And yet here she was, about to do just that. About to tie herself to Nikos Nikoladis for the foreseeable future.
She started up the steps, one at a time, concentrating on the bright red high-heeled shoes she had put on today in the hope of giving herself a bit of much-needed confidence. The short white lace dress she had had for years, but it fitted the bill well enough. She’d hardly had time to buy a new outfit even if she’d wanted to, which she hadn’t.
To her horror, Nikos had insisted that they marry right away, brushing aside Kate’s objections and maintaining that delaying matters wasn’t going to help either of them. When Kate had finally conceded that he might have a point she had been rushed off to secure a marriage license there and then.
In a complete daze she had found herself at the clerk’s office, providing identification, signing forms, committing to this mad idea before she’d had any chance to think it through. She was sure if Nikos could have found a way to circumnavigate the rule that said they had to wait twenty-four hours between getting the license and getting wed they would have been married on the spot. But it seemed that was beyond even his powers of persuasion, so reluctantly he had arranged to meet her here precisely one day later.
‘You look beautiful.’
Suddenly he was in front of her, all around her, filling her vision, her senses, blotting out everything else. He smelled divine. When he took her elbow she had no choice but to look at him, at the immaculately cut dark suit, the shirt collar glowing white against his olive skin, the blue silk tie perfectly knotted. As her gaze was pulled to his handsome face she met the glitter in his eyes, the slight smile that lightly curved his sensuous lips. The sort of smile a fox might give a chicken.
Kate fought against the fierce kick of desire just the sight of him produced. So dark and suave, so drop-dead gorgeous, he was the epitome of the perfect groom. On the outside, at least. Inside was a different matter.
In a complete turnaround, Kate had to keep reminding herself of the way he had treated her, after spending the last three years desperately trying to block it out. If she was to stand any chance of combatting the tumultuous surge of emotions he stirred in her with little more than a glance from those deep brown eyes she had to focus on the man he really was. On what he was capable of.
‘Here.’ Nikos produced a bunch of flowers from behind his back. ‘I thought the bride should have a bouquet.’
Kate took the flowers from his outstretched hand. A mixture of blood-red peonies and soft pink roses. They were beautiful, of course. Nikos had always had impeccable taste. But to Kate the bouquet felt like a symbol of his possession, and his deliberate use of the word ‘bride’ had underlined the role she had to play.
She drew in another breath. No one was forcing her to marry Nikos. This was her decision.
That was something she had been silently repeating like a mantra this past twenty-four hours. Through a sleepless night when the twisted bedsheets had seemed to rise up to strangle her, into the harsh light of a new day, glaring like a cruel spotlight on her many misgivings.
Long term, this was the sensible decision—even if it no longer felt like it. She was helping Sofia and she was saving Kandy Kate. And she was in way too deep to pull out now.
Clutching the flowers to her chest, she let Nikos take her arm, tucking it through his as he started to move them up the steps towards the register office. He was holding her closely to him in an outward show of affection, the way a loving groom about to get married should behave. But they were no loving couple, and Nikos’s firm touch only made her skin skitter with nerves.
Nerves that increased tenfold as Kate sat on the bench awaiting their turn, her bouquet lying in her lap, watching the other couples coming and going.
They all appeared so happy, so much in love, and it twisted her heart with pain. In contrast, her own groom was pacing up and down like a caged lion, glancing at his watch as if time was of the utmost importance, then looking back at her as if to check she was still there, grim determination written all over his face.
Finally their number was called, and together they walked into the clerk’s office. With rapid efficiency, the officiant ran through the legalities, the marriage certificate was signed by themselves and two witnesses who had been procured for the purpose, and that was it—they were married!