One Passionate Night: His Bride for One Night / One Night at Parenga / His One-Night Mistress

‘I hope we’re not going to one of those places where they take hours to serve you,’ her father said with a frown.

‘Amen to that,’ Daniel agreed. ‘When I’m hungry, I have to be fed quickly.’

Charlotte cocked an eyebrow, just to show him she was well aware what he was up to with his double entendres. Then she shot him a sickeningly sarcastic smile. ‘I had a feeling you’d say that. Don’t worry, Dad, the bistro is just a short walk away. You boys could have a beer while we’re waiting for our meal. And, Mum, you could have a sherry. Or some white wine, if you’d prefer.’

‘A sherry would be lovely,’ her mother said, the warm approval on her face giving Charlotte a real buzz.

Charlotte rarely received her mother’s approval, unlike her two older sisters, who hadn’t put a foot wrong in their lives. They’d both done well at school. Both had married their childhood sweethearts, sons of local farmers. Both had produced children.

Charlotte, by contrast, hadn’t finished school, had never learned to cook, couldn’t take up a hem, regularly forgot important dates and, till recently, was yet to find a husband.

As a child, she’d often been described as difficult. And a dreamer.

‘Her head is always in the clouds,’ she had heard her mother say to Aunt Gladys one day when she was about thirteen. ‘I don’t know what’s going to become of her.’

What became of her was she bolted for the city when she was a couple of months shy of her sixteenth birthday, having secretly applied for and secured a hairdressing apprenticeship advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald. Her distraught parents weren’t able to force her to return home, or to finish her school certificate, because she was able to support herself. In the end, they stopped trying to convince Charlotte she was too young to live away from home in the big city.

Actually, hairdressing was just a means to an end. Her heart’s desire was to see what the world had to offer outside of farm life and country boys. Sydney was an eye-opener but soon it too was limiting. So when Charlotte finished her apprenticeship, she began a series of jobs on ships that cruised all over the world.

By the time she was twenty-five, she’d been everywhere an ocean liner could take her. By then, she’d grown a bit bored with ship life and decided to try working in some of the world’s luxury resorts.

Over the next few years, Charlotte worked mostly in Asia, but also in the South Pacific, on various tropical islands. She then did a brief stint in a top hotel in London, but had found the climate not to her liking. She also found herself suffering, surprisingly, from homesickness, something which astounded her.

So, shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Charlotte returned to Australia, where she spent a few wonderfully restful weeks with her folks on the farm before realising, rather reluctantly this time, that country life was still not for her. What she was craving, she discovered, was a more settled existence. She wanted to put down roots. Wanted a boyfriend who lasted longer than a few months. She wanted marriage, and children. Possibly even a house with a garden.

Charlotte was blown away by this last bit. Miss Wanderlust herself wanting what most Australian girls wanted. Amazing!

Not one to ever shirk from a goal, Charlotte set about achieving what she wanted with a passion. She returned to Sydney, got herself a job and a flat, then set about doing what girls of her age did when they were on the lookout for Mr Right. She made friends with all the single girls she worked with—networking was crucial. She went to all the right bars with them on a Friday night. She smiled at every available-looking guy. And—most important of all—she joined a gym.

Which was where she met Dwayne, one of their personal trainers. Dwayne made it obvious right from the start that he fancied her. Within two weeks they were dating. Within four he coerced her into bed with words of undying love. Within six they were living together.

But that was where their relationship stagnated for the next two years. Dwayne was not ready, he said, for marriage and kiddies just yet. He was only twenty-eight. But he hinted a proposal was definitely on the cards once he reached thirty. So Charlotte clung on, despite becoming aware that they rarely talked any more, their sex life had dwindled to once a week, and Dwayne was working late more nights than ever.

She should not have been shocked by his dumping her for another girl. What shocked her was the speed with which he married his new, already pregnant girlfriend.

Charlotte was left to wonder what the gym bunny had that she didn’t have. She couldn’t help thinking that the answer wasn’t the other girl’s blonde hair, but her sexual know-how.

‘Charlotte. Is this the place you were talking about?’

Her mother’s voice cut through Charlotte’s reverie, shocking her back to the present. Blinking a bit blankly for a second or two, she discovered they were standing outside the entrance to the bistro. She must have walked there on automatic pilot whilst she daydreamed.

‘Yes, yes, it is. Sorry. Just wool-gathering as usual.’

Her mother smiled indulgently. ‘That’s all right. A girl’s allowed some wool-gathering the day before her wedding. Most brides are a bit nervous.’

Her father laughed. ‘Nervous? Our Charlie? That’ll be the day. She’s just excited.’

Excited…

Charlotte glanced up into Daniel’s dark eyes, which glittered back down at her.

‘Just a tad,’ she confessed with considerable understatement. ‘Come on, let’s get you in here to eat.’

Taking her mother’s elbow, she ushered her into the bistro. Daniel and her dad trailed after them, chatting away as if they’d been best mates for years.

‘Have you decided what you might like to eat yet?’ she asked her mother after the woman had spent several minutes perusing all the options. Daniel and her dad had already ordered steaks, medium rare. Men, Charlotte had always found, were more decisive with food than women. She herself didn’t feel like eating at all. Stress always doused her appetite. Excitement, too.

She’d had more than enough of both for one day.

Her mother continued to dither whilst Daniel proceeded to the bar to order the drinks. Beer for the men. Cream sherry for her mother and a dry white wine for herself.

Meanwhile, her dad claimed a booth-style table for them next to one of the wide windows that overlooked the city street outside.

In the end, both her mother and Charlotte ordered the same as the men, though they chose smaller steaks and ordered them well done. Their drinks had arrived by the time they sat down. Charlotte immediately swooped up her glass and was having some soothing sips of the crisply chilled wine when a mobile phone started ringing.

Charlotte knew it wasn’t hers. Wrong tune.

It was Daniel’s.

CHAPTER SIX

‘EXCUSE me, everyone,’ Daniel said as he fished his slimline cellphone out of his back pocket, flipped it open and put it to his ear.

Charlotte gave him a slight dig in the ribs, reminding him he’d have to be careful what he said.

‘Hi there,’ seemed safe enough.

‘Beth here. I’m finally finished with the doc. Everything’s fine, though I’ve put on another damned kilo. So where are you and how did things go? Did you find out her name?’

‘I’m having lunch with Charlotte and her folks right now,’ he replied, hoping that would floor his sister into silence.

He was right. It did.

‘Don’t worry about me,’ he went on hurriedly. ‘I’ll take a taxi back to your place after we’re finished, though that might not be for a while. Arrangements to make, et cetera. Thanks for calling. See you later. Ciao.’

Turning his mobile right off to stop any further awkward calls from Beth, he slipped it in his pocket, vowing to give her a call back as soon as he had the chance.

‘Sorry about that,’ he said brightly. ‘It was the lady whose place I’m staying at tonight. She and her husband are friends of friends of mine. I didn’t think it would be right to stay at Charlotte’s place. Not the night before the wedding, anyway.’

‘Are these people coming to the wedding tomorrow, Charlotte?’ Betty Gale asked her daughter.

‘Er—’

‘No, they’re not,’ Daniel jumped in. ‘I didn’t ask them. I didn’t realise it was going to be such a big wedding, remember?’

‘But that’s not right,’ Mr Gale said. ‘They should come. Charlotte, surely something could be arranged.’

Charlotte groaned inside. ‘I don’t think so, Dad. The numbers for the reception were finalised a couple of days ago.’ The last thing she wanted was to cost her dad more money.

‘Please don’t concern yourselves,’ Daniel said swiftly. ‘They really wouldn’t expect to come.’

‘If you say so, Gary.’

Charlotte winced. How she hated hearing them call him Gary! Daniel was a much nicer name.

Their meals arrived. Charlotte only picked at hers, her mind drifting back to names.

Daniel. Daniel Bannister. Mrs Daniel Bannister.

‘You’re not dieting, are you, darling?’ Daniel suddenly asked her.

Her sharp intake of breath reflected the shock produced by her own foolish thoughts, not by his calling her darling. She knew he was only acting. No way was she really his darling, or anything close. Yet there she was, fantasising about being married to him.

God, she was hopeless. Hadn’t this fiasco with Gary taught her anything? Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire. If she started imagining she was falling for Daniel, she needed her head read. OK, so he was utterly gorgeous-looking and incredibly sexy, with the kind of powerful and dynamic personality you usually only read about.

Charlotte had no doubt he would be very good in bed.

But he wasn’t good at love. Or commitment. He couldn’t have made his intentions clearer. He said he was allergic to marriage, and his own sister had called him the love ’em and leave ’em type.

Common sense demanded she not weave any romantic fantasies around him. He was not some knight in shining armour. His aim hadn’t been rescuing her damsel in distress, but seducing her.

She had to keep that fact in the forefront of her mind during the next couple of days or she’d end up crying a whole lot more than she had about Gary.

‘Charlotte never eats much when she’s nervous,’ her mother answered for her, which brought a grateful smile from Charlotte. She put down her knife and fork, picked up a chip with her fingers and nibbled on it.

‘I’m just the opposite,’ Daniel said. ‘I eat like a horse when I’m nervous.’ And he forked a large piece of steak into his mouth.

‘I can’t imagine you ever being nervous,’ Charlotte said with a dry laugh.

‘You’d be surprised,’ he returned.

Charlotte wouldn’t mind betting he’d never suffered a crisis of confidence in his entire life, whereas she’d spent most of hers not even knowing what she wanted out of life. Even when she thought she did, her life had still lurched from one disaster to the next.

‘Everyone gets nervous occasionally,’ her father joined in. ‘Caring makes any man nervous. I was nervous when I married your mother. And each time she was expecting. I dare say I’ll be nervous again when you and Gary have a little one.’

The threat of tears came out of nowhere. Charlotte knew she would not be able to explain them, so she had to get out of there. At least for a minute or two.

She dropped the rest of the chip and stood up abruptly. ‘Sorry. Have to go the ladies’. The wine.’

Bolting for the powder room did the trick. Not only did it stop the tears, but it also gave her the opportunity to call Louise.

‘Goodness knows what she’s going to say,’ Charlotte muttered as she raced into a cubicle and punched in Louise’s work number.

The owner of the hairdressing place Louise worked at didn’t like her taking personal calls, especially on a Friday, but this was an emergency. It took a while before she came on the line, during which Charlotte’s already over-active stomach did the tango.

‘Yes?’ Louise asked agitatedly.

‘Louise, it’s Charlotte. You haven’t told anyone about what happened with Gary this morning, have you?’

‘No. Why?’

‘Not even Brad?’ Brad was Louise’s boyfriend and the best man.

‘Haven’t had the opportunity. I was going to tell him tonight. We’re meeting for drinks after work.’

‘Thank heaven, because the wedding’s back on.’

‘What? How? Did Gary ditch the PA and take a later plane or something?’

Charlotte told her what had transpired in broad strokes.

‘Now, don’t say a single word,’ Charlotte warned before her friend could launch into a torrent of protest. ‘This is a done deed and nothing you say will stop me, so don’t waste your breath.’

‘Fine by me. It’s your life. Besides, this Daniel sounds a darn sight more interesting than Gary. He really came gunning for you, huh? Must be seriously smitten. I suppose he has to be reasonably good-looking, if he looks like Gary. Not that I thought Gary was all that hot in his photos.’

‘Makes Gary look lukewarm.’

‘Oho, he’s not the only one who’s smitten. I always said you didn’t love Gary. And vice versa.’

‘Yes, I know. But this isn’t love, Louise.’

‘Don’t tell you’ve finally fallen in lust with a man?’

Louise had a way of cutting to the chase about things, especially on the subject of sex. Lust was not a word Charlotte liked but lustful certainly described most of the thoughts Daniel engendered in her.

‘Possibly.’

‘About time too. Look, we’ll talk more tonight. Alvira is looking daggers at me, so I’d better go. You will be coming home some time tonight, won’t you?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Charlotte said, and meant it.

Daniel was going to have to wait till tomorrow night to have his wicked way with her. No way was she going to jump into bed with him tonight, no matter how much she might want to. A girl had to have some pride!

Her return to the table was greeted by a questioning glance from Daniel. But she could hardly tell him anything till the lunch was over and her parents had checked into their room in the hotel.

Fortunately, after lunch her mum and dad were happy enough to look after themselves for the rest of the day.

Charlotte sighed a rather weary sigh as soon as the lift doors shut on her parents.

‘You sound tired,’ Daniel said.

‘I am tired.’

‘In that case I’ll let you off dinner tonight. Far better you go home and have a good night’s rest.’

‘I never said I’d have dinner with you tonight,’ she reminded him tartly.

‘The girl who kissed me in the lobby would have come to dinner with me if I’d asked again.’

‘You kissed me!’

‘Don’t be pedantic. You liked me kissing you. A lot.’

‘Good grief, you’re impossible!’

‘And you’re irresistible.’

She laughed. ‘Not according to my last two boyfriends.’

‘They were fools. I’m not.’

‘I only have your word for that. So why are you doing this for me tomorrow, Daniel?’ she asked him, determined to have him put his cards on the table. ‘Or perhaps more to the point, why did you chase after me the way you did? The truth, please. I’ve had enough of men telling me lies.’

He shrugged. ‘Impossible to analyse some things. When I first saw you this morning, it was like being struck by a bolt of lightning. I’ve never felt that way about a woman before, especially a blonde.’

Charlotte was both flattered and taken aback. ‘You don’t like blondes?’

‘Let’s just say they usually set off bad memories for me. After my father left my mother, his subsequent wives have all been blondes.’

‘His wives! How many has he had?’

‘Five, including my mother, at last count. But what the heck? He’s only sixty-five. Plenty of time yet for a few more.’

The bitterness in Daniel’s voice brought some understanding as to why he might be allergic to marriage, whereas Charlotte had had nothing but good examples of people being married. Her parents. Her aunts and uncles. Her sisters. All happy with their partners. Divorce was unheard-of in her family.

Suddenly she wanted to know more about the man who was going to pretend to marry her tomorrow. A whole lot more.

‘How about we go for a cup of coffee somewhere?’ she suggested. ‘We really need to talk.’

He smiled that sexy smile of his. ‘We really need to do a whole lot of things. But you’re right. Talking would be a good idea for now. But somewhere very public, please. So that I can keep my hands off you. Kissing you before did dreadful things to me. If I hadn’t been able to distract myself with food I don’t know what I would have done.’

Charlotte found herself laughing again. ‘You’re a wicked man, do you know that?’

Daniel didn’t know that. He had his shortcomings but he’d never thought of himself as wicked. Still, her comment made him try to do what he’d just said couldn’t be done. Analyse his feelings for Charlotte.

Was it just sexual desire for her which had propelled and compelled his actions today? Was he going through with this pretend wedding, just to get her into bed?

Absolutely not. He could have got her into bed anyway. The way she’d responded to his kiss had told him that. He was doing what he was doing because he genuinely liked her. And genuinely liked her folks. They were the warmest, nicest family he’d ever met and he hated to think of them in distress.

But perhaps it was for the best if he didn’t tell her that. Best she think he was wicked. The thought seemed to amuse her. And turn her on. Turning her on was good. Having her fall in love with him on the rebound was not.

Daniel didn’t want to take up where Gary had left off.

That would be cruel.

Charlotte had to be extra-vulnerable right now. Still, she wasn’t some young naive girl. She was a woman, a beautiful sexy woman with needs. It had been eight months since she’d been with a man. Daniel had been without a woman in his bed too.

High time they both had some comfort.

The prospect of spending their ‘wedding night’ together tomorrow was going to keep him awake tonight, that was for sure. Thinking of their wedding night, however, brought another idea, one which he would attend to before leaving the hotel.

‘Where do you want to go for coffee?’ he asked.

‘We could walk down to one of the cafés on the quay. Then I could take you to the clothes-hire place on the way. It’s not far from here. We need to rent a tux for you.’

‘No need. I have a tux. Never go anywhere without one.’ He’d been caught short once when he’d gone to Boston to visit friends.

Charlotte frowned. ‘What kind?’

‘Black. Single-breasted. Satin lapels. A white dress shirt and a black bow-tie. Will that do?’

‘Perfect,’ she said. ‘That’s one less expense. And one less job to do. Now all I have to do is let the florist know the wedding’s back on, plus the celebrant.’

‘You can call the florist but forget the celebrant. We can’t have a real one, Charlotte. Too risky, legally. I’ll get someone to stand in and play the part. My brother-in-law will do it. The bridal suite can be real, though.’

‘The bridal suite?’ she choked out.

Their eyes locked, hers wide, his narrowed.

Daniel was momentarily thrown by the sudden panic he glimpsed there. Surely she must have realised that was where tomorrow would end.

‘You said you’d cancelled it,’ he reminded her.

‘I… I didn’t actually book one of the bridal suites,’ she said, clearly flustered. ‘They have several here in the hotel, each one decorated with a different theme. They’re all terribly expensive. I couldn’t afford any of them so I booked one of the ordinary suites.’

‘I see. Well, you don’t have to worry about the expense any more. My treat. You ring the florist whilst I go organise one of those suites. Then we’ll have that coffee. I think a walk in the fresh air would do us both good.’

Ten minutes later they were walking together down George Street towards the quay. The day had become a little hotter, but not unpleasantly so. Charlotte had had no trouble re-booking the florist, with Daniel looking similarly pleased.

She didn’t dare ask him what suite he’d booked. She didn’t want to think about tomorrow night. She would think about that tomorrow.

‘You handled the situation with your parents very well,’ Daniel complimented when they stopped at a corner for a red light. ‘No one would have known you were upset. Which you must be. I’m not that insensitive that I don’t realise today has been very difficult for you.’

Difficult in more ways than one. How often did one man dump you and another bewitch you within the space of a few hours?

‘Training,’ she said brusquely, which led to her telling him about her work history and how she’d learned not to wear her heart on her sleeve.

‘Except when I’ve just been jilted,’ she added as the light turned green and they walked on. ‘I always lose it on occasions like that. Especially when I find out the man who’s supposedly in love with me has made some other girl pregnant. Would you believe this isn’t the first time this has happened?’

‘That’s incredibly bad luck.’

‘I agree,’ she said drily, and launched into her sad tale about Dwayne.

Daniel nodded sympathetically at all the right moments.

‘Men can be right bastards at times,’ he pronounced when she finished.

She stared at him, then smiled. ‘You’d know, I guess.’

By this time they’d reached the quay area and weren’t far from the open-air café Charlotte was taking him to.

‘On the plus side,’ she said as they strolled along together, ‘you are a wonderful listener.’

‘Aah, now, that’s my training. I’m not just any old lawyer, you see. I’m a divorce lawyer. With female-only clients. A good proportion of my job is just listening to women rave on. I have to confess I’m used to hearing the sexual shortcomings of the male sex. Frankly, some of the horror stories I’ve heard make me ashamed of being a man at times.’

‘But why do you have only female clients? Surely men want you to represent them sometimes.’

‘Aah, now, that’s a long story.’

Charlotte refused to let him fob her off with that old chestnut. ‘You must tell me all about it over coffee,’ she said firmly.

Daniel had no intention of doing any such thing, but oddly enough, within ten minutes of their sitting down together at one of the very pleasant alfresco tables, he found himself telling her in minute detail all about his father’s desertion and subsequent marriages.

‘Mom never recovered from his betrayal,’ he said as he stirred his coffee. ‘And I guess neither did I. Beth was too young to hate him. She never even knew him. But I despise the man for what he did, and what he’s done since. When I first started practising law and handling divorces, I did have male clients. But I couldn’t put my heart into representing them. It felt like I was representing my father. When I became a partner in the practice a few years back, I decided enough was enough. I’ve only had women clients from then on.’

‘I fully understand,’ Charlotte sympathised. ‘And your mother? How is she coping these days?’

Daniel’s chest tightened. ‘Mom passed away last year.’

‘Oh, how dreadful for you!’ Charlotte exclaimed with genuine sympathy in her gorgeous blue eyes. ‘I don’t know what I’d do if my mother died. I’d be devastated. And of course so were you. I can see it in your face.’

Daniel blinked his amazement. He’d always prided himself on never showing his emotions to the outside world. Maybe he wasn’t as self-contained as he thought. Or maybe Charlotte was extra-observant when it came to people’s body language. He’d read somewhere that hairdressers had to be good counsellors and therapists as well. They spent as much time talking to their clients as he did.