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‘You know me, babe—pure as the driven snow.’
‘Oh, yes!’ She rolled her eyes to indicate what she thought of that statement. ‘Try not to break too many hearts, Mark.’
‘Me?’ He pretended to look hurt. ‘I’m always very kind to women.’
He was certainly kind to her but, then, she’d never been in love with him. She glanced at the ring and took it out of the box carefully, slipping it onto the third finger of her left hand.
‘It fits.’
‘You’re right. It fits perfectly.’ A strange look crossed Mark’s face as he lifted her hand and examined the ring. ‘What about you, Holl? What if you meet Mr Right while you’re wearing my ring?’
‘Mr Right is always in a different place when I’m around.’ Holly twisted the diamond on her finger and Mark gave a low curse and hugged her. ‘You’ll tell me about it one day and I’ll sort him out.’
‘Don’t be silly!’ She pushed him away. ‘Talking of which, are you still doing judo?’
‘Not since I left London,’ he admitted, ‘but I could still get the better of the louse. Just give me his name.’
‘There is no name.’ Holly smiled. ‘Stop playing boy hero and let’s finish our cover story. We got engaged, and then what? When are we getting married?’
Mark frowned. ‘Can’t we leave that open? It’ll make it easier when we have to break up anyway. Just say that it depends on our jobs and that sort of thing.’
‘I suppose that sounds all right.’ Holly shrugged. ‘In that case I’ll go and get ready. How dressy is the yacht club?’
Mark reached into his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of fawn trousers and a pristine white shirt. ‘Quite dressy.’
Which meant digging through her rather limited wardrobe to find something that would suit Mark’s ‘fiancée’. Normally the man dated models and women who spent half their days in beauty salons. Holly glanced down at her short, practical nails in despair. She just wasn’t Mark’s type. How was she ever going to be convincing?
* * *
The yacht club was situated just beyond the fishing village with views across the headland and the estuary.
Mark pulled into the car park and Holly grinned as he parked his beloved sports car carefully by a low wall.
‘Have you ever found a woman you love as much as this car?’ she teased, and he pulled a face.
‘Definitely not.’ He looked across at her and his eyes narrowed. ‘By the way, you look great. That colour suits you.’
She was wearing a strappy, green silk dress that looked good with her blonde hair and showed more than a hint of bare leg. As they walked into the yacht club, female heads turned to look at Mark and Holly was doubly glad that she’d made an effort with her appearance.
The restaurant was already filling up and Mark smiled and lifted a hand to a man sitting at one of the best tables.
‘There’s Ian.’ He led her across the restaurant and shook hands with the older man. ‘How are you, Ian? You’ve already met my Holly.’
My Holly.
For a minute Holly felt a strange feeling in her stomach and then she dismissed it and smiled warmly at the senior partner.
‘It’s nice to see you again.’ She felt slightly shy, but the older man immediately put her at her ease.
‘I can’t say how delighted we are to welcome you here, my dear,’ he said, pulling out a chair for her and seating her before he returned to his own chair. ‘We were desperate for a practice nurse and when Mark told us his own predicament—how he’d just got engaged but you were so far away—it all seemed too perfect to be true.’
‘I’m glad to help,’ Holly said quietly, suddenly feeling a flash of guilt that they were deceiving this nice man. ‘You must fill me in on what your main priorities are in the practice and tell me exactly how you want me to spend my time. We didn’t really talk about the detail when we met in London.’
‘Oh, plenty of time for that,’ Ian said cheerfully, waving to a waiter and ordering them some drinks. ‘Have a menu, Holly.’
The evening passed quickly and Holly found herself chatting openly to Ian, telling him about her childhood in London and how she and Mark had known each other virtually all their lives.
‘Our parents lived next door to each other and were great friends,’ she told him. ‘Mark and I went to the same school and then trained in the same hospital, although Mark was there before me, of course. I suppose I’ve known him all my life really.’
