Cinderella’s Wedding Wish

On the other hand, she could at least listen before she dismissed his proposal out of hand. Still more than half convinced he was joking, she looked at him suspiciously.

‘What exactly are you proposing?’

‘Just what we talked about. We get engaged, and everyone realises that I’m serious about settling down.’

‘But if the engagement doesn’t last, you’ll just look even more afraid of commitment,’ Miranda objected. ‘Then you’ll be worse off than before.’

‘Not if you’re the one to dump me,’ said Rafe. ‘I’m going to be besotted with you for a month, and when you leave I’m going to be broken-hearted. You were the one who said they’d queue up to help me move on and show me what the love of a good woman could do,’ he reminded her.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. He had examined the strategy from all angles while he was waiting for Miranda to appear, and he could see no obvious flaws in it. It might not work, of course, but it well might, and in the meantime he would get to spend a month with Miranda, which would surely be enough to get her out of his system once and for all.

Miranda, however, was clearly unconvinced. ‘Nobody’s going to believe that you’re besotted with me,’ she said.

‘You underestimate yourself.’

‘Perhaps I underestimate your acting ability,’ she countered, disgruntled in a way she couldn’t begin to explain.

‘Then you shouldn’t,’ said Rafe. ‘I bet I could convince everyone I was mad about you.’ He glanced at her with a half-smile. ‘I really don’t think it would be that hard.’

‘They’d all think you were odd for choosing someone like me,’ said Miranda grouchily.

‘No, they wouldn’t. They’d think I was perceptive and interesting for being intrigued by a woman who goes out of her way not to draw attention to herself.’

Well, she had asked for it. What had she expected? That he would tell her that she was beautiful and no one would be in the least surprised at his choice?

‘That doesn’t explain why, having snared myself the most eligible bachelor in Britain, I’d toss him aside after a mere month,’ said Miranda after a moment.

Rafe grinned as he turned onto Westminster Bridge. ‘Maybe that’s what makes you so intriguing?’

She regarded him with exasperation. Didn’t he take anything seriously? ‘You’d need a better reason than that if people aren’t going to realise it’s just a big joke!’

‘I’m sure we can think of some reason why you don’t want to marry me,’ said Rafe. ‘It has to be one that doesn’t make people think I’ve got some dirty secret, and it can’t be because you think I’m having an affair with someone else. Remember, they’ve got to be sorry for me. You’ve got to break my heart!’

‘Oh, yes, I can see me doing that!’

‘Why can’t you be the one who’s got a problem with commitment?’ he suggested, ignoring her sardonic aside. ‘Just when I’m ready to settle down, you decide you can’t face married life and run off.’

‘I’d never be that wet,’ said Miranda tartly. ‘I’d rather tell everyone that I was bored with you.’

‘I’m not paying you twenty-five thousand quid to make me sound dull! That’s not the idea at all!’

‘Oh, well, if you’re going to be picky…’ She thought for a moment, getting into the idea in spite of herself. ‘I suppose I could say that I don’t want children, and that I got cold feet when I realised you were desperate to settle down and start a family.’

‘Now, that is a good idea,’ said Rafe cheerfully. ‘They’re bound to feel sorry for me when they hear that. Let’s agree on that.’

‘I haven’t agreed to any of it yet,’ Miranda reminded him sharply.

‘Don’t you want to be able to go to Whitestones?’

‘You know I do. It’s just…well, the whole idea is crazy!’

‘Think about it at least,’ said Rafe. ‘It might be crazy, but it might also be a way to get us both what we want most.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

MIRANDA did think about it as they drove past tower blocks and industrial estates and soulless shopping malls. It was an unattractive part of London, at least that bit of it that could be seen from the main road in the murky orange glow of the street lights. It was all right for Rafe, living in Mayfair with its imposing houses and elegant squares, but Rosie could only afford a tiny flat on the outskirts of London. Miranda hated the journey to and from the city centre where she worked, and longed for Whitestones, where the night was properly dark and the air was clean and where in place of traffic and sirens and jangling alarms all you could hear was the sea on the shingle.

Now she could go.

All she had to do in exchange was pretend to be in love with Rafe for a month.

Why was she even hesitating? Miranda didn’t know. She just knew that the thought was enough to flutter the nerves just beneath her skin and make her stomach churn with a disturbing mixture of excitement and fear.

Because, actually, she did know. She was afraid she might enjoy being with Rafe too much. She was afraid she might find it hard to resist him. That she might forget that she was only supposed to be pretending.

But she could do it. She would just have to keep a cool head and keep remembering that it was just a pretence. Miranda had a nasty feeling that might be a lot more difficult than it sounded, but wouldn’t it be worth it for Whitestones? She would never get a better chance than this to make her dream come true. Was she really going to throw it away because she was afraid of the way Rafe made her feel?

How wet of her that would be!

‘Well?’ Rafe pulled up outside Rosie’s flat and switched off the engine. ‘I know you’ve been thinking-could practically hear your mind working!-but have you come to any decision?’

Miranda moistened her lips. ‘Twenty-five thousand pounds is a lot of money. What exactly would I have to do for that?’

‘Well, let’s see…’ Rafe undid his seat belt so that he could turn and study her face. ‘All we’d have to do is leak our engagement to a couple of gossip columns, and go out together a few times so people can see how in love we are.’

His face was perfectly straight, but there was a familiar undercurrent of laughter in his voice. Miranda hated the way he could do that.

‘You’d have to act like a suitably besotted fiancee,’ he told her. ‘Do you think you could manage that?’

Her chin went up. ‘Do I have to be besotted?’

‘For twenty-five thousand pounds?’ Rafe grinned. ‘I think besotted is the least you could be, don’t you?’

‘Well, what do besotted fiancees do?’ asked Miranda ungraciously. ‘I don’t want to spend a month looking adoringly at you! Your ego is quite big enough as it is!’

Rafe’s mouth twitched appreciatively. ‘Imagine you’re in love with me, Miranda. How would you act with me then?’

‘Like I do now, probably,’ she said, getting out of the car and wishing she could get out of the conversation as easily.

‘You don’t think you would be a little more affectionate if you loved me?’ Rafe asked conversationally. ‘Everyone has got to think that behind that rather prim and proper exterior is a wild, exciting woman who only I can see. You might have to bring yourself to touch me.’ He had followed her to the door of the flat and a smile hovered around his mouth as he looked down at her. ‘You know, hold my hand occasionally, even kiss me. Somehow you’d need to give the impression that you can’t keep your hands off me.’

Miranda’s cheeks felt as if they were on fire. ‘Why can’t you be the one who can’t keep your hands off me?’

‘Oh, I don’t see any problem about that,’ said Rafe, and smiled in a way that set her heart thudding. ‘No, no problem at all…’