Tying the knot... or not?

~7~

After blearily waving Tristan and Lula off on their honeymoon at midday the next day, Theo and Emily went back to bed and slept till the afternoon, waking to have slow, lazy sex again, then doze in the late afternoon sun that poured in through the large windows of the guest house until Emily maintained she really had to go back home to London.
As much as she'd loved finally breaking through Theo's iron control and making up for the time they'd wasted, she didn't want to give him the impression she was moving in to stay. In fact, she was confused about exactly what she did want from him.
She'd assured him she wasn't a hearts and flowers person, and was not looking for anything serious, but after confessing her deepest, darkest secrets to him the night before, their connection felt edgy and a little more unbalanced than she was comfortable with. He'd given no indication at all that he was interested in taking this thing further, and he was still refusing to tell her anything personal about himself, so she needed to be careful here.
So, after she'd finally peeled herself away from his addictive company, she made her way back home.
Her flat felt very small and cramped after being at Theo's place, and she wasn't able to stay in it long before the urge to go out again took hold of her.
She met up with some friends at a pub in Covent Garden and flirted a little with some men she met at the bar, but the experience didn't satisfy her as it should have.
She left early, citing tiredness - which her friends ribbed her about - and was glad when she got home and was able to fall into bed. Drifting off into sleep, she told herself that things would be fine between her and Theo because neither of them wanted a proper relationship, so neither of them would have any trouble walking away at the end. After all, there had hardly even been a beginning.
The next morning, she woke to an urgent answer machine message from her agent, pointing out that the production company still hadn't sent through her contract to host the new and improved version of Treasure Trail on the more highbrow channel it was moving to, and that they were fobbing him off when he chased them about it.
It was time to get serious and sort this thing out once and for all.
Taking a deep breath, she called the executive producer on his personal mobile.
He answered with a terse, 'Yup.'
'Ben, it's Emily. What the hell's going on with my new contract? Apparently, my agent hasn't had anything from you, and filming starts in less than a month.'
There was a long pause before he replied, as if he was waving for someone to shut up in the background. 'Ah, yes... About that... There might be some changes being made to the show.'
Her skin rose in goosebumps as a feeling of unease flooded through her. 'What do you mean?'
'Look, Emily, the thing is some of the new station heads have been bandying around the idea of replacing you with Daisy Dunlop - you know, the ex⁠-'
'I know who she is, Ben,' she snapped, before she could stop herself.
There was an offended pause on the other end of the line.
'I'm sorry for being short with you,' she said quickly, 'but you can't blame me for being worried I'm about to lose my job.'
'I get it, Emily, but hold your nerve, okay? We're meeting soon to finalise everything and I'll let you know as soon as I have all the information. I'll be rooting for you. I want you to stay.'
'Hmm...' She couldn't quite bring herself to believe that. The two of them had always had what she'd describe as a tricky relationship, at best.
'So, what have you been up to since the filming wrapped?' he asked, clearly keen to divert her away from the subject of her potential ousting.
That was okay, though, because it gave her an opportunity to point out that she was capable of non-sensational behaviour. 'I've been helping my best friend with her wedding and hanging out at my boyfriend, Theo's, place.' She cringed a little at the word boyfriend, but told herself that what Theo didn't know about wouldn't hurt him.
'The earl?'
'Yes.'
He let out a surprised laugh. 'So you're really serious about this guy? I thought it was just another one of your over-the-top publicity stunts.'
Prickly irritation wound through her insides. 'Nope. We're serious. As serious as you can get.' She was damned if she was going to let Ben try and make her feel bad about how she chose to live her life.
'As in "engaged" serious?'
She shifted uneasily on the sofa, but held her nerve. 'Well, I wouldn't like to say, Ben. Especially as our friends and family haven't heard us say that word yet,' she said, loading her voice with innuendo and feeling a sneaking sense of shame at the little white lie. Not that Theo would ever get to hear about it. It was unlikely that his and Ben's paths would ever cross.
'Then I guess congratulations are in order.'
'Why? Are you guaranteeing my continued place on the show?'
He laughed. 'You don't give up, do you?'
'Never.'
'Well, I suppose if you've managed to turn a corner in your personal life that will probably play well with the new station execs. Are you bringing him to that film premiere on Thursday evening? It would probably help if they saw pictures of you there with him.'
She slapped a hand against her forehead. She'd totally forgotten that she needed to arrange a date for that.
She liked to go to as many awards ceremonies and film premieres as possible, to keep her face in the magazines and her profile up in the press, and the production company liked it too because it meant free publicity for the show. Usually, she took one of the men she'd had short, no-strings flings with in the past to be arm candy. They accepted her invitations because they knew they'd get exposure out of it too - as well as some hot sex afterwards - but she didn't want to ask one of them and have it reported that she was seeing someone else while Theo's mother was under the impression the two of them were having a serious relationship.
So that meant only one thing. She was going to have to persuade Theo to go with her - and, based on his reluctance to be in the public eye, that was going to take some serious negotiating.
Theo had just finished a project in his workshop and was about to go back over to the house when Emily appeared at the door.
'Hey,' he said, walking over, wiping the grease off his hands with a rag.
He'd been a little disturbed to find he'd missed her company in the last couple of days, after the intensity of being with her at the wedding, but he'd put it down to the unexpected breaking of his sexual fast. The stuff she'd told him about her mother had played on his mind too, but he'd tried hard to put it to one side, determined not to allow any emotional involvement to mar their fling. It had been interesting getting an insight into the reasons for her wild behaviour, but he didn't want to dig any deeper. It wasn't any of his business.
'Hey, yourself. I hope you don't mind me dropping in without calling, but I had a free day so I thought I'd come and see whether you fancied a bit of company.' She wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive manner and his body immediately sprang to life.
He tossed the rag onto the bench next to her. 'I don't mind. Actually, I was just thinking about calling you to arrange that final meet-up with my mother.'
'Okay, well, I guess I came at a good time, then,' she said, stepping closer so she could brush something out of his hair. She gave him a provocative smile. 'You're all dirty.'
He raised an eyebrow. 'I was just about to go and take a shower.'
Her pupils dilated, the black almost swallowing the gold of her irises, and the corner of her mouth twitched up into a grin. 'I could do with a shower too,' she said, her voice suddenly rough and low.
He didn't need any more encouragement than that.
Without another word, he grabbed her hand and led her out of the workshop and over to the manor house, practically running with her up the stairs to his en suite bathroom, where he stripped her out of her jeans and T-shirt, tossing his own clothes onto the pile while she went to turn on the shower.
He caught hold of her before she got under the water and kissed her hard and deep, luxuriating in the feel of her soft skin pressed against his, from chest to hip. He was as hard as stone already, and the feeling of his cock trapped between their bodies nearly drove him insane with the need to bury himself inside her.
Stepping back carefully into the shower cubicle, he pulled her with him, feeling the warm water rain down on his back and onto his hair.
Drawing away from him, she looked around for the shower gel, locating it on the shelf behind him, and poured some of it onto her palm. Rubbing it first between her hands, she then lathered it all over him, paying particular attention to the place he could really do without her rubbing too hard right then. Even though it had only been a couple of days his body was reacting as though it had been weeks since he'd last been inside her, and he worried for a moment that he'd come too quickly if she continued to give that much devotion to her task.
Thankfully, she seemed to sense his slight withdrawal from her touch and instead pulled the showerhead off its holder and hosed him down with it, sluicing water over his sensitised skin as she washed the soapy bubbles away.
'That's better,' she said, with a wicked smirk on her face, before kneeling down and taking the tip of his shaft into her mouth, swirling her tongue around the head with such expertise he had to press both hands against the walls of the cubicle to steady himself.
She took him deep, then pulled back, then deep again, and he groaned with the acute pleasure of it, sliding one hand into her hair and gliding his thumb over her cheek.
'Emily, if you want to get some of your own action right now, you're going to have to go slow with me,' he muttered.
She laughed with him still inside her mouth and the vibration of it nearly sent him over the edge.
Pulling away from him, she stood up and stepped out of the cubicle, going over to the bathroom cabinet and coming back with a condom clutched between her fingers. Maintaining eye contact, she tore the packet open and rolled it onto the hard length of him, her eyes telling him exactly what sort of pleasure he was about to experience. Putting the flats of her hands against his chest, she guided him to stand with his back against the cubicle wall and turned her back on him, leaning her hands against the glass in front of her and pushing backwards towards him in invitation.
He didn't need more urging than that, and after positioning himself carefully he slid inside her, echoing her gasp of pleasure as their bodies connected.
They moved together, her hands making a squeaking sound on the glass as his thrusts pushed her back and forth.
'Theo?' she gasped as he leant forward and propped one hand on the wall above her head for balance.
'Yeah?' he said, feeling his orgasm begin to build as they moved together.
'I need to ask you a favour.'
'Now?' he groaned, barely able to concentrate on speaking, let alone process a request for his help.
She pushed hard against him, forcing him to stop moving. 'I need a date for a thing on Thursday night. A film premiere. Will you go with me?'
It seemed like a perfectly reasonable request if it meant she would just start bloody moving again. 'Yes. Fine. I'll go with you,' he said, the acceptance barely registering in his consciousness as she relaxed her stance and allowed him to thrust hard into her again.
He would have done just about anything for her at that moment.
'You didn't mention the entire phalanx of the British press were going to be at this thing,' Theo muttered into Emily's ear as they walked away from the cab that had dropped them on the edge of Leicester Square and pushed their way through the thronging crowds to the cinema where the film premiere was being held.
'Ah, it's just a few reporters - they won't bite,' she said, attempting to brush his irritation away with her hand.
He stopped walking and folded his arms across his broad chest, giving her an angry frown. 'You knew it was going to be this much of a zoo, didn't you?' he said coldly. 'No wonder you asked me to come while you had me so distracted.'
'I don't think I've ever needed to ask you to come,' she teased, straightening his tie with a slightly shaking hand and trying to ignore the sinking feeling of guilt in her stomach.
She knew she hadn't exactly played fair, but he wouldn't have said yes if she'd casually mentioned it over dinner, so she'd had to resort to using the only persuasive device she'd had available. Ordinarily, she wouldn't have even considered it, but this outing could be the difference between her keeping her spot on the show or sinking into obscurity.
Taking a step backwards, she gave him a complimentary up-and-down look. 'You scrub up well, my lord.'
He continued to scowl at her and she flashed him a pleading grin back.
'It's just walking down a bit of red carpet, then watching a film in a cinema that's closed to the public, Theo. What can possibly be so terrible about that?'
He didn't reply, just kept giving her that steely-eyed look of his.
She picked up his hand and squeezed it hard. 'Look, it'll be fine. Just walk next to me and don't answer any questions if we get asked any. Let me handle it. Okay?'
She leaned forward and attempted to kiss the scowl off his face.
'Theo?' she murmured, pressing herself against him.
'Yes. Fine,' he said tersely. 'But I want to make it clear that I'm not happy about this and it will never happen again.'
'That much I gathered,' she said, flashing him a wry grin as relief poured through her.
Tugging on his hand, she urged him to follow her towards the cordoned-off area that celebrity guests, cast and crew members had to walk through to join the beginning of the red carpet.
Leicester Square was alive tonight, with the hubbub of excitement coming from fans of the actors in the film as well as the usual throng of tourists that made the square one of the busiest in London.
She loved it.
The buzz of excitement that went with these kinds of events always thrilled her. She was a like a moth to a flame when it came to the bright lights of a public spectacle such as this. She'd always loved the adoration of strangers, not ever having had the adoration of a family to rely on, and she didn't think she'd ever be able to give it up. Luckily her position as host of a show as popular as Treasure Trail had kept her in the nation's interest, but she was well aware that fame was a fickle mistress and could turn on her at any moment.
Hopefully that moment wouldn't be for a very long time - if ever.
After showing their invitations to two burly-looking bouncers at the cordon, they were ushered through to the beginning of the plush red carpet synonymous with film and fame.
'Okay - you ready?' she said, giving him a look of what she hoped was persuasive positivity.
'No. But let's do this thing,' he replied, the scowl still evident on his face.
They'd only walked a couple of paces down the almost blindingly brightly lit catwalk when a journalist called out to them to stop, and a wave of camera flashes went off in their faces.
She felt Theo's hand tighten in hers and she gave it a reassuring squeeze back and led him over to the journalist who had called out to them, flashing the smile she was so famous for.
'Emily! Marnie White from the Daily Courier. So, a little birdy - in the shape of your executive producer - tells me that congratulations are in order?'
Emily gave the woman a blank stare, wondering why Ben had told a journalist about his decision to keep her on at Treasure Trail before he'd talked to her about it. Surely that couldn't be right?
'You mean about the show moving to a new channel?' she asked with a stiff smile, hating the idea of being caught out like this in full public view. Even though it sounded as if it was going to be good news about the show, she would have preferred to hear it from Ben first, so she could have had more time to formulate an upbeat soundbite for the press.
The journalist nodded towards Theo. 'No, I'm talking about the two of you, tying the knot.'
She felt Theo freeze beside her.
Something hot and heavy dropped into her stomach, sending a wave of nausea up into her throat.
Oh, no...
'So who's invited to the wedding?' the journalist continued, seemingly unaware of the chaos she'd just caused, loading her voice with implication and batting her eyelashes to make sure Emily got the message.
Oh, she'd got the message all right. She was totally and utterly screwed.
'Uh...'
She needed to pull herself together. Fast.
'You know me, Marnie, I'm a very private person. I don't like to comment on my personal life,' she managed to mumble through frozen lips.
Her heart was beating so hard against her ribs she thought it might explode out of her body at any moment. She almost hoped it would - at least then they'd lead with a story about that instead of her supposed engagement to Theo.
All the journalists listening in, as well as Marnie, burst out laughing at that totally ridiculous statement. And quite fairly so. Never in her life had she shied away from courting the press in order to get publicity.
Deciding the best possible move was to run like the wind, she shot Marnie a cool smile and walked away quickly, hoping not to look too conspicuous in her hurry, pulling a very tense Theo along with her.
Her false grin was actually making her jaw ache by the time they escaped from the press line and into the cool, comparatively calm lobby of the large cinema.
People were milling about, drinking complimentary wine while they waited to be seated, so she dragged Theo into a quiet corridor leading to the other smaller cinemas, which weren't being used in order to keep the rest of the venue exclusively for the premiere.
'What the hell was that?' Theo hissed, as soon as they were out of earshot of any of the other patrons.
His eyes flashed with anger as she gave him a horrified smile.
'I'm so sorry. I had no idea that was going to happen.'
He threw up his hands in disgust. 'Don't you have any integrity? You really think it's okay to lie about the status of our relationship to the press to get more exposure for your career?'
She held out both hands to him, begging for his understanding. 'They're talking about taking my show away from me, Theo. I can't let them do that. I thought if they saw me supposedly settling down, they'd think I was a better fit for the tone they want to project with the show now.'
'So you thought you'd lie about being engaged to an earl?'
His voice was so icy it made a shiver run down her spine.
'It wasn't-' She took a deep steadying breath. 'I never meant it to come out publicly. My exec producer misheard something I said and just assumed we were engaged. I didn't correct him. I didn't think it would cause this much trouble.'
He folded his arms across his chest. 'Perhaps you were hoping that once the news got out, I'd have trouble backing out of it in case my mother found out?'
Her jaw dropped in outrage. 'What are you saying? That you think I want to be engaged to you?'
'Do you?'
'No! I told you - I'm not interested in getting married. I like being single.'
He frowned, his expression flicking between confusion and anger, clearly having trouble believing her.
Her phone chose that moment to beep loudly and announce the arrival of a text message.
'You'd better check that in case it's someone congratulating you on hooking an earl for a husband,' he said coldly, taking a step away from her and leaning against the wall behind them, his arms crossed defensively in front of him.
'Funny,' she muttered, fumbling in her bag to find her phone.
It was a relief to be given an excuse to look away from Theo's angry gaze, and hopefully the distraction would give her a precious few seconds to figure out how to deal with this new, disastrous situation.
Flicking on the screen, she opened up the text.
It was from her brother.
She'd been ducking his calls and deleting his messages without listening to them for the last couple of days, assuming he was going through the motions of his yearly attempt to reconnect with her even though she'd made it perfectly clear she didn't want to have anything to do with him any more.
They'd never got on as children. He was their father's golden child and he'd never let her forget it.
'This really isn't a good time for a family reunion, Jake,' she muttered under her breath, flicking her gaze down the text.
It wasn't a request for a reunion.
Blood pounded through her head as she re-read the words on the screen, thinking she must have misinterpreted them.
After her third time of reading it, the message finally sank in, and she let out a long, shaky breath, all the air rushing painfully out of her lungs.
'Emily? What's wrong?' Theo asked, his voice sounding muffled through the fog of her confusion.
'It's my mother,' she whispered, barely able to get the words past her lips. 'She's dead.'