Australia: Wicked Mistresses(25)

Nina wished the bride was her.





CHAPTER TWELVE


NINA enlisted the help of Julie LaFoy, the manager of the island’s many well-stocked boutiques, to help her with a dress for April’s wedding.

The gown she chose had been drastically discounted—at least that was what an excited Julie had said. The style blended “red carpet” with chic sarong. Coupled with a pair of elegant matching heels, Nina felt like an island princess. But no one outshone April on her big day.

April wore a traditional gown of white satin, with a sweeping fairytale veil. When she walked down the outdoor aisle, the groom’s face split into an adoring smile and one hundred guests audibly sighed. The ceremony was brief, but heartfelt, and when the bride threw her bouquet it sailed right towards Nina’s head. She ducked, and the woman behind her squealed on snaring the prize.

As the music went into party mode, and canapés were served, Gabriel took Nina’s hand and led her to the dance floor, which was set up beneath an open marquee. When Nina spotted Mr Dorset hovering around the fringes, making sure everything was in order, a shudder shot up her spine. But when Gabriel gathered her in his arms and held her eyes with his she forgot everything other than how her heart wouldn’t stop thumping. How much she loved being his date.

This time last week she would never have dreamed she’d be dancing with the most attractive man in Australia…Well, he was to her. His scent, his feel, the way his eyes spoke only to her…This might have been their wedding day. She might even believe that the intense depth of his look meant he was thinking the same.

If wishes came true…

With other couples joining them on the floor, Gabriel dance-stepped her smoothly around.

“Your gown is something else,” he said, in a low, appreciative voice.

A rush of pride made her glow. The gown was of softest tangerine silk, cinched high on the side of the waist with a diamanté clasp before falling in weightless folds to her ankles. “Feminine,” Julie had said. “Timeless…”

His hot fingertips skimmed up and down her back. “I like the colour. The cut. It looks exquisite on you.”

The warmth of her blush deepened. He’d told her three times already.

They’d danced for several moments, moving as one to the music, before he murmured near her ear, “I haven’t held you for hours.”

“Two, to be exact.”

“Two hours too long.” He grazed a seductive kiss over her brow and she quivered when his lips veered south.

She would never tire of his compliments. Not that this affair would last. In fact, as much as she loathed to admit it, the sooner “they” ended, the better. The way he looked at her—with a heart-pumping combination of protectiveness and desire—she was in danger of convincing herself she meant way more to him than she did. That kind of self-delusion could only pave a fast track to emotional suicide. She would not fall in love with someone who couldn’t commit and love her back.

She needed to accept this relationship for what it was: an abstract version of a holiday fling. Gabriel saw it that way. In his mind, he had his life and she had hers—or would again when she got off this island. When that would be depended on how he answered her question.

She wanted a chance to somehow validate her place here, in the staff’s eyes as well as in her own. She wanted her position here back. If she did a good enough job, surely Gabriel would be proud of her too.

Her cheek was resting on his lapel when an almighty crash exploded directly behind them. Heart in her throat, Nina spun around. A young waitress stood by the nearby cake table, hands over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. At the waitress’s feet lay a stack of broken plates. The top tier of the multi-layered wedding cake was splattered over the debris. Nina shuddered. She could just see Mr Dorset’s outraged face now.

She rushed over to help, automatically picking up broken crockery. She caught the stunned girl’s eye.

“Run and get a dustpan,” she said. “A bin and some paper towels.”

Nina hadn’t seen the girl before. Around eighteen, she must be new. She reminded Nina of herself her first week here. Uncertain. Wanting to do well. Failing before she’d been given half a chance. No doubt this woman had experience, but accidents happened, and Nina wasn’t prepared to stand back and let her get bawled out without standing beside her. She knew too well what it felt like to cop it alone.

The waitress rushed off at the same time as Gabriel knelt down. “Nina, you’re a guest here tonight.” His hand held hers. “Leave that. Cake’s getting on your gown.”

“It’ll be cleaned up twice as fast if I help.”

“There’s plenty of staff—”

She cut him off with a look. “I can’t stand back and watch.”

The waitress returned, and she and Nina dropped broken crockery into the mini-bin. Nina caught the waitress’s expression: her blue eyes were wet with gratitude. Nina smiled back and they picked up the pace.

April appeared, hands clasped beneath her crestfallen face. “My cake!”

Mr Dorset was behind her, his expression pinched. Knowing this was Gabriel Steele’s affair, he would be doubly ready to vent his wrath.

A puffed-up Dorset had opened his mouth, ready to come down on the young waitress, but something fierce inside Nina leapt, and she stepped up to stand between them.

“I’m sorry, Mr Dorset,” she said, feeling braver and more vulnerable than she had in her life. “I knocked the table corner when I passed. I’ll pay for any damage.”

While Mr Dorset eyed her with obvious suspicion, Gabriel stepped forward too. “Everything’s fine here, Dorset. Thanks for your concern.”

And as he said the words three wait staff bee-lined it over…Maureen, Judy, and usually grave-faced Jim Olsen too.

“We’ll take care of this,” Maureen told Nina as she lowered herself down beside the younger waitress, and Jim produced a dust pan and brush from thin air.

Gabriel held April’s shoulders. “There’s plenty of cake left.” His voice was quiet. “I’ll make it up to you, hon—I promise.”

April looked between them both, then her brows opened up before she sighed on a forgiving smile. “The day has been so perfect. Something little had to go wrong.”

But Nina was too choked up to respond. Before she’d begun work here she wouldn’t have dreamed of intervening in a scene like this the way she had. But, no matter the consequences, she’d felt compelled to protect that young waitress in a way no one had stepped up to protect her. And yet Maureen, Judy, Jim…they knew what she’d done, and by their actions they were saying they approved. Tonight, in her finery, she should have felt more alienated than ever from the staff, yet for the first time since arriving on this island she didn’t feel like an outsider.

Mr Dorset answered April. “The bride’s only job today is to look beautiful. We’ll take care of this.”

Before Mr Dorset moved off, his gaze found Nina’s. Imagination, perhaps, but she thought she recognised a thin glimmer of respect in his eyes.

After Nina had freshened up, she and Gabriel danced for several more songs. Later they chatted with the other guests, and shared a piece of delicious vanilla wedding cake. When numbers began to dwindle they said goodbye and good luck to the bride and groom, and headed off.

Nina was floating. Aside from that unfortunate accident with the plates and the cake, it had been a wonderful day—for so many reasons. Firstly because tonight had been the first time she’d felt in any way accepted by other members of the staff. She’d never forget their expressions and willingness to help after she’d stood up to Dorset. She believed more than ever that the staff buddy system she’d recommended to Gabriel had real merit.

Just as importantly, the evening had been wonderful because of the way Gabriel had genuinely enjoyed himself—despite his aversion to weddings. She’d almost wanted to point it out—See. It wasn’t so scary after all.

But now her adrenaline had been spent, and she was ready to retire to the bungalow, to be alone with Gabriel and soak up what remained of their time together. Only one more day…

But once they were out of the private party area he headed in the opposite direction, away from the bungalow.

Nina glanced over her shoulder. In the far distance she could make out the hazy lights from his deck, the extra-tall palm trees that marked his front door.

“Where are we going?”

He shrugged out of his dinner jacket and draped it across her shoulders. His subtle masculine scent wrapped around her. “You’ll see.”

They climbed a winding path, leaving the resort’s lights and sounds behind. As the shadows grew darker, and the rustle of fronds grew louder, the track sloped up and became littered with fragrant petals. Then fairy-lights appeared on either side of the track, twinkling so brightly they seemed eager to lead them to some secret, hidden place.

What was at the end of the track?

His arm was around her waist. She leaned towards his solid heat. “This is very mysterious.”

He held up his free hand and crossed two fingers. “Mystery and I are like that.”

At the top of the modest incline Nina stopped and held her throat as her breath hitched and heart flipped over. A cashmere-soft-looking blanket was laid out before a cosy fire that licked orange and blue flames around a fat crackling log. A silver bucket, holding a bottle of champagne, sat backstage. The scene was circled by those same sweet-smelling blooms, a sea of petals surrounding their own private island.