Page 111 of Be More Lucy

Lucy sighed. He was acting so weird. What the hell was going on in his head? She went back to the kitchen. Only Em was in there now.

‘Any news?’ Em asked eagerly. Nancy must’ve tipped her off.

‘Mark wants me to pretend to be his girlfriend.’

‘Pretend?’

‘Yes, pretend. To ward off Caroline.’

‘But you were in there on your own with him? Why didn’t you ask what was going on with him?’

‘I was so stunned by the pretending suggestion that I didn’t get a chance to get my words out before he disappeared again.’

Em looked thoughtful. ‘Well, pretending is better than nothing. How far does he want to take the pretence?’

‘He didn’t say.’

‘I think you should ask him.’

Mark stood outside the entrance to the marquee, working out what to do next. The pub plan was still appealing, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Lucy.You stupid bastard! You should have asked her about Harry when you’d got her alone in the study!But the truth was he’d been scared to, in case she confirmed she and Harry were serious.

He heard the tap tap tap of someone walking up behind him in stilettos. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of green. Lucy. He turned around.

She stood next to him and smiled, her beautiful green eyes looking even more appealing in the warm light of the fairy lights. He noticed she was wearing the pendant he’d bought her for her birthday, which naturally led his gaze to her plunging neckline.No, don’t think about the contents of her bra. Harry has first dibs on those now.Lucky git.

She glanced inside the marquee. ‘Caroline’s watching us,’ she whispered in his ear. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘Can we walk in together? I’ll get you a drink.’

‘Ok.’ She slipped her hand in his. He turned to look at her, noticing that tiny birthmark she had on the side of her neck. Kissed her there always turned her on and … Stop thinking about fucking her. This was going to be much more difficult than he’d anticipated.

‘That’s a very sad face for a new bride,’ Nancy said as Em walked into the kitchen with the leftover cake slices. ‘What’s happened?’

‘It’s Jack.’

‘What’s wrong with Jack?’ Nancy made a beeline towards the tea caddy. Em must look seriously worried if it warranted Nancy making a brew already.

‘He’s upset with his dad.’

‘Most people get upset with Peter. He’s the most obnoxious arsehole I’ve ever met. Never understood why Olivia married him. At least she can see through him now.’ Nancy got the milk from the fridge.

‘Can she? It doesn’t look like that tonight. They were snuggled up together on the sofa earlier on, and now they’re slow dancing. Jack’s worried they’ll get back together.’

Nancy smiled. ‘Tell Jack to stop worrying. I know exactly what his mother’s up to.’

Em looked quizzically at her. ‘What is she doing then?’ she asked as Nancy put a mug of tea in front of her.

‘Her house needs a new roof, and technically, Peter owns a quarter of it. So she’s leading him on to get him to hand over his share of the repairs. Simple, really.’

‘Couldn’t she just send him the bill?’

‘He ignores those. Getting him drunk and randy is far more effective.’

‘Doesn’t he realise that?’

‘No, he’s far too arrogant. He thinks he’s irresistible. Falls for it every single time. He funded 100% of the replacement orangery two years ago. I didn’t like to ask how far she had to go to get that signed off.’

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