A Contract, a Wedding, a Wife? Page 10

  ‘Why do you think?’ he shot back gruffly. ‘It’s not something I generally like to shout about.’

  She sighed. ‘Okay, I get that it must have been humiliating and not an easy thing to talk about, but I could have done with knowing about it before coming here and having to find out about it from your friends.’

  He took a step away and ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated with himself. ‘Yes, okay. You’re right, I should have told you. I’m sorry.’

  ‘It’s fine. It’s just—it makes it hard for me to react appropriately when I don’t have all the information.’ She frowned, not wanting to turn this into a fight, but determined to make her feelings very clear. ‘I want to get this right, Xavier. For both our sakes.’

  Xavier smiled back ruefully, his facial muscles tense. ‘I appreciate that. I’ll try to be a bit more open and honest with you from now on, I promise.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, giving him a nod of appreciation.

  He looked back at her, his eyes seeming to grow darker as their gazes locked.

  ‘You know, I’m really impressed with how you’ve handled yourself here today,’ he murmured. ‘I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but everyone we’ve spoken to has clearly really liked you.’

  ‘That’s probably because I asked them so many questions about themselves and actually listened to their answers,’ she joked, a little uncomfortable with his praise.

  ‘No. It’s not just that. People really respond to you. You have a real charm about you and you’re clearly very intelligent, judging by the way you followed the different conversations you were thrust into.’

  She swallowed, feeling a bubble of pride rise through her chest. ‘Thanks. That’s really nice to hear. I’ve never thought of myself as intelligent.’ She glanced away as heat began to creep up her neck. ‘I wasn’t great at learning at school—it bored me, to be honest—but I’ve read a lot since I’ve been working in the café and I talk to such a wide variety of people in there every day I hear all sorts of interesting things. I guess it’s made me good at general-knowledge subjects. In fact, I probably should warn you, I’m killer at Trivial Pursuit.’

  He smiled at that and his whole face lit up.

  Soli dragged in a breath as her body flooded with heat in response to it. He was such a beautiful man, even more so when he relaxed a little and let himself show his emotions on his face.

  She swallowed as he took a step closer to her and reached out to pick a small leaf out of her hair. ‘You look lovely today, by the way. I don’t think I told you that back at the house. And I really appreciate you making so much effort for the party.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ she murmured through lips that were now having trouble forming actual words. He was standing so close to her, all she was aware of was his tantalising scent.

  ‘We should probably slip away home now, before Veronica or Hugo come back out here,’ he said, so quietly she was forced to lean in even closer to hear him. Her pulse throbbed hard in her veins as she felt the masculine heat of him radiate towards her. ‘Veronica seemed intent on getting all the details about our marriage and I don’t think I’m quite in the headspace to make up convincing enough lies right now,’ he went on, apparently unaware of how he was turning her to jelly.

  ‘Sure. Whatever you want,’ she managed to say, forcing her frozen facial muscles into a smile.

  Xavier was facing the house and he glanced towards it, seemingly to check if it was safe to make a sneaky exit, but he must have seen something, or someone, that alarmed him because the smile dropped from his face and his whole body stiffened. He appeared to pale as he continued to stare in shock at whatever had caught his attention.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Soli asked, turning to look in the direction he was gazing, a slow, heavy feeling of foreboding sinking through her.

  ‘It’s Harriet,’ he replied in a tense voice.

  ‘Your ex?’ she asked, turning to watch a strikingly beautiful woman walking slowly towards them.

  Soli frowned, wondering why she seemed to be moving so awkwardly, then as she looked down she realised the woman was heavily pregnant and the weight of the baby was making her waddle in her heels across the spongy grass.

  ‘Yes,’ was all Xavier had time to reply before Harriet was upon them, holding out her arms to Xavier in greeting.

  ‘Xavier! I heard you were here with your new wife, so I thought it’d be all right to come over and say hello. It’s wonderful to see you happy.’ She offered Soli a friendly smile, the warmth in it only increasing her beauty. ‘I’d heard you were becoming something of a confirmed bachelor-stroke-playboy.’ She grinned affectionately at Xavier and Soli’s stomach gave a sickening twist at how excluded she suddenly felt. These two clearly had some serious history between them.

  And Harriet was exactly the sort of woman she’d expect Xavier to be married to. Elegant, intelligent and classically beautiful—the woman seemed to radiate vivacity. By stark contrast, Xavier’s face looked stonier than ever.

  ‘Oh, come on, Xave, you know I’m only teasing,’ Harriet cooed, giving him a playful slap on the arm. This seemed to wake him up somehow and the corners of his mouth actually turned up for a moment. Not that the smile reached his eyes.

  ‘I’m really happy for you,’ he said in a voice that sounded as though he was having to force the words through his throat. ‘You’re actually glowing. I thought that was just an expression. I didn’t realise pregnancy really did that to a woman.’

  ‘So I’ve been told,’ she said with a kind smile. ‘It’s all those hormones rushing around my system. I’m sure I won’t look like this once the baby’s born though. I’ve never been good with lack of sleep.’

  ‘No. I remember,’ Xavier said.

  Soli’s stomach twisted even harder, making her feel a bit sick. Now she was imagining the two of them in bed together, waking up and smiling at each other in mutual adoration before rolling together and—

  No. Not going there right now.

  ‘Well, I’d better get back to Neil—he’ll be sending out a search party if I don’t show myself soon. He’s turned into something of a worrier since I fell pregnant. Calls me umpteen times a day to make sure I haven’t gone into labour unexpectedly and forgotten to phone him!’

  She shook her head, but from the way she was beaming Soli could tell she didn’t mind this show of over-the-top possessiveness one little bit.

  She could understand that. It must be wonderful for someone to love and worry about you that much.

  ‘When are you due?’ she asked, to cover the slightly awkward atmosphere that throbbed between them all now.

  ‘Three weeks. I can’t wait, to be honest—I feel like an elephant lumbering around!’

  She really didn’t look like one though; she was carrying all at the front, so if you saw her from the back Soli bet you wouldn’t even know she was pregnant.

  ‘Oh, by the way,’ she said, turning to Xavier, ‘happy birthday for Wednesday. Are you doing anything special for it?’ She glanced between the two of them with interest.

  Soli tensed as an intense desire to protect Xavier from the hurt this woman had caused him mixed with a sting of her own hurt that he hadn’t even mentioned his birthday to her.

  ‘Yes, of course, but it’s a big surprise,’ she lied quickly, giving her a covert wink in the hope she’d believe the bluff. No way was she having this woman thinking she wasn’t as good a partner to Xavier as Harriet had been in the past.

  But then, Soli hadn’t shredded his heart and humiliated him in front of the people he loved and respected most in the world, so she was already one up on her.

  ‘Sweetheart, I’m so sorry to drag you away early but this migraine seems set to stay,’ she said to Xavier, linking her fingers through his and feeling him squeeze her hand in silent thanks. ‘It was good to meet you, Harriet. Good luck
with the baby,’ she said, giving the woman one last smile and a nod, then pulling subtly on Xavier’s hand.

  ‘Bye, Harriet,’ Xavier said, falling into step with her as they walked back towards the house. They made a swift exit through the huge throng of people who were now milling around the large garden and made it back to the car without encountering any objections to their leaving.

  ‘Thanks,’ was all Xavier said as he pulled the car out of the parking space and set off back to their house.

  Soli waited until they were driving down the main road into Hampstead before she asked, ‘Are you okay?’

  He didn’t answer her immediately, just kept staring ahead at the road. ‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ he said eventually, though he really didn’t sound it.

  ‘I take it you didn’t know she was pregnant?’

  There was a heavy pause in which he stared at the road ahead again. ‘No, I didn’t.’

  ‘How did it make you feel?’ she asked tentatively.

  He turned to glance at her and the expression in his eyes made her stomach sink to the floor. ‘Not great, to be honest.’ He dragged in a sharp breath. ‘The main reason she gave for not wanting to marry me was that I wanted to have kids but she didn’t. She thought having a family would mean she wouldn’t be able to focus on her career—that it’d hold her back.’ His jaw clenched tight before he spoke again, as if he was fighting with his emotions. ‘But I guess she did want kids after all—just not with me.’

  Soli’s stomach dropped even lower, making her feel nauseous on his behalf. ‘Oh, Xavier, I’m so sorry.’

  He shrugged. ‘She probably had it right. I’d have been a terrible father and a selfish husband. I’ve been so focused on work and building my company I probably wouldn’t have given my relationships priority—as I’m sure you’ve noticed,’ he added with a grimace. There was a heavy pause before he cleared his throat and said, ‘It was for the best that we didn’t get married.’

  She wanted to reassure him, to tell him that he had it all wrong, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know him well enough to be able to say something like that and he knew it.

  Her heart went out to him. No wonder he was so unwilling to get close to someone again. Anybody would be wary of allowing themselves to love and trust if they’d been through what he had.

  She wanted to help somehow, so much it made her chest physically ache.

  But do what?

  Taking a breath, she gave him a supportive smile as an idea began to form in her head.

  She might not be able to do anything about the past, but she could definitely do something about the future.

  Acknowledging a small but insistent voice in her head reminding her not to get too emotionally involved—because she knew, deep down, that if she set out on that path it would be almost impossible to turn back—she assured herself she would only do it to make their time together more enjoyable, and perhaps to say thank you to Xavier for giving her the chance to make a better life for herself and her family.

  Yes. She would do it for him because she could.

  But, perhaps even more importantly, because she knew that nobody else would.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Mr & Mrs—discover things about your partner you didn’t know.

  IT HAD BEEN quite an eye-opener for Xavier, seeing Harriet for the first time in five years. The pregnancy had knocked him off his game to begin with, but once they’d started talking he’d soon regained his equilibrium. Meeting her again had been something he’d been dreading, but now it had happened he realised it hadn’t affected him in the way he’d expected.

  In fact he’d been surprised, after talking to Soli about it all and reflecting on it later that evening, by the startling realisation that he wasn’t angry with Harriet any more, despite the pregnancy she’d sworn she’d never want. Thinking about what he’d had with her just conjured a sense of bittersweet nostalgia now, but that was all it was. It seemed he’d finally moved on from the hurt and bitterness he’d felt about her rejecting him.

  It was actually quite liberating. He’d been walking around with this sense of loss and inadequacy for so long, it was a huge relief to finally feel it lifting.

  He had a strong suspicion that Soli’s steadfast support and compassion had had a hand in breaking the grief he’d been living with too. Her tackling the subject head-on had made him realise how he’d bottled his feelings up, and how unhealthy that had been. He’d not talked to anyone about what had happened to him before, worried it would make him seem weak, and had cut everyone who knew about it out of his life so that he hadn’t had to face it. But he knew now he couldn’t hide for ever. It was time to get past his hang-ups.

  He had an inkling that Soli wouldn’t let him carry on the way he’d been going anyway.

  She was a real force of nature.

  They’d spent the next day in the house together, with her reading a book in the garden and him moving between his home office and joining her on the terrace to eat, where they’d chatted about inconsequential things. He’d appreciated her allowing him some personal space and leaving the subject of Harriet alone, but also making it clear she was happy to talk if he wanted to.

  It seemed he’d made a good move in choosing her to be his stand-in wife. He found he was actually enjoying her company now and could imagine them getting on fine for the next few months. Until it was time to call a halt to it all.

  Strangely, the thought of that brought with it a heavy, tense feeling, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. There was no point in dwelling on what would happen when their arrangement came to an end. It was months away yet.

  * * *

  Walking into the kitchen on the morning of his birthday to grab a quick cup of coffee, he stopped in amazement as he saw that the table was set for two and there was a plate loaded with Scotch pancakes covered in maple syrup and two large mugs of coffee sitting on it. Soli was standing at the stove, attending to what looked like poached eggs.

  ‘Happy birthday!’ she said brightly when she noticed him standing there, open-mouthed. ‘I thought I’d make you breakfast. You like eggs, right?’

  ‘Er...yes. I love them.’

  ‘Great. Take a seat and dig in to the pancakes. I made them fresh. There’s more coffee if you need a refill after that one too.’

  ‘You didn’t have to do this—’ he began to protest, but she waved his words away.

  ‘Of course I did! It’s your birthday. Everyone should get special treatment on their birthday.’

  Never having had ‘special treatment’ like this before, Xavier went to object, but snapped his mouth shut at the last second, feeling it would be rude and unkind to contradict her. Just because no one else had done it for him, it didn’t mean he couldn’t accept it from her. Tingly heat rushed across his skin as he made the conscious decision to accept her indulging him today. It would actually be pretty nice to celebrate his birthday for once.

  ‘Well, I appreciate the thought,’ he said, sitting down at the table. ‘I’ll wait for you before I eat though.’

  ‘Okay,’ she said, shooting him a warm smile.

  A minute later, she came to join him, laying down plates of buttered wholemeal toast with two poached eggs balanced on top.

  ‘So! What are you going to do with your day?’ she asked, sitting down opposite him and picking up her cutlery.

  He frowned at her. ‘Go to work.’

  She looked aghast. ‘Really? Can’t you take the day off for once?’

  ‘I wasn’t planning to. There’s a lot going on at the minute.’

  ‘But you have a large staff working for you.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So let them do the work today. You’re the boss, right? Take the day off and hang out with me. Treat yourself.’

  He considered this for a moment, feeling a throb of unease about not going in to work
at such short notice. Though, if he thought about it, he’d not had a day off in five years, so it was probably overdue. Soli was right too—his staff were more than capable of getting on with what needed doing without him for one day.

  ‘Well, I suppose I could—’

  ‘Great!’ She grinned at this and began tucking into her breakfast.

  After they’d finished the delicious meal, Soli ordered him to go and sit in the garden and read the papers that she’d nipped out and bought earlier while she cleared up. She wouldn’t hear of him helping her, even though he pointed out he should be the one to do it since she’d cooked.

  They spent a lovely morning looking out across the garden, reading and chatting about current affairs, which she seemed impressively clued up on—another by-product of working in the café, he supposed.

  Just before lunchtime, Soli stood up and brushed down her skirt. ‘Right! It’s time for a walk on the heath, then lunch. I’ve already put together a picnic. You’ll need your swimming trunks, your trainers and your tennis racket,’ she called over her shoulder, as she walked away into the house.

  He stared after her, dumbstruck, his body rushing with endorphins, as it occurred to him what she’d done. She’d planned the ‘perfect day’ he’d told her about for his birthday.

  Heat pooled in his belly and he was horrified to find his eyes had welled with tears.

  No. No! He couldn’t allow himself to feel sentimental about this. She was just fulfilling some obligation she felt she had as his wife, that was all.

  Still, a little voice told him, she hadn’t needed to do it, and from the glee he’d heard in her voice he suspected she was actually enjoying it.

  * * *

  A couple of hours later they were stretched out on picnic blankets, groaning happily after wolfing down the fabulous lunch she’d put together, which included slices of her amazing—and apparently legendary—chocolate fudge cake.

  ‘I can see why that’s so popular in your café,’ Xavier said, nodding towards the now empty container that had held the cake. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything like it.’