Seduction: The Billionaire's Bride of Vengeance

‘The one and only.’ Looking sinfully sexy in a sleek black dinner suit.

‘He’s better-looking than I thought he’d be.’

‘He’s had a haircut and he’s wearing a tux. All men look good in tuxes.’

‘No, not all men. Though Leyton does, don’t you, darling?’ Kara said, hooking arms with the man by her side.

Leyton was Kara’s latest in a long line of boyfriends. Kara was inclined to be on the fickle side and Nicole didn’t even try to keep up with the passing parade of pretty boys her friend had dated over the years.

‘Don’t I what?’ Leyton replied a little vacantly.

Intelligence was not something Kara valued in a man, unlike Nicole, who could not abide stupidity.

‘Never mind,’ Kara said, patting Leyton’s hand.

The bride’s arrival put paid to any further conversation over the amazing coincidence of Russell McClain being at this wedding. Though it wasn’t till the bride started walking down the aisle that Nicole managed to drag her attention back to the present.

Megan still looked like Megan, Nicole thought as the bride moved past her pew. There’d been no radical makeover. Though she did look truly lovely in a strapless ivory dress which had a tightly boned and heavily beaded bodice and a huge gathered skirt. Under the long veil—which was held in place by a simple coronet of tiny roses—her dark brown hair was tightly pulled back from her beautifully made-up face, an exquisite pearl necklace adorning her slender neck.

‘Doesn’t she look fabulous?’ Kara gushed.

‘Absolutely gorgeous,’ Nicole concurred.

Unfortunately, once the bride had passed by, Nicole’s mind returned to the third man at the head of the aisle. Why, oh, why, did fate have to be this cruel?

Fortunately, he wasn’t looking down into the congregation, so he hadn’t seen her. Still, it was just a matter of time.

Nicole shuddered at the thought of meeting him again.

The ceremony was simple and very traditional. It was also quite short and soon the wedding party moved off into the vestry, presumably to sign the register. It wouldn’t be long before they’d be walking back down the aisle, right past where Nicole was sitting.

‘Just going outside for some fresh air,’ Nicole said. ‘It’s very stuffy in here.’ Before Kara could stop her she jumped up and slipped out the back, heading straight for the oak tree in the corner of the churchyard.

It was the perfect hiding place, the tree’s large trunk keeping her out of sight whilst its huge canopy of leaves provided shade from what was an unseasonably hot day for early November. Although it was getting on for five in the afternoon, it was still extremely warm and surprisingly humid for this time of year. A storm was predicted for later in the evening but not soon enough to spoil the wedding. At the moment, there wasn’t even a cloud in the clear blue sky.

A sudden burst of noise and laughter indicated that the ceremony was over, a glance around the trunk confirming that the wedding party had emerged from the church, followed by waves of guests, most of them armed with digital cameras and photo-taking phones.

Nicole stayed hidden whilst all the photographs were taken, but not so hidden that she couldn’t get a few surreptitious glimpses of the annoying man whom she didn’t want to fancy … but did.

Finally the wedding party left, and Nicole called out to Kara, who was obviously looking for her.

‘So there you are!’ Kara said. ‘What are you doing, skulking off in this corner? As if I don’t know! Come on, we’re off to the reception. And before you say it, no, we can’t possibly take you home. It’s too far for one thing. Leyton would have to drive back across the harbour bridge, then back again. The reception is being held at a yacht club not far from here.’

‘I could always take a taxi,’ Nicole said. She was no longer stone-broke, having sold a good proportion of her wardrobe yesterday.

‘Mum would not be pleased if you did a flit. And the mother of the bride would be livid. You’re stuck, sweetie. Not that I’m sure why you’d want to run away. Your Mr McClain is quite yummy, if you like the gladiatorial type. And he’s not into the second bridesmaid, by the way, even though she practically glued herself to his side during the photographs.’

‘How do you know that?’ Nicole had been feeling quite jealous of the attractive redhead, whose burgundy satin bridesmaid dress had showed an impressive cleavage.

‘Because he hasn’t even looked at her boobs,’ Kara said. ‘And just about every other man has, I can tell you.’

‘He can look if he wants to,’ Nicole said offhandedly. ‘What do I care?’

‘Oh, come, now, Nickie. You don’t fool me for a minute. You’ve got the hots for the guy.’

‘I wouldn’t go that far.’

‘I would. You know, I don’t understand what your problem is. In the old days, you’d have just sashayed up to him and in no time flat he’d have been toast.’

‘That was then and this is now,’ Nicole said, thinking that what Kara said was true. She used to have great success in attracting the opposite sex, and great confidence.

But David had destroyed a lot of her self-esteem, his critical words still stinging.

‘The trouble with girls like you,’ he’d thrown at her when she returned his ring, ‘is that you think being drop-dead gorgeous is enough for a man. But it isn’t. What we want is a woman with some passion in her veins, not some vain little puss who expects to just lie back and let the man do all the work.

‘And that’s another thing,’ he’d added. ‘If you think I’m sorry this engagement is over then you can think again. You might be beautiful to look at, sweetheart, but you’re a bloody bore in bed.’

Ever since that day, whenever a man had looked at her with interest Nicole had run a mile.

A light suddenly went on in her brain. Up till now, she’d convinced herself she’d seen nothing in Russell McClain’s eyes the other day but dislike.

But now she realised that was not strictly true. Along with the dislike, she’d glimpsed something else.

Desire.

Unfortunately, this time, Nicole didn’t want to run a mile. Despite her fear of further humiliation, she wanted to sashay up to him at the wedding reception. She wanted him to be toast.

But she just didn’t have the courage, or the confidence.

Kara sighed a long, exasperated-sounding sigh. ‘Whatever am I going to do with you? That creep has a lot to answer for.’

Nicole blinked up at her. ‘What creep?’

‘David, of course. Who did you think I meant? Surely not Mr McClain. He hardly qualifies as a creep. He was nice to you in the end, wasn’t he?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘You worry too much these days. Come on, let’s go. Leyton’s already gone back to his car and he’ll be wondering where we are.’

Nicole reluctantly allowed herself to be led away, all the while thinking she should never have agreed to come to this wedding in the first place. At the same time she could not deny that there was a small sliver of excitement running through her veins at the prospect of meeting Russell McClain again.

At least she was looking her best, having been to the hairdresser’s first thing this morning with Kara, then having spent quite a long time afterwards on her body. Months of not bothering had been reversed as she’d buffed herself to the max. Her make-up had taken her almost an hour, but overall the final result had been most pleasing.

The dress she was wearing—one of only a few dresses she’d not sold yesterday—was a pale green, empire-line, halter-necked number with a low-cut draped bodice and a swishy skirt which finished just above her knee. More of a party dress than the kind of thing one wore to a snooty wedding. But she’d always liked it.

She hadn’t been going to wear jewellery, despite having not sold any yet. But Kara had talked her into donning the emerald and diamond set Alistair had presented her with on her twenty-first, which consisted of a pendant and two drop earrings.

‘This is a society wedding, sweetie,’ Kara had said somewhat impatiently. ‘If you’re not going to wear a more formal dress, then you have to at least wear some serious bling, not to mention decent shoes.’