‘Fabulous. Just as good as Richard and Reece. Truly, it’s amazing what a tux can do for a guy. But he’s not in the best of moods. Very antsy. Shall I tell him you’re ready?’

Alanna and Natalie exchanged meaningful looks.

‘I think another five minutes, don’t you, Alanna?’ Natalie said, her heart thundering in her chest.

Alanna grinned. ‘Maybe even ten.’

‘Not that long,’ Holly wailed. ‘Please. I don’t think I can stand it.’

Natalie smiled at Holly, whom she now counted as one of her friends. What a lovely girl she was. But such a hopeless romantic. She really thought something might come of this marriage.

Natalie suspected Alanna was harbouring a few secret hopes in that department, too.

But Natalie knew better. Even if she succeeded in making Mike want her sexually, he was not going to fall in love with her. A brief affair whilst the marriage lasted was all she could hope for. Even that was not a foregone conclusion.

Mike might take one look at her today and be downright furious. He’d told her at their first meeting that he didn’t want to marry some femme fatale type who thought she could get him to change his mind about divorcing her afterwards.

Natalie’s excitement took a nosedive with this train of thought, along with her confidence.

‘That’s all right,’ she said, a sudden burst of nerves making her voice tremble. ‘I don’t think I want to wait that long, either. Tell Mike I’ll be out in a sec.’

Mike frowned at Holly when she returned. ‘Well?’

‘She’s coming out in a sec,’ he was told. ‘You’d better get ready.’

The three men and the celebrant—a dignified gentleman in his fifties—took up their positions near the railing of the penthouse terrace, which was a truly glorious setting for a wedding, especially on a warm summer afternoon with the sun shining and only the lightest of breezes. The view of the harbour and the bridge behind them was truly magnificent.

There would be no excuse for the photographer not getting great snaps of the bride and groom. Wedding photos were essential, if Mike was to convince Helsinger that the marriage was genuine.

At the moment, it felt all too genuine for Mike.

He’d been insane, coming up with this idea.

He didn’t want to get married. He didn’t want a wife, even a temporary one. And he sure as hell didn’t want that wife to be a woman he wanted to take to bed as badly as this one.

Mike sucked in sharply.

Oh, my God!

That couldn’t be Natalie Fairlane walking towards him, not in that long, slinky, stunningly strapless dress.