Bridesmaid with Attitude

His idea wasn’t totally insane. In fact she was quite excited by the thought of it—and not just because it meant spending more time with this inscrutable, scorching-hot man.

It wouldn’t do her career any harm, being seen to be involved with an earl. Recently it seemed as though the press were growing bored with reporting on her whirlwind affairs with playboys and party animals—the type of men she associated with because they were easy company and didn’t make any emotional demands on her—and she knew in her line of work it was imperative to keep her profile up in the press.

Recently the producers of her show had started to make worrying noises about her no longer fitting the tone of the show, and she’d heard through the production grapevine that they were considering offering her role to Daisy Dunlop—a recently retired athletics runner with a steady home life—once the show moved to the mainstream channel it was touted to be promoted to soon.

There was no way she was letting someone else get their hands on her baby. She’d worked long and hard to get where she was. The show was her and she was the show, and she could fit any box they needed her to in order to keep on hosting it.

It was just a case of proving to the producers that that was the case.

So she needed to clean up her act.

Perhaps serendipitously, Theo could be the answer to her problems. The press would jump on a story about her getting romantically involved with someone with his appeal and social standing, which could be the profile-boosting stunt she desperately needed if she was going to keep her career on the up-and-up.

Logistically it would work fine too. She had a few weeks off while they took a break in filming the show, so she had the time to hang out here with Theo. Despite his grumpy demeanour, she liked him—probably because he wasn’t a push-over—and it wouldn’t exactly be a hardship to hang out at his estate for a week, even if it was under the watchful gaze of his odious-sounding mother.

But most of all if faking her feelings for the Earl meant that Lu could have her dream wedding here then it would all be worth it.

Besides, it could be fun—and she was a big fan of fun.

Striding back into the workshop, she watched Theo for a moment or two, enjoying the spectacle of his lithe to-ing and fro-ing.

She cleared her throat to get his attention and he turned round to face her with a questioning expression.

‘If we’re going to do this thing we really ought to know each other’s names.’ Stepping forward, she put out a hand. ‘Hi, I’m Emily Applegate.’

He took her hand, enveloping it in his own work-roughened one, and squeezed hard, coating her hand with grease so their fingers slipped against each other.

‘Theo Berkeley.’

‘Okay, Theo, if you promise to pull out all the stops and let Lula hold her wedding here—including the use of your family chapel for the ceremony if she wants it—we’ve got a deal.’

He gave her a discerning look. ‘I’d have to square that with the vicar.’

‘Then square it.’

He snorted in incredulity. ‘She must be a very good friend.’

‘She is.’

She’d swear that she’d glimpsed the glimmer of a smile in his eyes. So there was some life in there. He might come across as cold and as hazardous as liquid nitrogen, but she could sense there was a lot going on under that tough surface. She’d bet her life on it.

The idea of breaking through the frigidity to uncover it made her whole body tingle with excitement.

‘Okay, Theo, let’s do it. Let’s get romantic.’

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_6b5f6ddb-3704-5d67-98b0-d71484002ce9)

THEO FELT THE tension he’d been holding on to begin to dissolve as she said the words he’d been hoping to hear.

Still, there was one thing that needed to be established before they embarked on this little adventure together.

‘Before we begin I want to make sure we’ve got this clear, Emily—I help you and you help me, then when it’s over we walk away.’

‘That works for me.’

‘Are you sure? Because I’m not looking for a relationship right now.’

She let out a long breath through her nose, an expression of irritation taking over her face. ‘Neither am I. Like I said, I don’t do hearts and flowers either. It’s not my style.’

The veracity of her statement came through loud and clear in the tone of her voice.

He nodded, feeling reassured that she meant what she said.

‘Just out of interest, why is it up to you to sort out your friend’s wedding venue? Shouldn’t it be her husband-to-be turning up here, bargaining with me?’

She leant one hip against the wall and gave him a look from under her lashes. ‘We thought you’d be more likely to want to sleep with me.’

He rolled his eyes at the trite joke.

‘Seriously, though,’ she said, grinning at his reaction, ‘Tristan’s away at the moment, and Lula has enough on her plate, so as chief bridesmaid I offered to come instead. Because she’s the person I love most in the world. She’s been my rock, and I want to do this for her because I know how devastated she’d be if her wedding plans went awry. She’s had a pretty tough life and she deserves to be happy.’

The determination in Emily’s face clinched it for him and the last bit of tension drained away.

‘Okay, then we’d better get on with it,’ he said, laying down the hacksaw he’d been clutching in his hand. ‘We only have a short time to get to know a bit about each other. My mother’s visiting friends today, but she’ll be staying here later and it’s probably better not to catch her on the hop. She doesn’t like to be put on the back foot. I’ll tell her about you first, and wait for her to insist on meeting you, then I’ll suggest I invite you over tomorrow for Sunday lunch. We’ll start small.’

‘So we’re not going to pretend I live with you here?’

‘No. That would seem suspicious. She’d expect to have heard about you already if you’d moved in with me.’

‘Still, you’d better show me around in case I need the loo or something when she’s here and have no idea where to find it. That might look a little suspicious too.’

‘Good idea.’

Walking over to a small sink in the corner of the workshop, he washed the grease off his hands before turning back and gesturing for her to step through the door. ‘After you.’

They strolled side by side from the workshop to the front entrance of the house, with Emily craning her neck to look up at the impressive E-shaped building, with its gold-coloured stone, mullion windows and carved geometric frontage.

She let out a low, complimentary whistle. ‘It’s quite a pad you’ve got here, Theo.’

He experienced a surge of pride as he took the opportunity to experience the place through her eyes. After living here for the last couple of years, ever since his mother had moved out to go and live in Spain with her new husband, it was easy to look past the magnificence of the place, but he knew how special it was. He felt a deep and meaningful connection to the place, right down to his bones.

While he rummaged in his pockets for the keys she bent down and pretended to pet the stone lions that guarded the door. ‘Hello again, my fine feline friends. Don’t worry—I come here with the full benediction of your owner this time,’ she purred at them.

He had a disquieting moment when he wondered whether he was crazy to put his faith in such an unknown quantity, and had to remind himself that he didn’t exactly have a better option.

Opening the door, he ushered her inside and introduced her to the grand hallway, with its stone-flagged floor, dark wood panelling and arched stone doorways leading off to the downstairs rooms.

‘This is where the tour begins.’