The Impetuous Bride by Caroline Anderson

Author:Caroline Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘GOT everything?’

Lydia nodded, dropped her head back against the head restraint and sighed hugely. ‘Yes, I’ve got everything,’ she said, and then had a moment of doubt. She rolled her head towards him. ‘Well, not everything, exactly, but you didn’t imply I’d need much. I’ve got a dress and a swimsuit and a towel and a change of clothes and wash things—that do?’

His deep, rich chuckle filled the car and sent a shiver through her. ‘I expect that’ll do fine. Let’s hit the road, then, before they find something else to detain you with.’

‘I’m sure they’ll cope without me,’ she said drily, only too glad to get away from the wedding preparations that were like rubbing salt into the wound. She wasn’t sure what was worse—watching Mel and Tom and envying them their happiness, or being with Jake and thinking about what might have been.

Common sense dictated that neither of them were really good for her, but for now she was here, right next to him, and she wasn’t about to argue.

The car was smooth and quiet and ate up the road with civilised ease, and she was happy to relax and let the miles slip past without talking. Strange, she thought, how they seemed to get on best when they weren’t talking!

After collecting her dress it didn’t seem like long before they were on the outskirts of London, and then predictably they slowed down, but at last they turned left before the Tower, drove over Tower Bridge and then they were there, and he was ushering her into his apartment.

She’d been right, of course, to assume it was prestigious, but it was more than that. It was a home, his home, filled with his things, personal in a way that so much of the house in Suffolk hadn’t yet become and never would, now, if he sold it. It was, in a way, the real Jake Delaney, the man she’d never met, and her curiosity knew no bounds.

Her eyes took in every little detail—the huge sliding doors opening to a glass balcony that overlooked the river, the soaring ceiling, the black iron spiral staircase rising up to the mezzanine level built at one side by the floor-to-ceiling window, with a kitchen area beneath and a door to what were probably the bedrooms—

Or bedroom? Her heart pounded, and she forced herself to concentrate. She could sleep on the floor if necessary—if she wanted to.

White walls, bleached wood floors, black iron beams spanning the vast expanse of roof, everything very clean-cut and modern and yet managing to be homely in a curious way.

A mug had been left on the slab of wood that passed for a coffee table, a casually folded newspaper next to it, and the deep charcoal-grey suite in butter-soft suede looked comfortably broken in and inviting. Yes, it was spectacular, but it also managed to be welcoming, and she felt herself starting to relax.

‘Cup of tea?’ he offered, and she nodded.

‘Please…’

She trailed off, drawn by the wall

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