A Surprise Christmas Wedding - Phillipa Ashley Page 0,91

as she got me on my own, she demanded to know why I hadn’t told her before and exactly how close you and I had been. I had to come clean and say we’d only broken up last year, and that we’d lived together.’ He sighed. ‘That seemed to make her even angrier.’

Lottie squeezed her eyes shut. ‘No wonder she was furious. We should never have kept it a secret. I didn’t want to for this precise reason!’

She sat on the sofa while Connor paced around, swearing.

‘I am so sorry for this. It’s been a nightmare keeping it under wraps and now everything’s been blown sky-high. I can’t see the wedding going ahead tomorrow or any time.’

Lottie was angry with Connor for making her stay quiet about their relationship, angry with herself for letting him come back into her life.

Connor stopped pacing and put his arm around her shoulders.

She shook him off. ‘Don’t.’

‘OK. OK. I was only trying to help.’

‘You’ve done enough. I wish you’d never set foot in Firholme or my life.’

He held up his hands, his eyes full of hurt. How did he even dare to look hurt? Lottie thought, anger hardening into determination. ‘I should have told Shayla right away,’ she said, finally lifting her head. ‘I will tell her, first thing in the morning.’

‘Probably a good idea,’ Connor murmured. ‘Because Keegan has already sent her an email.’

‘What?’

‘She said you’d behaved “unprofessionally”. Yes, I know it was my fault, and I tried to tell her that we’d had a pact.’

Lottie let out a squeak of horror. ‘Connor …’ she said, reining in the urge to shout.

‘That seemed to make her even angrier. She – she – seems to have got some bloody stupid idea that we’re still involved. I tried to tell her that’s not true until I was blue in the face but she won’t believe me. She says we wouldn’t have kept our past a secret if there wasn’t anything to hide. Maybe she thinks something’s been going on since I got back?’

‘We both know there isn’t but you’ve lost her trust!’ Lottie was horrified. ‘We both have.’

‘I think you’re right – and she kicked me out,’ Connor moaned. ‘I’d had a couple of whiskies … so I couldn’t drive and there’s no way I could get a cab at this hour out here in the arse end of nowhere – even if they could get through the snow so – I walked.’

‘Connor!’ Lottie said so loudly, he flinched. ‘Do you have any idea of what you’ve done? Your wedding is tomorrow, you’ve devastated your bride and you could lose me my job and my professional reputation. You need to own this and sort it out right now. With Keegan and with my boss.’ Plus she was convinced he’d had more than a couple of whiskies.

‘Now? It’s after midnight. I can’t do anything now.’

‘Well, you can’t stay here.’ She was horrified at this new twist of events. ‘No way, especially after what’s happened.’

‘Where then? I’m not sure I can make it home in this blizzard.’

‘You are not staying here for the night,’ she repeated, though the sick feeling in her gut was already telling her that every other option was looking impossible.

She thought about saying she’d lend him gloves and a coat then she looked out of the window. The snow was falling more heavily than ever and it was below freezing. There was every likelihood he really wouldn’t make it home if she forced him to walk back, especially if he’d been drinking. Maybe she could ask one of the staff to let him share their cottage, but who could she wake up at one a.m. without a lot of explanations. Jay … no chance. He and Connor might come to blows.

She ushered him into the lounge, her mind working overtime. ‘If Keegan finds out you slept here in my house, then the wedding definitely will be off. Look, maybe you could sleep in the café,’ she said. ‘I can get the key. They have sofas.’

‘So, do you – and then neither of us will have go out in a snowstorm.’

She clutched her dressing gown tighter. ‘If that’s what it takes.’

Water dripped off his coat and trousers, pooling on her carpet. His face was red with the cold and his hair matted with melting snow. It was a wonder he didn’t already have hypothermia. ‘Won’t that cause more fuss than letting me kip in your sitting room for a few hours?’ he pleaded. ‘All