Pear-shaped? Callie lifted her eyebrows in surprise. Pretty tame word for being jilted. ‘So, what happened?’ she probed again. Yeah, she was nosy—but this man needed to talk … he needed a friend. Who wouldn’t, in his situation? She might be nosy but she could also be a damn good listener.
Finn shook his head. ‘I know that you use your eyes as weapons of interrogation, but I’m not going to go there with you.’
Fair enough, Callie thought. He had a right to his secrets. She just hoped that he had someone to talk to—to work this through with.
Finn rolled his head in an effort to release some of the tension in his shoulders. He tapped his index finger against his thigh. ‘I can tell you that my biggest hassle is that I landed a pretty sweet gig—writing articles about the best honeymoon destinations in Southern Africa. Liz and I were going to spend three weeks travelling … a few days at each destination. My publisher is not going to be happy that I’m doing it solo.’
Callie leaned forward and made a performance of batting her eyelashes. ‘Take me—I’ll be your substitute wife.’
Finn managed a small grin. ‘I’m violently allergic to the word “wife”—even a pretend one.’
‘Well, at least you’d be miserable in comfort.’
‘If I end up keeping the assignment—which I very well might not.’ Finn ran his hands over his short hair and blew out his breath. ‘So, tell me why you’re sitting here in the dark instead of causing chaos in the bar?’
Callie could clearly see that he’d closed the door on any further discussion about his non-wedding. She looked down into her drink and wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m not in the mood to be …’
‘Hit on all night?’
‘That too. And someone walked in about fifteen minutes ago who I kind of said I might call. We made plans to have supper, then I had to fly to Milan on short notice—’
‘Fashion-buying emergency?’
Callie lifted her nose at him in response to his gentle sarcasm. ‘Something like that. And I lost his number, and I’m …’
‘Not that interested any more?’
She bit her lip. ‘Yeah. Not that interested.’ She looked out across the ocean to the silver moon that hung low in the sky. She saw the craters, picked out the shape of the rabbit, and sighed.
When she dropped her head her eyes met Finn’s and impulsively she reached out and tangled her fingers in his. She ignored the flash of heat, the rocketing attraction. It wasn’t the time or the place.
‘I’m sorry you’re hurting. I’m so sorry for whatever happened that’s put such sadness in your eyes.’
Finn licked his lips before staring at the ocean. ‘Well, it’s not rocket science. I was supposed to be getting married in less than two weeks.’
Callie shook her head, knowing that whatever it was that had mashed up his heart it was more than just losing his ex. ‘I think that getting over her will be a lot easier than getting over whatever else has happened.’
Finn’s eyes widened and she was surprised when he managed a low, harsh chuckle. He picked at the label on his bottle, not meeting her eyes. ‘We changed our minds, decided that marriage wasn’t what we wanted—that’s all that happened.’
No, it wasn’t. But Callie wasn’t going to argue with him. ‘Well, I am so, so sorry—because it’s hurt you badly.’
And for some strange reason the thought of you being hurt makes me feel physically ill .
Finn stood up abruptly and Callie turned to see Rowan approaching them. Finn surprised her when he bent down and kissed her cheek, taking a moment to whisper in her ear.
‘Callie, you are part witch and part angel and all sexy. I’m leaving before I say or do anything stupid around you.’
Callie inhaled his aftershave and couldn’t help rubbing her cheek against his stubble. ‘Like …?’
‘Like suggesting that you come home with me.’
His comment wasn’t unexpected, and she knew men well enough to know that he was looking for a distraction—a way to step out of the nightmare he was currently experiencing.
Ah, dammit! She wanted to say yes, but she wasn’t going to be any man’s panacea for pain—even one as sexy as this. If they slept together she wanted it to be because he wanted her beyond all reason and not just to dull the pain, to forget, to step outside his life.
She had to be sensible and she forced the words out. ‘Sorry, Finn, that’s really not a good idea.’
Finn raked his hand through his hair. ‘I know …’He held her eyes and shrugged. ‘I really do know. Rowan, hi—I was just leaving …’
CHAPTER TWO Table of Contents Cover Excerpt ‘Holiday romances seldom work out,’ she murmured. ‘That’s what I’ve heard.’ ‘Keep reminding me that this is nothing more than a few weeks of fun, okay?’ Finn rubbed his jaw. He had to acknowledge that it would be easy to forget who they were and why they were here. They were on a fake honeymoon—emphasis on the fake —surrounded by romance and luxury, and they might easily get swept away and inadvertently slip on a pair of those rose-coloured glasses. He—they—had to keep their eyes open, their heads in the game. Callie turned her head and sent him a small, almost sad smile. ‘We’re on the same page?’ He rubbed his hand over his jaw before nodding briskly. ‘Just to be clear—are you saying that you’ll sleep with me?’ The tip of her tongue touched her top lip and he saw her skin flush with anticipated pleasure. Yeah, she would be his as much as he would be hers. Tonight. Callie held his eyes as she sucked in her bottom lip. ‘Well, sleeping isn’t what we would be doing, exactly.’ Dear Reader About the Author JOSS WOOD wrote her first book at the age of eight and has never really stopped. Her passion for putting letters on a blank screen is matched only by her love of books and travelling—especially to the wild places of Southern Africa—and possibly by her hatred of ironing and making school lunches. Fuelled by coffee, when she’s not writing or being a hands-on mum, Joss, with her background in business and marketing, works for a non-profit organisation to promote the local economic development and collective business interests of the area where she resides. Happily and chaotically surrounded by books, family and friends, she lives in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, with her husband, children and their many pets. Title Page The Honeymoon Arrangement Joss Wood www.millsandboon.co.uk Dedication To Sandi, so far away but still so close to my heart. Also for Sandi’s Chris, who brings my little technie toys. Thanks bunches! PROLOGUE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN Copyright
A HALF HOUR LATER Finn tossed down the keys to his house and stared at the coffee-coloured tiles beneath his feet for a moment. Blowing air into his cheeks, he walked through the hall and down the passage to the kitchen, yanked open the double-door fridge and pulled out a beer.
Looking over to the open-plan couch area, he saw the pillow and sheet he’d left on the oatmeal-coloured couch. He’d spent the last few nights on that couch, not sleeping. He couldn’t sleep in the bedroom—and not only because he no longer had a mattress on the bed.
Finn rubbed his forehead with the base of the cold bottle, hoping to dispel the permanent headache that had lodged in his brain since last week. Tuesday.
Along with the headache, the same horror film ran on the big screen in his mind …
God, there had been so much blood. As long as he lived he’d remember that bright red puddle on the sheets, Liz grunting beside him, as white as a sheet. He remembered calling for an ambulance and that it had seemed to take for ever to come, remembered Liz sobbing, more blood. The white walls of the hospital, the worried face of the obstetrician. Being told that they had to get Liz into surgery to make sure they didn’t lose her too.
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