‘Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. So it wasn’t a mutual split, then?’
He looked at her steadily for a second, weighing up whether or not to answer that, before shaking his head. ‘No. It was her choice. But I’m over it now.’
Soli’s eyes narrowed as if suspicious of this bold statement. ‘How long were you with her?’
‘Four years. We met in our last year of university.’
The usual wave of hurt flooded through him at the thought of Harriet and all that had happened between them, but he was determined not to let seeing her again ruin his night tonight. He needed to concentrate on getting through this thing successfully with Soli and convincing his friends they were a real married couple in order to avoid any more personal humiliation. That had to be his top priority.
‘Is there anything specific I need to know? So I don’t make a faux pas if we meet her?’ Soli asked, her expression open and her voice so kind it reached right inside him and tugged at his heart.
He almost told her everything, right there and then, but decided against it at the last second. She didn’t need to know all the sordid details. It wasn’t as if everyone would still be gossiping about it now. Surely they’d all moved on.
‘No. I think it’s probably best if we just avoid her. I don’t want to cause a scene, especially not in front of Hugo and Veronica, who are friends with both of us,’ he said stiffly.
‘Okay. Well, thanks for the heads up.’ She was looking at him now with a concerned expression, as if she suspected there was more to it than he was telling her.
Nothing, it seemed, got past Soli.
There was an awkward beat of silence where they both smiled at each other, and he couldn’t help but think how pretty she looked. Her pupils seemed to dilate as she continued to maintain eye contact with him and she drew in a soft, breathy gasp, opening her lips a fraction as if she couldn’t quite get enough air.
His gaze immediately moved to her mouth and he had to force himself not to start wondering what it would feel like to kiss those soft, inviting lips again.
‘I should get the cake out of the oven before it burns,’ she said a little over-brightly, jarring him out of his lascivious trance.
‘Yes. Okay. You do that,’ he said, a little rattled by his body’s instinctive response to her. ‘I’d better go and get ready for the party. We need to leave in about an hour.’
At the door he turned back to watch her as she busied herself around the kitchen, drawing in a great lungful of the delicious smell of the cake as she opened the oven door and bent down to lift it out.
‘There’s a good chance that won’t make it out of the house,’ he joked. ‘It’s altogether too tempting.’
She turned to give him a startled look, quickly recovering her composure when she realised he was talking about the cake. ‘I thought you didn’t like sweet things?’
He raised an eyebrow, tamping down on his amusement about the misinterpreted innuendo. It wasn’t really appropriate to flirt with her when they were on their own. ‘For that,’ he nodded to the tin she had in her oven-gloved hands, ‘I’ll make an exception. It smells incredible.’
Her answering blush brought a smile to his lips, and he allowed himself to flip her one last grin before walking away to prepare for the party, hyper-aware of his blood pumping hard in his ears.
8
CLUEDO (UK)/CLUE (US) – UNCOVER THE CULPRIT WITH DEDUCTION AND GUILE.
It was more of a garden party than a posh evening do, as it turned out, which suited Soli just fine. It meant she was less likely to melt into a sweaty, nervous puddle as they mingled with the large throng of elegant, sophisticated guests.
To Soli, Xavier seemed completely at ease as they moved from group to group, received with a mix of exaggerated bonhomie and friendly curiosity. He gave a nod here and there, occasionally paused to introduce her, then politely excused them and moved swiftly on.
The comforting weight and heat of Xavier’s arm around her waist kept her grounded as they circulated around the party and after a while she started to relax and chat with the people who asked kind, but slightly bemused questions of her, particularly about how she’d met Xavier. Once she’d given her answer about meeting him through the business, she quickly moved the focus of the conversation onto the other person, making sure to ask them lots of questions about themselves.
They’d been there for about twenty minutes without catching sight of the host or hostess, who according to one guest were either down in the wine cellar stocking up on booze or settling a tantrum-throwing child, when there was a shout from behind them. ‘Xavier McQueen, where have you been hiding?’
They both turned away from the couple they were chatting with to see a tall, slim woman wearing a flowing cornflower-blue silk cocktail dress striding purposefully towards them. She pushed her long, sleek black hair away from her face as she got nearer and gave them a huge grin, her dark eyes sparkling with delight.
‘Veronica. Lovely to see you,’ Xavier said, taking a step towards her. Soli could tell from the smile in his voice that he was genuinely pleased to see her. But if that was the case, why had he not seen his friends for so long? He couldn’t have been that busy with work, surely.
‘I’m so pleased you came! I had a bet on with Hugo that you would. He owes me a fiver, oh, he of little faith!’ She raised a playful eyebrow at Soli. ‘My darling husband thought the two of you might be a bit too busy “being newlyweds”.’ She turned to give Xavier a playful wink. ‘But I knew you wouldn’t be so mean as to deny us your wonderful presence at such an important do. Five years we’ve been married, can you believe it?’
Without waiting for a response from him she turned to look at Soli with wide, discerning eyes. ‘Now, who is this delightful creature? Introduce me to your cute-as-a-button new wife, Xavier.’ She held out a manicured hand, which Soli shook, a little surprised by the strength of the woman’s grip.
‘This is Solitaire – Soli for short,’ Xavier said. The sound of her name on his lips gave Soli a strange little shiver of delight. He had such a wonderful deep, gravelly voice – it always did something to her whenever he spoke.
