all, trying to match up to the kind of good looks parading around Morwen Hall at the moment was a full-time job. Nothing to do with the gorgeous guy who’d just spent the night in her bed. Probably.
Oh, who was she trying to kid? She wanted to look nice for her boyfriend. That was what Melissa and the other girls would have chanted, back when they were pre-teens at school. But Noah wasn’t her boyfriend. And he wasn’t sticking around. Two more days and it would all be over, so there was to be absolutely no falling for the guy.
He’d just stay her own delicious little secret.
Well, not so little, actually.
‘Are you okay?’ Laurel asked, her eyebrows drawn together in concern. ‘You’re turning red.’
‘Fine. Just fine.’ Eloise willed her skin colour to return to normal.
‘Well, good. Because Dan and I are off to supervise the coach tours, so you’re on your own with Bridezilla today.’ Across the lobby, Eloise saw Dan watching, waiting for Laurel, as if he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Obviously a man besotted. Good. Whatever concerns she’d had when she’d first seen them together must just have been nerves—coming out as a couple could do that, she supposed.
Something else she and Noah wouldn’t have to worry about. Nobody would ever know about them.
‘You’re not staying for the photo shoot?’ Eloise asked.
Laurel shook her head. ‘One of the advantages of not actually being part of the wedding party. We are surplus to requirements this morning. Plus we’ll probably have a lot more fun on the tours.’
‘I bet.’ The lift pinged behind her and Eloise turned to watch it open, even as she spoke. ‘Wish I was coming with you.’
The lift doors opened and Noah stepped out, his dark hair perfectly messy above those dark chocolate-brown eyes, his stubble just the right length for scraping over her skin and his shirt collar open under his jacket, showing hints of the collarbone she’d kissed her way along the night before...
‘Are you sure?’ Laurel asked, watching her. ‘Seems to me you might have your own fun right here.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Eloise said, and went to go and see her not-boyfriend.
* * *
‘Ready for your close-up?’ Noah asked as Eloise approached across the lobby.
She certainly looked ready. She’d left her hair down and it tumbled in waves over her shoulders, blazing red against the dark grey of her jacket and the creamy shirt that matched her skin. He wanted to touch it, to touch her. To reach out and kiss her, to show every other person in the hotel that she was his, even if only for a few days.
But he couldn’t. Because he’d promised her they’d be a secret, and because one more fling might ruin his chances at getting the film role of the decade.
He knew the reasons. But it still felt like a stupid idea. Anyone who looked at them would know they’d been together, he was sure. At the very least, anyone who’d been paying any attention to Eloise would know she’d been up to something last night. Her whole body screamed relaxed satisfaction, and the smile she gave him told him everything he wanted to know—that they’d be doing it again. And soon.
Thank God. The self-imposed time limit was already weighing heavily on him. In only a few days he’d be gone. That was not a lot of time to make the most of his connection with Eloise Miller.
He didn’t let himself consider the possibility of it carrying on beyond New Year’s Day. Eloise’s life was here, and his was everywhere else. She wanted for ever love, the deep and lasting kind, the sort she could rely on. He wanted anything but that. And, to be fair, she’d not given him any signs that she wanted anything more from their fling. Yes, their connection had been immediate and their chemistry explosive. But just because they’d shared secrets and feelings didn’t mean they had to share a life.
Maybe he was destined to only ever have meaningful relationships that lasted a day or two. And maybe that wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
At least this time, when it was over, it would be his choice and everyone involved would still be breathing. He’d take that as a win.
‘I can’t believe they actually want to take photos of me,’ Eloise said, standing just an inch or so too close. She wanted to keep this a secret but she didn’t even know what she had to hide, Noah realised. Understandably. Eloise wasn’t the sort of woman who would have done this before.
‘You’re the maid of honour,’ he pointed out, shifting his weight from one foot to the other to create the illusion of distance between them. ‘Kind of important to the wedding party.’
Eloise rolled her eyes. ‘I’m the understudy. And I’m only doing it because Melissa’s PR person thought it would look good.’
‘And you do look very, very good this morning,’ Noah murmured, too softly for anyone else to hear.
Eloise’s cheeks flushed the same pink as her skin did after making love. Just the sight of it made Noah want to drag her back off to bed for the rest of the day, photo shoot be damned.
He wasn’t quite egotistical enough to believe that the way Eloise was coming out of her shell—performing at the Frost Fair, dressing like she didn’t hate everything about her body—was entirely down to sleeping with him. But her words from earlier that morning had stayed with him all through his shower and getting dressed. She liked who she was when she was with him. Not what other people thought of her because she was on his arm, not what being seen with him could do for her career because, if anything, it might damage it, if Melissa really kicked up a fuss.
Just who she was with him.
Noah wasn’t sure he’d ever had that sort of an effect on someone before. It was intoxicating.
As the coaches finally left, Eloise led him down the corridor towards the rooms they were using for the photo shoot and interviews, but as they passed a small, empty office, Noah’s willpower ran out. Again.
Tugging her into the office after him, he shut the door and placed his back against it, effectively stopping anyone from interrupting. And her from leaving.
‘Noah...’ she said as he pulled her into his arms, but any real complaint in her voice was drowned out by the smile spreading over her face.
‘What is it about keeping things secret that somehow makes it even sexier?’ He kissed his way up her neck and was rewarded with a low moan.
‘We’ve got to go,’ Eloise said.
But Noah countered with, ‘Just two minutes,’ and she gave in rapidly.
Ten minutes later, they finally made it to the photo shoot.
‘You’re both late,’ Melissa said, eyeing them suspiciously.
‘My fault,’ Noah said cheerfully as he headed towards a clothing rail hung with suits and shirts. ‘I overslept after the stag do, so poor Eloise had to come and wake me up.’
Melissa didn’t
