Page 42 of One Night in My Rival's Bed

‘It’s hard not to feel guilty when things happen on your watch.’

‘I heard about Niamh’s accident. That must have been so hard on you.’ Her empathetic tone was almost my undoing. Almost.

‘It was...’ I had to blink away another prickle of tears. ‘It is...’

Julie put a gentle hand on my arm. ‘It probably always will be. But it doesn’t mean you can’t move forward. Don’t let the past dictate your future.’

I didn’t get the chance to reply, even if I could have thought of a thing to say. The photographer directed the wedding party to assemble for the official photographs. Once they were taken and refreshments were being handed around, Grayson came over to me.

‘How are you holding up?’

‘My feet are killing me and my face aches from all the smiling.’

‘I hope my mother wasn’t too full-on,’ he said.

‘She was lovely.’

He grunted and swung his gaze to look at Ethan and Niamh, surrounded by the other guests. ‘As long as she didn’t put any ideas into your head.’

I stiffened. ‘What ideas do you mean?’

He turned back to me and gave a careless shrug, his expression masked. ‘Weddings do strange things to people. Make them get all sentimental.’

I wasn’t going to admit to how sentimental I was feeling but I needed to counter-argue on principle. ‘I don’t think it’s strange to feel sentimental at a wedding. It’s kind of nice to see two people who love each other make a public commitment.’

He thrust his hands in his pockets and gazed again at the assembled guests sipping champagne and eating canapés. ‘Most people fall out of love before the honeymoon is over.’

‘Don’t be so cynical. Some people fall in love and stay in love for a lifetime.’

He glanced at me with an unreadable expression. ‘I thought you were as cynical as me. What’s happened?’

‘Nothing. I just think there are other ways of looking at things.’

I saw Ethan and Niamh approaching at that point and I hastily painted a smile on my face. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more blissfully happy couple. Congratulations. It was an exquisitely beautiful wedding.’

Ethan’s arm went around Niamh’s waist, his expression so full of love as he looked up at her from his chair it was enough to make my heart contract. If only Grayson would look at me like that. Or was I wishing for the moon?

‘We should have made it a double wedding,’ Niamh said, grinning at us.

‘What?’ Grayson barked the word, clearly shocked by my sister’s comment.

I was a little shocked too. Shocked that she had put two and two together in spite of my efforts to keep my relationship with Grayson a secret.

‘Don’t be silly, Niamh,’ I said with a laugh that sounded tinny.

Niamh was undaunted by our reaction. ‘You can’t fool us. We know you’ve been together for ages. You don’t have to hide it from us. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in falling in love.’

‘We’re not in love,’ Grayson said in a tone that was so adamant I couldn’t help but feel crushed.

Niamh looked confused and glanced at me. ‘But I don’t understand...’

‘No, you’re the ones who don’t understand,’ Grayson said. ‘It’s not going to happen.’

‘What’s not g-going to happen?’ Ethan asked, frowning.

‘This.’ Grayson waved his hand to encompass the church in the background and the assembled guests in the garden. ‘Any marriage between us is out of the question.’

I was determined not to sabotage my sister’s wedding day by demonstrating how hurt I was by Grayson’s stance, but it called on every bit of acting ability I possessed.

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