Of course when you are Zavier Chambers your affairs aren’t expected to be discussed in a dusty backstage dressing room. Doors open, or rather private dressing room doors open. Five-star ones, with mirrors and mini bars. And, though it was a world she inhabited daily, such sumptuous surroundings were painfully unfamiliar. Zavier immediately made himself at home, tossing aside his jacket and pulling a bottle out of the fridge with all the arrogance of a man who was used to having the best of everything.
‘What’s all this about?’ Her voice, which had failed her for the past few minutes, didn’t sound as assured as Tabitha would have liked, but it would have to do. ‘How dare you just barge in here? How dare you stroll in and drop a bombshell like that, only to leave me to pick up the pieces? I have to work with these people.’
‘Chambers wives don’t work,’ came the swift riposte. Annoyingly unmoved by her anger, he popped a champagne cork with ease and filled two glasses. He handed her one, topping up the pale liquid until the bubbles flooded her trembling hands.
‘I mean it, Zavier. I want you to tell me what all this is about!’
‘It’s really very simple.’ He flashed that dangerous smile. ‘It’s about us.’
Us?
It was hard to remain focused on the words coming from him as she lost herself in the simple word. Us. You and I. Him and I. Me and you. You and me.#p#分页标题#e#
The simplest of words with the biggest of connotations.
‘What us?’
‘Us getting married.’
He said it so lightly, so easily, that for a moment Tabitha didn’t even register his words, her mind too much filled with remembering when his lips had been closer, the taste of his cool tongue exploring hers. It was only after a few seconds that she parted the fog where her brain had once been and his statement filtered through.
‘Married?’
‘That’s right.’ Zavier nodded.
‘Marry you?’
‘Right again.’ The dressing room, not big, seemed to have taken on minuscule proportions. It wasn’t just his size that was daunting; everything about him oozed confidence and over-abundance. She felt like Alice in Wonderland in reverse, as the walls seemed to close in around her. Actually—Tabitha shook her head ruefully—maybe she wasn’t so far off with her fairytale analogy. A proposal from someone like Zavier Chambers was the stuff of pure fantasy. It must be every girl’s dream that a man as infinitely desirable might say those three little words while looking into your eyes. Except there wasn’t a hint of romance in the air, and from the way he was distractedly examining his fingernails, tapping his well-shod foot on the floorboards as he waited for Tabitha to speak, it was clear Zavier wasn’t about to whisk her off to live happily ever after.
‘Why on earth would you ask me to marry you?’ The anger had gone from her voice now, replaced instead by sheer bewilderment.
‘Because for once one of Aiden’s hare-brained schemes actually has some merit.’
‘But all I agreed to was a date. The marriage proposal was as much a surprise to me as it was to you. Why won’t you believe me when I say I’m not after your brother? I never have been. It was a simple matter of helping him out—not some contrived plan to rob him blind. And for your information I spoke about it with Aiden the following morning, when he repeated his offer, and again I said no.’
‘I’m aware of that,’ Zavier replied easily, examining his manicured nails closely, not even bothering to look up as he spoke. ‘And I must admit somewhat surprised too. Were you holding out for more?’
Dumbly she shook her head.
‘I can’t say I blame you,’ Zavier carried on, ignoring her denial. ‘After all, Aiden’s hardly a safe bet.’ He shot her a dry smile. ‘We all know how you like a gamble, but why stack the odds against you with a penniless artist who could be disinherited? Why expose yourself to the risk of his family finding out the truth behind your little sham and run the risk of ending up penniless?’
‘You’ve got it all wrong.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Zavier said with a thin smile that definitely didn’t meet his eyes. ‘Anyway, for once in your life, Tabitha, you win. This time, darling, you’ve hit the jackpot.’
‘What jackpot?’ Her lips were curled in the beginning of a sneer, her nerves at seeing him momentarily overridden by the preposterousness of his words.
‘I’m raising the stakes.’ His eyes narrowed and he left his nails, examining her closely now, watching her colour mount under his scrutiny. ‘That’s the bit you like, isn’t it?’ he hissed.