Page 37 of One Night in My Rival's Bed

‘On whether you wanted to end our fling now, before we see Ethan and Niamh. You deflected the question back at me without answering it yourself.’

I rolled my lips together, pretending to think about my decision, but I was pretty sure my delay in response wasn’t fooling him. ‘I think it’s okay to continue it for a bit longer.’

‘How much longer?’

‘How long is a fling or a piece of string?’ I quipped back.

His lips moved in the ghost of a smile, but it didn’t make the distance to his eyes. ‘Funny girl.’

I narrowed my gaze at him in a mock-serious way. ‘You’re not in danger of falling in love with me, are you?’

The faint disturbance was back in the swirling depths of his gaze. ‘Whatever gives you that idea?’

I gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘I thought you were always the one to end your flings, but you keep handing me the power to do that. Or are you so confident I’ll be like every other woman you’ve ever dated and beg you to stay with me?’

‘Firstly, you’re not like anyone else I’ve dated. And secondly, I’m not going to fall in love with you or anyone.’

I had to act like a veteran thespian to stop myself from revealing how much his words hurt. He was ruling out the possibility of feeling anything for me but lust. His heart was locked away and I wasn’t sure I could find the key—or even if there was a key.

‘Aren’t you worried you might be tempting fate to say that?’ I asked with a teasing smile.

‘Are you in danger of falling in love with me?’ His expression gave nothing away, but I could sense a throb of tension in the air. Or was it fear? The fear of hurting me when that was the last thing he wanted to do. He might have a reputation as a playboy, but he didn’t strike me as the sort of man to use women solely as sex objects. He certainly hadn’t treated me like that. I had never felt more respected and equal in a sexual relationship before, which made it all the harder to exercise the power to end our fling before I got too attached.

But wasn’t I alreadytooattached?

CHAPTER TEN

WEARRIVEDATthe hotel and quickly checked in to our adjoining rooms, both of us keen to track Niamh and Ethan down. Neither of them was responding to calls or text messages, which only ramped up my panic. I couldn’t bear the thought of my sister getting married without me there.

Was thismyfault? Had I driven her to do something she might later regret, only because I was so against her rushing into marriage because, deep down, I was worried about her being hurt? But Ethan was so devoted to her and she to him. Yes, they were still in the heady early days of falling in love, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a lasting relationship. I had allowed my cynicism about relationships to influence my judgement, but what sort of authority did I have over being in love? I hadn’t been in love with Ryan. I realised now I had settled for second best because it made me feel less guilty about Niamh’s situation. My distorted thinking had been: how could I allow myself to fall properly in love if she never found someone herself?

But Niamh had found someone and with zero help from me. And if I didn’t get there in time, she would marry him in a Vegas chapel instead of the flower-filled village church of her dreams.

Grayson and I made our way to the chapel situated in the hotel, our pace brisk and determined.

‘Let’s hope we can catch them in time,’ he said, frowning heavily.

‘Yes, but if we don’t, I think we have to be as positive as we can. The last thing any couple wants on their wedding day is negativity.’ I blew out a breath and added, ‘I can’t help blaming myself for this. I shouldn’t have been so against them being together.’

Grayson sent me a sideways glance as we traversed another long, garishly carpeted corridor. ‘If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I hated the thought of Ethan going through another heartbreak.’

We came to the chapel before I could think of a response. Another couple was stepping away from the marriage celebrant, their faces wreathed in smiles. And next in line were Niamh and Ethan. I allowed myself a moment of relief to sweep through me before stepping forward with Grayson. At least they weren’t yet married.

Niamh turned her head as we approached and glared at us. ‘You can’t stop us.’

‘We don’t want to stop you,’ Grayson said in a calm and measured tone. ‘We want you to do it properly, at home surrounded by friends and family.’

‘Really?’ Ethan said, with a surprised look.

‘Of course,’ I chipped in. ‘This isn’t the wedding day you’ve always dreamed of, Niamh. Let us at least give you both a wedding day to remember.’

Niamh exchanged a glance with Ethan before turning back to me. ‘But we want to get married sooner rather than later,’ she said, lowering her gaze from mine and chewing at her lip.

My sister was never all that good at delaying gratification, but who was I to talk? I had rushed into a fling with Grayson because I couldn’t help myself. He was temptation personified.

‘I’m sure we can organise a lovely wedding in a few weeks,’ I said.

‘No, we d-don’t want to w-wait a few weeks,’ Ethan said, stumbling over his words in his haste to get them out in a determined tone.

---