‘Why didn’t you tell me Harriet stood you up at the altar?’ she blurted into the silence, unable to hold on to her patience any longer.
‘Why do you think?’ he shot back gruffly. ‘It’s not something I generally like to shout about.’
She sighed. ‘Okay, I get that it must have been humiliating and not an easy thing to talk about, but I could have done with knowing about it before coming here and having to find out about it from your friends.’
He took a step away and ran a hand through his hair, looking frustrated with himself. ‘Yes, okay. You’re right, I should have told you. I’m sorry.’
‘It’s fine. It’s just – it makes it hard for me to react appropriately when I don’t have all the information.’ She frowned, not wanting to turn this into a fight, but determined to make her feelings very clear. ‘I want to get this right, Xavier. For both our sakes.’
Xavier smiled back ruefully, his facial muscles tense. ‘I appreciate that. I’ll try to be a bit more open and honest with you from now on, I promise.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, giving him a nod of appreciation.
He looked back at her, his eyes seeming to grow darker as their gazes locked.
‘You know, I’m really impressed with how you’ve handled yourself here today,’ he murmured. ‘I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but everyone we’ve spoken to has clearly really liked you.’
‘That’s probably because I asked them so many questions about themselves and actually listened to their answers,’ she joked, a little uncomfortable with his praise.
‘No. It’s not just that. People really respond to you. You have a real charm about you and you’re clearly very intelligent, judging by the way you followed the different conversations you were thrust into.’
She swallowed, feeling a bubble of pride rise through her chest. ‘Thanks. That’s really nice to hear. I’ve never thought of myself as intelligent.’ She glanced away as heat began to creep up her neck. ‘I wasn’t great at learning at school – it bored me, to be honest – but I’ve read a lot since I’ve been working in the café, and I talk to such a wide variety of people in there every day I hear all sorts of interesting things. I guess it’s made me good at general-knowledge subjects. In fact, I probably should warn you, I’m killer at Trivial Pursuit.’
He smiled at that and his whole face lit up.
Soli dragged in a breath as her body flooded with heat in response to it. He was such a beautiful man, even more so when he relaxed a little and let himself show his emotions on his face.
She swallowed as he took a step closer to her and reached out to pick a small leaf out of her hair. ‘You look lovely today, by the way. I don’t think I told you that back at the house. And I really appreciate you making so much effort for the party.’
‘You’re welcome,’ she murmured through lips that were now having trouble forming actual words. He was standing so close to her, all she was aware of was his tantalising scent.
‘We should probably slip away home now, before Veronica or Hugo come back out here,’ he said, so quietly she was forced to lean in even closer to hear him. Her pulse throbbed hard in her veins as she felt the masculine heat of him radiate towards her. ‘Veronica seemed intent on getting all the details about our marriage and I don’t think I’m quite in the headspace to make up convincing enough lies right now,’ he went on, apparently unaware of how he was turning her to jelly.
‘Sure. Whatever you want,’ she managed to say, forcing her frozen facial muscles into a smile.
Xavier was facing the house and he glanced towards it, seemingly to check if it was safe to make a sneaky exit, but he must have seen something, or someone, that alarmed him because the smile dropped from his face and his whole body stiffened. He appeared to pale as he continued to stare in shock at whatever had caught his attention.
‘What’s wrong?’ Soli asked, turning to look in the direction he was gazing, a slow, heavy feeling of foreboding sinking through her.
‘It’s Harriet,’ he replied in a tense voice.
‘Your ex?’ she asked, turning to watch a strikingly beautiful woman walking slowly towards them.
Soli frowned, wondering why she seemed to be moving so awkwardly, then as she looked down she realised the woman was heavily pregnant and the weight of the baby was making her waddle in her heels across the spongy grass.
‘Yes,’ was all Xavier had time to reply before Harriet was upon them, holding out her arms to Xavier in greeting.
‘Xavier! I heard you were here with your new wife, so I thought it’d be all right to come over and say hello. It’s wonderful to see you happy.’ She offered Soli a friendly smile, the warmth in it only increasing her beauty. ‘I’d heard you were becoming something of a confirmed bachelor-stroke-playboy.’ She grinned affectionately at Xavier and Soli’s stomach gave a sickening twist at how excluded she suddenly felt. These two clearly had some serious history between them.
And Harriet was exactly the sort of woman she’d expect Xavier to be married to. Elegant, intelligent and classically beautiful – the woman seemed to radiate vivacity. By stark contrast, Xavier’s face looked stonier than ever.
‘Oh, come on, Xave, you know I’m only teasing,’ Harriet cooed, giving him a playful slap on the arm. This seemed to wake him up somehow and the corners of his mouth actually turned up for a moment. Not that the smile reached his eyes.
‘I’m really happy for you,’ he said in a voice that sounded as though he was having to force the words through his throat. ‘You’re actually glowing. I thought that was just an expression. I didn’t realise pregnancy really did that to a woman.’
‘So I’ve been told,’ she said with a kind smile. ‘It’s all those hormones rushing around my system. I’m sure I won’t look like this once the baby’s born though. I’ve never been good with lack of sleep.’
‘No. I remember,’ Xavier said.
