KIM LAWRENCE - Wedding-Night Baby

‘I’ve given up on emotional complications in my life.’ She wished she sounded as confident about this as she had hoped she would.

‘This is more instinctive than emotional, don’t you think?’ he mused, a lick of grim humour in his voice.

When she looked up there was something far more fierce than humour in his eyes—hunger. Her eyes moved of their own volition to his mouth, and the sensuous curl of his lips made her throat close over. The hot, liquid sensation in her belly expanded to flood her already unsteady limbs. The fantasy that passed before her eyes was full of texture and taste. In fact, all her senses seemed to be involved in the concept of this simple, imaginary kiss.

‘There speaks the male of the species,’ she retorted, her voice all the more angry because of the diversions her mind was taking. ‘A physical experience without emotions is an unrewarding one for a woman.’

‘I thought you’d given up on emotions?’ he said with a quirk of one eyebrow. ‘Does this mean you’ve taken a vow of chastity?’

‘Is that so outrageous?’

‘I think for some people celibacy might be a possible solution. People with a genuinely asexual personality, that is—those who pretend things they are incapable of feeling just to conform. It’s not the answer for someone as sensual as you. Repressing your true nature is no answer.’

‘And you’d know all about my personality!’ she snapped scornfully.

‘I think you’re the sort of woman who is afraid to stand up for what she believes in. You’re big on independence and self-sufficiency, but when an opportunity to display the fact is offered you, what do you do? Rush off to hire a body to wear a suit so you blend in prettily. It takes guts to stand out, Georgina,’ he drawled. ‘It seems to me you like to take the safe option.’

His words had homed in on the disquiet she had felt about the entire face-saving exercise. Damn him! she thought, raising her turbulent eyes to his impassive face. ‘I take it I’m meant to be forced to display that I’m full of radical action by sleeping with you—not the safe option.’

He appeared unfazed by her hot accusation. ‘You have been thinking about it, then,’ he said with a small, disturbing smile playing about the corners of his lips.

Her vehement denial died as she met the cynical knowledge in his eyes. She acknowledged she’d just been manoeuvred into a corner by something of an expert. The music had stopped and they stayed stationary in the middle of the floor. Her attention was so concentrated on her partner than she didn’t hear Alex the first time he spoke.

‘Can I have the next dance, Georgie?’

She spun around, eyes wide, her cheeks still flushed from the stimulation of her fencing with Callum.

‘Go ahead, sweetheart,’ Callum urged, his hand comfortably patting her behind encouragingly. He regarded the slightly younger man in an almost indulgent manner that visibly grated on Alex. ‘The least I can do, as indirectly you’re responsible for my meeting Georgina. Incidentally, she hates being called Georgie; didn’t she ever tell you?’ The music started up and he slipped away, his long strides taking him swiftly out of sight into the crowd.

‘Shall we?’

Georgina pulled herself together with a tense smile. She’d been staring after Callum like a hypnotised idiot; embarrassment at this bizarre behaviour brought a fresh rush of colour to her skin. She thought wistfully of the bland partner she’d imagined.

‘You look well, Georgie...Georgina,’ Alex stumbled awkwardly. ‘I hardly recognised you.’

‘Should I be flattered? But it’s still the same old me, Alex.’ Or was she? she wondered, still in daze. The nights of bitterness and heartache, the sense of betrayal and the deep sense of inadequacy she’d fought against with all her will seemed oddly distant as she faced the object of all those thwarted desires.

‘You seem different.’

She glanced at him curiously, surprised that she could be objective. He sounded faintly piqued at the transformation, which consisted mostly of a sophisticated outfit and an air of self-confidence that was three parts artifice.

Had Alex ever looked beyond the surface? she wondered. She’d been very young when she’d met him and malleable in many ways. That had suited Alex. The only contention that had ever arisen between them had occurred when she had insisted she wanted more careerwise than a receptionist’s job. When she’d insisted on going on her business-studies course, commuting home at weekends, he’d been stiffly disapproving.

‘Everyone grows up, Alex,’ she observed now, with a wistfulness partly reserved for her lost naïvety. Everyone had known about Alex and Harriet for weeks before she had caught on. The constriction in her throat swelled.

‘I treated you pretty badly.’

‘Yes,’ she agreed, noticing he was the first one to look away. She’d wanted to make him wonder whether he’d made the right decision and, if she read the signs correctly, that was exactly what he was doing. Strange how little pleasure it afforded her. ‘Lovely wedding.’

‘I wanted something simple.’

‘Harriet didn’t,’ she observed with a faint smile. What Harriet wants, Harriet gets, including my man!

He shrugged awkwardly and she worked hard not to tangle her feet with his. Dancing with Callum had been as easy as breathing—a strange combination of instinct and rhythm. The contrast made her frown.

‘Emotional hothouses, weddings,’ she said lightly.

‘I miss you. I didn’t realise how much...’

The words she’d longed to hear filled her with a sudden deep panic. ‘I don’t think you should be saying this, Alex.’ He’d manoeuvred them into a quiet alcove and the drop in volume meant that her voice sounded loud.

‘Neither do L’

Startled, she spun around to see Callum watching them, leaning with negligent ease against a fake Doric pillar.

‘I was just...’ Alex blustered, letting go of Georgina and backing off a step.

‘I know exactly what you were doing, mate.’ The smile on Callum’s lips was benevolent, but the expression in his eyes made the younger man blanch. ‘I suggest you lie in the bed of your own making and leave Georgina to lie in hers. Speaking of which, darling, I’ve managed to get us the last room available. You’ve had too much to drink and I’m not about to drive that death trap of yours.’

‘But...’ she began, alarm and outrage in her eyes.

‘You don’t need to be in work until Tuesday so why worry?’

‘See you, Georgie,’ Alex muttered, sliding away.

‘Oh...what? Yes, sure.’ To him their exchange must have seemed incredibly intimate. A light squabble between two lovers.

‘Aren’t you going to thank me for rescuing you? Or didn’t the lady want to be rescued? Seducing the bridegroom on his wedding night might be the sort of revenge your soul craves.’

She was so angry that she felt as if she’d explode with frustration. ‘My cravings are none of your business. How dare you interfere?’ she breathed wrathfully. ‘I can only hope your little contribution was pure fiction.’

He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘How had you intended getting home? You’ve been knocking back the vino with splendid abandon all afternoon.’

The way his eyes moved over her body as he said ‘splendid abandon’ made her head spin slightly and she didn’t think ‘vino’ had anything to do with her reaction. ‘I can’t afford this place,’ she said in a hushed tone. The rather over-the-top grandeur of the establishment was not to her taste and she was sure the prices were even less so.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll pay.’

‘You seem to be very affluent all of a sudden,’ she said with suspicion.