Married By Christmas Read online

  ‘Into an account in Andy’s name,’ she easily guessed.

  ‘Yes,’ her father acknowledged dully.

  ‘And Patrick now owns Cleveley Bank,’ she said flatly. ‘That’s why the two of you have been locked in some sort of negotiation.’

  Her father nodded. ‘And Devlin won’t give an inch.’

  ‘But surely if you’re prosecuting Andy Patrick can’t just—’

  ‘I’m not prosecuting Andy, Lilli,’ her father told her.

  ‘What?’ she cried. ‘But why on earth not? If you bring a case against Andy surely the bank can’t—It’s because of me, isn’t it?’ she suddenly realised, becoming very still. ‘You haven’t charged Andy because you don’t want to involve me in this,’ she groaned, realising this was what Patrick had meant earlier about the extent of her father’s protectiveness of her. Well she knew now, and she had no intention of letting this situation continue. ‘Daddy, I know all about Andy, about the money, about—about the other man.’ She gave a pained grimace as he looked at her worriedly. ‘And when you have your meeting with Patrick this afternoon I want you to tell him you are in the process of bringing a case against Andy. There’s no way he can continue to hound you in this way if you’re involved in a court case to try and retrieve the money.’ Even as she spoke she wasn’t sure of the truth of that statement.

  She wasn’t really sure how her father would stand legally even if he were prosecuting Andy over the theft of the money. And from what she had gathered from Patrick’s comments the night she had met him—comments she now understood completely!—his sister’s pleadings on behalf of her lover hadn’t moved him, so perhaps this was going to make no difference to him either. After all, her father was the one who owed the money, and it probably wasn’t the business of the bank if that money had been embezzled...

  Her father sighed again wearily. ‘Lilli, if I bring charges against Andy, then the whole story will come out.’

  ‘I’m aware of that.’

  ‘And you will end up looking totally ridiculous,’ he continued gravely.

  Her mouth twisted wryly. ‘It won’t be the first time!’

  ‘I mean seriously humiliated, Lilli.’ Her father shook his head. ‘Andy’s sexual inclinations are of no interest to anyone at this moment, but they will make headlines when put together with his engagement to you and his embezzling money from me. You would end up a laughing-stock, Lilli, and I won’t have that,’ he stated determinedly.

  ‘At any price?’ she prompted softly.

  His mouth tightened stubbornly. ‘At any price.’

  Her expression softened lovingly, her smile a little shaky. ‘I appreciate what you’re saying Daddy. And I thank you for your loving protectiveness. But there’s really no need,’ she added brightly. ‘You see, I won’t end up a laughing-stock at all. Because I intend marrying Patrick Devlin!’

  The answer to the problem was suddenly so simple. As Patrick had said, he was a good catch as a husband—and no one could possibly laugh at her, or pity her over her engagement to Andy, when she had managed to captivate such an eligible man as Patrick Devlin.

  There was also the additional fact that, although Geraldine’s pleadings on her lover’s behalf might have fallen on stony ground, Patrick could hardly appear callous enough to the business world as to actually hound his own father-in-law.

  Her marriage to Patrick was the answer to all their problems...

  CHAPTER SIX

  ‘LILLI!’ Geraldine Simms looked totally stunned as her maid showed Lilli into her sitting-room. She stood, very beautiful in slim-fitting black trousers and an even more fitted black jumper, her hair a tumble of deep red onto her shoulders and down her spine, her expression of surprise turning to one of wariness. ‘What can I do for you?’ she asked slowly.

  Lilli steadily returned the other woman’s stare, seeing Geraldine as men must see her—as her own father must see her! She was a self-assured woman of thirty-two, and there was no doubting Geraldine’s beauty—almost as tall as Lilli, with that gorgeous abundance of red hair, eyes of deep blue, her face perfectly sculptured.

  No wonder her father was smitten!

  Lilli mouth tightened as she thought of Geraldine’s relationship with her father. ‘You can tell me where I might find Patrick,’ she said abruptly. Contacting the man seemed to be her problem at the moment, and as her father had refused to tell her where Patrick’s office was Lilli had had no choice but to come to Geraldine.

  In fact, her father was proving altogether difficult at the moment where Patrick was concerned. Richard Bennett had been horrified by her announcement that she intended marrying Patrick, and had flatly refused to have any part of it when Lilli had proved stubbornly decided on the matter, to the point where he wouldn’t even tell her where he was meeting with Patrick this afternoon. So, much as Lilli had wanted to avoid the other woman, Geraldine had seemed the obvious source—was sure to know, as he was a guest in her home, where her brother was.

  ‘Patrick?’ Geraldine looked even more startled. ‘Why do you want to see Patrick?’

  Lilli stiffened. She hadn’t relished the idea of coming here at all, wished there were some other way of contacting Patrick; she certainly didn’t intend to engage in a dialogue with Geraldine! ‘I believe that’s between Patrick and myself,’ she returned coolly. The pluses of accepting Patrick’s proposal far outweighed the minuses, but at the top of the minuses was definitely the fact that this woman was his sister!

  Geraldine shook her head. ‘Lilli—’

  ‘I believe Lilli said it was private between the two of us, Gerry,’ Patrick interjected as he strolled into the room, wearing a dark blue business suit and white shirt now, obviously dressed for the office. ‘Did you decide to accept my lunch invitation, after all?’ He turned enquiringly to Lilli.

  ‘Yes,’ she agreed thankfully. She hadn’t actually expected him to be here, had no intention of accepting his marriage proposal in front of his sister. She had never been so pleased to see him!

  ‘Fine.’ He took a firm hold of Lilli’s arm. ‘See you later, Gerry,’ he added dismissively, turning Lilli firmly toward the door.

  ‘But—’

  ‘Later, Gerry,’ Patrick repeated hardly.

  Lilli released her arm from Patrick’s grip as soon as they were outside, silent as he unlocked his car before opening the door for her to get inside. She was silent, because at this moment she couldn’t think of anything to say. Now that she was actually face to face with Patrick again, the enormity of what she was about to do was quite mind-boggling. How could she agree to be this man’s wife, bear his children? But, by the same token, how could she not?

  ‘Save it until we get to the restaurant.’ Patrick reached out and briefly clasped her clenched hands as they lay in her lap, his eyes never wavering from the road ahead. ‘I booked a table for one o’clock.’

  She turned to him sharply. ‘You booked...? You knew I would have lunch with you all the time?’ Anger sharpened her voice.

  ‘I—hoped that you would change your mind,’ he answered carefully.

  He had known she would have lunch with him after all. What else did he know...?’

  Lilli gave him an assessing look before turning her head to stare rigidly out of the front windscreen. She felt as a mouse must do when being tormented by a cat—and she didn’t like the feeling any more than the mouse did! This man always seemed to be one step ahead of her, and in a few short minutes she was going to agree to be his wife. What on earth was her life going to be like, married to him?

  Even the restaurant he had chosen had been picked with privacy in mind, each table secluded in its own booth, the service quietly discreet as they were shown to one, Patrick obviously known here as he was greeted with obsequious politeness; Lilli, as his guest, was treated with that same solicitousness.

  ‘Is it too early to order champagne?’ Patrick asked her lightly as the waiter hovered for their drinks order.

  Lilli’s chin rose defiantly, s
he might be down, but she wasn’t defeated! ‘As long as it’s pink,’ she told him haughtily. ‘I never drink any other sort of champagne.’

  Patrick’s mouth twisted wryly. ‘I’ll try to remember that.’ He turned to the waiter. ‘A bottle of your best pink champagne,’ he ordered.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been here before.’ Lilli gave a bored look round the room once they were alone again, noting how it was impossible, from the angle at which the booths were placed, to see any of the other people dining at the adjoining tables. ‘It looks like the ideal place for a man to bring his mistress without fear of them being seen together,’ she added scathingly.

  Patrick smiled at her description. ‘I wouldn’t know,’ he drawled, also looking casually about them. ‘But you could be right.’ He turned back to her. ‘The food is excellent.’ He indicated she should look at the menus they had been given.

  Lilli looked at him for several long seconds, until she could withstand the laughter in his eyes no longer. ‘The food,’ she finally conceded, looking down at her menu.

  ‘And the company,’ Patrick added softly. ‘Just Lilli,’ he murmured huskily.

  And she had been trying so hard to be Elizabeth Bennett. Damn him!

  Her mouth tightened. ‘Let’s just get this over—’

  ‘The champagne, Lilli,’ he cut in softly, drawing her attention to the waiter waiting to pour their bubbling wine.

  She drew in a ragged breath, sitting back in her seat while the champagne was poured into their glasses. She really did just want to get this over with now, and these constant interruptions weren’t helping her at all.

  Patrick raised his glass in a toast as soon as their glasses were full. ‘To us, Lilli,’ he stated firmly. ‘Or am I being a little premature?’ he prompted as she made no move to pick up her own glass.

  ‘How long have you known?’ she said heavily. ‘That I would marry you,’ she explained as he raised questioning brows.

  He shrugged. ‘I told you last night as we danced, but I suppose I actually realised the merits of it after I had left you yesterday afternoon—’

  ‘I mean, how long have you known I would marry you?’ she cut in impatiently, glaring at him frustratedly.

  ‘Oh, that.’ He sipped his champagne before glancing down at his menu.

  ‘Yes—that,’ she bit out tautly. ‘You really are the most arrogant, infuriating—’

  ‘I love it when you talk to me like that.’ He grinned. ‘No one else does, you know. Except Gerry, and—I realise you don’t even like the mention of her name.’ He frowned and she flinched. ‘But she is my sister, and as such will become your sister-in-law once we’re married.’

  Lilli met his remark coldly. ‘Even so, I don’t see that I have to have anything to do with her.’

  ‘Lilli—’

  ‘I mean it, Patrick,’ she told him. ‘I accept your marriage proposal—but it won’t all be on your terms!’

  ‘I never for a moment thought it would—’

  ‘Oh, yes, you did.’ Her eyes flashed deeply green. ‘But you chose me because of the person I am, and that means the whole person; no matter what you think to the contrary, Lilli and Elizabeth Bennett are not two divisible people—and neither of them wants anything to do with your sister!’

  ‘Hmm, this is difficult,’ Patrick murmured thoughtfully.

  ‘Not as difficult as trying to pretend the two of us will ever accept each other! She’s your sister. I will be your wife. The two of us—’

  ‘I wasn’t referring to that situation,’ Patrick dismissed with a wave of his hand. ‘I simply don’t know whether to have the salmon or the pheasant for lunch.’ He pursed his lips thoughtfully as he studied the menu once again.

  Lilli stared at him incredulously. Did nothing trouble this man? Did he make a joke out of everything?

  ‘No, Lilli, I don’t,’ he murmured softly as if reading her mind, reaching out to clasp one of her hands with his as it lay on the table-top. ‘Close your mouth, my darling, and stop upsetting yourself,’ he teased. ‘The problem between you and Gerry will sort itself out in its own good time. You’re both adult women. And I have no intention of interfering.’

  Lilli wasn’t incredulous any more, she was stunned. ‘Darling’. He had called her his ‘darling’... And as her husband he would have a perfect right to call her any endearment he pleased. He would have the right to do a lot more than that!

  She hastily removed her hand from beneath his. ‘I want a long engagement—’

  ‘No,’ he cut in calmly, to all intents and purposes still studying his menu.

  Colour heightened her cheeks. ‘I told you this isn’t going to be all on your terms,’ she reminded him tautly.

  He gave a brief nod. ‘And I agreed it wouldn’t,’ he said. ‘But a long engagement is out of the question. With a special licence we can be married before Christmas.’

  Lilli gasped. ‘Before—! You can’t be serious,’ she protested, sitting forward. ‘It’s only nine days away; I can’t possibly be ready to marry you between now and then!’

  ‘Of course you can,’ he assured her smoothly. ‘Now I suggest we order our meal,’ he added pleasantly as the waiter approached their table. ‘I have a meeting at three o’clock,’ he reminded her.

  His meeting was with her father. They really didn’t have the time before that meeting to sort this out properly. She couldn’t decide on the rest of her life in an hour and a half!

  ‘I haven’t even had a chance to read the menu yet,’ she told him dully; she had looked at it, but she hadn’t actually read it.

  ‘Another few minutes,’ he told the waiter pleasantly.

  Lilli shook her head. ‘I’m really not hungry.’

  Grey eyes looked compellingly into hers. ‘You have to eat, Lilli.’

  She swallowed hard. ‘I really don’t think I can—’

  ‘Avocado salad and the salmon,’ Patrick told the waiter decisively. ‘For both of us.’ He turned back to Lilli once they were alone again. ‘I’ll agree to any other terms you care to suggest, Lilli,’ he offered. ‘But the timing of our marriage is not for negotiation.’ His mouth tightened. ‘I have no intention of your father settling his problem with Andrew Brewster—and you breaking our engagement so fast you end up bruising yourself in your speed to get my ring off your finger!’ His eyes glittered coldly as he looked at her between narrowed lids.

  ‘A ‘barracuda in a city suit’ was how her father had described this man—and how right he was. Breaking off the engagement was exactly what she had been hoping to do! She really didn’t want to be married to this man, had hoped—oh. God, she had hoped her father would be able to solve his financial problems without her actually having to go through with marriage to Patrick Devlin.

  She should have known Patrick would see straight through any ideas like that!

  Her head went back proudly, her eyes glittering brightly. ‘I suppose you’ve decided what I’m to wear for this wedding, too?’

  ‘White, of course, Lilli.’ He sipped his champagne, surveying her over the rim of his glass. ‘Or are you telling me you don’t have the right to wear that colour?’ he challenged tauntingly.

  ‘You can ask that, after the other night?’ she scoffed.

  ‘Our night together?’

  ‘Of course our night together! Or doesn’t it count if the bridegroom was the lover?’

  Patrick looked at her thoughtfully for several long seconds. ‘I think I should make one thing plain, Lilli,’ he finally said. ‘My first marriage, after the initial honeymoon period, was a battleground. It’s not an experience I care to repeat!’

  ‘Then why choose to marry someone you don’t love and who doesn’t even pretend to love you?’ Lilli asked sceptically.

  ‘Respect, Lilli. I have respect for you, for the love and loyalty you’ve shown towards your father—’

  ‘A love that gives you the leverage to pressurise me into marrying you!’ she accused heatedly.

  His fa
cial muscles tightened. ‘I believe we both said we would keep my business with your father out of this?’

  ‘You don’t honestly think I would give marrying you a second thought if it weren’t for that, do you?’ She shook her head scathingly.

  ‘It wasn’t mentioned in the proposal. And I don’t believe it was mentioned in the acceptance?’ He raised dark brows pointedly.

  ‘It may not have been mentioned, but—’

  ‘Let’s leave it that way, hmm?’ His voice was dangerously soft now.

  Lilli surveyed him mutinously, silenced by the coldness in his voice. But he couldn’t seriously expect her to act as if she were in love with him? That would be asking the impossible!

  She drew in a ragged breath. ‘Patrick—’

  ‘Our food, Lilli.’ He sat back as the avocado was placed in front of them.

  This was ridiculous. They couldn’t possibly discuss something as important as the rest of their lives over lunch, with the constant interruptions that entailed. How on earth did he think—?

  ‘Try the avocado, Lilli,’ Patrick encouraged gently. ‘I think we might both feel a little more—comfortable, once we’ve eaten something.’

  She very much doubted this man knew what it was like to feel uncomfortable. But he was probably right about the food settling her ragged nerves; she hadn’t eaten anything at all today. The only problem with that was that her stomach was churning so much she wasn’t sure she would keep the food inside her if she ate it!

  ‘Try it, Lilli.’ Patrick held a forkful of his own avocado temptingly in front of her mouth.

  She gave him a startled glance, slightly alarmed by his close proximity. But the determined look in his eyes told her he wasn’t about to move away until she took the avocado from the fork he held out.

  ‘This is ridiculous,’ she muttered as she moved slightly forward to take the food into her mouth. ‘Anyone would think we were a couple really in love,’ she added irritably before moving back from him, picking up her own fork to eat her meal.

  ‘Better?’ He nodded his satisfaction with her compliance.

  She had to admit, inwardly, that the food was indeed excellent, and it wasn’t choking her as she had thought it might—but Patrick treating her as a recalcitrant child was! ‘Don’t treat me like a six-year-old, Patrick—’