Charlotte jumped in her seat when Daniel suddenly picked up her hand and squeezed it. ‘Do try to look a little happier,’ he whispered. ‘You’re supposed to be wildly in love with me. Smile a bit more.’
Somehow she found another smile, though her mouth was beginning to ache with all the smiling.
‘Yes, that’s it,’ he said, giving her hand another squeeze. ‘Not long to go now. Hang in there.’
‘Of course, we all know that Charlotte has not followed the usual path of a country girl,’ her dad continued. ‘There were moments where I thought I would never see her as she is today. As a bride. And for that I have to thank Gary. I only had to know my future son-in-law for ten seconds before I understood why our Charlotte had fallen head over heels with a man I thought she hardly knew. As for Gary…have you ever seen a man so handsome, or so much in love?’
Everyone clapped and cheered. Charlotte wanted to cry.
‘They say you can tell a man by his actions more than his words. Gary told me to keep this a secret but I want to tell you that just now, my new son-in-law is going to pay for this wedding.’
More clapping and cheering.
Charlotte, however, was speechless.
‘Oh-oh,’ Daniel said out of the corner of his mouth. ‘You don’t look pleased. I thought you’d be happy that your father wouldn’t be out of pocket.’
‘But it wasn’t your place! I would have paid him back after I told him we’d separated. Every single cent.’
‘Hey, hush up, you two,’ Brad said.
They hushed up, leaving Charlotte to simmer in silence. If he’d been her real groom, it would have been an incredibly generous gesture. As it was, she suspected it was more a corrupting gesture, a type of advance payment on services to be rendered.
The thought infuriated her. But it also flattered her. Right from the start, Daniel’s pursuit had been incredibly aggressive. Clearly, he would stop at nothing to have her.
What woman wouldn’t thrill to a man being so taken by her charms? What she had to keep remembering, however, was that it was just a sexual interest. Wealthy playboys like Daniel didn’t want women for anything else. They might pretend to value other things in their partners, but the bottom line was sex. Plus the challenge of the chase. Charlotte suspected that once she’d capitulated and he’d had her a few times, Daniel’s passion would begin to wane.
His own sister had warned her that his girlfriends came and went.
Charlotte tried to stay angry with her logical, if somewhat cynical, thoughts. But it was impossible. She just felt more and more excited. Louise was right. This was just lust on her part. She couldn’t think about anything else.
Her father spoke for another couple of minutes, giving them some advice over the tolerance necessary for a happy marriage then wishing them all the happiness in the world before offering the official toast to the bride and groom.
Charlotte plastered a plastic smile on her face and willed for the reception to be over. She couldn’t wait to be alone with Daniel, and to have him kiss her once more. Not the way he’d kissed her after the ceremony. The way he’d kissed her in the lobby yesterday.
After her father sat down, it was Brad’s turn to speak. Charlotte winced as he stood up. Lord knew what he was going to say. Something embarrassing, that was for sure.
‘My job as best man today,’ he began, ‘is a little awkward. A best man is usually the groom’s best mate, or his big brother. Someone who has known him for yonks. But I only met this good-looking fella a couple of hours ago. The other times I’ve been best man at a wedding, it’s been dead easy to tell some naughty stories about what the groom has been up to over the years. I have those kind of mates,’ he added, grinning. ‘But I can’t do that with Gary here. But you know what? I reckon there are no naughty stories in Gary’s past. Pete said he knew straight away what kind of bloke was marrying his daughter. I felt the same way. This man here,’ he said, resting a hand on Daniel’s shoulder, ‘is one of the good guys. True blue, in our Aussie language. I told him when we were getting dressed that he’d made a fantastic husband for our beautiful bride here and I meant it. By the way, she is beautiful, don’t you agree?’
More clapping and cheering. Charlotte groaned. Talk about torment!
‘But it’s not my job to gush over the bride. That’s Gary’s. My job is to gush over the bridesmaid. Not a hard job to do, considering we’re an item,’ he added with a wink Louise’s way. ‘I might be biased but I’ve never seen a better-looking bridesmaid. And that dress… Wow, babe. You should wear blue more often. Although I’d really like to see you in white.’
More clapping and cheering and shouts of, ‘Hear! hear!’
Louise blushed furiously, which was a first for Louise.
Brad proposed the toast to Louise, Charlotte grateful for another swallow of the delicious champagne.
Daniel, she noticed, barely sipped his.
She didn’t look up at him when he stood up, but kept her eyes focused on the back part of the room.
‘Brad might have been to a good few weddings,’ were his opening words. ‘But strangely, I’ve never been to one. So forgive me if my speech doesn’t follow the norm. Firstly, I want to thank my best man for doing such a sterling job today, and the lovely Louise for all the help and friendship she has given Charlotte. I also want to thank the Gales for the wonderful way they have welcomed me into their family. I can honestly say that I have never met their like before. Charlotte is very fortunate to have such exceptionally loving parents. Very fortunate indeed.’
Charlotte resisted the temptation to roll her eyes, but heavens to Betsy, did he have to lay it on that thick? Clearly, he was relishing the role of man of the moment. Every single person in the room was smiling at him. Of course, all her relatives already thought he was the ant’s pants because he was taking troublesome Charlotte off the single shelf. If they only knew!
She sighed, then made the mistake of glancing up at Daniel.
When he smiled back down at her, she found she could not look away. Her gaze remained locked to his, her insides dissolving. She was helpless when he smiled at her like that. Helpless and hopeless.
‘What can I say about Charlotte?’ he said quietly, his eyes caressing hers. ‘She is beautiful, there is no doubt about that. But she is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. That might sound clichéd but with Charlotte, nothing is clichéd. She is a remarkable woman and any man would be lucky to have her as his wife. No, not lucky. Privileged. My life hasn’t been the same since the first moment we met. Actually, Brad was wrong when he said there were no naughty stories to be told about me. There have been. Quite a few. But no longer. I’m a changed man. Charlotte has changed me.’
At last he looked away from her, and all the breath suddenly rushed out of her lungs from where she’d been holding it.
Louise leant close to her right ear. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d think he meant all that.’
Charlotte almost laughed. She wished.
He was a good actor, that was all. A polished performer. He’d be dynamite in the courtroom.
Dynamite in the bedroom, too, an insidious voice inserted.
‘I’ve been told I have to propose a toast to my bride. So raise your glasses, everyone. To my lovely Charlotte…’ And he looked down at her again.
Daniel was taken aback by the sarcastic light that glittered in Charlotte’s eyes as he drank to her.
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