The Man She'll Marry by Carole Mortimer

Author:Carole Mortimer [Mortimer, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488030048
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1999-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘TALKING of Christmas—’

‘You were; I wasn’t,’ Merry quipped. The two of them, having enjoyed their meal—and the wine!—were now seated in the sitting room in front of the roaring fire Zack had insisted he build for them in the grate. Merry’s reluctance to have him light the fire hadn’t stemmed from a need to be independent, but from the fact that she knew it was all too cosy and comfortable with the flames glowing!

Zack looked unconcerned by her interruption. ‘I have a pre-Christmas cocktail party I have to attend tomorrow evening. I wondered if you would like to come with me?’

Merry just stared back at him. A cocktail party. Did she look like the type who went to cocktail parties?—where dozens of bored people, who usually didn’t know each other very well, stood around with drinks in their hands, nibbling away at unrecognisable canapé that did absolutely nothing to satisfy one’s hunger. She might have a tiny build, but she had a healthy appetite—as this evening’s meal should have told him!—and the thought of spending hours at this man’s side, trying to look decorous, did not appeal to her one little bit. Besides—

‘I’ll take your silence as acceptance—’

‘I shouldn’t if I were you,’ Merry calmly stopped him. ‘Cocktail parties aren’t my scene.’

‘If you’re worried about being fed, I promise I’ll take you out to dinner later in the evening,’ Zack assured her dryly.

She gave him a glare, more because he had realised she appreciated her food than anything else. ‘You’re jumping two steps ahead, Zack, when I’ve already turned down the original request!’

‘Oh, come on,’ he cajoled. ‘What harm can it do you to come along with me? You’ll stop me being bored out of my mind!’

It couldn’t do her any harm; she was more than capable of looking after herself! That wasn’t the point of her refusal at all. She was an adult, and for the most part she could pick and choose what she did. Accompanying this man to a cocktail party was not high on her list of priorities.

But, a little voice inside her head reasoned, Zack had helped her unpack her shopping earlier, had helped her to cook dinner, and he’d produced a bottle of her favourite wine for them to drink with it. He—

None of those things changed the fact that he had also announced his intention of marrying her!’

In that case, she asked herself almost a day later, as she studied her reflection in the mirror, what on earth was she doing all dressed up as she waited for Zack to arrive before driving them both to the cocktail party?

Merry shook her head dazedly; the man was like a steamroller, knocking down any obstacles—including the word ‘no’!—that got in his way.

She looked at her appearance critically. Not bad, she decided. Not bad at all. The black fitted knee-length pencil-slim dress was almost twenty years old, but it was back in fashion, and considering the amount of times she had found to wear it during those years—nil!—it was in pristine condition.

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