THE RELUCTANT BRIDE by Joy Wodhams

what of all your fine
plans? Englands may well be taken out of your hands.”
    “ It's
not going to happen, Karl.”
    “ You
seem very confident.”
    Rod
turned to Gabriella with an almost imperceptible lift of his
eyebrows. A question hung between them, silent, but she knew what he
was asking. She hesitated. Once he told Karl Werner, there was no
turning back. But she was already committed, wasn't she? For another
agonising moment she hesitated, then nodded.
    Rod's
face relaxed briefly, then he was leaning towards Werner. “Listen
to me, Karl. This is confidential information. You are the first to
hear, and I trust you to keep it to yourself. Ben Englands has
bequeathed the company to Gabriella and myself.”
    “ Indeed!”
Werner's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “How interesting!”
    “ And
we're not selling,” Gabriella told him. “Not at any
price!” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rod turn to look
at her and wondered if he was as surprised as she was at her
outburst.
    When
the lunch was over and they had escorted Karl Werner to his car Rod
walked back with her to her office. Closing the door behind him, he
leaned against it and for a long moment they gazed solemnly at each
other. Then his face broke into a broad grin.
    “ We
did it!”
    “ You did it,” Gabriella corrected him.
    “ I
just carried on with what you started. But you disarmed him. Telling
him how bloody awful we've been, it was a crazy thing to do but it
worked!”
    Gabriella
found herself smiling like an idiot, exhilarated by their success and
the two glasses of wine she had consumed.
    “ You
and me, Gabriella, we're going to make this
company! What -” Suddenly he lunged forward and swung her up
into his arms. “-a-” He spun her giddily round and round.
“- team!” And then he was kissing her, his lips firm,
warm, tasting faintly of wine, and she was letting him. His arms
tightened around her and she felt her body, fiery, boneless, shape
itself against the shape of his. His lips moved, burning a message
into hers. She wanted to surrender to the message, wanted him more
than anything before in her life.
    Later
she was grateful for the shrill ring of the telephone that stopped
her making a fool of herself. But when she broke away she had to lean
against her desk for support and her voice came husky, shaking.
    “ I
– I think I'm a little drunk.” She looked at him, this
man who was undermining all the defences she had built up over the
years, and panic hit her like a punch in the diaphragm. She couldn't,
wouldn't, give in to him, and in a gesture only half conscious she
raised a trembling hand and wiped the back of it across her mouth, as
if to erase the kisses that still burned there.
    Rod
watched her, his breath slowly calming, his expression veiled.
Without a word he turned on his heel and was gone.

CHAPTER
FIVE

    “ Roses
to your taste?” Rod asked, referring to the bouquet that had
awaited her yet again in her office.
    “ Yes,
thank you,” she replied stiffly, careful not to look at him as
they drove towards the town centre. Outwardly calm, inside she was
trembling and her heart raced. The meeting this morning with Mr
Brewster would bind her even more firmly to Rod. She felt as if she
had stepped on to a roller coaster and was no longer in control of
her own actions.
    “ Come
on, Gabriella, it's not the end of the world,” Rod tried to
rally her. “Is it?”
    When
she made no reply he lapsed into silence.
    Mr
Brewster's approval was tinged with scepticism when they announced
they had resolved their differences, but he congratulated them on
their forthcoming marriage in a courteous manner.
    “ The
initial contract's ready to sign,” he said, “and I'll
start to prepare the other documents so that all the transfers can go
ahead immediately you're married.”
    “ Does
that mean we can't get anything before we're married?” asked
Gabriella. “What about the money?”
    “ It's
only six weeks,” said Rod.