Dream Wedding

'You're talking about physical gratification,' she said flatly as she moved round him in one quick movement and began to walk away. 'I could never be satisfied with that.'

'You might find you actually like me too,' he said tightly, but she didn't look back, walking at a steady pace until she rounded the side of the house and slipped inside quickly. The sooner this wedding was over the better.

She stood for a long minute just inside the corridor before walking to the flat door. Seeing him like this, knowing that he wanted her if only for a casual affair-she couldn't take much more of it…

She walked over to the window as soon as she was in the flat, drawn against her will to see if he was still out there. He was, his bulk dark and dangerous against the pure white garden as he crumbled the cake for the squabbling birds and refilled the birdbath they had all but emptied.

Why oh, why had Frank ever recommended them for this job? she asked herself weakly as she moved away from the window and leant helplessly against the wall. She'd been doing fine, happy with her life and eager for the future, and now… She shut her eyes tightly and breathed deeply to ease her racing heart. Now she'd never be the same again. She would never love anyone the way she loved him. She knew it. Reece Vance only happened to a girl once.

The day flew by in a whirl of frenzied chaos that wasn't enhanced by the arrival of Craig's relations en masse just after lunch. They seemed a loud, noisy lot, if the general furore beyond the walls of the hall was anything to go by, and as Mitch and Dave arranged the tables and chairs at her direction to allow plenty of room for dancing she couldn't help wondering, with a wry smile, what Reece thought of the merry throng.

Several of the guests had wandered through with Craig and Barbara as they'd looked round the house, and now the door leading to the house opened again and Reece entered with a small party of Australians in tow, a pained expression on his face as he acted the benevolent host.

'This is the big hall.'

He waved a hand expressively. 'The caterers are busy at it so we won't interrupt them.'

'Hi, there.' One of the party had a different idea, and the eyes of a big, tall, blond man, who could have been Craig's double, fastened interestedly on Miriam's slender form. 'You look like you have everything under control here.'

'We do.' She smiled back politely and immediately he ambled over to her side, his blue eyes bright and smiling and his teeth the sort of gleaming white that would have done credit to any toothpaste advertisement.

'The name's Donnie.' He held out a massive hand for her to shake. 'I'm over from Australia for the wedding.'

'Right.' She nodded quietly, vitally aware of Reece's frowning face in the background but unable to do anything else but respond civilly to the Australian's friendly chatter.

'You arranged all this, then?' He waved an expansive hand round the hall as he kept his eyes trained on her face.

She smiled awkwardly. 'My brother and I are partners in the firm Mr Vance employed.'

'Oh, yeh, that's right.' He nodded quickly. 'Craig, my brother, told me about the trouble with the other bozos. Reece was lucky to find you at such short notice.' His eyes wandered over the burning red of her hair and came to rest in line with her quiet gaze. 'Very lucky,' he added softly.

'I think we're in the way here.' Reece's voice was pure ice as he appeared at their side. 'It's clear there's still plenty of work to be done, so if you'd like to…' He gestured towards the door through which they'd just passed, his face grim.

'No problem.' Donnie turned from Reece to smile at her again. 'I guess you'll be here tomorrow too?'

'Oh, yes.' She grimaced ruefully. 'You won't see me for dust as I race about, though.'

'I wouldn't bank on that.' He nodded at Mitch and the others, who had stopped work to watch the little scenario with purposely blank faces, and followed Reece and the rest of the party towards the door, stopping in the doorway as he turned back to her with a little exclamation. 'Hey, I forgot to ask your name.'

'Miriam Bennett.' As Reece loomed back over his shoulder she felt something akin to a giggle begin to surface and bit it back quickly. Here was one man who wasn't the least intimidated by Reece Vance's threatening coolness.

'Miriam…' He nodded slowly in approval. 'It suits you; very feminine.'

'If you're ready…?' As Reece almost pushed him out of the way and began to shut the door he sent Miriam a glance of cold fury that she was at a loss to understand. 'I'd carry on working if I were you,' he said tightly as he disappeared. 'It looks to me like there's still a lot to be done.'

'Ignorant pig!' She turned back to the others with an angry shake of her head as her cheeks burnt hotly. 'What on earth does he think we're going to do if not work?'

'The guy's under a lot of pressure,' Mitch said soothingly as he and Dave began to unfold one of the huge white linen tablecloths and lay it across the table that they were standing behind. 'I should imagine he works on a short fuse at the best of times, and having his house invaded by an army of strangers and turned upside down by us can't be much fun for the poor chap.'

'Huh!' Reece's cold face and tight voice had hurt her more than what he had actually said, but she forced herself to put it out of her mind as they began work again. Two or three days and she'd never see him again, so what did any of it matter?

The thought sent her heart plummeting to her feet as a great sense of desolation overwhelmed her. She had had the chance; to have mote of him, but where would his lovemaking have led in the end? To a broken heart. She didn't just want his body, she wanted much, much more, and giving herself to him would have meant that she was intrinsically linked with him; it would—that was just the way she was made.

She sighed deeply, unaware of Mitch's intuitive eyes watching her face. She couldn't have walked away from him when the time came for him to dismiss her and the whole thing would have got painfully messy, humiliating and embarrassing for them both. He would have guessed how she felt in time; she never had been very good at hiding her feelings. No. She had done the right thing, the only thing, but it hurt like mad. And she had the horrible feeling that it always would.

'Mim?' Mitch appeared at her side as the others worked at the far end of the hall. 'It could never work, you know. You do know that?'

'What?' Miriam turned to him as she felt herself flush bright red.