The Mills & Boon Sparkling Christmas Collection. Kate Hardy

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      THE RESTAURANT WAS blissfully empty when Eloise arrived. The rehearsal dinner wasn’t for another few hours, but already the decorations were up, the tables laid and the menus displayed against the festive floral decorations.

      Sinking into her assigned seat, Eloise rested her elbows on the crisp white table linen and placed her chin in her hands.

      Well.

      That had been a disaster.

      As much as she’d like to blame Noah for everything, she knew that a large part of the fault lay with her. It was her cheeks that bloomed bright red at the mention of a relationship between her and Noah. Why couldn’t she control her body? Of course, if she could she might never have slept with him in the first place.

      And, whatever trouble that was likely to get her into now, she couldn’t quite bring herself to regret it.

      ‘Hey,’ Laurel called as she walked through the entrance to the restaurant, crossing to where Eloise was slumped at the table. ‘Everything ready here? We just got back. Everyone’s gone to get changed for the rehearsal dinner. Which I’m guessing you will be doing too...?’ She left it hanging, as if she wasn’t entirely sure Eloise didn’t plan on attending in her suit.

      ‘Yeah.’ Eloise glanced at her watch. ‘Oh, yes, I’d better get moving. Did the tours go okay? Nice romantic day out with Dan?’

      ‘Yes, thank you,’ Laurel said simply. ‘What about you? How were the interviews?’

      ‘All fine,’ Eloise lied.

      ‘And how is the very gorgeous Noah?’ Laurel raised her eyebrows expectantly.

      Eloise groaned. ‘Don’t ask.’

      ‘So there is something going on with you two! I knew the gossip was wrong.’

      ‘Gossip?’ Eloise jerked her head up. ‘What gossip? What are they saying?’

      ‘Nothing bad, I promise.’ Laurel pulled out the chair next to Eloise and sat down. ‘Nobody’s laughing or anything. In fact, everyone seems to think that you’re keeping Noah at arm’s length. I take it that’s not entirely the case?’

      ‘It’s a secret,’ Eloise blurted out. ‘I don’t want anyone to know.’

      ‘Well, so far, they don’t. In fact, from what I heard, people are pretty amazed. They’ve seen him hanging around, chasing after you—apparently that’s not his usual modus operandi.’

      Eloise sat back in her chair and stared at her friend. ‘Really? How do you mean?’

      Laurel shrugged. ‘Seems he usually lets people come to him. He’s the chase-ee not the chaser, if you see what I mean.’

      Eloise bit her lip, unsure how to feel about this news. Did that mean she meant more than the usual women he dated? After the things he’d said the night before, she’d almost started to hope that she did. Even if this was just a momentary fling, it was nice to know it wasn’t meaningless.

      But then, was she just fooling herself about that too? They’d been naked in bed at the time. And Eloise knew better than to trust a guy when sex was on the cards. Was it just her poor, inexperienced heart hoping for more?

      And, if so, what more was she hoping for? What more could there be, really, when he was leaving the day after tomorrow? When no one would ever know what had happened except for him and her.

      Well, and Laurel. But she didn’t count.

      Their whole relationship was a moment out of time. A fantasy.

      And maybe the real reason she hadn’t been mad at Noah for almost giving them away to the interviewer was that, deep down, she wanted it to be real, in a way it couldn’t be if no one knew. Yes, she didn’t want to be another of his women, cast aside when he was done with her—that was why keeping this secret was so important.

      But if she mattered to him...

      No. He’d made it very clear that he couldn’t feel that way, couldn’t let those deeper feelings in and out, not after Sally. Letting herself believe, even for a moment, that he might care more for her than their short-term fling would allow was dangerous...but exhilarating. Like opening up to him the night before had been—emotionally and physically. And like all the other steps into the spotlight she’d been taking since Noah had arrived.

      But letting herself fall in love with Noah Cross was a step too far.

      ‘Are you okay?’ Laurel asked and when Eloise looked up she saw her friend was frowning at her. ‘You look...scared.’

      ‘I’ll be fine.’ Eloise pasted on a smile for Laurel’s benefit. ‘I need to go get ready for tonight.’

      And decide how close to the spotlight she was willing to go. Before she got burnt.

      * * *

      Noah went straight from coffee to whisky, once Sara had packed up and departed to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. He’d stayed in the bar near the lobby so he could keep an eye out for Eloise, but there was no sign of her—even when the coaches returned and all the rest of the guests traipsed in.

      Unfortunately, in the chaos of people, he also failed to see Melissa approaching.

      ‘Right,’ she said, standing beside his chair as the crowd thinned out. ‘Time for you and me to have a talk.’

      Noah winced and tried to get to his feet, but apparently the whisky was already working because he felt his head start to spin, then Melissa’s hand was on his shoulder, pushing him back down into his seat.

      ‘So. Tell me about Eloise,’ Melissa said, taking the seat opposite him. ‘Or, more specifically, you and Eloise.’

      There was no sign of the sweetness-and-light Melissa Sommers who’d been playing to the camera and the media all morning. This Melissa was all business and looked about ready to rip his head off—and Noah was pretty sure it wasn’t out of concern for her friend getting hurt.

      ‘There’s nothing to tell,’ he said with a shrug. The lie came out easily; he was an actor, after all. But, even as he said it, Noah realised he didn’t want to lie. He wanted to tell the whole world that he was...what? Sleeping with Eloise? Dating her, even?

      No, he realised. What he really wanted to do was tell the world that Eloise was his.

      Except she wasn’t. At least, not more than temporarily. They hadn’t discussed exclusivity because they hadn’t had to. Their whole love affair was set to run out in forty-eight hours or less. When would either of them have time to cheat?

      If he had more time, he thought he could probably talk Eloise into being open about their relationship—into telling the world, if necessary. She was warming to the spotlight, at least, and getting over her fear of being the centre of attention. And if it was a proper relationship rather than a casual fling, then Stefan, the director, couldn’t possibly object—Noah’s romantic life would grow boring to the world’s media the moment he stayed with one person for more than a week. But time was the one thing he didn’t have.

      And СКАЧАТЬ