He was right.
“Bloody hell, the timing couldn’t be worse.”
Her chin came up of its own accord. “I’m sorry if you feel our son is an inconvenience.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He ran his fingers through his hair, for the first time looking really upset.
It was such an unusual sight that Gemma felt an unwelcome surge of sympathy. “Perhaps you could appeal to the board’s better nature?” she asked, but she knew it was a silly suggestion the minute the words left her mouth.
“Do they have one?” he quipped, though his sarcasm wasn’t directed at her. “No, as much as I hate to give in to them, I’ll have to make a statement acknowledging Nathan as my son and telling them we’re getting married as soon as possible.”
“But we were getting married for Nathan’s sake anyway,” she pointed out.
“Yes, but now we’re going to put on a real show. I don’t want a scandal following our son all his life,” he said, his voice low and rough.
Her heart filled with warmth to know he had a vested interest in Nathan’s well-being. “What sort of show?”
“We’ll say we had a misunderstanding that’s been righted, and we’ll show them how much in love we are.” He paused. “I’m sure you’ll have no trouble playing your part. You did it once before, remember? You totally hoodwinked me. I’m sure you can do it again for everyone else.”
So it was back to this.
She lifted her head high with dignity. She’d just about had enough. “Please leave.”
Clearly no one had ever said that to him before. A muscle flexed in his jaw, then he swung around and grabbed the door handle. “My parents will be here within the hour. They want to meet their grandson.”
He was gone.
Their grandson, he’d said.
They didn’t want to meet her.
Gemma stood there feeling insignificant and small—a nobody who amounted to nothing in the lives of the family she was soon to marry into.
Welcome to the world of the Chandlers.
Three
Ten days later, Tate stood at the end of the red carpet in his family’s country estate north of Melbourne and watched a vision descend the sweeping staircase into the old ballroom. He heard the guests’ gasps of delight, and pride swelled inside him. Gemma looked so beautiful and elegant, her strapless white wedding gown cascading down to the ground. If he had been in love with her, he would have had a lump in his throat right about now. Under the right circumstances, he would have been happy to have her as his wife.#p#分页标题#e#
God, this woman certainly knew how to make a grand entrance, even at her own wedding. Was it intentional? Probably. Yet he saw her hand slightly gripping the banister. Perhaps she wasn’t as self-assured as she wanted to appear. Nothing was ever as it seemed with Gemma.
Like right now, he mused. Gemma’s parents were overseas, and she said she had no other relatives, so his father had offered to walk her down the aisle. She’d thanked him and shocked them all by refusing. And she hadn’t budged.
It didn’t make a difference to the outcome. They were still going to be married today. Only his immediate family knew they weren’t in love. The other guests had to be convinced they were. Tate didn’t want his son growing up tainted by rumors that his father hadn’t wanted him. As far as Nathan was concerned, he would know he was the reason for bringing his parents together. Today was really all about his son. And if Gemma let Tate down, then she’d be letting Nathan down, too. She knew a lot was riding on her performance today, hence her stunning entrance.
Just then, she reached the bottom of the stairs, took a moment to brace herself in an enchanting fashion and started her walk down the aisle.
His heart thumped as she came toward him, her eyes on his, not missing a step. She was most of the way, when her gaze slid sideways to the front row. An extremely cute Nathan in a little tuxedo was being cuddled in his grandmother’s arms.
Without warning, Gemma stepped away to kiss her son on the cheek, causing a murmur of approval. Cameras clicked, and just that quickly he wondered if the loving gesture had been just to win the hearts of their audience. If so, it had done the trick.
She stepped back onto the red carpet and continued toward him. Up close, their eyes connected. He could see the nervousness on her face. All at once he found himself holding out his hand. After the briefest of hesitations, she accepted and slipped her palm in his. He brought her to him, lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. She wasn’t the only one who could make loving gestures, he told himself.