back on Bella, with those legs and that figure and those mischievous blue eyes? Or her warmth and her humour and that dirty chuckle?
It wasn't even as if she was just an airhead. There was a lot more to Bella than that. She could be infuriatingly frivolous sometimes, but when she chose to use it she had a perfectly good brain behind that ditzy blonde facade, as Josh had frequently pointed out. Not that Bella ever took any notice of him.
Look at her now. Her face was a little flushed, and her eyes held a suspiciously manic glitter, but she was putting on a brave show to hide her broken heart. Josh wanted to reach out and hug her again, but he had sensed a certain resistance before, as if she was only holding herself in with an effort.
And it wasn't his arms she wanted around her, was it?
'We must have a party to celebrate your engagement,' Bella was saying, and his mouth turned down at the corners.
'You know I'm not a big party person.'
'All right,' she conceded. 'What about a dinner, like we did for Phoebe and for Kate when they got engaged? It'll make quite a change to celebrate a real engagement rather than a pretend one! Do you think Aisling would like that?'
Aisling! Josh was startled to realise that he had forgotten about Aisling there for a few minutes.
'Yes…yes, I'm sure she would,' he said awkwardly.
'Good, that's settled then. Shall we go for next weekend? I'll talk to Phoebe and to Kate and I'll email you with a date.' Bella lifted her glass to him. 'Cheers,' she said.
It was her own fault for not recognising how important Josh was to her sooner. Bella could hardly bear to think now about all the years when she had peacocked around, always with some gorgeous man in tow, taking it for granted that Josh would be there when she got bored or wanted comfort or a laugh.
Well, now he was there for someone else, and she would just have to endure it. Aisling had seen in Josh everything that she had been standing too close to see. Had been too silly and self-absorbed to see.
That Josh was a man, not the boy she remembered. That he was quiet and competent and self-contained. That his eyes gleamed with humour. That his hands were square and strong, and his body hard and his cool mouth could tie you up in knots just by thinking about it.
He had been the best of friends to her for so long, and now she would be the same to him, Bella vowed. She would keep her feelings to herself, and be happy for him, and pull out all the stops to celebrate his engagement.
She planned a spectacular meal that no one would ever forget, and then had to ring up Kate and beg her to come and help her before everyone else arrived.
'Does it have to be quite so over-the-top?' Kate asked, raising her brows as she studied the menu Bella had drawn up after poring over recipe books for days.
'I want it to be memorable.'
'It'll certainly be that if you can pull it off! A croquembouche! What's that?'
'A big pile of profiteroles filled with cream. It's supposed to be held together with spun sugar, but I thought I'd pour over chocolate instead,' said Bella. 'Only it doesn't seem to have worked very well.'
Glumly she contemplated her profiteroles which she had spent hours making the night before. The light-as-air little choux buns shown in the recipe book had ended up like pancakes. Stuffing them with cream was going to be a nightmare. They lay turgidly on a plate, not so much a pile as a mess.
'Hmmnn.' Kate studied them, unimpressed, and then went back to the menu without further comment. 'What else? Canapes, individual souffles, beef Wellington…! You couldn't have picked at least one uncomplicated dish?'
Bella sighed. 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'
'Josh would be just as happy with a tin of baked beans.'
'I know,' she said, restacking recipe books to try and clear the decks a bit. 'But he needs to know that I've made a special effort for Aisling.'
Kate pulled an apron over her head and tied the strings behind her back. 'Because you hate the fact that he's marrying her.'
'Yes-no!' Bella corrected herself hastily, hearing what she had said, and then she stopped, realising there was no point in trying to fool Kate. 'I suppose it's obvious?'
'It is to us, lovey. We've known you a long time.'
Bella bit her lip. 'Josh has known me a long time too.'
'Yes, but it'll be different for him. I know he can be incredibly perceptive sometimes, but he's still a man,' said Kate kindly. 'He probably hasn't got a clue that you don't like Aisling.'
'No,' said Bella, remembering how sure he had been at Kate's wedding that she and Aisling would get on. 'I don't want him to know that, though. He'd be really hurt.'
'Don't you think Aisling is right for him?'
'Do you?'
Kate considered, her head tilted to one side. 'I can't quite believe he's going to marry her at all,' she admitted at last. 'I suppose Phoebe and I always assumed that you and Josh would end up together.'
Bella was glad of the fact that she had her back to Kate as she opened the fridge in search of mushrooms. She had her expression under control by the time she turned back and pulled out a chopping board.
'It's too late for that now,' she said, and was proud of the careless note in her voice.
Kate took the board and the mushrooms and began chopping pensively. 'Maybe Josh won't marry her after all.'
'I don't see that happening,' said Bella. 'You know what Josh is like. His word is his bond and all that. If he's decided to marry Aisling, then he will.'
'Aisling might change
But there was no sign of Aisling changing her mind when she and Josh arrived for the celebration dinner. She was looking stunning in a sheath dress, and was full of wedding plans as she flashed her diamond ring around.
'It's lovely,' said Bella, admiring it dutifully.
'Josh took me to the jeweller's at the weekend. It took me hours to decide which one I wanted, didn't it, Josh?'
'Hours,' he agreed somewhat thinly.
Aisling gave a silvery peal of laughter and hugged his arm. 'Poor Josh! He was getting a bit bored at the end. You know what he's like, Bella!'
Bella handed her a glass of champagne without looking at Josh. 'Yes,' she said. 'I know what he's like.'
CHAPTER FOUR
'I'm afraid it was terribly expensive,' Aisling was burbling on, 'but he
'I'm sure he thinks you're worth it,' said Bella evenly.
Pouring another glass, she gave it to Josh, forcing herself to meet his eyes. 'I know you'd rather have a beer, but I'm afraid champagne is obligatory on these occasions!'
'Thanks.' Josh took the glass from her, but Bella was so on edge that as their fingers brushed, she jerked her hand away as if from an electric shock, and half the champagne spilt onto the floor.
'Sorry,' she muttered, scarlet-cheeked, and when she topped up his glass, her hand holding the bottle was not quite steady.
'Are you OK?' he asked in concern.
'I'm fine. Just a bit nervous about the meal,' she offered as an explanation. 'I've been a bit too ambitious, I think.'
Josh's face relaxed into a grin. 'You always do this, Bella. You plan these incredibly elaborate menus and then get into a state when they don't work out. I wish you'd throw all those recipe books away and stick to offering your guests cheese on toast!'
