it will be over soon.’
It was his turn to study her expression for a beat. ‘Why is it so important to you to keep up the pretence? Why couldn’t you just tell them the truth?’
Juliet rolled her eyes as she shoved his hand away to get off the bed. ‘Oh yeah, why didn’t I think of that?’ She whipped a bathrobe off a hook next to the wardrobe and pushed her arms through the sleeves. ‘I could tell them I haven’t had a date in five years because I got screwed around by a two-timing jerk and I lost my confidence because he said I was fat and ugly to one of his friends who posted it online. I could tell them I’m terrified because I’m twenty-nine next month and I’m worried I’m never going to find someone who loves me enough to marry me and have a family with me. I could tell them all my fears and have them look at me pityingly, or worse, have them set me up on horrid blind dates. I won’t do it, Marcus. And you can’t make me.’
The silence was deafening. Shaming. Embarrassing. Excruciating.
He took a step towards her but she held up her hand. ‘No. Please. Don’t make this any worse.’
‘Juliet...I—’
‘I know what you’re going to say.’ She met his gaze head-on. ‘You’re going to say “it’s not you, it’s me,” right?’
His eyes looked pained. ‘This is all I can give you right now. I’m sorry.’
Juliet gave him a cynical look before she turned for the bathroom. ‘It’s just another version of the same thing, isn’t it?’
* * *
Marcus wasn’t in the suite when Juliet came out of the bathroom. She was relieved and disappointed. Relieved she didn’t have to see him feeling sorry for her now she’d laid all her secrets bare. Disappointed he wasn’t there to tell her he loved her and wanted her to spend the rest of her life with him. She knew it was foolish to dream. Foolish to hope. Foolish to fall in love with someone who was so far out of her reach.
But she had always loved him. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t. As a child she had loved him as a brother, and then, as she got older, as a friend. But now she loved him as lover. A life partner, except he didn’t want her for life. Just for a measly weekend.
The girls were waiting for her in the Chatsfield spa for their day of pampering. Juliet pasted on a smile and joined in with the luxurious treatments, listening to the chatter and gossip with one ear while her mind drifted elsewhere.
But that just about summed it up.
She was always on the outer edge. Looking in instead of at the centre. She was a fringe person. No one noticed her sitting on the sidelines.
Story of her life.
Harriet came over with a glass of champagne with a strawberry perched on the rim of the glass. ‘There’s been a change of plans for this evening.’
‘Oh?’
‘I know it’s a break with hen’s weekend protocol but since Hugh and Tristan are in town for an investment conference, and you’ve got Marcus here, we thought we’d have a couples’ dinner tonight. Just the six of us.’
‘Dinner?’ Juliet looked at her in alarm. ‘What happened to the male stripper?’
‘Kendra was having qualms about it. Said she didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.’ Harriet sat on the arm of the leather pedicure chair opposite Juliet’s. ‘It will be a good chance for Marcus to meet the boys. Will he be free?’
Juliet swallowed. ‘I’ll have to check...’
Harriet’s smile was as sly as a fox sizing up an unsuspecting chicken. ‘He surely won’t be too busy for his fiancée, will he?’
* * *
Marcus was coming back from the hotel gym where he had worked off some, but not all, of his unsettled feelings. He had run twelve kilometres on the treadmill. Pushed a few weights around. Done three hundred abdominal crunches, and yet he still couldn’t get Juliet’s hurt expression out of his mind. It had never been his intention to hurt her. He was annoyed with himself for letting things get out of his control. He’d
It was his turn to study her expression for a beat. ‘Why is it so important to you to keep up the pretence? Why couldn’t you just tell them the truth?’
Juliet rolled her eyes as she shoved his hand away to get off the bed. ‘Oh yeah, why didn’t I think of that?’ She whipped a bathrobe off a hook next to the wardrobe and pushed her arms through the sleeves. ‘I could tell them I haven’t had a date in five years because I got screwed around by a two-timing jerk and I lost my confidence because he said I was fat and ugly to one of his friends who posted it online. I could tell them I’m terrified because I’m twenty-nine next month and I’m worried I’m never going to find someone who loves me enough to marry me and have a family with me. I could tell them all my fears and have them look at me pityingly, or worse, have them set me up on horrid blind dates. I won’t do it, Marcus. And you can’t make me.’
The silence was deafening. Shaming. Embarrassing. Excruciating.
He took a step towards her but she held up her hand. ‘No. Please. Don’t make this any worse.’
‘Juliet...I—’
‘I know what you’re going to say.’ She met his gaze head-on. ‘You’re going to say “it’s not you, it’s me,” right?’
His eyes looked pained. ‘This is all I can give you right now. I’m sorry.’
Juliet gave him a cynical look before she turned for the bathroom. ‘It’s just another version of the same thing, isn’t it?’
* * *
Marcus wasn’t in the suite when Juliet came out of the bathroom. She was relieved and disappointed. Relieved she didn’t have to see him feeling sorry for her now she’d laid all her secrets bare. Disappointed he wasn’t there to tell her he loved her and wanted her to spend the rest of her life with him. She knew it was foolish to dream. Foolish to hope. Foolish to fall in love with someone who was so far out of her reach.
But she had always loved him. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t. As a child she had loved him as a brother, and then, as she got older, as a friend. But now she loved him as lover. A life partner, except he didn’t want her for life. Just for a measly weekend.
The girls were waiting for her in the Chatsfield spa for their day of pampering. Juliet pasted on a smile and joined in with the luxurious treatments, listening to the chatter and gossip with one ear while her mind drifted elsewhere.
But that just about summed it up.
She was always on the outer edge. Looking in instead of at the centre. She was a fringe person. No one noticed her sitting on the sidelines.
Story of her life.
Harriet came over with a glass of champagne with a strawberry perched on the rim of the glass. ‘There’s been a change of plans for this evening.’
‘Oh?’
‘I know it’s a break with hen’s weekend protocol but since Hugh and Tristan are in town for an investment conference, and you’ve got Marcus here, we thought we’d have a couples’ dinner tonight. Just the six of us.’
‘Dinner?’ Juliet looked at her in alarm. ‘What happened to the male stripper?’
‘Kendra was having qualms about it. Said she didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.’ Harriet sat on the arm of the leather pedicure chair opposite Juliet’s. ‘It will be a good chance for Marcus to meet the boys. Will he be free?’
Juliet swallowed. ‘I’ll have to check...’
Harriet’s smile was as sly as a fox sizing up an unsuspecting chicken. ‘He surely won’t be too busy for his fiancée, will he?’
* * *
Marcus was coming back from the hotel gym where he had worked off some, but not all, of his unsettled feelings. He had run twelve kilometres on the treadmill. Pushed a few weights around. Done three hundred abdominal crunches, and yet he still couldn’t get Juliet’s hurt expression out of his mind. It had never been his intention to hurt her. He was annoyed with himself for letting things get out of his control. He’d
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