Designing Abigail Kilton's Dress - #1 The Wedding Dress

Chapter 23 - One Down, Two to Go

Marcus grabbed Kayleigh by the waist to steady her after she walked straight into him and lost her balance. She held on to his arms, slightly dizzy from the impact. Or from the panic attack she'd only just managed to push away. It was definitely not from the warmth of Marcus's fingers seeping through her thin blouse. Or from how he was looking at her with so much concern and attentiveness and...

"What are you do-"

"Are you okay?" Marcus asked, cutting her off before she could start yelling at him.

Kayleigh let out a shaky breath. She was terribly conscious of his hands on her, his thumbs moving in circles just below her ribs. His eyes caressed her softly, stopping on her lips momentarily. And then, as though realising what he was doing, he let her go suddenly. 

"You're too tense," he stated gruffly, scratching his beard again. "You need to relax, Kay Kay."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. "How are you so cool about all this? I feel horrible-"

"You have nothing to feel bad about-"

"Nothing to feel bad about?" Kayleigh repeated. "What about Abi? And Jack? What about all the lies? Aren't you at all worried they'll find out?"

"They're not going to find out. Is that why you ran off? You can't panic now, or they will find out!"

"It's not why I ran off," Kayleigh snapped, irritated at how well he saw through her. "It's just... all that wedding talk... Gosh, I feel so bad about what we did, Marcus. Abigail is so excited about the wedding and about that dress. She talks about me like I'm some superhero and I'm the one who betrayed her!"

"You didn't know about her," Marcus said softly. But Kayleigh was trapped in her own riveting mind again. She wasn't listening.

"If she finds out, my life will be ruined," she went on. "I will never work in fashion. Jack won't look at me and my brother will literally kill me! Not to mention your career will be over too. Abi has a lot of friends in high places-"

"They're not going to find out," Marcus repeated calmly, placing his palms on her shoulders, trying to get through to her. "Nobody knows but us, right?"

But instead of calming down, Kayleigh blanched. Her voice was nothing more than a whisper when she confessed, "I told Rosemary."

That broke through Marcus's mask of cool. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "You told Nicholson? The girl your brother brought with him to London?"

"Yes!" Kay cried. "I know it was stupid, okay? It was before I knew they were coming to visit, obviously. But she won't tell Leon. I know her. She won't do something like that."

Marcus ran his fingers through his hair and paced around in circles as he tried to regain his composure. "Are you sure? I mean, they did come here together. Clearly, they're close."

"I'm sure," Kayleigh nodded, willing herself to stay calm. "Besides, they're not staying together. She's staying with me and he's staying with you, so we can keep them apart while they're here. I just have to convince Rosemary there's nothing going on between us, which there isn't. And Leon has to believe that Jack and I are solid, which we are. But Marcus, we can't do that if you keep staring at me all night!"

"Maybe if you relax a little, I won't have to keep watching you," he snapped back.

"Watching me? How can I relax with you watching me all the time?"

"I don't know. You can start by breathing. You look like a bloody statue-"

"Oh, wow! Great advice, genius. What would I do without you?"