‘I’ll take your silence to mean you like the idea of Mike being unbearably randy, come your wedding day. Okay, so tomorrow morning we’re going to start on our makeover mission. There’s no time to lose. I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty. Sharp. Ooh, this is going to be such fun.’

Fun. Natalie considered the word. It had been a long time since she’d had fun. And since she’d surrendered totally to the female within herself.

Suddenly, she felt more alive than she had in four long years.

CHAPTER TEN

MIKE glanced at his watch. Ten past three and still no sign of the bride.

‘Holly, go and see what’s keeping Natalie, will you?’ he said impatiently.

‘Okay,’ Holly returned amicably. ‘But she’s only ten minutes late, Mike. Brides are often much later than that.’

‘But she’s not a real bride,’ Mike muttered after Holly left.

‘Legally she will be,’ Richard said by his side. ‘Till you divorce her.’

Mike shot his friend a savage glare. ‘Don’t remind me.’

‘What’s the problem, Mike?’ Reece asked from where he was standing on the other side of Richard. ‘You’re beginning to sound like you’re having cold feet, like a real groom.’

‘He will be a real groom,’ Richard piped up again.

‘Not exactly,’ Reece said drily. ‘He won’t have a real groom’s rights tonight. Which might be a problem.’

‘And what does that mean?’ Mike growled.

‘I gather you haven’t seen Natalie lately.’

‘Haven’t seen her in over a month.’ He’d rung her twice, suggesting that he drop by, using the excuse of supposedly checking on her new wardrobe. But she’d always had some reason why it hadn’t been convenient for him to visit, impossible woman that she was!

‘Well, I have,’ Reece said ruefully. ‘She stayed over at our place last night. And all I can say is…good luck.’

When the bedroom door opened, both Alanna’s and Natalie’s heads whipped round to see who it was.

‘Don’t worry,’ Holly said as she waddled in, her floaty pink dress doing its best to conceal that she was very, very pregnant. ‘It’s only me.’

‘Just as well,’ Alanna said, thinking to herself that her own bump was quite small compared to Holly’s. Still, Holly was seven and a half months compared to her six.

‘Wow, Natalie,’ Holly gushed, her hands clutched across her big belly. ‘You look simply fabulous! Doesn’t she, Alanna?’

Alanna stood back to inspect the bride, smiling her satisfaction of a job well done. The dress was a triumph, the woman in it even more so. Amazing what the right clothes, make-up and hairdo could do.

Of course, she’d been working with excellent basic equipment. Natalie had a great figure, much better than her own slender curves. Her face had always had the potential to be striking, too, with the right makeup.