Sophie Pembroke - Wedding Promises

Laurel nodded, unable to keep her eyes off the car. She couldn’t look at Benjamin, of course. And she couldn’t look at Dan or he’d know how truly pathetic she was. And she definitely couldn’t stare at the tall, leggy blonde that Benjamin was helping out of the car, even if she did look a bit like Melissa. The car seemed by far the safest bet.

Cars didn’t betray a person, or break her heart. Cars were safe.

Far safer than love.

Love, in Laurel’s experience, went hand in hand with trust and hope. None of which had ever worked out all that well for her.

Every time she’d had hope for the future that relied on another person, and every time she’d trusted a person she loved, she’d been let down. More than that—she’d been left abandoned, feeling worthless and hopeless.

Which was why, these days, she was putting all her faith, hope and trust in herself and in her business. That way at least if she got hurt it was her own stupid fault. One day her prince would come—and he’d be the kind of equal opportunities prince who loved it that she had a successful career, and thought she was brilliant just the way she was. In the meantime, she would never, ever feel that worthless again.

‘Laurel!’ Benjamin called out, a wide smile on his face as the blonde stepped out of the car, high heels sinking in the gravel of the driveway. ‘How lovely to see you! Quite the venue you’ve picked here.’ He shot a glance over at Morwen Hall and winced. ‘It doesn’t exactly scream romance, I have to say, but I’m sure you know what you’re doing.’

Always that slight dig—that slight suggestion that she was doing something wrong. Never enough for her to call him on it—he’d just put his hands up and laugh, saying she was being over-sensitive. But just enough to leave her in no doubt that he knew better than she did. She wasn’t quite good enough.

Well, the biggest advantage of not being in love with him any more was that she didn’t have to care what he thought.

‘Giving my sister the wedding of her dreams!’ she said, smiling as sweetly as she could as she held a hand out to the blonde, for all the world as if she was meeting her for the first time and hadn’t found her naked in her own bed six months previously. Because she was a professional, dammit, and she would prove it. ‘Hi, I’m Laurel Sommers. The wedding planner.’

The blonde’s smile barely reached her cheeks, let alone her eyes. ‘Coral. Ben’s fiancée,’ she added, obviously wanting to make her status absolutely clear. As if Laurel didn’t already know the whole sordid history of their relationship.

‘Lovely to meet you, Coral,’ Laurel lied. She glanced down at Coral’s left hand, unable to help herself. There it was: a beautiful diamond, oversized and ostentatious and... Hang on.

That was her engagement ring. The one she’d given him back that morning in the coffee shop because she couldn’t bear to look at the damn thing a moment longer and, besides, it was an expensive ring and she hadn’t felt right keeping it.

She’d expected Benjamin to return it or sell it or something.

Not to give it to the woman he’d cheated on her with.

A strange, shaky feeling rose up in her—something between fury and confusion. How could he? Wasn’t it humiliating enough that he was here at all? And now this woman was wearing her ring? How much embarrassment was she supposed to take? How little had she mattered—to Benjamin, to Melissa, to her own father—that she found herself in this position? Alone and humiliated and...

Wait. Not alone. Not quite.

Laurel took a deep breath. And then she made a decision.

Reaching behind her, she grabbed Dan’s hand and pulled him forward, keeping a tight grip on his fingers as he stood beside her. ‘Benjamin, this is Dan. My date for the wedding.’

Until that moment Dan had stayed quiet and still just behind her, not drawing any attention to himself, and it seemed that Benjamin and Coral had barely even registered his presence. Which, now she thought about it, was quite a trick. Maybe that was what you had to do as a stuntman—be mostly invisible or at least easily mistaken for the person you were standing in for. But since Dan had to be over six foot, and solid with it, disappearing in the pale sunlight of an English winter day was a real achievement.

Now he squeezed her fingers back, as if asking, Are you sure?

She wasn’t. Not at all. But it seemed she was doing it anyway.

‘Dan...’ Benjamin echoed, holding out a hand, suspicion already in his gaze.

Laurel resisted the urge to roll her eyes as Dan dropped her fingers to grip Benjamin’s hand hard enough that he winced slightly.

‘That’s right. I’m Laurel’s new boyfriend,’ Dan explained, with a sharp smile.

Laurel bit back her own grin as Benjamin’s expression froze. Yeah, that was why she’d changed her mind about this crazy scheme. That look, right there. That look that said, Really? Are you sure?

Because of course Benjamin wouldn’t expect her to have a new man already, given how crushed she’d been by their break-up. And even if she had he wouldn’t expect it to be someone like Dan—someone big and muscly and gorgeous and just a little bit rough compared to Benjamin’s urbane polish.

Sometimes it was nice to surprise a person. Besides, knowing that Dan was clearly not her type—and that she was almost certainly not his either—helped to keep it clear to both of them that this was just a game. A game that they’d need to discuss the rules of, she supposed, but how hard could that be? The charade would be over the minute the wedding guests departed anyway.

But until then...it would be kind of fun.

Coral was looking at Dan with far more interest than her fiancé, and Benjamin retrieved his hand and quickly took Coral’s instead. Staking his claim, Laurel realised, just as he’d always done with her—holding her hand, or placing a proprietorial hand at her waist whenever she spoke to another man. Something else she really didn’t miss.

Benjamin’s gaze flipped from Dan back to Laurel, and she stopped reflecting on the past in order to concentrate on fooling her ex in the present. Dan slipped a hand around her waist, which helped. Somehow it felt totally different from the way Benjamin had used to touch her there. Less possessive, more a gentle reminder that she wasn’t alone.

She liked that, too.

‘Actually, Laurel, it’s handy we’ve bumped into you. Could you spare a moment? I have something I want to talk to you about...’

Laurel ran down her mental checklist of any outstanding Benjamin issues and came up with nothing. She’d already given back his ring—as evidenced by the fact that it was sparkling on Coral’s left hand right now. He had no stuff left at her flat—mostly because he’d never left anything there longer than overnight if he could help it anyway. He’d kept all their mutual friends in the break-up, since they’d all been his to start with, and she was sort of relieved to have more time for her old uni friends instead of having to hang out with his society people.

What else could there possibly be for them to talk about?

‘I should really get back to work,’ she said, wishing she could sound more definite, more confident in her denial. Why couldn’t she just say, There is nothing left I want you to say to me?

‘It’ll only take a moment,’ Benjamin pressed, moving a step towards her.

Laurel stepped back and found herself pressed up against Dan’s side. He really was very solid. Warm and solid and reassuring.

She could get used to having that sort of certainty at her back.

‘Sorry, but the lady has a prior engagement,’ Dan said.

Laurel knew she should be cross with him for speaking for her, but given that she couldn’t say the words herself she was finding it hard to care. Besides, he was supposed to be her boyfriend. It was all just part of the act.