Engaged at the Chatsfield Read Online Free Page B

to her.’
    There was a brief silence.
    ‘You know it’s kind of cool you’re taking care of her for me,’ Ben said. ‘Mum and I have been worried all this celebrity stuff of mine would make it hard for her to sort out who’s genuine and who’s not. She’s pretty shy when it comes to guys. I don’t think she’s dated since that jerk did the dirty on her a few years back. Maybe you could show her a good time, help her get back her confidence.’
    Marcus frowned. ‘You’re not telling me to sleep with your sister, are you?’
    Ben gave another chuckle. ‘You want both your kneecaps, don’t you?’
    * * *
    ‘So tell us how Marcus proposed?’ Kendra Ashford said holding out her champagne glass for another refill as the waiter came past.
    Juliet was feeling a little jazzed from the two drinks she’d consumed—one and a half more than her usual. But the other girls were four or five ahead of her and it was starting to show. The conversation had become more and more risqué as the hen’s party accessories had come out. She had never seen drinking straws fashioned in the shape of men’s genitalia before. Where on earth did they find this stuff? ‘Erm...’
    ‘Was it super romantic?’ Harriet joined in the conversation.
    ‘Yes...very.’
    ‘What did he do?’ Kendra said. ‘Was it as good as Hugh’s or Tristan’s proposal?’
    Juliet took another sip of her cocktail to give herself time to think of a proposal scene. Harriet’s and Kendra’s fiancés had gone to an enormous amount of effort and expense to propose. She didn’t want Marcus to look cheap or unromantic in comparison.
    But how would he propose?
    Not that he was ever going to... But hypothetically, if he ever did, how would he do it?
    ‘He called my mother and asked permission first,’ she said. ‘Then he took me for a candlelit dinner at an exclusive restaurant—’
    ‘Which one?’ Harriet asked.
    Juliet took another big sip of her drink. This was the reason she never lied. One lie always turned into twenty. ‘Oh, we didn’t actually eat at the restaurant,’ she said. ‘Marcus ordered a prepacked picnic. We picked it up and then he took me to a private yacht moored on the river. It was one he’d designed for a client. There were candles in those little lantern things hanging from the mast and sails and fairy lights along the deck. There was a string quartet playing and white-suited wait staff and everything.’ OTT! Stop!
    The girls were all looking at her goggle-eyed.
    ‘Marcus did all that?’ Kendra said.
    ‘Gosh, and here I was thinking Tristan had topped everyone else by his sky writing proposal,’ Harriet said with a glum look as she reached for another cupcake.
    ‘Marcus is very romantic when you get to know him,’ Juliet said.
    ‘Show us the photos.’ Kendra leaned forward expectantly.
    Juliet gulped. ‘Photos?’
    ‘Yeah, surely you took heaps,’ Harriet said, licking icing off one of her fingers. ‘I would’ve taken more of Tristan’s proposal if it hadn’t started to rain.’
    ‘I downloaded them off my phone,’ Juliet said. ‘Sorry.’
    Kendra crossed her impossibly skinny legs and picked up her glass again. ‘Get Marcus to AirDrop some of his to your phone. He would’ve taken some surely?’
    Juliet swallowed. ‘Right... Good idea... I’ll do that...’

CHAPTER FIVE
    M ARCUS   HAD   SHOWERED   and shaved and was sitting in front of his laptop when Juliet came back to the suite. She opened the door tentatively, her gaze averted as if she was worried he might be sitting there stark naked. Her cheeks were bright red and so was the tip of her nose. How many drinks had her friends plied her with? He didn’t trust Kendra or her sneaky little sidekick Harriet. He had a feeling they only included Juliet in their group because her more generous figure and understated beauty made them look all the more model-thin and stop-the-traffic gorgeous.
    ‘Sorry.’ She tiptoed into the room as if she were