Rose heard the thump of a tail fervently battering against the carrier’s sides. ‘Forget it.’ She sighed, irritated that Ben’s charms had worked so quickly on both Mandy and Coco. She’d never been able to bond with people or animals so fast. She searched in her handbag for her headphones and put them on before quickly finding a Mozart piano concerto on Spotify. Then Rose shut her eyes, deliberately signalling an end to the conversation.
They didn’t speak again until the plane was in the air and Mandy had served them both with coffee. Black for Rose, milk and three sugars for Ben – and biscuits on white china plates that, apparently, were usually reserved for the customers in first class. Ben had gifted Mandy with a barrage of gratitude until her cheeks had turned puce. The hostess had then found a treat for Coco, and the demon had offered her a rare tail wag too.
‘I usually travel in business class, but all the flights today were full,’ Ben confided to Rose, shifting in his chair so he could look at her. ‘I appreciate you booking a seat for me.’
‘These were the only two left on the one dog-friendly flight.’ She frowned at Coco. ‘Then again, that’s what happens when you’re asked to fly to Italy at the last minute to take part in an impulsive wedding.’ Rose broke off a tiny piece of biscuit and chewed it slowly. It was mouth-wateringly good, so she nibbled a little more.
‘You don’t approve?’ Ben asked, and for the first time since they’d met, he stopped smiling, although it didn’t dim the power of those good looks.
Rose swallowed. ‘I’ve known Luna since we were in school.’ She paused. ‘She’s my best friend, the closest person I have in my life.’ She thought about her parents and grimaced. She’d love to have a better relationship with them but… she sighed feeling a familiar ache. They’d never really treated her like a daughter, she’d always been more of a pawn in their crusade to hurt each another. But that’s what happened when you married in haste. ‘I don’t want her to make a mistake. She’s had a few near misses, people who’ve tried to take advantage. Her family are very wealthy.’
Ben stiffened. ‘Marco isn’t a mistake and he’s not a gold digger,’ he said firmly, sipping some of his coffee, carefully hovering the paper cup over Coco’s carrier. ‘He’s a good man.From what he’s told me, your Luna is his perfect match. Love at first sight he told me.’ His tone was surprisingly wistful.
‘They met three and a half weeks ago. This was a business trip for Luna, so she was working most of that time,’ Rose said, trying to keep the incomprehension out of her tone. Luna had said the same thing about love at first sight to her. But she’d said that before – and each time the relationship had ended in disaster.
‘Have you told her how you feel?’ Ben asked, looking amused.
Rose shook her head. ‘It’s a difficult subject to bring up on the phone. I thought I’d leave it until we were face to face. We’ve texted and emailed, and I’m planning to keep it that way until we can talk properly.’ At least then she could look Luna in the eye and persuade her gently.
‘Makes sense,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘Perhaps when you see them together, you’ll realise you’re worrying about nothing?’
Rose had to fight the desire to shake her head. ‘You’ve known Marco for a while?’ she asked, shifting her shoulder because it was beginning to go numb.
Ben nodded, shooting her another quick smile, clearly unable to stop his charm reflex, which told Rose everything she needed to know about how authentic it was. ‘Since university. We work together too – have done for over twelve years.’
‘Has he been married before?’ Rose shot back, staring into his hypnotising chocolate brown eyes and swallowing.
Ben’s smile grew brighter, lighting his face. He was clearly delighted with the interrogation. ‘You’ll be pleased to know there has not been a Mrs Marco Marino to date. He had a near miss too a couple of years ago. Someone who cheated, and it’s taken him a while to get over that. That’s why I’m so pleased to see him back on his feet.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Rose said softly. She’d seen enough heartbreak to know it could take someone years to heal.
Ben paused, the smile disappearing momentarily before it reappeared like a dolphin performing a spectacular somersault out of the sea. ‘When he asked me to be his best man, I dropped everything.’
‘I did the same for Luna,’ Rose said. Her words were punctuated by a sudden bout of turbulence which made Ben’s cup of coffee tumble from his hand.
‘Damn!’ he exclaimed as it somersaulted before landing upside down in Rose’s lap, spilling the contents.
‘Ouch!’ she yelped, practically levitating as the hot liquid spilled onto her legs, seeping through the cream linen trousers and staining the material. She quickly grabbed the cup, righted it and handed it back to Ben, wincing as she stared down at her clothes.
‘I’m so sorry, are you hurt?’ he apologised, sounding upset.
‘I’m okay,’ Rose muttered as she tried to reach for her handbag which contained a bottle of water.
‘But I’ve ruined your wonderful suit,’ Ben said as the turbulence returned, shaking the plane, and the seatbelt sign was switched back on. Rose’s neighbour grunted a couple of times, but thankfully didn’t wake. ‘I’ll get the lovely Mandy to bring you something to clean that up.’ Ben grimaced as he took in the dark stain which had travelled from Rose’s knee to halfway up her thigh. ‘If it’s any consolation, I think you can pull it off.’
Rose grimaced. It wasn’t Ben’s fault, but the suit was ruined – worse she knew she was going to be stuck in it for the rest of the journey, if not until tonight. Unless she could change when they got to the airport?
‘I don’t think Mandy is going to be able to do much to help, and I think I’ll be putting up with it rather than pulling it off. It’s fine,’ she muttered, finally getting to her handbag and grabbingthe bottle of water so she could pour a little onto the stain. It didn’t help.
‘It really was an accident,’ Ben promised.
‘I know.’ The stain wasn’t deliberate, but Rose hated looking untidy. She brushed at the mark fitfully before giving up. Hopefully, this wasn’t a premonition for how the rest of the trip was going to turn out.
Ben gave her a half smile. ‘Well, I owe you. Feel free to drop something on me another time. Maybe at the wedding?’ His eyes twinkled again, making the breath catch in her throat.
‘I wouldn’t do that.’ Rose brushed at the stain again because she couldn’t help herself.
‘You were saying how you think the wedding’s a bad idea?’ he probed, probably trying to distract her from the coffee disaster.
