The Mills & Boon Sparkling Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ never expect Noah Cross, famed ladies’ man, to be one of them.

      In fairness, she had no evidence that he was. He’d admitted he was flirting with her—even if he didn’t seem inclined to take it any further.

      Either way, he hadn’t gone about it the way she’d expected. She’d expected the flattery, the lusty looks, the charm. She hadn’t expected him to ask questions about her history with Melissa, or to show such concern for her well-being.

      Actually, he’d seemed pretty surprised by that too, so maybe this was a new thing for him.

      The main doors opened again and Laurel burst through, followed closely by a guy who looked a lot like Riley.

      Very closely.

      Eloise narrowed her eyes as the man rested a hand on Laurel’s waist, and Laurel jumped with surprise. There was definitely something weird going on here.

      Pushing thoughts of Noah’s weirdness out of her head, Eloise covered the lobby in long strides, ready to decipher Laurel’s weirdness instead.

      ‘Hey. You’re back!’

      Laurel’s smile seemed a little forced. ‘I am.’

      ‘And you brought company.’ Eloise’s gaze flicked up to the man with his hand on Laurel. He really did look an awful lot like Riley. Which probably meant...

      ‘Eloise, this is Dan. Riley’s brother.’ Of course. But that didn’t explain his and Laurel’s closeness. ‘Dan, this is Eloise. She’s the manager of Morwen Hall.’

      ‘Pleased to meet you,’ Dan said, placing the shopping bag he was carrying on the ground and holding out his hand.

      ‘Acting Manager,’ Eloise corrected automatically, as she took it and shook. The title wasn’t hers yet—and wouldn’t be unless this wedding went off without a hitch.

      ‘Not for long,’ Laurel said, and this time her smile seemed real. ‘So, what’s been happening here?’

      ‘Cassidy, the maid of honour, has taken a fall while skiing and broken her leg, so her husband is bringing his mistress to the wedding instead.’

      Also, I seem to have an odd connection with the best man that makes me want to tear his clothes off, even though he’s the sort of man I despise, and he seems more interested in getting to know me.

      Maybe she’d save that information for later, when she and Laurel were able to grab a moment alone. She needed to talk to someone about it.

      Laurel’s mouth fell into an open O shape, her eyes almost as wide. ‘So Melissa doesn’t have a maid of honour?’

      Eloise winced. ‘Not exactly. She’s making me do it.’

      She hadn’t thought Laurel’s eyes could get any wider but her response to this information proved her wrong. ‘You poor, poor thing.’

      At least she didn’t have to worry about Melissa’s half-sister being offended she hadn’t been chosen. That was something, Eloise supposed. ‘Yeah. I’m thrilled, as you can imagine. And it means I’ll have to call in my deputy to cover for me at the hotel this week. He will not be thrilled. I can probably keep on top of the wedding events at least, so he only has to deal with the guests.’ She sighed. ‘What about you? How did the favours go?’

      And what’s the deal with you and your future half-brother-in-law?

      ‘Fine, they’re all sorted.’ Laurel waved her hand towards the large glossy shopping bag that Dan had picked up again. ‘Then I got Dan’s car to pick me up on the way back.’

      ‘That was...convenient.’ Eloise stared rather pointedly at where Dan’s hand was still resting on Laurel’s waist, and the petite wedding planner blushed.

      ‘Um, yes. Actually, I meant to tell you... Dan and I...’

      ‘So I see,’ Eloise said when Laurel appeared at a loss for how to finish that statement.

      ‘We had sort of been keeping it under wraps,’ Dan said, pulling Laurel closer to his side. Laurel stiffened for a moment then relaxed against him, her cheeks a little pink. ‘What with the wedding and everything. Didn’t want to steal Melissa’s thunder, you know? But now the secret’s out anyway...’

      ‘This is brilliant!’ Eloise burst out, the answer to at least one of her problems coming to her in a flash. Laurel looked a little startled at Eloise’s sudden enthusiasm, at least until she explained. ‘Melissa has insisted on Riley staying in a separate room until the wedding night, so I had to give him Dan’s—sorry, Dan.’ She gave Riley’s brother a quick smile. ‘But if you two are together, then that’s fine because you’ll be sharing anyway!’

      ‘Sharing...right.’ Laurel’s smile had frozen into that sort of rictus again.

      Eloise frowned. ‘As long as that’s okay...?’

      ‘Of course!’ Laurel said, too brightly. ‘I mean, why wouldn’t we?’

      ‘Exactly,’ Dan said, not looking quite as certain as Eloise might have expected either. ‘Why wouldn’t we?’

      They were looking at each other now, not Eloise, staring into each other’s eyes. Eloise definitely got the feeling she was intruding on a moment.

      Quizzing Laurel on exactly when she’d found the time to go falling for Riley’s brother would have to wait until she could get her alone. For now, she’d just chalk it up to fate and cross one more thing off her epic to-do list. At least now she could get on with the next thing on that list—the welcome drinks.

      ‘Well, I’m glad that’s all sorted,’ she said, clapping her hands together in the hope it might bring Laurel and Dan back to the present.

      It didn’t. Eloise gave up.

      ‘See you both later, then,’ she said, and headed upstairs to her room to change into something more suitable for a maid of honour to wear while resisting flirting with the best man.

       CHAPTER FIVE

      ‘THAT IS A very boring dress,’ Noah said as he handed Eloise a flute of champagne. He’d been watching her since he’d arrived at the bar for the welcome drinks, and she hadn’t welcomed a single drink yet. She had to be desperate for one. He knew he was.

      He’d intended to stay away from Eloise this evening, despite his promise of a flirtation earlier. Tessa had sent him a pointed text message saying she hoped he was behaving himself, as she had a call booked in with Stefan about the audition. Clearly she was serious about this, and so he would be too.

      But then he’d spent an hour making small talk with the other wedding guests and, by the end of it, he was desperate for a conversation with somebody who had never even wanted to be in a film. Which, at Melissa’s wedding, basically left Eloise.

      When had this sort of event grown so meaningless? All industry chatter and gossip, and nothing of any substance. Unlike Eloise’s boring black shift dress which, in his opinion, had far too much СКАЧАТЬ