The crowd applauded, as if on command, and then turned back to their own conversations. The moment the attention was off her Melissa’s face dropped back into a disapproving scowl once more. She strode across to where Dan and Laurel were standing with their parents, Riley tailing behind.
‘Something you’d like to tell me, sister?’ Melissa asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Laurel felt her chest start to tighten again. ‘Um... Well...’
Dan’s fingers splayed out across her bare back—a reassuring presence. ‘Melissa. It’s so lovely to finally meet you,’ he said, all politeness. ‘Obviously I’ve heard plenty about you already, but it’s nice to actually meet my sister-in-law-to-be in the flesh, so to speak.’
Melissa blinked up at him, wrong-footed by the polite tone. ‘Of course. It’s lovely to meet you too. Dan. I just wasn’t aware that you were so well acquainted with my sister.’
Half-sister, Laurel’s brain filled in. Melissa always referred to her as her half-sister, unless there was something to gain by claiming the full connection. In this case, she guessed, that would be guilt. Laurel’s guilt, particularly. She wanted Laurel thinking, How could I possibly do this to my sister at her wedding?
And, of course, that was exactly what she was thinking.
‘Dan and Laurel were just about to tell us how they met, darling,’ Angela said, leaning over to kiss her daughter on the cheek. ‘You look stunning, by the way.’
‘Thank you,’ Melissa replied, accepting the compliment automatically, as her due. ‘That’s a story I’d be very interested to hear. It’s really quite difficult to imagine how or when you two might have been able to meet and start a relationship. Or what on earth you’ve found in common.’
You mean, what on earth does he see in me? Laurel translated. She’d been interpreting Melissa’s put-downs and comments for enough years now to figure out exactly what their underlying message was. It helped to know that whenever Melissa next got her alone, Laurel could be sure to hear the unfiltered version—the cutting words she wouldn’t say in front of other people. Laurel had taken to treating it as a game, a way to distract herself from the hurt Melissa’s comments caused, scoring herself on how accurate her translations were rather than dwelling on what truth there might be in her half-sister’s words.
‘Oh, we got chatting over email to start with,’ Dan said lightly, answering the question Melissa had actually asked rather than the implied one. ‘All that wedding planning, organising flights and such. I had some scheduling issues, and Laurel helped me sort them out. Went above and beyond, really.’
All true, so far, Laurel observed. Obviously he was banking on the fact that the truth was easier to remember than a lie.
But next came the part where he started making things up.
‘Then I got a call inviting me over to London for some meetings with a couple of people in the industry here,’ Dan said, shrugging. ‘At that point—well, it seemed natural that I suggest we meet up for a drink while I was over here. One thing led to another...’
‘I don’t think we need to hear about that, Daniel,’ Linda said sharply, and Laurel hid her grin.
‘You never said, man!’ Riley beamed at his brother and held out both hands, clasping Dan’s between them. ‘This is so great! We’ll be like, brothers, but we’ll also be, like, brothers-in-law!’
‘It’s all still fairly new,’ Laurel cautioned, sensing that Riley was about to get carried away.
The last thing she needed, after the humiliation of one broken engagement, was for her family to start believing she’d be the next one up the aisle, when in truth they hadn’t even made it to a first date. Which was kind of a shame, really. Under normal circumstances maybe she and Dan could have gone out on a date like normal people. That was one thing this charade had taken firmly off the table, though.
Not the right place, not the right time, and not the right prince. She had to remember that.
‘But it’s serious,’ Melissa said, looking at them both thoughtfully.
Apparently she’d bought the lie, Laurel realised. Which only made her more nervous about what Melissa planned to do with the knowledge.
‘Very,’ Dan lied, pulling Laurel closer.
Laurel tried to smile in agreement.
‘Because obviously you wouldn’t want to steal my thunder like this for a casual fling, would you?’
There it was.
‘Of course not,’ Laurel said, knowing that there was no way out now. This mock relationship had to make it all the way through to the wedding or all hell would break loose. The only thing Melissa would consider worse than Dan and Laurel getting together at her wedding, distracting attention from her, was them splitting up in any kind of public way between now and the wedding.
Which meant they were stuck with each other for good. Or at least for the next five days. Which kind of felt like the same thing. Laurel had found it impossible to see past New Year’s Day for months now...the idea of a world in which she wasn’t organising Melissa’s wedding was just a strange, faraway dream.
‘I’m afraid that true love just doesn’t work to order, Melissa.’
Dan kissed the top of her head, and Laurel tried not to feel the walls closing in on her.
‘Let’s get some more champagne,’ Eloise said, clapping her hands together and drawing the attention of a passing waiter.
‘What a marvellous idea,’ Laurel agreed.
* * *
It was a couple of hours before Dan finally managed to drag Laurel away from the welcome drinks. As the wedding planner, she’d insisted on staying until the bitter end, making sure that everything went according to her schedule. At least their parents had all toddled off to bed around midnight, shortly after Melissa’s precisely timed and highly orchestrated departure. And, despite Dan’s best efforts to get his brother alone for a chat—thwarted mostly by the endless stream of friends wanting to buy the groom a drink—Riley had sloped off shortly after Melissa, with far less fanfare, presumably to the room that was supposed to be Dan’s.
So when all that was left was a few of the hardcore drinkers, doing shots at the bar, Dan steered Laurel towards the door.
‘Come on. There’s nothing left for you to do here. I’m shattered, and you must be too. Let’s go get some sleep. It’s going to be another long day tomorrow.’
Laurel smiled up at him wearily. ‘You’re right, I know. I just hate leaving before everything is finished and tidied away.’
Dan glanced back towards the bar. ‘You could be here all night with this lot. Better save your energy for a more important battle.’
Which, in Dan’s case, he suspected would be trying to sleep in the same bed as Laurel without touching her. It was one thing to decide that a woman was off-limits, employing that famous control he was so proud of. It was another thing entirely to like it. Resisting temptation was always harder when temptation was lying right next to him.
‘Like managing Melissa,’ Laurel said, and sighed. ‘Yeah, okay.’
They made their way up to their room in companionable silence, but Dan couldn’t help but wonder if she was doing the same thing he was—mentally reliving their evening together.
The strangest thing, he decided, was the difference in Laurel when she spoke to her sister. With her father and stepmother she’d been reticent, as if she was holding back from saying what she really felt. She’d had no such compunction with his parents, he realised. She’d been polite, charming, but forthright with it—and left them in no doubts about her views.
A warm feeling filled his chest when he remembered the things she’d said about him and the importance of living according to your own talents, dreams and values, not someone else’s. For the first time in years he had honestly felt as if someone understood what he was doing, what he wanted. Understood him.
&n
bsp; It was almost a shame it was all an act, really.
Besides, that confidence and conviction had disappeared the moment Melissa had entered the room. He’d watched it drain away from her, as if Melissa had sucked it out, leaving her half-sister empty.
He hadn’t liked seeing Laurel like that. Since the moment they’d met she’d been so bright and vivacious—except when Melissa was there, in person or on the phone, commanding her complete attention and energy.
‘Here we go,’ Laurel said, rubbing her eye with one hand while the other fumbled with the key.
Dan took it from her and opened the door, letting her through first. As it swung shut behind him he headed straight to the mini-bar. ‘Want anything?’ he asked, staring at the contents as he tried to decide if one more drink would make things better or worse. Alcohol wasn’t always the best thing for retaining his control.
Of course his control would be a lot easier to hold on to if he knew that Laurel wasn’t at all interested. Maybe he should just ask her—get it out of the way. She’d tell him once again that she was holding out for a hero, or whatever, and that all they could ever have was a fake relationship. Then he could move on, safe in the knowledge that there was no risk of anything more at all.
Except...there were hints. Tiny ones. Hints Laurel might not even be aware of but he couldn’t help but catalogue and add to his list of things he knew about Laurel.
The way she leant into his touch. The warmth in her eyes when she looked at him. The shiver he’d felt go through her when he’d first touched the base of her back...
Laurel had told him herself that she was a terrible actress. So why was she acting as if she was as attracted to him as he was to her?
Dan stared balefully at the tiny bottles of spirits in front of him, knowing that the chances were they wouldn’t help at all.
Laurel shook her head. ‘I’m done.’