Sophie Pembroke - Summer Of Love

All thoughts of portfolios and photography went out of his head. Alex dropped his bag by the door, crossed swiftly to the desk, and placed a hand on her shoulder, the most comfort he could manage with the desk between them. ‘What did he do?’

Lily shook her head, blonde strands of hair fluttering in front of her face. ‘He didn’t… It’s not him. It’s me.’

‘If he told you that you should have slapped him.’

That got him a smile, at least. ‘No, really. He wanted to talk about the wedding when I got back from Cora’s last night, and I… didn’t.’

A sense of unease rose in Alex’s chest. ‘Why not?’

‘Because… Oh I don’t know. Because I’m not sure he wants to marry me for the right reasons, I suppose.’

‘The right reasons?’ That wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. He’d expected because I don’t love him . Or because I’m not ready to get married . Not the right reasons . What were the right reasons, anyway?

Lily sighed, her whole body slumping forward a little as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. ‘I don’t know. It just seems… I think he only proposed to me because getting married is what we’re supposed to do now. We’re at the right age, our friends are all getting married. Maybe he even thinks it’ll help him with his job. But it’s not…’

‘Because he loves you,’ Alex finished for her, his heart like lead in his chest. Wasn’t that just what he was doing? Deciding he was ready to settle down, and seeking the perfect person to settle down with him? Hell, he’d even bought a settling-down sofa.

But he’d forgotten about love in there, somewhere.

Leaning heavily against the desk, he lifted his hand to run it across Lily’s pale hair, silky soft under his fingers. ‘Did you tell him what’s worrying you?’

‘I tried.’ His fingers caught in a knot, and she smiled up at him as he untangled first himself, and then her hair. It was a watery smile, but still better than anything he’d seen so far that morning. ‘He didn’t seem to understand.’

Because the man was an idiot. Clearly. How could you forget the importance of loving Lily Thomas?

‘What did he say?’

Lily sighed. ‘He was frustrated, I guess. He just said that if we love each other, and we do, then this is what happens next. Like it’s a compulsory step or something. Something to get through, rather than a celebration of, well, anything.’

She looked so uncomfortable at the idea, Alex didn’t want to push – even though part of him wanted to tell her to run, far and fast and now. If she was so uncertain and unhappy now, how would she feel in a year’s time? Or five years, or ten?

But it wasn’t his place. So all he asked was, ‘How did you leave it?’

‘He had to rush off for work. Said we’d go look at venues next weekend, if I was so set against having it at the golf club.’ Her laugh was bitter. ‘I’m pretty sure the message didn’t get through.’

Resisting the urge to find and punch Edward was, Alex thought, a true sign he’d grown as a person. But it was still bloody tempting.

‘So, I guess you’re not in the mood to take some photos today, then?’ he said, thinking that changing the subject might be the only thing to break Lily out of her funk.

It seemed to work. Scrubbing her hands across her face, Lily scraped her hair back into the bobble she had round her wrist and smiled up at him again, surer this time. ‘No. We should do it. As long as you don’t want to take any photos of me.’ She gave a light laugh, but as she spoke the words, Alex realized that was all he wanted to do. He wanted to capture Lily as she was at this moment – vulnerable, open, not hiding behind bravado or jokes. He wanted to remember her right now, treating him as a friend.

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