In the Australian's Bed: The Passion Price / The Australian's Convenient Bride / The Australian's Marriage Demand. Miranda Lee

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      ‘Maybe I’ve changed my mind.’

      Jake saw the shock reverberate in her eyes. ‘You…you don’t mean that,’ she said stiffly.

      Jake immediately regretted his possibly ill-judged words. If he rushed her, he might lose what he wanted most. After all, this was just their first weekend together. Best stick to sex for now.

      ‘Never say never about anything,’ he remarked nonchalantly. ‘That’s my motto.’

      ‘For the record, I never actually said I would never get married. I just said it wasn’t a priority of mine.’

      Jake felt heartened by the carefulness in her wording.

      ‘That’s good,’ he said with a smile. ‘I like a girl who keeps her options open.”

      Her hitting him playfully on the arm broke the tension he’d foolishly created.

      ‘I’m just a sex object to you, aren’t I?’ she accused.

      ‘Absolutely. So, do you want to go look at this wedding, or do you want to go home? Don’t forget, we’ve only got four hours before I drive you home. We’ll have to set off by eight if I want to be back in Sydney by midnight. I’m a Cinderella kind of guy when I have to be in court in the morning.’

      ‘Decisions. Decisions.’

      ‘Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it? So what do you reckon? Which is it to be?’

      Angelina knew he thought she’d opt to go home. And she wanted to. She wanted to so much it was criminal.

      All the more reason not to.

      ‘I think it would do you good to see that there is more to a relationship than just sex. That couple in there are about to promise to love and cherish each other till death them do part.’

      ‘Until divorce them do part, don’t you mean?’

      ‘You’re a cynic, do you know that?’

      ‘Takes one to know one.’

      ‘Point taken. But I still want to see the wedding,’ she said firmly, and walked over to press the button that would change the traffic lights. ‘Despite the fact that the bride has already gone inside.’

      ‘Fine by me. I not only like to watch sometimes, but also to wait. Waiting whets the appetite further.’

      ‘You have a one-track mind.’

      ‘Where you’re concerned, I have.’

      ‘You’d better behave yourself in this church.’

      ‘I’ll be an angel.’

      ‘Don’t be facetious.’

      The lights changed and Angelina launched herself across the road, Jake hot on her heels. She could hear the organ blaring out the Wedding March even from that distance.

      ‘No wandering hands during the ceremony,’ she warned him as they skipped up the steps.

      ‘Definitely not. I know you. You won’t be able to control yourself.”

      ‘I will!’ she countered, but blushingly.

      ‘No? Pity. Well, let’s hope this isn’t one of those long ceremonies. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sit on a hard pew for more than twenty minutes, max.” She laughed, not a good idea since they’d just entered the vaulted interior of the cathedral, right at the moment when the organ stopped. Her laughter echoed up into the cavernous and unfortunately silent ceiling. Several heads whipped round to glare.

      ‘Sorry,’ Jake apologised to them. ‘I can’t take her anywhere.’

      ‘Stop it,’ Angelina hissed. ‘Just shut up and watch.’

      He shut up. But not for long.

      ‘Hard to see much from this far back. Want to get closer?’

      ‘No! I can’t trust you to behave.’

      ‘True. I’ve always been a bad boy in churches. Can’t stand all the hush-hush nonsense. Makes me want to break out.’

      ‘If you embarrass me,’ she whispered, ‘I won’t go to your place with you afterwards at all. I’ll make you drive me straight home to the Hunter Valley.’

      ‘Don’t think so,’ he returned just as softly. ‘You left that pretty handbag behind, remember? We’ll have to go collect it. Although, perhaps not. You could always collect it next weekend.’

      Angelique frowned. She’d been trying not to think about tomorrow, let alone next weekend. ‘I…I have to have lunch with Alex next weekend.’

      ‘You don’t have to do anything of the kind. Call him. Tell him it’s over by phone.’

      ‘No.’

      ‘I knew you’d say that,’ he muttered. ‘OK, go to lunch with him if you have to. But that’s just on the Saturday during the day. As soon as you’re finished with him…permanently this time…I will expect you at my place. Shall we say four? Five?’

      ‘Make it six.’ The swimming carnival wouldn’t finish till five.

      ‘That’s one hell of a long lunch. I sure hope it’s going to be somewhere public. All right, all right, so I’m acting like a jealous fool. Six, it is. I’ll book us a table for dinner at eight. You can stay over till Sunday night, can’t you?’

      Angelina swallowed. She really shouldn’t let this fiasco continue. It wasn’t right. She should tell him the truth.

      But she just couldn’t.

      ‘All right,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Now hush up.’

      He hushed up, but a small boy several rows up from them didn’t. He started whinging and whining about wanting to go outside. Several warnings from both his parents to be quiet and to sit still had no effect. Finally, the father lost his patience, swooped the child up in his arms and headed with swift strides back down the aisle, past Angelina and Jake.

      Angelina smiled a wry smile. She remembered full well the trials and tribulations of taking a small boy to church.

      Jake’s suddenly leaping to his feet startled her. ‘Be back in a minute,’ he said. ‘Got to check on something.’ And he was off, bolting down the aisle after the man and child.

      Angelina jumped up as well, and hurried after the three of them, catching up with Jake on the cathedral steps. He was standing there, staring, an odd confusion in his eyes.

      Her hand on his tensely held arm was gentle. ‘You see?’ she said quietly as her gaze followed Jake’s to where the father was happily lighting up a cigarette whilst he watched his son enjoying himself immensely jumping up and down the steps. ‘No need to worry.’

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