Page 35 of The Felicity Theory (The Laws of Love 4)

“Can I see the job description first?”

“Role of bodyguard to English woman abroad,” she chirped, her hand now on his chest, and seemingly not at all in a hurry to remove itself. “Must have proven track record against spiders and spectacular falls.”

He laughed again, and maybe his arm tightened for a second before he let her go with a murmured, “All okay?” and an eyebrow raise that was so darn sexy her lady bits practically went into arrhythmia.

Totally flustered, Felicity turned to find Dan at her elbow. “Want me to tackle him?” he asked, glaring at the guy still throwing himself around the dance floor like a human grenade.

“No, don’t spoil his fun.”

By now Henry had jumped up, and Polly and Judith had appeared on either side of her. “Are you okay, darling?” Henry rushed to pull out a chair.

“I’m absolutely fine. It was a totally planned move to test Oliver’s reflexes wereen pointebefore I employ him.”

She flapped her hand at all their worried faces. “My rendition of the low flying birdie dance is officially over. You can all stop staring at me.” She pinned Henry with a look that pleaded,please don’t draw attention to me.Henry’s nod showed he understood. Just then the waiter plonked another bottle of champagne on the table, and Gabe asked, “One for you Felicity?”

“Sure, why not?”

She glanced at Oliver, and his smile, so full of warmth and concern, made her heart nearly catapult out of her chest. Well, drats to that, if she was feeling wobbly before, she was dizzy now.

Gratefully, she sank onto the chair and took the glass of bubbles from Gabe.

Oliver returned his attention to his notes. From under her lashes, Felicity observed him as she sipped. His thumb pad rubbed absently at his bottom lip as he flicked the pages over with his other hand. Did he know how sensual that move was? The thought immediately sent her into a fantasy about what it would feel like to have those lips moving against hers, his tongue gliding into her mouth.

Ohbollocks.What was the point of trying to tell herself Oliver wasn’t her kind of guy when just looking at him hit the bullseye in her erogenous zones? As if sensing her gaze on him, he looked straight at her, which meant she had to slug down a mouthful of champagne to hide that she’d been shamelessly ogling. Brightly, she asked as she slammed down her glass, “What’s next on the agenda?”

“The cake cutting,” he replied, before a loud “yoo-hoo” heralded the arrival of Rowena in a swirling rainbow of silk, a glittering turban on her head that made her look like something out of The Arabian Nights. No question of the mother of the bride trying to outshine the bride here, Felicity thought, hiding her smile behind her glass.

Oliver jumped up and held out his chair to Rowena, who smacked him heartily on the cheek, leaving a big red lipstick mark. “I’ve been trying to talk to you all night, Oliver. Are you avoiding me?”

“Never. But I now have to organise the cake cutting. So please excuse me.”

“You are doing a marvellous job,” Rowena enthused. ‘I meant to ask, have you had a chance to read the Kübler-Ross book?”

But Oliver was already halfway across the room.

“He’s putting on such a good show,” Rowena sighed, gazing after him. “But I can see the tension around his mouth. Anyway, I really came over to talk to my two favourite men and my beautiful niece-in-law.” She flung an arm round Henry and Gabe’s shoulders and beamed over at Felicity. Henry patted her arm affectionately.

Yet again Felicity found her eyes straying to Oliver as he navigated the tables, stopping to place a hand on someone’s shoulder and laughing at a comment they made.

He was as smooth as fine Belgian chocolate.

And she was a klutzy hot mess.

Which called for drowning her sorrows.

She held out her glass to Gabe. “Top me up.”

* * *

Away from the festivities,Oliver found a spot in the shadows on the manicured lawns and sat down. He placed the bottle of champagne next to him and filled up his glass.

Silently, he raised it towards the rising moon and then, saluting his achievement, downed it in one. To hell with the fact he was half cut. Official duties had ended and he was off the hook. He’d delivered an Oscar-winning performance, done his brother and Alice proud and now all he wanted was to go to ground and lick his wounds.

He filled up his glass again.

All day he’d kept the thoughts of his own disastrous wedding at bay, but it was like fortifying a leaky dam that sooner or later was inevitably going to burst. Memories kept seeping in around the unsealed edges of his brain. Of him and Leonie practising their vows with the marriage celebrant, of saying they’d be there through thick and thin, sickness and health.

Frankly, the only respite was when he’d seen glimpses of that halo of red hair, her cute smile. And how satisfying it had felt when she’d landed in his arms, yet again…

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