you have chutzpah,’ he said.
‘Maybe I should stay here. You could say I drank too much champagne earlier and have a headache.’
He shook his head. ‘Have the courage of your convictions, Bella.’
She scoffed. ‘Your convictions, you mean. If we’d done it my way, I wouldn’t be here and you would’ve shown your family how great you are at your job.’
‘Let’s agree to disagree on that one, because I know you can do this,’ he said. ‘Ready?’
No. But she had no other choice. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘Let’s go.’
BELLA’S FACE WAS pale beneath her make-up, but she lifted her chin high and pulled her shoulders back.
For a moment, Hugh thought about calling this whole thing off—someone in the house was bound to have a spare dress that she could borrow for the evening—but they’d agreed that the idea was to present Bella as Miss Totally Unsuitable. To the point where his family would all breathe a collective sigh of relief when he announced next week that the relationship was over, and they’d stop nagging him about settling down.
Bella was the only woman he knew who could pull off an outfit like this one. And he knew he was asking a huge amount from her. When they were back in London, he’d do something nice for her to make up for what he was putting her through right now. Maybe he could send her on a spa weekend with her sister or something.
He suppressed the thought that he’d like to take her away and make a fuss of her himself. She’d made it clear that she was single and wanted to stay that way. The same was true for him. Bella Faraday might make his pulse beat that little bit faster: but she was his employee, and that made her completely off limits.
They went downstairs and he ushered her into the ballroom. As they walked through the doorway, he felt her hand tighten on his arm just a fraction. And the gasps of surprise as people saw her and took in what she was wearing were actually audible.
The ground obviously wasn’t going to open up and swallow her, and turning back time wasn’t physically possible either. Bella glanced at Hugh for a cue about how to react and what to do—after all, this was his family and he knew them way better than she did—but he seemed to have frozen.
Nothing fazes a Faraday girl. The mantra she shared with Grace echoed through her head. Wrong. This had definitely fazed her.
Then again, Hugh had asked her to play the part of his unsuitable girlfriend. Which was exactly how she felt right now—awkward and out of place, absolutely not fitting in. What would an unsuitable girl do when she was the centre of attention? The only thing Bella could think of was to draw even more attention to her gaffe and ham it up a little.
She walked over to the curtains and did a little curtsey. ‘I promise I didn’t make my dress from these,’ she said, gesturing to the curtains. ‘Because my name isn’t Maria and I’m fairly sure you’re the Moncrieffs and not the von Trapp family—right?’
There was still an uneasy silence.
Had she gone too far? Or did she need to go further still? ‘Well, then,’ Bella said, and began to sing ‘Do Re Mi’ very softly.
Hugh looked at Bella, totally stunned. He’d had no idea that she could sing—especially this beautifully. It made him think of Jessie, and how his ex had bewitched him with her voice.
But Jessie wasn’t half the woman that Bella Faraday was. Jessie was an ambitious, lying cheat, whereas he knew that Bella was completely open and honest. Even though at the moment she was playing a part: that was solely because he’d asked her to do it.
And right now all the heat was on her—Hugh’s unsuitable new girlfriend in her even more unsuitable dress. He could hear Bella’s voice faltering and he knew he ought to rescue her. Especially because this whole fiasco was his fault. He needed to step in and take the heat off her. Now.
She’d even given him the perfect cue.
Yet that would mean performing in public. Something he hadn’t done since Jessie had walked out on him. And singing a duet... The whole idea of it made him feel sick to his stomach, bringing back the misery and disappointment he’d felt when he’d learned the truth about how much of a fool he’d been, and the dismay when he’d realised the ramifications for Insurgo. He really didn’t want to do this.
Yet how could he be a snake and leave Bella to face everyone’s disapproval alone? This whole thing had been his idea, and she was doing him a favour. It wasn’t fair that she should bear the brunt of it.
It left him no real choice.
Taking a deep breath, he walked over to Bella and took her hand. ‘Von Trapp, you said? I believe that’s my cue.’ And then he began to sing ‘Edelweiss’.
Bella smiled, and to his surprise she joined him in the song.
It had been a long, long time since Hugh had sung a duet with someone. Jessie. Who’d sung like an angel, promised him paradise, and left him in hell. This should’ve made him want to run for the hills as fast as possible. Instead, it felt as if something in the region of his heart had just cracked a tiny bit, enough to let in some unexpected warmth. His hand tightened just that tiny bit more round hers; and when she squeezed his fingers back the crack around his heart grew just that little bit wider.
When the song finished, everyone clapped and the tension in the ballroom had dissolved.
Then Nigel came over to him. ‘Hugh, I need a favour.’
Considering that he’d just almost wrecked his brother’s engagement party, Hugh felt guilty enough to agree to whatever it was. ‘Sure. What do you need?’
‘Excuse us, Bella,’ Nigel said, and led Hugh off to a quiet corner. ‘The band I hired for tonight just called to say that their van’s broken down and they’re running an hour late. Would you play for us until they get here?’ He inclined his head towards the baby grand piano in the corner of the ballroom.
‘You could’ve had the pick of my artists. And they would’ve been here on time,’ Hugh said mildly.
‘I know, but the singer of the band happens to be Vicky’s friend. Vicky asked her to do it before I had a chance to suggest asking you to recommend someone.’
Hugh laughed. ‘Nice save.’
‘I know I’m asking a lot of you,’ Nigel said softly. ‘I know why you don’t play in public any more.’
Because of Jessie’s betrayal. It had sucked all the joy out of music for him. He didn’t write songs any more. Today was the first time he’d sung in public since she’d left. Right now though, he was punch-drunk, not quite sure how he felt—happy and sad were all mixed up together, with him smack
