One Winter's Sunrise: Gift-Wrapped in Her Wedding Dress

CHAPTER TEN

DOMINIC WAS KISSING her and it was more wonderful than Andie ever could have imagined. His firm, sensuous mouth was sure and certain on hers and she welcomed the intimate caress, the nudging of his tongue against the seam of her lips as she opened her mouth to his. His beard growth scratched her face but it was a pleasurable kind of pain. The man knew how to kiss.

But as he kissed her and she kissed him back she was shocked by the sudden explosion of chemistry between them that turned something gentle into something urgent and demanding. She wound her arms around his neck to bring him closer in a wild tangle of tongues and lips as she pressed herself against his hard muscular chest. He tasted of coffee and hot male and desire. Passion this instant, this insistent was a surprise.

But it was too soon.

She knew she wanted him. But she hadn’t realised until now just how much she wanted him. And how careful she would have to be to guard her heart. Because these thrilling kisses told her that intimate contact with Dominic Hunt might just become an addiction she would find very difficult to live without. To him, this pretend engagement was a business ploy that might also develop into an entertaining game on the side. She did not want to be a fake fiancée with benefits.

When it came down to it, while she had dated over the last few years, her only serious relationship had been with a boy who had adored her, and whom she had loved with all her heart. Not a man like Dominic, who had sworn off marriage and viewed commitment so lightly he could pretend to be engaged. Her common sense urged her to stop but her body wanted more, more, more of him.

With a great effort she broke away from the kiss. Her heart was pounding in triple time, her breath coming in painful gasps. She took a deep steadying breath. And then another.

‘That...that was a great start on Condition Number Six,’ she managed to choke out.

Dominic towered over her; his breath came in ragged gasps. He looked so darkly sensual, her heart seemed to flip right over in her chest. ‘What?’ he demanded. ‘Stopping when we’d just started?’

‘No. I... I mean the actual kiss.’

He put his hand on her shoulder, lightly stroking her in a caress that ignited shivers of delight all through her.

‘So tell me about your sixth condition,’ he said, his deep voice with a broken edge to it as he struggled to control his breathing.

‘Condition Number Six is that we...we have to look the part.’

He frowned. ‘And that means...?’

‘I mean we have to act like a genuine couple. To seem to other people as if we’re...we’re crazy about each other. Because it would have to be...something very powerful between us for us to get engaged so quickly. In...real life, I mean.’

She found it difficult to meet his eyes. ‘I was going to say we needed to get physical. And we just did...get physical. So we...uh...know that there’s chemistry between us. And that...that it works.’

He dropped his hand from her shoulder to tilt her chin upwards with his finger so she was forced to meet his gaze. ‘There was never any doubt about that.’

His words thrummed through her body. That sexual attraction had been there for her the first time she’d met him. Had he felt it too?

‘So the sixth condition is somewhat superfluous,’ she said, her voice racing as she tried to ignore the hunger for him his kiss had ignited. ‘I think we might be okay, there. You know, holding hands, arms around each other. Appropriate Public Displays of Affection.’ It was an effort to force herself to sound matter of fact.

‘This just got to be my favourite of all your conditions,’ he said slowly, his eyes narrowing in a way she found incredibly sexy. ‘Shall we practise some more?’

Her traitorous body wrestled down her hopelessly outmatched common sense. ‘Why not?’ she murmured, desperate to be in his arms again. He pulled her close and their body contact made her aware he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She sighed as she pressed her mouth to his.

Then her phone sang out its ringtone of a piano sonata.

‘Leave it,’ growled Dominic.

She ignored the musical tone until it stopped. But it had brought her back to reality. There was nothing she wanted more than to take Dominic by the hand and lead him up the stairs to her bedroom. She intended to have him before this contract between them came to an end.

But that intuition she usually trusted screamed at her that to make love with him on the first day of their fake engagement would be a mistake. It would change the dynamic of their relationship to something she did not feel confident of being able to handle.

No sooner had the ringtone stopped than it started again.

Andie untangled herself from Dominic’s embrace and stepped right back from him, back from the seductive reach of his muscular arms.

‘I... I have to take this,’ she said.

She answered the phone but had to rest against the kitchen countertop to support knees that had gone shaky and weak. Dominic leaned back against the wall opposite her and crossed his arms against his powerful chest. His muscles flexed as he did so and she had to force herself to concentrate on the phone call.

‘Yes, Eliza, it’s true. I know—it must have been a surprise to you. A party?’ Andie looked up to Dominic and shook her head. He nodded. She spoke to Eliza. ‘No. We don’t want an engagement party. Yes, I know we’re party queens and it’s what we do.’ She rolled her eyes at Dominic and, to her relief, he smiled. ‘The Christmas party is more than enough to handle at the moment,’ she said to Eliza.

We. She and Dominic were a couple now. A fake couple. It would take some getting used to. So would handling the physical attraction between them.

‘The wedding?’ Eliza’s question about the timing of the wedding flustered her. ‘We...we...uh...next year some time. Yes, I know next year is only next month. The wedding won’t be next month, that’s for sure.’ The wedding—wouldn’t a loved-up fiancée have said our wedding?

She finished the call to Eliza and realised her hands were clammy. ‘This is not going to be easy,’ she said to Dominic.

‘I never thought it would be,’ he said. Was there a double meaning there?

‘I have no experience in this kind of deception. The first thing Eliza asked me was when are we getting married. She put me on the spot. I... I struggled to find an answer.’

He nodded slowly. ‘I suggest we say we’ve decided on a long engagement. That we’re committed but want to use the engagement time to get to know each other better.’

‘That sounds good,’ she said.

The deceptive words came so easily to him while she was so flustered she could scarcely think. She realised how hopelessly mismatched they were: he was more experienced, wealthier, from a completely different background. And so willing to lie.

And yet... That kiss had only confirmed how much she wanted him.

Her phone rang out again. ‘Why do I get the feeling this phone will go all day long?’ she said, a note of irritation underscoring her voice. She looked on the caller ID. ‘It’s my fashion editor friend, Karen. I knew Gemma wouldn’t be able to stop at Eliza,’ she told Dominic as she answered it.

The first part of the conversation was pretty much a repeat of the conversation she’d had with Gemma. But then Karen asked should she start scouting around for her wedding dress. Karen hunted down bargain-priced clothes for her; of course she’d want to help her with a wedding. ‘My wedding dress? We...uh...haven’t set a date for the wedding yet. Yes, I suppose it’s never too early to think about the dress. Simple? Vintage inspired? Gorgeous shoes?’ She laughed and hoped Karen didn’t pick up on the shrill edge to her laughter. ‘You know my taste only too well, Karen. A veil? A modest lace veil? Okay. Yes. I’ll leave it to you. Thank you.’

‘Your friends move fast,’ Dominic said when she’d disconnected the call.

‘They’re so thrilled for me. After...after...well, you know. My past.’ Her past of genuine love, unsullied by lies and deception.

‘Of course,’ he said.

She couldn’t bring herself to say anything about the kisses they’d shared. It wasn’t the kind of thing she found easy to talk about. Neither, it appeared, did he.

He glanced down at his watch. The action drew her attention to his hands. She noticed again how attractive they were, with long strong fingers. And thought how she would like to feel them on her body. Stroking. Caressing. Exploring. She had to stop this.

‘I know I’m breaking the terms of one of your conditions,’ he said. ‘But I do have to get to the office. There are cancelled meetings in other states to reschedule and staff who need to talk to me.’

‘And I’ve got to finalise the furniture hire for the Christmas party. With two hundred people for lunch, we need more tables and chairs. It’s sobering, to have all those families in need on Christmas Day.’

‘Hannah assures me it’s the tip of a tragic iceberg,’ said Dominic.

They both paused for a long moment before she spoke. ‘I also have to work on a tiaras-and-tuxedos-themed twenty-first party. Ironic, isn’t it, after what we’ve just been saying?’ But organising parties was her job and brought not only employment to her and her partners but also the caterers, the waiting staff and everyone else involved.

‘I didn’t think twenty-first parties were important any more, with eighteen the legal age of adulthood,’ Dominic said.

‘They’re still very popular. This lovely girl turning twenty-one still lives at home with her parents and has three more years of university still ahead of her to become a veterinarian. I have to organise tiaras for her dogs.’

‘Wh...what?’ he spluttered. ‘Did you say you’re putting a tiara on a dog?’

‘Her dogs are very important to her; they’ll be honoured guests at the party.’

He scowled. ‘I like dogs but that’s ridiculous.’

‘We’re getting more and more bookings for dog parties. A doggy birthday boy or girl invites their doggy friends. They’re quite a thing. And getting as competitive as the kids’ parties. Of course it’s a learning curve for a party planner—considering doggy bathroom habits, for one thing.’

‘That is the stupidest—’

Andie put up her hand. ‘Don’t be too quick to judge. The doggy parties are really about making the humans happy—I doubt the dogs could care less. Frivolity can be fun. Eliza and I have laid bets on how many boys will arrive wearing tiaras to the vet student’s twenty-first.’

She had to smile at his bah-humbug expression.

‘By the time I was twenty-one, I had established a career in real estate and had my first million in sight.’

That interested her. ‘I’d love to know about—’

He cut her off. ‘Let’s save that for the question-and-answer session, shall we?’

‘Which will start...?’

‘This afternoon. Can you come to my place?’

‘Sure. It doesn’t hurt to visit the party site as many times as I can.’

‘Only this time you’ll be coming to collect your engagement ring.’

‘Of...of course.’ She had forgotten about that. In a way, she dreaded it. ‘And to find out more about you, fake fiancé. We have to be really well briefed to face my family tomorrow evening.’

She and Anthony had joked that by the time they’d paid off their student loans all they’d be able to afford for an engagement ring would be a ring pull from a can of soft drink. The ring pull would have had so much more meaning than this cynical exercise.

She felt suddenly subdued at the thought of deceiving her family. Her friends were used to the ups and downs of dating. A few weeks down the track, they’d take a broken engagement in their stride. If those kisses were anything to go by, she might be more than a tad upset when her time with Dominic came to an end. She pummelled back down to somewhere deep inside her the shred of hope that perhaps something real could happen between them after the engagement charade was done.

‘When will you tell your parents?’ Dominic asked.

‘Today. They’d be hurt beyond belief if they found out from someone else.’

‘And you’ll talk to Hannah about Timothy?’

‘At the family dinner. We should speak to her and Paul together.’

‘I hope she won’t be too difficult to convince. I really want to help that little boy.’

‘I know,’ she said, thinking of how grateful her family would be to him. How glad she was she’d agreed to all this for her tiny nephew’s sake. But what about Dominic’s family? This shouldn’t be all about hers. ‘What about your aunt? Do we need to tell her?’

The shutters came slamming down. ‘No. She’s out of the picture.’

The way he said it let her know not to ask more. Not now anyway.

Dominic shrugged on his leather jacket in preparation to go. She stared, dumbstruck, feasting her eyes on him. He was so hot. She still felt awkward after their passionate kissing session. Should she reach up and kiss him on the cheek?

While she was making up her mind, he pulled her close for a brief, exciting kiss on her mouth. She doubted there could be any other type of kiss but exciting from Dominic. ‘Happy to fulfil Condition Number Six at any time,’ he said, very seriously.

She smiled, the tension between them immediately dissipated. But she wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet.

‘Before you go...’ She picked up her smartphone again. ‘The first thing my friends who don’t know you will want to see is a photo of my surprise new fiancé.’

He ran his hand over his unshaven chin. ‘Like this? Can’t it wait?’

‘I like your face like that. It’s hot. No need to shave on my behalf.’ Without thinking, she put her fingers up to her cheek, where there was probably stubble rash. His kiss had felt so good.

‘If you say so,’ he said, looking pleased.

‘Just lean against the door there,’ she said. ‘Look cool.’

He slouched against the door and sent her a smouldering look. The wave of want that crashed through her made her nearly drop the phone. ‘Do I look cool?’ he said in a self-mocking tone. ‘I thought you liked hot?’

‘You know exactly what I mean.’ She was discovering a light-hearted side to Dominic she liked very much.

Their gazes met and they both burst into laughter. He looked even more gorgeous when he laughed, perfect teeth white in his tanned face, and she immediately captured a few more images of him. Who would recognise this good-humoured hunk in jeans and leather jacket as the billionaire Scrooge of legend?

‘What about a selfie of us together?’ she asked. ‘In the interests of authenticity,’ she hastily added.

Bad idea. She stood next to him, aware of every centimetre of body contact, and held her phone out in front of them. She felt more self-conscious than she could ever remember feeling. He pulled her in so their faces were close together. She smiled and clicked, and as she clicked again he kissed her on the cheek.

‘That will be cute,’ she said.

‘Another?’ he asked. This time he kissed her on the mouth. Click. Click. Click. And then she forgot to click.

After he had left, Andie spent more minutes than she should scrolling through the photos on her phone. No one would know they were faking it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

DOMINIC NOW KNEW more about diamond engagement rings than even a guy who was genuinely engaged to be married needed to know. He’d thought he could just march into Sydney’s most exclusive jewellery store and hand over an investment-sized price for a big chunk of diamond. Not so.

The sales guy—rather, executive consultant—who had greeted him and ushered him into a private room had taken the purchase very seriously. He’d hit Dominic with a barrage of questions. It was unfortunate that the lady was unable to be there because it was very important the ring would suit her personality. What were the lady’s favourite colours? What style of clothes did she favour? Her colouring?

‘Were you able to answer the questions?’ Andie asked, her lips curving into her delightful smile.

She had just arrived at his house. After she’d taken some measurements in the old ballroom, he had taken her out to sit in the white Hollywood-style chairs by the pool. Again, she looked as if she belonged. She wore a natural-coloured linen dress with her hair piled up and a scarf twisted and tied right from the base of her neck to the top of her head. It could have looked drab and old-fashioned but, on her, with her vintage sunglasses and orange lipstick, it looked just right.

Last time she’d been there he’d been so caught up with her he hadn’t thought to ask her would she like a drink. He didn’t want a live-in housekeeper—he valued his privacy too much—but his daily housekeeper had been this morning and the refrigerator was well stocked. He’d carried a selection of cool drinks out to the poolside table between their two chairs.

‘You’re finding this story amusing, aren’t you?’ he said, picking up his iced tea.

She took off her sunglasses. ‘Absolutely. I had no idea the rigmarole involved in buying an engagement ring.’

‘Me neither. I thought I’d just march in, point out a diamond ring and pay for it.’ This was a first for him.

‘Me too,’ said Andie. ‘I thought that’s what guys did when they bought a ring.’

‘Oh, no. First of all, I’d done completely the wrong thing in not having you with me. He was too discreet to ask where you were, so I didn’t have to come up with a creative story to explain your absence.’

‘One less lie required anyway,’ she said with a twist of her lovely mouth. ‘Go on with the story—I’m fascinated.’

‘Apparently, the done thing is to have a bespoke ring—like the business suits I have made to measure.’

‘A bespoke ring? Who knew?’ she said, her eyes dancing.

‘Instead, I had to choose from their ready-to-wear couture pieces.’

‘I had no idea such a thing existed,’ she said with obvious delight. Her smile. It made him feel what he’d thought he’d never feel again, made him want what he’d thought he’d never want.

‘You should have been there,’ he said. ‘You would have had fun.’ He’d spent the entire time in the jewellery store wishing she’d been by his side. He could imagine her suppressing giggles as the consultant had run through his over-the-top sales pitch.

‘Perhaps,’ she said, but her eyes dimmed. ‘You know my reasons for not wanting to get involved in the purchase. Anyway, what did you tell them about my—’ she made quote marks in the air with her fingers ‘—“personal style”? That must have put you on the spot?’

‘I told the consultant about your misbehaving skirt—only I didn’t call it that, of course. I told him about your shoes that laced up your calves. I told him about your turquoise necklace and your outsized earrings. I told him about your leopard-print shoes and your white trousers.’

Andie’s eyes widened. ‘You remember all that about what I wear?’

‘I did say I was observant,’ he said.

Ask him to remember what Party Planners Numbers One to Three had been wearing for their interviews and he would scarcely recall it. But he remembered every detail about her since that errant breeze at his front door had blown Andie into his life.

At the jewellery store, once he’d relaxed into the conversation with the consultant, Dominic had also told him how Andie was smart and creative and a touch unconventional and had the most beautiful smile and a husky, engaging laugh. ‘This is a lucky lady,’ the guy had said. ‘You must love her very much.’

That had thrown Dominic. ‘Yes,’ he’d muttered. Love could not enter into this. He did not want Andie to get hurt. And hurt wasn’t on his personal agenda either. He didn’t think he had it in him to love. To give love you had to be loved—and genuine love was not something that had been part of his life.

‘So... I’m curious,’ said Andie. What kind of ring did you—did I—end up with?’

‘Not the classic solitaire I would have chosen. The guy said you’d find it boring.’

‘Of course I wouldn’t have found it boring,’ she said not very convincingly.