Authors: Trina Lane,Lisabet Sarai,Elizabeth Coldwell
Tags: #Romance, #General, #Fiction
Trina has been devouring romance novels since her tender teenage years, although only began writing two and half years ago. When her debut novel was met with resounding success, she said “Hey I can do that again”. The rest as they say is history.
Her choices in reading and writing material are as diverse as her iTunes library, which contains music from Mozart to Metallica. Her one concession is all stories must have a happily ever after ending-did we mention she’s incurably romantic?
She lives in Missouri with her loving and indulgent husband, and orange tabby cat—affectionately referred to as ‘Houdini’ for his stealthy escape attempts.
Email: [email protected].
Trina loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at www.total-e-bound.com.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Love Hearts: Swizzels Matiow Ltd.
Vetiver: Parfums Carven
Eurostar: Societe Nationale des Chemis de fer Fancais SNCF
Tannoy: Tannoy Limited
Bridal Chorus: Richard Wagner
Lohengrin: Richard Wagner
The envelope was lying on the mat when Liz came home from work, addressed to her in handwriting she didn’t recognise. Ripping open the heavy cream stationery, she found an invitation inside. It read…
Mary and Don Burney request the presence of Miss Elizabeth Webster and guest at the marriage of their daughter, Jillian, to James Anthony Steele, on Saturday November 6th at three p.m. at St. Michael’s Church, Greater Endover. Reception to follow at the Endover House Hotel. RSVP.
She scanned the wording again, not quite able to believe it. James was getting married, less than eight months after the two of them had split up. She’d kept on friendly terms with him after they’d gone their separate ways, so she knew he was seeing some girl he had met at a conference, but he’d never given the impression the relationship was particularly serious. There had certainly never been any talk of engagement and wedding bells.
He’d always told her he didn’t want to settle down. Now she realised he just hadn’t wanted to settle down with her. And while she’d been sure, deep down, that James would find happiness with someone else, she hadn’t expected it to happen quite so quickly. For a moment, she considered dashing off a reply to tell the Burneys she was sorry, but she wouldn’t be able to attend. Thinking about it a little longer, she had to admit she was actually curious to see the woman who had captured James’ heart in a way she’d never managed.
Her eyes were drawn again to the word, “guest,” on the invitation. If only she had someone to accompany her. The truth was, she’d barely been on a date since her break-up with James. She had thrown herself into her demanding job as the press officer for a small charity, which helped London’s rough sleepers, telling herself that when the time was right she would start looking for love once more. Petty as it might be, she simply didn’t want James to feel he had succeeded in meeting someone else where she had failed.
Liz propped the invitation on the mantelpiece, in a spot that had once been occupied by a photo of herself and James on the beach at Brighton. It had been her favourite snap of the two of them, taken not long after they’d started dating. How long ago that seemed now.
She had a week before she needed to send a reply. If only a hot, available man could wander into her life before then, everything would be perfect.
“So you see, Tina, I really need to find someone I can take along. Preferably someone cuter than James. I know it sounds childish, but I really don’t mind him being happy. I just wanted to be happy first.”
Liz took a slurp of her orange and banana smoothie. She and Tina were sitting in the cafe they visited every lunchtime. Tina, as she always did, was eyeing the arse of the dark-eyed young man who took their orders and brought their food to the table.
“Maybe I can help you there,” Tina replied. “How about Neil? He’s available.”
Neil was Tina’s flatmate, and an old university friend of hers. Tina had mentioned him often, describing him as one of the sexiest men she knew.
“Tina, if he really is as hot as you say, why isn’t he with anyone?” Liz asked sceptically. “More importantly, why isn’t he with you?”
“If you must know, we got it together in the first couple of weeks after we met. We had fun, but it just never worked out. I think Neil’s looking for a very—specific type of woman.”
Liz waited for Tina to elaborate, but her friend simply chewed a bite of her smoked salmon salad sandwich before continuing.
“I’m sure he’d do it—as a favour to me, if nothing else. And it’ll get him out of the flat for the weekend so I can have Robbie over.” Robbie was Tina’s on-off boyfriend. At the moment, the relationship was very definitely on. “I couldn’t resist treating myself to a tub of chocolate body paint from the little gift shop by the tube station. We’re going to have a
lot
of fun with that.”
Liz chipped in before Tina could lose herself completely in her fantasy. “Well, if you could give my e-mail address to Neil, perhaps I could arrange to meet him in the next couple of days and see if he’s willing to go up to Derbyshire with me. Otherwise, it looks like I’ll be going on my own. And taking the train by myself, and booking a single room, isn’t going to be much fun.”
“Okay, leave it with me. And don’t worry. You’re really going to like him.”
Tina must have fired off an e-mail to Neil as soon as she got back in the office, because within fifteen minutes of sitting down at her desk, Liz saw a message from him pop up in her in-box.
“Elizabeth,” it began.
She smiled at the formality. No one called her Elizabeth these days apart from her mother.
“I would be honoured to meet you to discuss your proposition. Be at the Candy Bar at eight o’clock tomorrow evening. Wear a white blouse and a pinstripe skirt so I’ll recognise you. Do not be late.”
The message wasn’t quite what she had been expecting. It sounded more like a request from a stern headmaster than a friendly note from a potential—albeit temporary—partner, and she hadn’t dreamed Neil would be so specific about the time, the place and her manner of dress. Still, something about his tone intrigued her. And with the deadline for replying to the wedding invitation steadily creeping up on her, she really couldn’t afford to turn him down.
She sent back an e-mail saying simply, “Sounds great, Neil, I’ll see you there.”
First came the small matter of finding a pinstripe skirt. Of all the items he could have asked her to wear, he had to choose one she didn’t already own. She didn’t have much time to shop—there was a press release she had to redraft before she could leave the office—but fortunately, in the same parade of shops where Tina had bought the chocolate body paint was a small boutique. It was on the point of closing for the night when Liz entered, and the manageress seemed anxious to lock up and leave. Liz quickly rifled through the rails of clothing. Right at the back of the shop, among a number of sale items, she found a skirt with a fine grey pinstripe. It was the only one in her size, which she took as some kind of omen. She didn’t bother to try it on. She simply handed over the cash while the manageress stuffed the skirt into a bag for her.
When she got home, the first thing she did was take the skirt up to the bedroom to see how it fit. She hadn’t taken the time to study it in the shop and was a little surprised to discover it was cut in a pencil style, skimming tightly over the slight swell of her stomach and her gently rounded hips. It forced her to take smaller steps than usual, adding a definite wiggle to her walk. Hopefully Neil would like the way it looked.
The skirt certainly attracted plenty of male attention when she walked into the office the following morning. She’d teamed it with a crisp white blouse and a black velvet choker around her neck and had twisted her honey-blonde hair into a French pleat, giving her a sexily severe appearance. Though no comments were made out loud, she was aware of eyes glued to the curve of her arse where the skirt was stretched across it.
Tina was away on a day-long training course, so Liz didn’t get the chance to pump her for more information about Neil. She knew, though, that her friend would want all the juicy details on how the evening had gone when she was back in the office.
The Candy Bar was a trendy new venue in Spitalfields, ten minutes’ walk from Liz’s office building. Its gimmick was that all the cocktails it served had the names of sweet treats, and its interior was painted in the pastel pinks, greens and purples of a packet of Love Hearts, with slogans like, ‘BE MINE’ and ‘KISS ME’, outlined in heart shapes on the walls. Even on a midweek night, it was still surprisingly busy when Liz walked in, five minutes before the arranged time of eight o’clock.
She had no idea what Neil looked like, apart from Tina’s vague description of him as being tall and dark, and for all she knew, he could be here already, watching her from a shadowy corner. Studying the cocktail list, she ordered a Raspberry Tart, which was a mixture of raspberry liqueur, lime juice and vanilla ice cream, muddled with fresh raspberries. She’d just taken her first sip, and was casting around the room in the vain hope of finding a free seat.
At that moment, a voice behind her said, “Elizabeth?”
It had to be him. No one else would use her full name. Turning round, she found herself looking into a pair of inquiring brown eyes. Tina hadn’t been lying when she had described Neil as hot. Liz felt something inside her melt just meeting his gaze. The cut of his dark brown hair almost compelled her to run her fingers through it, and his full lips quirked upwards in a knowing smile. His chin was lightly stubbled and he was dressed in a dark suit that flattered his well-built six-foot frame. If she turned up at the wedding with Neil in tow, she would have all the female guests staring at her in envy. But first, she had to get him to agree to go with her.
“You must be Neil,” Liz said. “Tina’s told me so much about you.”
“Yes, I can imagine.” Neil declined the fancy cocktails on offer, ordering a bottle of Italian beer instead. He raised the bottle to Liz in a mock salute. “Thank you for being punctual, Elizabeth, and for dressing as I requested. I have the feeling you and I are going to get along very well.”
A couple were vacating a table in the corner, and Neil ushered Liz over to take their places. The message on the wall above them read, ‘FOREVER YOURS’, though Liz hardly paid it any attention. She was too busy silently celebrating her luck in finding herself with this stunning man.
“So, Tina tells me you’re looking for a guest to take to a wedding,” Neil said once they were seated. “How does a beautiful woman like you find herself in a position where she’s on her own?”
The compliment could have been corny, but Neil made it sound utterly sincere. Liz felt a swift rush of lust pass through her body to settle low in her belly, and she squirmed in her seat. “The man who’s getting married is my ex,” she explained, “and since we split up—well, I guess I just haven’t been in the mood to meet someone else. And it’s very important that I find the right man now, because obviously I don’t want people to realise we’re not actually a couple.”
“You know there are escort services, which could provide this kind of thing?”
Liz couldn’t work out whether or not Neil was joking. She settled for saying, “I dread to think what they’d charge for an overnight stay. And I’d prefer to go with someone who was there because they actually liked me, rather than because I was paying for their company.”
Neil took a thoughtful sip from his bottle. “That makes sense. And I’d be more than happy to accompany you. But on one condition.”
“And that is?” Liz knew this was the moment when the whole plan could fall apart.
“You do exactly as I tell you, from the moment we get on the train at St. Pancras to the moment we arrive back there.”
Liz twirled the straw in her cocktail, mulling the idea over. She was sure there were plenty of women who would turn such a bizarre request down flat, but she had already been doing everything he’d asked since she’d replied to his e-mail. Though she couldn’t admit it to herself—not just yet, at any rate—something deep within her was responding to the idea of being subtly controlled and made to follow Neil’s orders.
“I think I can cope with that,” she said. “As long as you don’t ask me to stand in the middle of a busy road, or throw the wedding cake at my ex.”
Neil smiled, those dark eyes seeming to burn into her. “Don’t worry, Elizabeth, there’ll be nothing like that. But you need to know what you’re letting yourself in for, so let’s see just how good you are at following my instructions.”
“Okay,” Liz replied. “I’m game if you are.”
“Very well, I’d like you to undo a button on your blouse.”
She had already left the top two buttons unfastened. Opening another button would give him a hint of her creamy cleavage, nothing more. It didn’t seem like too much to ask, so she obeyed.
“Very good,” Neil said. “And another.”
Doing as she was told would open the blouse as far as the front catch on her bra. Still, it could have been worse. Her breasts were small enough that some days she went without a bra, depending on what she was wearing. She was suddenly glad today wasn’t one of those days.
Liz gave a swift glance round the bar, which was beginning to thin out as people left to catch a train or move on to one of the many nearby restaurants. No one seemed to be paying them any attention. She hesitated for a moment longer, then took a breath and popped open the button.