coming to the civil partnership?’
Oh, bloody hell, the civil partnership.
An unsettling wave of trepidation turned her stomach over. The biggest Burney family get-together in years and she no longer had a date. Could her crushed and battered ego survive a whole weekend of jibes from her mother about the race for grandchildren being hampered by her inability to keep a man?
‘Not exactly,’ she said.
‘How do you mean?’
There was a sharp over-interested edge to his voice that she recognised from the many work dinners she’d accompanied him to. This was how he sounded when he was on the brink of nailing a new client—as if nothing could distract him from his goal. Five missed calls and now he was hanging on her every word.
Oh, hell.
She leaned forward over the desk in exasperation and pressed her hot forehead against its cold wooden surface.
‘Alistair and I are off,’ she blurted out. ‘He’s a total arse. He wouldn’t even talk about making it to the wedding.’
‘You broke up because he won’t come to your brother’s wedding?’
‘Pretty much, yes,’ she said.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth—that Alistair had only treated her like a princess because he’d wanted a live-in lawyer. Her cheeks burned just at the thought of it.
‘I couldn’t let Adam down and he just couldn’t see that. It made me realise that work will always come first for him.’
‘Sorry to hear that.’
Was there a twist of cool I-told-you-so about his voice? She pulled her head from the desk and narrowed her eyes, trying to decide. He was probably glad it was all off. Wasn’t that exactly what he’d wanted? For things to get back to normal? Then again, at least he wasn’t saying it out loud.
She tightened her grip on the phone.
Wallowing in self-pity was one thing, but it didn’t change the fact that in a week’s time she had to keep her parents in check while surrounded by Ernie’s family. Knowing Adam, it would be the most stuffed-with-people event of the year. She’d become so used to relying on Dan at family get-togethers that the prospect of coping with that by herself filled her with dread.
With her dreams in tatters there was a warm tug of temptation just to scuttle back to the way things had been. And wasn’t that exactly what Dan had been angling for all along? Why not resurrect the old plus-one agreement? That nice, safe social buffer that had stood between her and humiliation until she’d stupidly given it up. Her reason for ending it was on its way back to the States right now. She’d dipped a toe in the murky waters of proper dating and it had turned into a train wreck.
She thought it through quickly. Dan was brilliant with her mother, never remotely fazed and the epitome of calm. Exactly what she needed to get her through that scary event. And maybe then she could begin to look forward, put Alistair behind her, make a fresh start.
‘Actually, about the wedding...’ she said.
* * *
‘You want to reinstate the plus-one agreement?’ He might as well give it its proper ludicrous name.
‘Yes. I know it’s a bit of a turnaround.’
Just a bit.
He couldn’t quite believe his ears. So now she wanted him to step back in as her handy fake boyfriend, as if the last couple of weeks had never happened? What about her insane plan to dump him in public? And she hadn’t done him the one-off favour of going with him to his Mayfair charity ball—oh, no. He’d had to spend the evening peeling Eloise off him. But now she needed him things were different.
And he wasn’t about to make it easy for her.
‘I thought having each other as a social backup was holding us back? ’ he said. ‘Your words.’
A pause on the end of the phone, during which a hint of triumph coursed through him as he reclaimed the upper hand. He was back in control. How they proceeded from here would be his decision, not hers.
‘I may have been a bit hasty.’
He didn’t answer.
‘Please, Dan.
Oh, bloody hell, the civil partnership.
An unsettling wave of trepidation turned her stomach over. The biggest Burney family get-together in years and she no longer had a date. Could her crushed and battered ego survive a whole weekend of jibes from her mother about the race for grandchildren being hampered by her inability to keep a man?
‘Not exactly,’ she said.
‘How do you mean?’
There was a sharp over-interested edge to his voice that she recognised from the many work dinners she’d accompanied him to. This was how he sounded when he was on the brink of nailing a new client—as if nothing could distract him from his goal. Five missed calls and now he was hanging on her every word.
Oh, hell.
She leaned forward over the desk in exasperation and pressed her hot forehead against its cold wooden surface.
‘Alistair and I are off,’ she blurted out. ‘He’s a total arse. He wouldn’t even talk about making it to the wedding.’
‘You broke up because he won’t come to your brother’s wedding?’
‘Pretty much, yes,’ she said.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth—that Alistair had only treated her like a princess because he’d wanted a live-in lawyer. Her cheeks burned just at the thought of it.
‘I couldn’t let Adam down and he just couldn’t see that. It made me realise that work will always come first for him.’
‘Sorry to hear that.’
Was there a twist of cool I-told-you-so about his voice? She pulled her head from the desk and narrowed her eyes, trying to decide. He was probably glad it was all off. Wasn’t that exactly what he’d wanted? For things to get back to normal? Then again, at least he wasn’t saying it out loud.
She tightened her grip on the phone.
Wallowing in self-pity was one thing, but it didn’t change the fact that in a week’s time she had to keep her parents in check while surrounded by Ernie’s family. Knowing Adam, it would be the most stuffed-with-people event of the year. She’d become so used to relying on Dan at family get-togethers that the prospect of coping with that by herself filled her with dread.
With her dreams in tatters there was a warm tug of temptation just to scuttle back to the way things had been. And wasn’t that exactly what Dan had been angling for all along? Why not resurrect the old plus-one agreement? That nice, safe social buffer that had stood between her and humiliation until she’d stupidly given it up. Her reason for ending it was on its way back to the States right now. She’d dipped a toe in the murky waters of proper dating and it had turned into a train wreck.
She thought it through quickly. Dan was brilliant with her mother, never remotely fazed and the epitome of calm. Exactly what she needed to get her through that scary event. And maybe then she could begin to look forward, put Alistair behind her, make a fresh start.
‘Actually, about the wedding...’ she said.
* * *
‘You want to reinstate the plus-one agreement?’ He might as well give it its proper ludicrous name.
‘Yes. I know it’s a bit of a turnaround.’
Just a bit.
He couldn’t quite believe his ears. So now she wanted him to step back in as her handy fake boyfriend, as if the last couple of weeks had never happened? What about her insane plan to dump him in public? And she hadn’t done him the one-off favour of going with him to his Mayfair charity ball—oh, no. He’d had to spend the evening peeling Eloise off him. But now she needed him things were different.
And he wasn’t about to make it easy for her.
‘I thought having each other as a social backup was holding us back? ’ he said. ‘Your words.’
A pause on the end of the phone, during which a hint of triumph coursed through him as he reclaimed the upper hand. He was back in control. How they proceeded from here would be his decision, not hers.
‘I may have been a bit hasty.’
He didn’t answer.
‘Please, Dan.
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