Cara to beat her with something better than that.
Which, of course, she had no hope of doing.
Pushing away the thump of humiliation, Cara forced her mouth into the shape of a smile.
‘That’s wonderful—congratulations! I had no idea the wedding was so soon.’
Amber leaned in and gave her a pitying smile. ‘We’ve kept it a small affair, which is why we couldn’t send you an invitation, Cara.’
Max shifted next to her, pulling her a bit tighter against him in the process and surprising her again by rubbing her arm in support. She wondered whether he could feel how fast her pulse was racing through her body with him holding her so close.
‘But we had two spaces open up this week,’ Jack said suddenly and a little too loudly, as if he’d finally decided to step out of his fiancée’s shadow and take control. ‘My cousin and her husband have had to drop out to visit sick family abroad. If you’re not busy you could come in their place.’
Judging by the look on Amber’s face, she obviously hadn’t had this in mind when she’d agreed to be dragged over here.
‘It would be great if you could make it,’ Jack pressed, his expression open, almost pleading now. It seemed that he genuinely wanted her to be there. Perhaps this was his way of making things up to her after cutting her out of his life so brutally. At least that was something.
But she couldn’t say yes when the invitation was for both her and Max and she hated the idea of turning up and spending the day on her own amongst all those happy couples.
Before she could open her mouth to make up an excuse and turn them down, Max leaned in and said, ‘Thank you—we’d love to come.’
She swivelled her head to gape at him, almost giving herself whiplash in the process, stunned to find a look of cool certainty on his face.
‘Are you sure we’re not busy?’ she said pointedly, raising both eyebrows at him.
‘I’m sure,’ he replied with a firm nod.
Turning back to Jack, she gave him what must have been the weirdest-looking smile. ‘Okay—er—’ she swallowed ‘—then we’d love to come. Thanks.’
‘That’s great,’ Jack said, giving her a look that both said I’m sorry for everything and thank you.
‘We’d better go and get a drink before the performance starts again,’ Amber said with steel in her voice, her patience clearly used up now.
‘I’ll text you with the details, Cara,’ Jack said as Amber drew him away.
‘Okay, see you on Sunday,’ Cara said weakly to their disappearing figures.
As soon as they were out of earshot she turned to stare at Max, no doubt doing her impression of a goldfish again.
‘He’s a brave man,’ was all Max said in reply.
‘You realise they think we’re a couple?’
He nodded, a fierce intensity in his eyes causing a delicious shiver to rush down her spine. ‘I know, but I wanted to see the look on that awful woman’s face when we said yes, and I have no problem pretending to be your partner if it’s going to smooth the way back to a friendship with Jack for you.’
Max as her partner. Just the thought of it made her quiver right down to her toes.
‘That’s—’ she searched for the right words ‘—game of you.’
‘It’ll be my pleasure.’
There was an odd moment where the noises around her seemed to get very loud in her ears. Tearing her gaze away from his, she gulped down the last of her wine and wrapped her hands around the glass in order to prevent herself from chewing on her nails.
Okay. Well, that happened.
Who knew that Max would turn out to be her knight in shining armour?
MAX HAD NO idea where this strange possessiveness towards Cara had sprung from, but he hadn’t been about to let that awful woman, Amber, treat her with so little respect. She deserved more than that. Much more. And while she was working for him he was going to make sure she got it.
Which meant he was now going to be escorting her to a wedding—the kind of event he’d sworn to avoid after Jemima died. The thought of being back in a church, watching a couple with their whole lives ahead of them begin their journey together, made his stomach clench with unease.
One year—that was all he’d been allowed with his wife. One lousy year. It made him want to spit with rage at the world. Why her? Why them?
Still, at least he didn’t know the happy couple and would be able to keep a low profile at the wedding, hiding his bitterness behind a bland smile. He didn’t need to engage. He’d just be there to support Cara; that was all.
After the play finished they travelled home in silence, a stark contrast to their journey there, but he was glad of the quiet. Perversely, it felt as though he and Cara had grown closer during that short time, the confrontation and subsequent solidarity banding them together like teammates.
Which of course they were, he reminded himself as he opened the front door to his house and ushered her inside, at least when it came to the business.
Cara’s phone beeped as she shrugged off her coat and she plucked it out of her handbag and read the message, her smile dropping by degrees as she scanned the text.
‘Problem?’ he asked, an uncomfortable sense of foreboding pricking at the edge of his mind. It had taken him a long time to be able to answer the phone without feeling the crush of anxiety he’d been plagued with after the call telling him his wife had collapsed and had been rushed into hospital.
He took a step closer to her, glad she was here to distract him from the lingering bad memories.
Glancing up, she gave him a sheepish look. ‘It’s a text from Jack with the details of the wedding.’
‘Oh, right.’ He stepped back, relief flowing through him, but Cara didn’t appear to relax. Instead her grimace only deepened.
‘Um. Apparently it’s in Leicestershire. Which is a two and a half hour drive from here. So we’ll need to stay overnight.’ She wrinkled her nose, the apology clear on her face.
Great. Just what had he let himself in for here?
‘No problem,’ he forced himself to say, holding back the irritation he felt at the news. It wasn’t Cara’s fault and he was the one who had pushed for this to happen.
More fool him.
‘Really? You don’t mind?’ she asked, relief clear in her tone.
‘No, it’s fine,’ he lied, trying not to think about all the hours he’d have
