Page 11 of The Wedding Proposal
Loz nodded along emphatically to whatever Davie was saying.
Elle, arms folded, was half-smiling, shrugging, nodding, then shaking her head. He could imagine her part in the conversation. Yes, I’m fine. Yes, honestly. No, I can put up with him. It was all a long time ago. You don’t have to worry.
Because that was Elle. Self-contained, self-reliant. Not letting people in.
It had been one of his regular complaints, that she always treated people as if they were going to fail her. Now, for the first time, he wondered whether her reluctance had actually been a defence mechanism.
Back in the day, sure that he could cure her of this trait if he could get to the bottom of it, he’d been caustic. ‘It’s as if you think everyone will let you down. Even your parents.’
She’d laughed shortly. ‘You have to bear in mind how my parents reacted after I made a mistake.’
‘The mistake being Ricky?’
‘Yes.’ She was never forthcoming on the subject of Ricky, the guy, ten years older than her, who she’d married in a registry office, straight out of university, without inviting her parents. He could see how that would go down badly with any parents, let alone the controlling kind, like Elle’s, and though he was aware that there was a layer of steel under Elle’s soft sweet skin, her actions had seemed uncharacteristically rebellious.
When pressed, she’d expanded reluctantly. ‘You know what my mum and dad are like. No understanding or compassion over my errors. I learned young never to own up because I dreaded their cutting remarks and mean silences. Marrying against their wishes was obviously going to create an absolute storm of those things so it seemed easier to at least enjoy the wedding. Without them.’
The subject of marriage hadn’t come up again until, a year later, he’d made his unfortunately business-like proposal and she’d been underwhelmed.
He should have made it absolutely crystal clear that Elle was the most desirable woman on the planet and, because he loved her, he would have proposed even if his plans hadn’t made it expedient. Wincing at the memory, he told himself aloud, ‘You were an idiot.’
On the quay, Elle was still listening politely as Loz and Davie discussed her situation. For an instant Lucas contemplated bowling out there and warning them that they were setting themselves up for failure if they thought they could predict Elle’s reactions.
Just look at how she’d reacted when he’d tried to fix things by suggesting the big wedding he’d been sure every girl lusted after. ‘I’d rather get married without telling anyone. We could go to Vegas!’ Elle had countered.
But he’d refused to hurt his parents by deliberately excluding them, even though they disdained the bride’s first marriage. He didn’t embrace their assumption that a wedding involved a marquee on a manicured lawn, but Elle’s Vegas idea struck him as mean, or even a hint that it was all his offhand proposal deserved. Or all that befitted a second husband . . . ?
His jealous curiosity about her past had spiked.
Rather than admit his fears, he’d resorted to, ‘What the hell would your parents think of being sidelined a second time?’
Elle had recoiled and become almost as reluctant to talk about marriage to Lucas as she was about her marriage to Ricky. She’d looked perpetually unhappy.
She was looking unhappy again, now, while Loz and Davie exchanged uncertain glances over her bare head. Loz and Davie had put their hats back on while the flowered thing Elle had come in wearing was on the helm seat.
If she stayed out there much longer, he’d toss it out to her. She wasn’t dark-haired, like him, with skin that tanned. She’d just come off the plane and her milky complexion could turn to radish before she even realised that the sun had rubbed its fiery fingers over her.
But then Elle began saying her goodbyes, stepping across onto the boat, waving to Loz and Davie.
The moment that she slipped back into the saloon, he did the right thing. ‘Sorry,’ he said.
Chapter Four
She stopped short, eyebrows lifting. ‘Sorry that you caused me needless embarrassment?’
‘I was thrown that you chose to cough your guts to people you’ve only just met, contrary to your usual habit of keeping things to yourself.’
She flushed. ‘I’ve only just met them in the flesh but we’ve been e-mailing for months.’
With an effort, he remembered that he was supposed to be apologising. ‘What I’m sorry for is sounding so melodramatic and bitter. It came out wrong. I’d realised from the way you made the introductions that you hadn’t explained our history. I meant to head her off but somehow it came out all drama queen.’
The faintest of smiles tugged at a corner of her mouth. ‘It was just your way of being nice?’
Reluctantly, he grinned. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as that. Let’s just say I wasn’t actively trying to piss you off.’
After a moment, she nodded. ‘OK. Thanks.’
He sighed. ‘Do you think it would be a plan to talk a few things out? If we’re stuck with each other we might as well try and make it as easy on ourselves as possible. I haven’t forgotten what you said about the sharks. I hope to swim with a few during my time here, but not when I’m sporting Elle-inflicted injuries.’
