Daniel’s mind drifted away from the words to concentrate on Charlotte. She was wearing more makeup today. But her glorious dark hair and the glamorous white wedding dress demanded it. With blue eye-shadow and black eye-liner, her eyes looked so big and blue. And that red gloss on her mouth made Daniel long to kiss her.
When his eyes dropped to her cleavage, he had some difficulty keeping his thoughts from straying to her beautiful breasts and the many ways in which he wanted to make love to her tonight.
Daniel determined to make it impossible for her to send him on his way tomorrow. He might not be good marriage material but he was a good lover.
He was working out his sexual strategy when he heard Vince ask who gave this woman in marriage.
Her father answered, ‘I do,’ proudly and then the ceremony began in earnest.
Daniel winced over being called Gary Cantrell, but swallowed his pride and said ‘I do’ at the right moment. Charlotte made them all suffer with a heart-stopping hesitation before she said ‘I do’. At least she didn’t have to promise to obey.
The exchange of rings carried more tension, mainly because his was a tight fit. How was he ever going to get the darned thing off afterwards?
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the ‘I now pronounce you man and wife’ part. The worst was over. Now he got to kiss the bride.
They were already facing each other, with Charlotte gazing up into his eyes with an expression Daniel found extremely flattering. No, she certainly hadn’t loved Gary.
A sudden panic zoomed into her face. She didn’t want him to kiss her, that much was evident.
Daniel felt put out, till he realised she might be worried he was going to kiss her as he had kissed her yesterday in the hotel lobby. That had been some kiss!
He decided he could wait till he had her behind closed doors before he unleashed his still smouldering passion. Though damn it all, controlling himself once his lips were on hers was not going to be easy.
Steeling himself, he took her face gently between his hands and gave her the softest, sweetest kiss on the mouth. No pressure. No pushing open her lips. Daniel suspected embarrassing things might happen if he did that.
But he wanted to. Hell, he wanted to desperately.
The reception loomed ahead as a far bigger trial than this wedding, because it was longer. Hours, maybe. But there was no getting out of it.
Meanwhile, he would have had to be careful not to let his frustration show. And not to drink. He had to be stone-cold sober to perform as he wanted to perform tonight.
‘Love the hair,’ he complimented after his mouth lifted. ‘And the dress.’
He could have added love what’s in it, but he didn’t, of course. That would have been crass. And Daniel was not crass.
Aroused, but not crass.
She stared up into his eyes with the oddest expression. Kind of dazed.
‘Better than blonde?’ she asked with a charming tilt of her head.
‘Much,’ he said. ‘You made a beautiful blonde, but you’re a ravishing brunette.’ He certainly wanted to ravish her. Right now.
She smiled. A happy smile. No, a dazzling smile.
Daniel stifled a groan and managed to smile back. ‘I’ve always been partial to brunettes,’ he said truthfully.
Vince stopped any further conversation with a touch to Daniel’s elbow. He led them over to the table to sign the pretend papers, which they did, along with Brad and Louise. Cameras continued to flash. The video rolled on. Daniel murmured a discreet ‘thank you’ to Vince, who said he would be going straight home to tell Beth all about it.
Beth, it had been obvious last night, thought this whole pretend wedding thing was so romantic. There again, Beth had always been an incurable romantic.
‘Smile, please,’ the photographer ordered. ‘The groom! Smile, please.’
Daniel smiled.
CHAPTER TEN
‘EXCUSE me a moment, please, Charlotte,’ Daniel said, and pushed back his chair.
Charlotte’s eyes followed him as he stood up and walked to the table where her father was seated. There was an empty chair next to her dad, her mother having temporarily vacated it.
The reception had been in full swing for over an hour, with the entrée and the main meal having been served. Charlotte had chosen the menu herself, but hadn’t really enjoyed any of the food. In fact, she’d just picked at it.
From the moment Daniel had said she was ravishing, her hunger hadn’t been for food.
Her eyes were still glued to him when he suddenly glanced back over his shoulder at her. Embarrassed at being caught staring, she pulled her eyes away and picked up her glass. She might not have eaten much but she’d been downing the wine. Chardonnay. Her favourite.
‘See what I told you would happen?’ Louise whispered to Charlotte. ‘He can’t take his eyes off you.’
‘More like the other way around. I… I’ve never wanted a man like I do him. I think I will take him away on my honeymoon holiday after all.’
Louise gave a softly knowing laugh. ‘Aah, so you know now what I feel when I’m with Brad. Nothing like a bit of good old-fashioned lust, is there?’
‘Lust…’ Charlotte frowned. ‘How can I be sure that’s all this is?’
‘What else, at this early stage? Goodness, don’t go thinking what you feel is love, girl. I have to admit, if I wasn’t so taken with Brad, I might bat my eyelashes in Daniel’s direction as well.’
‘Did I hear someone mention my name?’ Brad said from his seat on the other side of Daniel’s vacant one.
Louise rolled her eyes. ‘Amazing how his ears always prick up every time he hears his name. That’s men for you. Yes, Brad, we were both talking about you and how yummy you look in your tux.’
‘I was thinking the same about you, babe.’
‘What, how good I’d look in your tux?’
Brad laughed. ‘You’re a crack-up, Lou. You really are. Aah, here’s Dan back again. Ready for your speech, mate? We’re on soon.’
‘Ready as I’ll ever be,’ Daniel replied as he sat down. ‘Your dad tells me he’s up first, Charlotte.’
‘What were you talking to him about?’ she asked, her mind still pondering Louise’s assertion that what she felt for Daniel was just lust.
‘Nothing for you to worry about.’
The MC’s announcement that the father of the bride was going to speak had Charlotte falling silent, but her head was still spinning. She supposed Louise was probably right. Louise knew what she was talking about where lust was concerned, whereas Charlotte was a right novice.
But even if it was just lust stirring her, Charlotte still worried that several days spent with Daniel could make her feelings for him deepen. Louise was made of tougher stuff than she was. She didn’t appreciate the risk.
But Charlotte couldn’t see herself resisting the temptation. Not unless tonight was a disaster.
Her father’s tapping the microphone cut into her thoughts, bringing her back to the present. The speeches. It was not a moment she’d been looking forward to.
‘I’m not one for giving speeches, as you probably all know,’ her father began. ‘I’m a farmer and farmers are at their best with their backsides on a tractor and their mouths shut.’
Everyone