‘I hardly think attending their daughter’s wedding is going to ruin their holiday,’ Bryn said.
Mia looked up at him with a slight frown. ‘But it’s not as if it’s a proper wedding. What would be the point? Besides, as soon as your great-aunt…’ she faltered over the words ‘…passes away the marriage will be annulled.’
He gave her another lengthy look, his eyes very dark as they held hers. ‘What if my great-aunt doesn’t die in the next few weeks?’
Her hands gripped the edges of the seat. ‘Wh-what do you mean?’
‘I was speaking to her oncologist earlier today,’ he said. ‘Her condition has improved remarkably since she heard the news of our engagement. Her spirits have lifted and she’s making a real effort to eat again; the last bout of chemotherapy hit her hard but she’s put on a bit of weight and has more energy.’
‘But that’s a good thing, surely?’ Then at his wry look she stumbled on, ‘I mean…for your great-aunt, that is…maybe it’s not so good for me…us…well, you know what I mean…’
‘Of course it’s a good thing for Agnes, but it may mean we will have to continue our charade for a bit longer than I initially expected.’
Mia lowered her gaze to her wine glass as she considered the possibility of being married to him for months on end. The very last thing she wanted was to hurry up his great-aunt’s death, but living with a man as his wife for several months was just asking for trouble, especially with a man like Bryn. She was already fighting an attraction to him that was threatening to get out of hand.
‘How…how long do you think we’ll have to stay married?’ she asked after a little silence.
He picked up his wine glass and took a sip before answering. ‘It’s hard to put a time on it. Three or four months.’
She swallowed thickly. ‘That’s a long time…’
His mouth twisted. ‘It’s not such a long time when you’re the one who is terminally ill.’
‘No…no, I guess not…’
He reached into his top pocket and handed her a card with the name of one of Sydney’s top bridal designers on it. ‘I’ve organised an open account for you to purchase what you need. I’ve also deposited funds in your bank account which you will no doubt need to draw on in preparation for our wedding.’
Mia found it a little unsettling for him to be discussing their marriage in such terms. She couldn’t help wondering what it would have been like planning a proper wedding, with both parties excited at celebrating the most important day of their lives. Her sister Ashleigh’s wedding to Jake after four long years of separation had been one of the most moving experiences she’d ever had. There hadn’t been a dry eye in the house and even now, more than a year later, the photos of that special day still brought tears to Mia’s eyes.
How different would her wedding day be? She’d be marrying a man who was using her as a career hoist, not to mention colluding with him in fooling his dying great-aunt that her greatest wish for him had come true.
But then, she reminded herself, she had her own reasons for going through with it. Her sister, for one thing, but then there were those feelings that kept her awake at night. Feelings she really had no business feeling…
‘After the wedding we will be going on a short honeymoon,’ he announced into the silence.
‘A honeymoon?’ She stared at him, her heart thudding in alarm. ‘Whatever for?’
‘All newly married couples go on a honeymoon.’
‘I know, but surely in our case it’s not necessary. I mean, what would be the point?’
‘It will be a good opportunity for us to get to know one another a little better out of the way of the Press,’ he said, and then added with a teasing grin, ‘You never know, you might even start to like me a bit.’
She gave him a castigating look without answering.
‘There is something else we need to discuss about our living arrangements,’ he said after another tiny but telling pause.
Her gaze flicked nervously back to his dark and unwavering one. ‘I get to have my own room, right?’ she asked.
‘If you want one.’
She blinked at him. ‘What do you mean, if I want one? Of course I want one!’
‘There is the perplexing little matter of my housekeeper,’ he said. ‘She comes in three times a week.’
‘So…what are you saying?’
‘If Marita sees two beds being used instead of one she’ll immediately suspect something is up and it will be all over the papers the next morning.’
‘Can’t you pay her to keep quiet or something?’ she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. ‘There are very few people I would trust even under payment.’
‘I don’t suppose you could dismiss your housekeeper…I mean, I can cook and clean if you want me to.’
‘I have no intention of dismissing my housekeeper. She has a young family to support.’
‘So what are you suggesting? That we play musical beds or something on the days your housekeeper is there?’
‘I don’t know. I haven’t thought it through.’ He gave her a sexy grin and added, ‘Who knows, you might have decided to sleep with me by the time we are married.’
She looked at him incredulously. ‘You surely don’t think I’d take things that far?’
‘I will leave that decision entirely up to you. The agreement we made is that this will be a paper marriage but if you at any time wish to change your mind about consummating it, I will be perfectly happy to do so.’
‘Just because we will be sharing a house temporarily doesn’t mean we will be sharing anything else, housekeeper or no housekeeper,’ she said with force.
He gave a casual shrug and reached for his wine. ‘There are plenty of women in your position who would jump at the chance to share my bed and my body.’
‘And I’m quite sure legions of them have, but you can forget about putting my name in your little black book. I’m not interested.’
‘I promise to keep my hands to myself as long as you promise the same.’
She sent him a frosty look. ‘You seem very confident I’ll be tempted by you.’
He smiled wickedly. ‘You have been so far. Every time we’ve kissed you’ve got all hot and bothered.’
‘I was acting!’
His smile tilted even further. ‘Maybe, but when you kissed Clete Schussler on stage that night it didn’t look half as convincing as when you’ve kissed me.’
Mia wasn’t sure how to defend herself. Clete Schussler was undoubtedly a damn good kisser but, acting or not, he was not quite in the same league as Bryn Dwyer. Was any man?
‘It was first-night nerves,’ she said. ‘I’d only ever been the understudy. We had six weeks of rehearsal but I hadn’t kissed him before.’
‘I’d only met you a few hours before I kissed you for the first time, and as far as I’m concerned we did a much better job.’
Mia was inclined to agree with him but didn’t want to give his already oversized ego another boost.