Page 22 of Snowy Surprises in the Highlands

7

The alarm on Bella’s phone sounded and she stretched out to hit the stop button. Harris stirred behind her and skimmed his hand down the curve of her body. The warmth of his skin reached hers through her satin pyjama shorts and camisole top, and she smiled. There was nothing nicer, that she had experienced so far anyway, than waking up wrapped in her fiancé’s arms.

Bella had been excited and nervous, in equal measure, about the arrival of this day for a couple of weeks now. Today would be the day she tried on her wedding dress for the first time. She had only seen the sketches up to this point, and while she absolutely loved them, seeing the dress on her body was something entirely different.

‘What time do you have to set off for Drumblair?’ Harris mumbled as he feathered kisses down her neck to her shoulder and back up to her ear.

She sighed and let her eyelids flutter closed once again as she relished the sensation of his lips on her skin. ‘I should go soon really if I’m going to make the most of the day. I’m meeting Mum at the castle; I just need to let her know what time I’ll be there.’

He squeezed her a little tighter. ‘But you’re staying over, which means I don’t get to wake up with you tomorrow, so I have to make the most of you now,’ he whispered as he traced shapes on the bare skin of her thigh.

‘You can always come with me. It’s your weekend off and I’m sure Bertie would love to see his cousins.’

‘I’ve got too much to do. Paperwork, mowing the grass, and I want to make a start on painting the fence before the weather starts to get too bad.’

She turned in his arms to face him and planted a kiss on his stubbled chin, the spikes tickling her lips. ‘Well, you can’t really complain then.’ She smiled. He looked so ridiculously sexy when he was sleepy.

He kissed her, long and languorously. ‘I can and I will, so there.’

She pursed her lips and nodded. ‘Good argument, Inspector Donaldson, clearly very well thought out.’

He chuckled. ‘I thought so.’

‘Right, I’d better get up and shower because staying here with you is getting more and more tempting by the second and if I don’t go now, I may end up with a half-made wedding dress.’

His eyes widened for a split second. ‘Or maybe no wedding dress at all. Now there’s an idea.’

She feigned horror, gasping and whacking his chest playfully. ‘You’re incorrigible, Harris Donaldson. We’re getting married in December, so I think a dress is a pretty crucial bit of kit.’

He stuck out his bottom lip. ‘Spoilsport.’ He manoeuvred her beneath him. ‘Maybe get a shower in a wee while, eh? We have our own important stuff to do.’ His cheeky, handsome smile and tousled hair were all the encouragement she needed.

‘Well, when you put it like that…’

* * *

A while later, after making the two-hour journey in bright summer sunshine through the stunning Highland countryside with its vibrant colour palette of green, purple and yellow, Bella had met her mum outside Olivia’s studio and now stood before the full-length mirror with her mum beside her and both with their hands over their eyes as instructed.

‘No peeking. Give me a minute to lay the bottom out properly for the full effect,’ Olivia said.

Bella’s heart was hammering at her ribs and her mouth was dry. What if she hated the wedding dress Olivia had designed for her? What if it looked wrong? It was one thing loving something on paper but actually seeing it real life was a whole different thing. Her hands shook and she inhaled a long, deep, calming breath.

‘Are you okay, Bells? You’re shaking like a leaf,’ her mum said, gripping her hand.

‘Your mum’s right. Anyone would think you’re scared you won’t like the dress,’ Olivia said with a giggle.

Bella cringed. Olivia knew her so well. ‘No, don’t be daft. I know I’ll love it.’ She was very much aware of how unconvincing she sounded.

Olivia sighed. ‘Okay, I want to assure you I’ve taken all the new measurements into account, and it looks stunning, if I do say so myself. You’re so beautiful though, Bells, you’d look incredible in a black sack.’

Bella swallowed. ‘That’s not what you’ve dressed me in, though, is it?’ She laughed nervously, verging on the hysterical. ‘I feel like one of those women on that show Say Yes to the Dress where their mother has chosen something for them to try on and it’s hideous.’

Her mum cleared her throat. ‘Excuse me, I have impeccable taste, thank you very much.’

‘I know that, Mum, I didn’t mean you specifically. But I’ve seen that Don’t Tell the Bride too where the tasteless fiancé has chosen a dress and when they open their eyes in front of the mirror it’s fluorescent green with glow sticks dangling from the hemline. Or has fairy wings attached to the back. N-not that I think your designs are hideous, Liv, I’m not saying your designs are anything like that… I… I’m just nervous, that’s all. I want to love it no matter what. But I just—’ Bella was relieved to hear Olivia and her mum giggling.

Olivia interrupted. ‘Good grief, Bells, you’ve built this up into something akin to a dentist visit, and it’s supposed to be fun.’

Guilt niggled at Bella. ‘You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry. I just want this to be perfect. I’ve never been so uptight about an item of clothing.’