he added. ‘Because I expect the same honesty from the people I deal with.’

  Especially wives! God, Sanchia had to have been incredibly brave—or incredibly stupid!—to have deceived this man.

  ‘You’re beautiful, Lilli.’ He touched her cheek gently, his fingers trailing lightly down her throat to the milky softness of her slightly exposed breasts in the close-fitting black dress she wore. ‘You respond to my lightest touch,’ he murmured in satisfaction as she trembled. ‘I know we’re going to be physically compatible.’

  Her skin felt on fire where his fingers had caressed. ‘A ten...’ she murmured weakly.

  ‘Perfect,’ he corrected her firmly. ‘I only made that remark that day because I was damned angry with you and what I thought you had done. I don’t give scores on sexual performance, Lilli. I’m sure I made it plain to you there haven’t been any women since I parted from Sanchia five years ago?’

  ‘You said as much, yes...’

  ‘If I said it, then it’s the truth,’ he bit out harshly.

  ‘Patrick Devlin doesn’t lie!’

  ‘You know, Lilli,’ he said with pleasant mildness, ‘I’m getting a little tired of having to deal with your temper—’

  ‘I never knew I had one until I met you!’ she returned heatedly.

  ‘You mean no one ever said no to you until me,’ he derided.

  He was mocking her again now. And that just made her more angry than ever!

  She looked at him defiantly. ‘I don’t want to live in New York after we’re married,’ she stated—and then wondered where on earth it had come from. She hadn’t meant to say that in anger at all, had intended discussing it with him calmly and reasonably. The problem with that was, she never felt calm and reasonable when she was with him!

  ‘I don’t think it’s right to discuss that now, Lilli,’ he dismissed predictably. ‘Stop fighting me over everything, woman,’ he ordered as he pulled her into his arms. ‘And then maybe we can both start enjoying this!’

  Enjoy being with this man? Enjoy being held by him? Enjoy being kissed by him!

  Because he was kissing her. Again. And, as on those other occasions when he had kissed her, her body suddenly felt like liquid fire, her legs turning to jelly, so that she clung to his shoulders as the kiss deepened, Patrick’s lips moving erotically against hers, his tongue moving lightly over the sensitivity of her inner lip. Lilli moaned low in her throat as he did so.

  ‘Good God...!’

  It was her father’s shocked outburst that intruded into the complete intimacy of the moment, and it was with some reluctance that Lilli dragged her mouth away from Patrick’s, turning slowly to look dazedly in her father’s direction.

  ‘Don’t look so shocked, Richard.’ Patrick was the one to break the awkward silence. ‘I realise you have some strange ide
as about the reason Lilli and I are to be married, but as you’ve just witnessed—only too fully!—one of those reasons is that we are very attracted to each other. Haven’t you ever heard of “love at first night”?’

  Lilli ignored the pun, recovering her senses a lot slower than Patrick had. But with their return came the realisation that Patrick must have heard the other couple’s impending return—and this show of passion had been all for their benefit, so that Geraldine and her father would believe the two of them were seriously in love!

  If her father’s nonplussed expression was anything to go by, it had succeeded! Why shouldn’t it have done? Lilli was able to visualise all too easily—to her acute discomfort!—exactly the scene of intimacy her father and Geraldine had just walked in on. She had obviously been a more than willing recipient of Patrick’s kisses and caresses!

  ‘It happens this way sometimes, Richard,’ Patrick continued, his arm like a steel band about Lilli’s waist as he secured her to his side. ‘Now that the two of you are back, we can put on Lilli’s ring and drink the champagne.’

  Lilli watched in a dreamlike state as Patrick slid the ring onto her finger, all the time having the feeling that, once it was on, her fate was sealed.

  Who was she trying to fool? Her fate had been sealed from the moment she first met Patrick Devlin.

  And as she watched the ring being put on her finger, weighed down by the emerald and diamonds, she knew it was now too late to turn back.

  Too late for all of them...

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘HOLD still, Lilli, or we’ll never get these flowers straight in your hair,’ Sally chided lightly.

  Lilli stared at her own reflection in the mirror. Hardly the picture of the ecstatic bride on her wedding day!

  Oh, the trappings were all there—the white dress, her hair in long curls down her spine, the veil waiting on the back of the chair to be put over the flowers Sally was now entwining in her dark curls.

  Sally, the friend she had chosen as her attendant. Sally, who had been absolutely astonished to discover the ‘gorgeous man’, from the night of Gerry Simms’ party, was in fact Lilli’s father.

  If Lilli had been in the mood for humour, she would have found Sally’s incredulity funny. It was definitely the first time she had seen her friend lost for words!

  ‘There.’ Sally stood back now to admire her handiwork. ‘You look absolutely beautiful, Lilli. Breathtaking!’

  She did. The white satin dress and long veil made her look like something from a fairy tale.

  Except she wasn’t marrying Prince Charming.

  She was marrying Patrick Devlin.

  Her heart still sank just at the thought of being his wife. It had not been an easy week; Patrick had been at the house constantly as hurried arrangements were made for their wedding. Lilli had given in over everything—the timing of the wedding, the white dress, the private reception later today for family and a few close friends, even the choosing of identical wedding rings.

  The one thing she hadn’t agreed to—though her father was her choice of witness and Gerry was Patrick’s—was Gerry helping her get ready for the wedding. Her mother should have been the one here with her, and as her father’s mistress Gerry Simms did not fit the bill! Hence Sally’s presence instead.

  Thirty more minutes and Lilli and Patrick would be husband and wife. She would be Mrs Patrick Devlin.

  As far as Sally—and most of London, it seemed!—was concerned, she should be the happiest woman in the world at this moment.

  Happy! She was far from being that. She was going to be married to Patrick, his to do with whatever and whenever he wished. Tonight, they would make love.

  God, how she wished she could claim the shiver that ran down her spine at the mere thought of it was caused by revulsion, but she knew in her heart of hearts that it wasn’t. The thought of making love with Patrick, of the two of them naked in bed together, entwined in each other’s arms, certainly made her quiver—but with anticipation!

  Because something else had been happening during the last few days, with Patrick constantly teasing her, bullying her a little, kissing her—oh, yes, the kissing hadn’t stopped. In fact, he seemed to take delight in kissing her and touching her whenever the opportunity arose for him to do so. And there seemed to be all too many of those!

  To her dismay, Lilli found she was falling in love with him... She had made a pact with the devil—and, to her horror, had found she was falling in love with him!

  ‘What is it, Lilli?’ Sally seemed concerned.

  From a very long way away, it seemed, Lilli looked up at her dazedly.

  ‘You’ve gone as white as those tea-roses in your hair,’ Sally explained anxiously. ‘Lilli, I—Please don’t think I’m intruding,’ she continued hurriedly, lightly touching Lilli’s arm, ‘but are you sure you aren’t rushing this? I mean, you and Patrick haven’t known each other that long, and—Well, he was so very much in love with Sanchia.’ She shook her head, looking very good herself in a sleek red suit, blonde hair loose about her slender shoulders. ‘I wouldn’t want you to be hurt again,’ she added worriedly. ‘Andy was such a swine to walk out on you the way he did, and I—’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about Andy,’ Lilli interjected; without Andy’s involvement in her family, today wouldn’t be happening at all! ‘And I appreciate your concern, Sally,’ she went on with a softening of her voice, genuinely fond of the other woman, despite the penchant she had for gossiping. ‘But I can assure you I do know what I’m doing.’

  How could she not know? Patrick had made it more than obvious that, while they would have a full marriage, and hopefully several children, love would never come into it

  That was what bothered her about this marriage. She was falling in love with a man who had told her quite bluntly he would never feel the same way about her. Courtesy of Sanchia. Well, he might have loved her very much, but the collapse of that marriage, in the way that it had, meant he would never love again. Legacy of Sanchia.

  Lilli hated Patrick’s first wife, and she had never even met her!

  And how was she going to survive in a marriage without love, loving her husband, but never being loved by him in return?

  Somehow this was worse than the completely loveless marriage she had initially anticipated.

  So very much worse!

  So, yes, she knew what she was doing, but she had no choice in the matter, the wedding was mere minutes away now instead of days-days that had flown by all too swiftly!—and, more importantly, her father’s lawyers had already started work on bringing a case against Andy. In fact, he might already be aware of it!

  Sally sat down, leaning forward conspiratorially. ‘Well, Patrick is an absolutely—’

  ‘Gorgeous man,’ Lilli finished for her, smiling teasingly. ‘I never realised before, Sally, the fascination you have for gorgeous men!’ She stood up to pick up her veil, placing the circle of flowers on top of her shining hair, studying her reflection in the mirror. The ‘sacrificial lamb’ was well and truly ready for the altar!

  ‘You’re referring to your father, of course.’ Sally ruefully accepted her teasing. ‘I still can’t believe he’s the man from the party. When I arrived here the other day to find the two of you together in the sitting-room, I must admit that my first thought was you were being unfaithful to Patrick even before the wedding!’ She gave a grimace. ‘Do you think he’s serious about Gerry? Or do I actually stand a chance where he’s concerned?’ She looked questioningly at Lilli.

  ‘He isn’t serious about Gerry,’ Lilli replied defensively, her eyes flashing deeply green at the mere suggestion of it

  ‘So would you mind if I—?’

  ‘Be my guest,’ she invited, although the fact that her own father suddenly seemed very sought after, by beautiful young women, was still a rather strange concept for her to accept. Admittedly, he was only in his mid-forties, but she had somehow never thought of him in that light before. ‘But for the record, Sally,
’ she went on, ‘I don’t intend ever to be unfaithful to Patrick—before or after the wedding!’

  ‘Fine,’ Sally accepted, grimacing at Lilli’s vehemence.

  ‘Sally...’ Lilli remonstrated firmly.

  Her friend held her hands up defensively. ‘I believe you—okay?’

  Lilli laughed. ‘Time will tell. In the meantime, I think we have a wedding to go to!’

  ‘Oh, gosh, yes.’ Sally stood up hurriedly. ‘It may be traditional for the bride to be late, but in this case I’m not so sure the groom wouldn’t come looking for you! I’ll get off now, and see you at the registry office.’ She gave Lilli a reassuring hug before leaving.

  Amazingly Lilli’s conversation with Sally had lifted her feelings somewhat, and she was smiling as she descended the wide staircase, her smile widening warmly as she saw her father standing at the bottom waiting for her, looking especially handsome today in his grey morning suit.

  ‘Daddy, you look magnificent,’ she praised glowingly as she reached him.

  ‘I look—!’ There were tears in his eyes as he looked down at her. ‘Lilli, you look beautiful. So like your mother did at this age. I wish she could have been here to see you—’

  ‘Not now, Daddy,’ she dismissed briskly; talking about her mother was the one thing she couldn’t cope with today, of all days. It was going to be difficult enough to get through anyway, without thoughts of her mother. Besides, she very much doubted this marriage was what her mother would have wished for her. It wouldn’t do to dwell on that thought... ‘Patrick will be becoming impatient,’ she said brightly.

  ‘Talking of Patrick...’ Her father frowned, turning to the table that stood in the centre of the reception area, picking up a flat blue velvet box. ‘He sent this for you earlier.’ Her father snapped open the lid of the box, the two of them gasping as he revealed the most amazing necklace Lilli had ever seen. The emerald and diamond droplet in the centre of the delicate gold chain was an exact match for the engagement ring Lilli had transferred to her right hand for the marriage ceremony...

  Her hand trembled slightly as she picked up the card that lay in the circle of gold, recognising the large scrawling handwriting as Patrick’s before she even read the words written there. His cryptic sense of humour was all too apparent in the message.