Bride by Design 3: Manchala Nights (8 page)

And I'd repaid that kindness and trust with im
petuous and unreasonable demands.
I realized now that I'd acted like a spoilt child. But it was too late - I might care about Colin, but I didn't think he'd forgive me for my behavior. The sex had been great, but he didn't need me around for that. He had lots of choice and for all I knew, he was onto his new "girlfriend" by now. I studiously avoided looking at the tabloids, but I couldn't keep Colin off my mind.

On Thursday,
I went out to lunch wit
h Margaret, the receptionist.
We'd gotten to be friends quickly, and I thought it would be nice to get to know her better.

We chatted about work and the weather for a while, and then she told me about the other people who had applied for my position. 

"You were a last minute choice for the firm," she confided
,
over a chicken salad.

"How come?"

"Well,
Brian had someone else in mind. But
Colin Anderson called
him
the week before and told him you were a great designer."

My heart thumped wildly and I tried not to choke on my sandwich.
I felt as though I'd stopped breathing.
What was going on? "Why did he do that?"

Margaret shrugged casually. "He said he knew your work through that blog, and Brian assumed you'd done some private work for his firm
but he didn't want to admit it. Are you feeling ok?"

I'd lost my appetite and I must've turned quite pale. I nodded silently and clutched my stomach, pretending I had cramps.

Margaret poured me a glass of water and looked a bit confused about what to do, but I regained my composure and drank the water.

"Thanks," I stuttered. "I don't know what happened there."

"Oh, it's ok," she murmured. "It happens sometimes."

I nodded, and stayed quiet,
answering in monosyllables when Margaret asked me questions, and allowing her to spend
the rest
of the
meal telling me about her cats.
But I ba
rely understood what she said. The image of Colin calling Brian kept turning over in my mind
- why had Colin helped me get this job? What was he trying to do and why?

I couldn't find the answers to those questions and I felt confused
as I went through the rest of the day, doing basic admin work and filing papers.

When I got home, I shut myself up in my room and
tried to figure it out calmly
.

It didn't make sense, I hadn't agreed to do anything for Colin when he called Brian. He must've thought I wouldn't agree
to his proposal
, and maybe wanted to help me get a job if I didn't wind up working for him.
Or had he foreseen the possibility that he wouldn't get the job in Manchala, or that things might go wrong between us?

I felt sick and skipped dinner. I didn't want to take advantage of Colin, but wasn't I doing that just by working at my new job? And why had he helped me out for no reason - what would have happened if I hadn't gone to Manchala?

I spent the next day conflicted about what I'd just learn
ed
, wondering if I should call Colin and thank him, or if I should just ignore it and move on.

Was I just looking for an excuse to call Colin? I didn't know, but if he didn't want to talk to me, it would be a very brief phone call.
But it would be nice to hear his voice again, even if he was being stiff and formal. On the other hand, maybe he'd already forgotten about me and was busy with a new girl, and I'd just make a fool of myself if I called him.

Chapter
Seven

My indecision was put to an end when I walked out of work
on Friday
.

There was a familiar black limo parked near the curb, and when the window wound down, I saw Colin sitting inside.
I almost squealed with delight, and walked
towards the car
as quickly as I could. When I stepped inside, I grinned at Colin, and I saw the familiar wary mask drop from his eyes as he smiled back, and I hugged him before he could protest.

"Thank you so much for the job, Colin," I said
happily
, squeezing his hands in mine. "I don't know why you called Brian, and you're nuts, but I appreciate it."

Colin gulped and said gruffly, "Brian wasn't meant to tell you I called."

"No, but you can't stop gossip!"

I laughed, not trying to hide my exuberance. I was
happy
Colin had helped me get a job, but I was even more thrilled to see him again.

All the emotions of the past few days bubbled up to the surface - I'd missed him, I'd thought I'd never see him again and then I'd been confused about why he'd helped me get
the new job.
I knew I was a visible mess of emotions but I didn't care, all I knew was that Colin was in front of me again and I had a few more minutes with him.

His gorgeous
green
eyes smiled back at me softly, and I held his hands, feeling how strong and warm they were.

"I've missed you, Colin," I said, not caring if that made me sound weak. "I'm sorry about what happened in Manchala."

I leaned in to kiss him, and was surprised and hurt when he pulled back and moved to the seat opposite me.

I tried not to pout, and Colin said gently, "It's hard to resist you, Lisa."

"Then why are you? Is there someone else?"
My eyes narrowed
and I felt a chill of jealousy.

Colin laughed softly and ignored my flashing eyes. "How could there be someone else when I can't get you out of my mind?"

The words reverberated through my head and I calmed down a bit.
Had he really been thinking about me?
"Then what it is it?"

"We need to talk business before we get all emotional and mess things up again."

I nodded. He was right, emotions did mess things up.
And of course he hadn't come here just to see me, there must be some business issue happening.

I tried to
not to feel disappointed as I
calm
ed
down and
attempted to
be more professional.
"What's going on?
You know I owe you for this job.
"

My voice sounded hollow, and
Colin winced. "You owe me nothing. I paid you, you went to Manchala with me, that's it. I called Brian impulsively, I just felt like you needed a break."

I was about to protest, but he interrupted me. "I need
you to do something for me. I want
you to pretend to be living with me in my townhouse."

I looked surprised, and Colin
continued, "
Don just called. He's found out that Roger's being investigated for embezzlement, and he's regretting his decision to go with Roger. He wants to go with me instead."

"That's great! Wow, that was lucky for you."

Colin laughed drily. "There's no such thing as luck, just being super-prepared. Anyway, Roger's been hinting to Don that
we
might not
really
be married.
So Don's coming over to my place tonight for dinner, to check that we're really married, before I sign the contract. Roger even
called me and said he'd have told all the tabloids
, and told Don to look for a marriage license
, except Celine threatened to make his life super-tough if he did that. She seems to like you." He raised an eyebrow and said lightly, "You have no idea about the effect you have on people."

I shrugged. "
Celine
doesn't have any real friends, nobody was ever
actually
nice to her."

Colin smiled. "I wasn't talking about Celine."

I blushed and hoped he meant what I thought he meant.

We drove down to my apartment to get some things and I grudgingly let him come upstairs.

"It's a pigsty," I warned him.

But when he was inside, Colin laughed and said, "I think 'pigsty' is an understatement."

I pretended to glare at him and quickly grabbed some slippers, clothes and a painting - things I'd use in Colin's townhouse to pretend I lived there.

I was tempted to pull Colin close and kiss him deeply, but we kept our hands off
one another
and sat opposite each other on the drive down to his townhouse.
There was a lot at stake tonight and I wanted to help Colin out and make amends for the way I'd behaved in Manchala. I didn't want to risk messing things up for him again.

Once we arrived, I was impressed by the gorgeous building, the elegant layout and the beautiful furniture. Colin introduced me to his housekeeper, Sheila, and once she was out of earshot, I whispered to him that my place would
look
as neat as
his, if only I had a full-time housekeeper.

Colin merely grinned and told me to make a mess of his place. I frowned at him, but we quickly hung up the painting in the bedroom, and I tossed my slippers in one corner and threw some clothes over the back of a chair.

"Perfect," said Colin, surveying the bedroom. "Now go and change out of your work clothes."

I pouted and said, "Stop rushing me."

"Stop pouting."

His eyes were teasing and he looked so strong and handsome.
As we stared at each other,
I felt
the
invisible thread of electricity between us pulsing and growing stronger, and
I couldn't hold myself back any longer
. I
wrapped my arms around his neck
and leaned up into his mouth. Colin
grabbed my waist and pressed against me, his mouth returning my passion.

I moaned into his mouth and let him push me onto the bed. Colin started to undo the buttons of my blouse, and one hand kneaded my breast. I arched my back, trying to get more of him, but then Colin stepped away.

I looked up at him in surprise. Colin ran his hand through his hair and said, "Sir Donald will be here soon. I don't want to start something we can't stop."

His voice was hoarse and
I noticed his breathing was heavy. But I felt annoyed and rejected, so I decided to make him pay.