Page 15 of Consequences of Their Wedding Charade
‘It pays its way,’ he said wryly. ‘It’s impressive but it’s rented out for most of the ski season and pretty much all of the summer, when it’s really very beautiful here, even minus the snow...’
‘I guess not many people can afford the upkeep of a place like this,’ she sighed as the car purred to a stop.
‘I can and I’m always very happy to acquaint you in other lessons about how the other half live,’ he murmured, leaning towards her, his breath warm on her cheek, causing her to pull back in startled response.
Her eyes widened and for a second there were just the two of them in the back seat of the car and then she said urgently, to break the sudden electricity that seemed to have built up, ‘I can’t remember...we’re not supposed to be an item, are we...?’
The driver had rushed out to open the passenger door for her, lest she do it herself, as she had earlier, and she stepped out and away from the radius of Curtis’s overpowering personality.
‘People will assume that we’re going out.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve told the guys that I’m here with a woman...so they’ve reached their own conclusions. People will see me with you and...’
‘And all those pesky women will steer clear?’
‘I don’t need anyone imagining that I’m up for grabs,’ he murmured.
Jessica slanted thoughtful eyes on him. ‘Not all single women go to someone’s wedding and immediately think that the best man is up for grabs if he happens to be single,’ she returned. ‘Besides, you must have lots of experience when it comes to deflecting unwanted attention...’
‘Over a four-day period it could get a little trying, and at this point in time... Put it this way, I would rather steer clear of anyone in search of involvement.’
‘Well, just so long as we don’t have to pretend to be romantically involved...’
‘Oh, we don’t have to pretend anything,’ Curtis refuted. ‘No one is going to ask me to elaborate on our relationship and no one can doubt that we are intimately involved... That’s the joy of a friendship that spans more than a decade—there’s no need to work at acting relaxed in each other’s company because we already are...’
Jess shivered because the last thing she felt at the moment wasrelaxedin his company, but she could see his logic.
Assumptions would be made and it would just be a case of going along with them. They had always been easy with one another and their casual familiarity would answer unasked questions. He was hardly the sort who would advertise a relationship with physical displays of affection.
There had been method in his decision to ask her to tag along.
She had a twinge of nerves as they entered the vast lodge. The door was opened by a uniformed member of staff and their names were formally taken and checked against a printed list.
Out of sight, she could hear the sound of voices and laughter, the low steady rumble of people having a good time, but she couldn’t see anyone because they were all scattered in the bowels of the sprawling villa.
This was the holding pen where guests were ticked off a list because you could never be too careful. Although who on earth would want to gatecrash a fancy gathering in a ski lodge that sat in its own snowy grounds was anybody’s guess. Who would dare?
‘Your coats?’
As she absently removed her coat to hand to yet another member of staff who had appeared out of thin air, she was busily dealing with a sudden onset of nerves just at being somewhere where she would know absolutely no one at all and already envisaging being left to her own devices by Curtis, who would want to socialise with old friends. She decided that it would be an opportunity to brush up on her small talk skills with strangers.
Likewise, Curtis was gearing himself up for an evening of mingling. Small talk invariably ended up boring him to death, so the prospect was not an enticing one.
It was good that she had asked him about the charade about to commence, although he really didn’t think it was about deceiving anyone into thinking anything, merely establishing boundary lines because John’s wife-to-be was a model and there would be a bevy of models in the wings and, whatever anyone said, he would be targeted, the thought of which left him exhausted.
Surrounded by John’s family and friends, it would have been an unpleasant task having to evade potential predators. That said, he had established Jess’s role and emphasised the solid friendship between them. That had been a good idea, given the way his mind had strayed earlier on.
Coat dispatched, he turned to her and froze.
The sterling qualities of friendship, which he had just been mentally applauding, flew through the window faster than a speeding bullet.
His body was jump-started at supersonic speed and what he had felt only hours before when he had seen her in that ski outfit paled in comparison to what he was feeling right now.
Nothing was left to the imagination. Or rather too much was left to the imagination, and his imagination was having a field-day conjuring up all manner of forbidden images.
His hands itched to slip under the neckline of that dress to find the heavy weight of her breasts. He wondered what her nipples would look like, would taste like...
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and managed to step forward to politely usher her in the direction of the noise.
‘You...’ he said in a stifled undertone, ‘you’ve gone the extra mile with the dress.’
