Engaged at the Chatsfield Read Online Free Page A

with him?
    She opened the door and sent him her version of a breezy smile. ‘I always sleep on the left side of the bed. I hope that’s not going to be a problem for you? Ciao .’

CHAPTER FOUR
    I T   WAS   A   huge problem for Marcus. Right now he couldn’t think of a bigger one. He paced the floor like a lion confined in a cat carrier. He had to get through the weekend without compromising his pitch. He had worked so hard to even get shortlisted. Gene Chatsfield was a difficult client, and his brand-new CEO, Christos Giantrakos, even more so. Marcus would have to impress both of them to win the project; swanning around the hotel with the media on his tail was not going to help him. Christos was not the sort of man to tolerate a scandal. Marcus had heard via the grapevine that he was determined to wipe the floor with anyone—including any of the Chatsfield siblings—who dared to bring disrepute or shame on the hotel brand.
    But that wasn’t the worst of it.
    Sharing a room— sharing a bed —with Juliet Montague was something Marcus had been fantasizing about since Christmas.
    But it was a fantasy, not reality.
    She was off limits.
    Ben would be furious to think he was having a fling with his baby sister. They had been best mates since they were at school together. Ben’s mum, Grace, was like a surrogate mother to him. The sort of solid and dependable nurturing maternal figure he had needed back in the days when his world had been blown apart by the debacle of his parents’ bitter divorce. Grace had provided a safe haven from all the craziness, had listened when he needed to talk, or talked when he needed to listen.
    Ben and Juliet’s father, Graham Montague, had died of leukaemia when Juliet was a toddler. Like Grace, he studied English Literature at university and their mutual love of Shakespeare had brought them together, hence Juliet and Ben’s names. Grace had brought Ben and Juliet up alone since Graham’s death and had only recently begun seeing a retired professor of English History in Suffolk.
    Ben and Juliet and Grace were Marcus’s family. He would do nothing to compromise or break the bond he had with them.
    Marcus’s phone bleeped and he fished it out of his pocket to see Ben’s face come up on the screen. ‘Ben, I—’
    ‘Hey, man, I saw this weird tweet about you and Jules getting it on,’ Ben said. ‘She’s not answering her phone. What gives?’
    ‘It’s a misunderstanding. It’s got blown out of proportion.’
    ‘You’re not doing my kid sister, are you?’
    Marcus thought of the silky feel of Juliet’s skin when he’d wrapped his fingers around her wrist. He thought of last Christmas when her fingers had brushed against his as he’d handed her that glass. He thought of all the nights in between when he had lain in bed wondering what it would be like to kiss that soft pink mouth and draw her curvy little body closer into his arms and—
    ‘Dude?’
    Marcus snapped out of his reverie. ‘No, of course not. I told you, it’s a misunderstanding. Kendra Ashford’s having a hen’s party here with all her cronies and Juliet was feeling a little left out so she invented a fiancé.’
    Ben chuckled. ‘And then you showed up. Freaky.’
    ‘I see your sick sense of humour hasn’t deserted you.’
    ‘Poor Jules. She must have been beside herself when you appeared like a genie out of a bottle. I hope you weren’t too hard on her.’
    Remorse tasted sour in Marcus’s mouth. He had been brutal to her. Accusing her of setting him up when now, with a bit of reflection, he could see how Harriet would have made her feel pressured. Juliet was too soft when it came to her friends. She was too concerned about fitting in, about pleasing and accommodating everyone. She didn’t know how to stand up for herself. She was too trusting and kind and because she always believed the best of everyone; she didn’t realise until it was too late when she was being manipulated. ‘I’ll make it up