A Cotswold Christmas Bride

‘Ah, there you are. That was quick. I didn’t expect you to get here quite so fast.’

A strangely familiar male voice reached Sophie from across the room. She turned to see who was speaking, and immediately the breath caught in her lungs. All at once her throat was unexpectedly tight.

‘Lucas,’ she said, her blue eyes widening. A prickle of awareness ran down the length of her spine. He was the devil incarnate, as fiendishly good-looking as ever, with glittering grey eyes that held her fast and right now were registering every bit as much surprise as her own. ‘I didn’t realise—I mean, I hadn’t expected to see you here,’ she added under her breath.

Her voice must have had a salutary effect on him, because he seemed to snap out of his stunned reverie and his mouth curved faintly in acknowledgement. ‘That goes for me, too, Sophie,’ he responded huskily.

Dear Reader

Christmas … It’s that wonderful time of year when families get together to celebrate a very special day. With any luck there might be snow on the ground outside, and children will be playing on their sledges or throwing snowballs at one another, while inside there is a warming fire, and people are making the most of a joyful family gathering.

All those good things are what I wanted for Sophie in this book, A COTSWOLD CHRISTMAS BRIDE.

Things are not going smoothly for her, though, and Christmas promises to be a bleak and lonely time at Woodvale Farm.

Until Lucas comes along, that is. He doesn’t know how he’s going to do it, but it’s up to him to turn things around and help her see that they can have that fabulous Christmas and share a glorious future together.

Happy Christmas to all of you!

Love

Joanna

About the Author

When JOANNA NEIL discovered Mills & Boon®, her lifelong addiction to reading crystallised into an exciting new career writing Medical™ Romance. Her characters are probably the outcome of her varied lifestyle, which includes working as a clerk, typist, nurse and infant teacher. She enjoys dressmaking and cooking at her Leicestershire home. Her family includes a husband, son and daughter, an exuberant yellow Labrador and two slightly crazed cockatiels. She currently works with a team of tutors at her local education centre to provide creative writing workshops for people interested in exploring their own writing ambitions.

Recent titles by the same author:

THE TAMING OF DR ALEX DRAYCOTT

BECOMING DR BELLINI’S BRIDE

PLAYBOY UNDER THE MISTLETOE

THE SECRET DOCTOR

A Cotswold

Christmas

Bride

Joanna Neil

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

‘SOPHIE … just listen to me for a minute, please … that’s all I’m asking. At least give me a chance to explain …’ Nathan’s hazel eyes pleaded with her, his hand swooping to grasp her bare arm lightly, and for a second or two, swayed by his obvious suffering, Sophie almost wavered. Almost, but not quite.

She closed her eyes briefly. It was hot in the hotel’s ballroom and her head was aching. She couldn’t think straight.

In the background the band was playing a heavy rock number, and the noise drummed inside her head. She could feel the vibrations coming up from the polished wooden floorboards, reverberating throughout her body and adding to the tension that was building up in her. At the centre of the dance floor, the happy bride and groom were living it up, surrounded by friends and family.

It was an autumn wedding, but the weather had served them well, with golden bursts of sunshine throughout the day. Now, in the evening, disco lights replaced the sun’s rays and cast vivid splashes of colour over the throng. For a fleeting moment as she watched the couple, Sophie longed for just a taste of that sweet, unfettered contentment.

But it wasn’t going to happen, was it? Not for her.

Not now. She looked at Nathan, her expression strained. It had turned out he wasn’t the quite the man she had thought him to be. She’d thought they’d had so much going for them, but in the end all her dreams had come crashing down.

She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Nathan, I think we’ve said all we need to say. It’s over between us. You have to learn to accept it.’

‘I can’t do that.’ He tugged on her arm, drawing her towards him, and she resisted, trying to pull away.

‘Let go of me.’ The words came out on a sharp breath of air, and she frowned as his grip tightened on her arm. All evening she’d been trying to avoid him, afraid that this might happen.

She tried to pull herself free once more, but he was more determined than ever, and Sophie began to feel uneasy, not knowing what to do.

‘I believe she asked you to let her go.’ The man’s voice intruded on them, deep and compelling, laced with an inherent thread of authority. It took Sophie unawares, and she turned her head to see who had come to her rescue.

The stranger’s grey eyes were focussed directly on Nathan, a warning glint flickering in their steely depths, and as Sophie studied his perfectly etched features, she realised that she’d seen him before, earlier in the day, carrying out his duties as best man at the wedding. Lucas, that was his name. He had jet-black hair and a strong jawline, and he wasn’t a man that you would forget easily. He’d made a speech that was full of good humour and positive vibes towards the two young doctors who had just been married. Now, as then, he stood tall and lean, his muscular frame enhanced by the immaculate, expensively tailored suit he wore.

Nathan’s fingers remained securely on her arm. ‘This is a private matter,’ he said, his manner terse and dismissive. ‘We don’t need any input from you.’

‘It seems to me that the young lady doesn’t share your view.’ Her rescuer kept his voice neutral, but there was a definite threat underlying his words. ‘I hope for your sake that you don’t want to argue the point with me.’ He looked Nathan up and down. ‘If you don’t release her and walk away from here, I’ll be forced to remove you myself. Do you really want to cause a scene?’

Nathan finally appeared to be having second thoughts. Perhaps he took on board the unyielding purpose in his opponent’s glittering gaze, or maybe it was the breadth of those shoulders that gave him pause, along with the hint of controlled strength that no amount of trappings could disguise … whatever the reason, Nathan suddenly didn’t seem quite so sure of himself. Cautiously, he released his grip on her, and took a step backwards.

‘Good,’ Lucas said. ‘I’m glad you managed to see sense.’ He turned his back on Nathan and laid a hand gently beneath Sophie’s elbow, leading her away from the edge of the crowded dance floor towards the buffet table. ‘It’s Sophie isn’t it? I’m Lucas. I hope you didn’t mind my interruption but you seemed to need a way out of that situation. Now, can I get you something to eat?’ he asked.

Sophie shook her head. Right now she couldn’t manage to eat a morsel. It was as though her throat was clogged and there was a tight band of pressure around her head. ‘No, thanks.’

‘Maybe a drink, then?’

‘Yes, that would be good.’

‘It looks as though pink champagne is the order of the day.’ He smiled. ‘Would you like a glass?’

She nodded, and waited as he gave the bartender their order. For himself, he chose an ice-cold lager, and after handing her a fluted glass he said softly, ‘Here’s to new beginnings.’

Her eyes widened a fraction. She was all out of new beginnings. She was wary, guarded against getting involved ever again. But she clinked glasses with him, all the same. ‘New beginnings,’ she said, and took a sip of the cold liquid. ‘I want to thank you for what you did for me, back there. Nathan’s a good man, but he’s not been himself lately, and I wasn’t altogether sure how to handle things. I’m glad that you came along.’

‘It was my pleasure.’ His glance drifted over her, trailing over the shimmering golden hair that fell in soft waves to rest on her bare shoulders, and then moved on to trace the line of the silk dress that faithfully outlined her slender figure. ‘It means I get to be with the most beautiful woman in the room.’

He studied her once more, making her all too conscious of the way the softly ruched material of the bodice clung to her breasts and showed off her narrow waist and emphasised the gentle swell of her hips. From the dropped waistline the skirt was delicately layered, falling to mid-calf. ‘The colour suits you,’ he said. ‘It reflects the blush of your cheeks. You’re all peaches and cream … perfect. The bride must have been glad to have you as her chief bridesmaid.’

Hot colour swept along her cheekbones. He was flirting with her, being outlandishly flattering, and she ought to tell him that he was wasting his time but she stayed quiet. She wouldn’t be seeing him again after today, so what did it matter?

‘You must be a good friend of Harry’s?’ she remarked, glancing towards the bridegroom, who was still having fun with his new bride on the dance floor. ‘He chose you as his best man, so I guess you must have known one another for some time.’

‘That’s right.’ He nodded. ‘We grew up together in the same village, here in Buckinghamshire. Of course, we’ve both moved away since then, but we’ve always been good friends.’ He sent her an oblique glance. ‘Do you live locally?’

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I booked into the hotel for the night so that I wouldn’t have to drive home in the early hours. And, of course, it means that I can have a drink without worrying.’

He nodded. ‘That was a sensible decision—though you don’t seem to be having all that great a time. I’ve been watching you and you seem a touch on edge. Is that purely because of Nathan?’

‘I suppose so.’ Her blue eyes clouded. She wasn’t going to confide in him all the things she had on her mind. He was a stranger. A charming, persuasive and thoughtful stranger, but all the same he was not someone she could open her heart to. ‘I should have known he would be here. He knows both the bride and groom.’

‘He obviously has very strong feelings for you. Had you been together long?’

‘About a year.’ She finished off her pink champagne. ‘We met when he came to look at one of the animals on my parents’ farm. He’s a vet, and he treated one of the horses that had gone lame. Now it’s as good as new.’

‘That must have been a great relief for you.’

She nodded, and he took the champagne glass from her, signalling to the barman to fill it up again. ‘So you got together, and then things went wrong?’

That hunted feeling caught up with her once more, so that her stomach clenched and she wondered how long it would be before she could escape to her room. ‘Yes … only now he won’t let go.’

The corners of his mouth turned upwards. ‘I can’t say I blame him for that. I think I would feel much the same way.’

He handed her a second glass of champagne and she watched the bubbles fizz and sparkle. The air in the room was hot and oppressive, and she had a raging thirst. She put the glass to her lips and swallowed, feeling the effervescent sting as the liquid coursed down her throat. She felt as though she couldn’t breathe, as though the room was closing in on her.

‘It looks as though the bride and groom are getting ready to leave,’ he murmured. ‘Perhaps we ought to say our goodbyes to them?’

She nodded, putting down her empty glass and allowing him to lead the way across the room to the main doors. Lucas pinned back one of the doors so that the bride and groom could slip out and head for their waiting taxi. Sophie tilted her face to the waft of cool air, taking comfort in the brief respite.

They waved off the happy couple, and then had to battle their way through a small crowd of people in order to get back into the ballroom. A wave of heat and dizziness overcame her, and her legs seemed to buckle under her. She fumbled for a handhold on the shelf against the wall, but Lucas was already reaching out for her, supporting her in strong arms.

‘Are you feeling faint?’ he asked.

She nodded, unable to speak just then, and he turned her towards the foyer. She was content to let him take over. For some reason, her body felt like lead, and her head was muzzy, her brain fogged. In the far reaches of her consciousness, she heard him say something about finding her keys, but she wasn’t in any state to answer him. It was strange, having to rely on him like this. She had always been so fiercely independent, but right now she was glad that he was there to help her, because there was no way she could have managed by herself.

They must have gone up in the lift, because she vaguely remembered being still, her body resting against Lucas, her cheek buried in the fine worsted fabric of his jacket. There was a gentle bump as the lift came to a stop and he wrapped his arm more closely around her in order to stop her from falling.

She didn’t recall any more of what happened after that. Blackness closed in on her, and there was instant peace, nothingness.

When she came round, some time later, she was aware of a wonderful feeling of coolness. The fever had left her, and Lucas must have laid a cold, damp cloth across her forehead, because she felt its soothing touch, drawing the heat from her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. ‘I’m in my room?’ she asked softly.

‘That’s right. I found your key in your bag.’ Lucas came to her side, gazing down at her, a small line etched into his brow as he studied her. ‘Just lie still,’ he murmured, when she would have tried to sit up. ‘Take your time.’ He sat down beside her on the wide bed, looking into her eyes. His very presence was a comfort to her. He appeared so strong and capable, as though he would have no trouble resolving any problem that came his way. ‘You passed out.’ His mouth made a straight line. ‘I was worried about you for a while there.’

‘I remember I was dizzy … but I feel so much better now.’ She removed the cloth from her forehead and placed it on the bedside table. She gave him a weak smile. ‘It looks as though I have to thank you all over again for taking care of me,’ she said softly. ‘If it hadn’t been for you, I might have made a fool of myself back there, collapsing in the ballroom for all to see. I’m sure everyone would have imagined I’d had way too much to drink.’ She frowned. ‘Perhaps I did.’ Would two glasses of pink champagne have that effect on her? You couldn’t count the toast to the bride and groom, could you? After all, that had been hours ago. And she’d nibbled some food in the meantime.

‘Somehow, I doubt that was the problem.’ His voice was a low, warm rumble of sound. ‘You looked as though something was wrong, way before you fainted.’

She blinked and stared up at him. Exactly how long had he been watching her? He had turned up at just the right moment to save her from an awkward situation, and that couldn’t have happened by chance, could it? And now she was alone with him in her hotel bedroom, and it began to dawn on her that she was becoming increasingly vulnerable, lying here this way and allowing him to make all the running. She didn’t know the first thing about him.

She tried to sit up, and suddenly realised that she had complete freedom of movement, with no tight-waisted silk dress to bind her rib cage or folds of soft material to tangle with her limbs.

‘Stay where you are for a bit longer,’ he advised in an even tone, laying a hand lightly on the smooth, bare flesh of her arm. ‘If you try to get up too soon you may become dizzy all over again.’

A ripple of heat ran through her. His gentle, but firm, touch set her heart racing and she looked away from him, away from the purposeful silver glint reflected in his eyes.

Instead, she stared down at bare limbs, at her long, shapely legs, which were naked but for a shimmer of lace that edged her flimsy, silk chemise. She gasped. ‘You took my dress off me,’ she said in a shocked whisper. Her hand went up to cover the creamy swell of her breasts, but it was a futile gesture, one that came far too late, because he had already seen everything he wanted, hadn’t he?

His gaze moved over her, amusement lurking in the depths of his grey eyes. ‘I did,’ he agreed. ‘I thought it was the best course of action at the time. You were burning up, and I thought you might be able to breathe better for being unzipped.’

‘But you … you don’t know me, and yet you … I can’t believe that you would do that …’ She stared at him, her blue eyes troubled, her cheeks hot with mortification. ‘You could have just undone the zip … that would have been enough.’

‘I don’t believe in half-measures … and really, you shouldn’t worry—I had your interests at heart. I didn’t intend to take advantage of you. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.’

‘But you did.’ She fumbled around for a sheet, desperate to cover herself, but she was lying on the duvet and he was pinning it down with the weight of his body so that her efforts were futile.

He shrugged. ‘You’re worrying too much.’

‘That’s easy for you to say. I’m not used to being in this sort of situation.’

He gave a half-smile. ‘That goes for the two of us.’

She scrambled to a sitting position and then leaned back as a wave of dizziness threatened to swamp her once more.

Lucas leaned forward and piled up the pillows behind her. ‘See?’ he said. ‘Didn’t I tell you that would happen? Sit back for a while and let the blood settle.’ He assessed her thoughtfully. ‘Seriously, you don’t have to worry about me looking at you. I’m a doctor. My intentions are perfectly honourable, I can assure you of that.’ He left her for a moment and walked to the bathroom.

Returning, he handed her a satin kimono. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘put this on.’

‘Thank you.’ Sophie slid her arms into the robe and stared at him doubtfully from the sanctuary of her pillows. ‘You’re a doctor?’ she said. It didn’t really come as that much of a surprise to her. After all, the bride and groom worked in a hospital, and so a good many of their guests were likely to be medical professionals.

She was a doctor herself, a paediatrician at a hospital in the Cotswolds, but she didn’t want to share that information with him right now. This whole situation was way too embarrassing and she just wanted to escape from it as soon as she could. ‘If that’s the case, maybe you’ve managed to come up with a diagnosis of sorts?’ Perhaps her tone was sharper than she intended. She was frazzled, and annoyed because she had found herself in this predicament.

He might well have detected her note of cynicism, but he made a show of taking her words at face value. ‘Well, your pulse was racing,’ he answered, ‘and I suspect your blood pressure was sky high for a while. It occurred to me that you might be anaemic. If you’re not eating properly, you might not be getting all the right nutrients—and, of course, being a woman, you’ll be more prone to anaemia …’

‘Yes,’ she cut in swiftly. ‘I don’t believe you need to go into detail.’ She frowned. ‘And I doubt I’m anaemic. I’m just stressed, that’s all. I’ve been stressed for weeks, with one thing and another.’ She clamped her mouth shut. Why was she telling him her problems? How did she know if he was to be trusted?

‘Not just because of Nathan, then?’ His voice was soothing, coaxing her to divulge more.

She shrugged lightly, a movement that caused the robe to slip, allowing a glimpse of bare shoulders. His gaze followed the movement, lingering momentarily on the creamy slopes until she tugged the robe back in place.

‘I doubt he’s really worth all that anxiety,’ he murmured. ‘You seemed quite keen to be free of him earlier. Perhaps you’re at war with yourself.’

She shook her head. ‘No, you’re right, it isn’t just that.’ The end of a relationship was a bad thing, but she would get over it, wouldn’t she? In fact she was already over it. Or at least, so she had thought, until Nathan had turned up here today. She gave a heavy sigh. ‘I lost my parents a couple of months ago,’ she explained. ‘It was a shock. It was so unexpected. An accident.’

‘I’m sorry.’ He moved closer to her, laying a hand on her arm. ‘That must have been dreadful for you … an awful tragedy.’ He stroked her arm lightly, a gentle caress, like a breath of warm air gliding over her. It was meant to be a gesture of sympathy, to show her that she wasn’t alone, but his touch seared her flesh and Sophie had to take a deep breath in order to calm herself and enable her to go on.

‘It’s not something you think will ever happen.’

‘No. I don’t suppose it is.’ He lifted his hand to her face to smooth back the strands of hair that had fallen over her cheek. ‘Do you have any brothers or sisters that can help you through this?’

She shook her head. ‘There’s no one … no family.’ She hesitated, aware of his fingers following the line of her cheekbone, tucking the wayward tendrils of hair behind her ear. It was a strangely hypnotic motion that made her want to lean back into his embrace. It encouraged her to go on talking, to tell him everything that was going wrong with her life.

‘So how are you coping? Not well, by the sound of things.’

‘No—it’s difficult, you see, because now I have to take over the running of the farm. I used to help out, but finding myself in charge has been a bit overwhelming.’

‘I imagine it would be easier said than done.’ He sounded curious.

She nodded. ‘I’m at my wits’ end, really. I have to keep going because if I don’t do it, who else will see to the animals?’ She thought about it, and about Nathan’s reaction. ‘I’d hoped Nathan might want to help out, him being a vet and all, but it seemed he had other things on his mind.’

She’d expected Nathan to understand what she was going through and to be supportive, but he had seemed preoccupied, and she had been left to muddle through on her own. She felt as though he had let her down when she needed him most.

‘What sort of things?’

‘Well, after my parents died, I inherited the farm, as well as money tied up in shares and investment bonds. Nathan was full of plans for what we might do with it.’

‘You think the money was important to him?’

‘I don’t think it was the money in itself. I think it was just that it made him ambitious. He started to make plans, and he would talk about starting up a veterinary practice of his own—he’d need a large property and acres of land, he said, and he thought my farm, Woodvale, would be the ideal place for that. That wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want the house turning into business premises … it was my home.’

She frowned. ‘I suppose I began to see him in a different light—he had started to take over, bit by bit. He was even planning Christmas without taking time to consider what I might want. We would go to Switzerland and spend the Christmas break in a ski lodge, he said, but I couldn’t get my head around it. I’d always spent Christmas at home, with my parents and relatives. It seemed too much of a jump from that to going skiing, for me, at least. I began to feel as though I didn’t know him at all.’ She gave a short laugh. ‘And yet the truth is, if I’d been sure of his love, I would have done anything for him. But somewhere along the way, he forgot to show me that he cared.’

‘You thought your relationship had lost its way?’

‘Yes. We’d been drifting apart for some time.’ She frowned, thinking about it. It hadn’t helped that she’d been ill. She’d been under par for some time, and perhaps she’d been working too hard, taking on too much, but, whatever the reason, her health had taken a battering these last few months. Her whole body seemed to ache, and she was constantly tired, and that was another thing that Nathan had found difficult to handle. Eventually, she’d gone to see her GP. So far, he hadn’t been able to pin it down to anything specific, but he was doing tests.