The Wedding Surprise

He swallowed his food, looking up at her with a frown, ‘That’s not what I meant.’

‘That’s exactly what you meant. You’re trying to prove that your way of living life, from one opportunity to the next without any ties or emotional involvement, is a better way of living.’

He remained calm. ‘That’s not what I said.’

Caitlin flung an arm in the air at her side. ‘You who has never had a relationship that lasted more than sixty seconds!’

‘Six months.’

She ignored him and leaned down to press home her words. ‘At least I had love in my life, Aiden. Even if it was taken from me before either of us had planned.’ She tilted her head to one side and stared at him with sparkling eyes. ‘And I wouldn’t trade a single second of it. Is there anything in your life you can honestly say the same thing about?’

Without waiting for an answer she spun on her heel and left the room at speed, before running up to her room and slamming the door.

CHAPTER FIVE

AIDEN listened to her running footsteps up the stairs and along the landing, and heard the slam of her door. Then he took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.

Well, hell.

There was movement from his side and Mick turned the camera on him for a close-up.

‘Go away, Mick.’ Aiden didn’t even look at him as he spoke the words. ‘Give me a second, here.’

‘No can do. My boss would kill me.’

‘Your boss will thump you if you don’t.’ He glanced up at the lens. ‘And you know I pack a mean punch.’

Mick grinned behind the camera. ‘Touchy today, aren’t we?’

‘Mick—’

The glare would have been enough to make most grown men step back at least a couple of steps. But Mick merely continued grinning. ‘It’s in my contract to film everything. Them’s the rules.’

‘I wrote the damn rules.’

‘Well, you dug yourself a bit of a hole there, then, didn’t you?’

With a shake of his head he looked past Mick’s shoulder to the courtyard beyond. ‘Remind me never to hire you again.’

The camera continued rolling as Aiden stared off into space. Then, after several minutes’ silence, Mick spoke with a soft voice. ‘Finding this one tough, huh?’

He smiled a small smile. ‘She’s not what I expected, I guess.’

It was an interesting dilemma. He thought back over the brief he’d originally put together for the show and the plan he’d formulated from it. He’d had a type of woman in mind from the start, but Caitlin Rourke was a surprise to him. She was—more than he’d expected.

‘More complicated.’

‘You expected some party girl who would see this all as some big fun game?’

‘Maybe I did.’

There was a second’s pause. ‘A bit like Caitlin just said, in a way.’

After another brief glare Aiden closed his eyes and sighed. ‘Probably.’

‘But it’s not a game to her.’

‘Yeah.’ He opened his eyes and smiled sarcastically. ‘Because owning a fancy place of her own is such a big deal.’

‘And that’s wrong in your eyes?’ Mick frowned slightly as he asked the question. ‘Is it wrong for her to get that because she’s so young, or something?’

‘Things that matter that much are sweeter when you work hard for them. When you’ve had to make sacrifices along the way. It makes it more worthwhile when you achieve your goals.’

‘More honourable than lying your way there? Or fooling the people that you care about along the way?’

‘I happen to think so.’

The camera continued rolling.

‘She’s had an easy go of it up ’til now. Everything all neat and tidy.’

‘Apart from Liam.’

Aiden looked up at the lens again. ‘Was that his name?’

Mick nodded without moving the camera an inch.

Aiden mirrored the nod. ‘That had to hurt.’ He looked up at the ceiling. ‘Still does, by the looks of things.’

Hell.

With a frown he pushed his chair back from the table. Standing up, he looked at the camera again. ‘I don’t suppose I can persuade you two to stay here while I go grovel?’

Two heads shook in unison.

‘Caitlin?’

There was silence from the other side of the closed door.

Aiden glanced at Mick and Joe, who both stared back at him.

‘Look, I didn’t mean to upset you about your fiancé. That wasn’t what I was aiming for.’

The silence continued, and another sideways glance saw Mick shrug his shoulders and Joe smile weakly.

Then a small voice sounded from behind the pine door. ‘What exactly were you aiming for, then?’

He thought his answer over carefully before stepping closer to the door. ‘I was just trying to point out that you can’t plan for everything. Neither of us can.’