ffect some seriously wild, uninhibited, unexpected sex could have on a man...
‘Congratulations, by the way,’ she said, her smile still fixed in place, her eyes oddly unreadable.
‘What for?’
‘That,’ she said, glancing down at the bunch of flowers he was still, for some unfathomable reason, holding. ‘It means you’re next.’
Marcus gave a theatrical shudder to mask the less theatrical one he felt deep inside. ‘Hell will freeze over first,’ he muttered.
‘Then you really shouldn’t have caught it.’
‘I like to win.’ And he had, even though Kit and Lily had put up an excellent good-natured battle. Celia, come to think of it, hadn’t put up any kind of a fight. She’d just stood there looking as if she’d been miles away.
‘And what will you do when word gets out? You’ll be swamped.’
‘I’ll use you as my shield.’
She tilted her head and looked at him sceptically. ‘Meaning what exactly?’
Who knew? All he knew was that as long as they had mileage, and they clearly did what with the electricity that was bouncing back and forth between them, he’d be pursuing it. ‘Meaning go and get your things, Celia, and say your goodbyes.’
‘I’m just about to.’
‘Good.’
She took a deep breath and pulled her shoulders back, her smile fading a little. ‘About us leaving together, Marcus...’
‘What about it?’
‘We won’t be.’
That was fair enough. Her parents were here and he could understand her desire for discretion. He was perfectly happy for them to leave separately and meet up later. ‘Fine,’ he said easily. ‘Where were you planning on staying tonight?’
‘At home.’
He went still at that. Frowned. ‘What?’
‘I’m heading home,’ she said, drawing out the syllables as if he were a bit slow on the uptake, which he was because he was having trouble processing what she was saying. ‘So if you’ll excuse me I’d better get a move on.’
Leaving him standing there like a tongue-tied brainless idiot, she turned and set off for the house at such a cracking pace she was practically through the front door by the time his brain had kicked in and he realised that she really was intending to leave and that if he wanted to stop her he was going to have to be quick.
Setting his jaw, he strode after her, dumped the roses on the table just inside the door, which was groaning with presents, and when he saw her halfway up the stairs swiftly crossed the hall. ‘You’re leaving now?’ he said, wondering why she’d changed her mind.
‘I have a train to catch,’ she said without breaking stride. ‘In just under an hour.’
‘You weren’t planning to stay?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I knew this wouldn’t be the kind of wedding that goes on till dawn and I have to be at work early tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow’s Sunday.’
‘So?’
Taking the stairs two at a time, he caught up with her in a matter of seconds. Long enough for it to get into his thick skull that she had no intention of changing her plans despite what had happened earlier. Which disappointed him more than it ought to, although he didn’t have time to wonder about that right now.