Lusty Billionaires Bundle(50)

She ached to go after him, to somehow explain that money had nothing to do with this—but what was the point?

She felt sorry for him.

Sorry that his life had left him so scarred, so untrusting that he simply didn’t believe in love.

Six months.

Six months of holding him at night, waking to him each morning. The mental abacus was starting again. One hundred and eighty days to shower love on him, to show him that life could be so much sweeter, so much easier with love on your side.

This time tomorrow she would be wearing his ring, would be blessed with the saving grace of time.

This time tomorrow she would tell him she loved him.





CHAPTER ELEVEN




‘YOU look beautiful.’

Tabitha smiled at Aiden’s reflection in the mirror as he slipped into the room.#p#分页标题#e#

‘She’d look even better if she stayed still for five minutes,’ Carla the hairdresser grumbled as she pierced Tabitha’s scalp with yet another pin. Checking the tiara was firmly secured, she almost asphyxiated her client with yet another waft of hairspray before standing back to admire her handiwork. ‘He’s right; you do look beautiful.’

Even Tabitha agreed. The sophisticated woman staring demurely back at her from the mirror was nothing like the dizzy redhead she knew so well. The wild Titian curls were sleek and straight, caught at the back of her neck in an elegant chignon, her fringe was smooth and silken, falling seductively over one eye, and though she felt as if she were wearing a ton of make-up her complexion looked clear and smooth, with a dusting of rose on her cheeks and her eyeshadow a smudgy brown, accentuating the jade eyes. Only her lips were heavy, the dusky red tones making her mouth look wide and sensual.

‘Thought this might help,’ Aiden said once Carla had gone. Holding two glasses up, he pulled a bottle of champagne from under his jacket. ‘I swiped it from one of the tables.’ Expertly popping the cork, he handed her a glass before proposing a toast.

‘To my dear friend Tabitha, who after today will also be my sister-in-law. The sisterly advice will still be freely available, I hope?’ he asked in a jokey voice after draining his glass in one.

‘Of course.’

‘And this is still all about business?’ The jokey edge had gone, his voice cautious, his eyes concerned.

Tabitha hesitated, but only for a second. Confiding in Aiden was practically second nature, after all, but this was one thing Zavier definitely deserved to hear first. ‘Absolutely.’

‘You know, despite my earlier reservations, this wedding isn’t turning out to be such a bad thing after all. My father’s so delighted with the whole caboodle he seems to have forgotten to be angry with me. I took him for a walk this morning. We couldn’t go on the beach, obviously, what with his chair, but I pushed him along the pier and we spoke.’

‘How was it?’

Aiden shrugged. ‘Better than it has been. He even made a few noises about going to look at my paintings. Apparently Zavier’s been to see them and persuaded Dad to take a look.’

‘Zavier went to see them?’

‘Yep. He’s a dark horse, isn’t he? After the way he’s criticised my painting, never in a million years did I think he’d actually be the one sticking up for me, and to Dad of all people. You just can’t imagine how much that meant to me. Dad still managed a few barbs, though, about how I needed to face up to life, grow up and all that, but on the whole it was great.’

After putting on her dress, Tabitha lifted the sheer, simple veil as Aiden pulled up her zip. ‘Maybe he’s worried about your drinking,’ she ventured nervously, slipping on her mules so she wouldn’t have to look at him.

‘Not you as well,’ Aiden groaned. ‘Darling, you’re even starting to sound like an old married woman.’

‘I care about you, Aiden, and…’ Her voice trailed off. She was scared of pushing, yet scared to say nothing when it was so obviously needed.

‘Go on,’ Aiden offered, with a slight edge to his voice. ‘Don’t stop now.’

‘You do drink too much.’

‘Said the gambler to the alcoholic.’

Tabitha smiled. ‘And you’re starting to sound like your brother; he used the same line on me a while back.’ Her hand touched his arm. It wasn’t the time, it wasn’t the place, but Aiden was her friend and some things just had to be said.#p#分页标题#e#

Perhaps it was a day for the truth.

‘You’re drinking every day, Aiden, and for the best part of it too. I’m allowed to be worried.’

‘Not today you’re not. Today you just have to worry about looking beautiful.’ He stood back and stared at her slowly as she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror.