Wedding Night

proffering is cheap and striped. From Crockery for Divorced Men, I’m guessing.
    “Oh.” I grimace. “Sorry. Don’t do tea. Water’s fine.”
    “Coffee?”
    “I’d
love
a coffee. And a shower?”
    And a change of clothes. And those documents I left at home and the Molton Brown gift set for Elise’s birthday … My brain is slowly starting to crank into gear. This was really not a sensible move. I’ll have to whiz back home, postpone my nine a.m. phone interview.… I’m already searching around for my phone. I need to call Sebastian’s house, too, and say good morning to Noah.
    My eye falls on the purple bridesmaid’s dress. Double shit.
    “Bathroom’s this way.” Lorcan gestures out the door.
    “Thanks.” I gather up the duvet and try to wrap it around myself elegantly, like an actress in a sitcom bedroom scene, but it’s so heavy it’s like trying to wear a polar bear. With an almighty effort I drag it off the bed, take one step, and immediatelytrip over, bumping into a bureau and hitting my elbow.
    “Ow!”
    “Dressing gown?” He holds out a rather swanky paisley number. I guess the wife couldn’t swipe that.
    I hesitate a moment. Wearing his dressing gown seems a bit cutesy. A bit
Let me put on your great big manly shirt and allow the sleeves to flap endearingly around my fingers
. But I have no choice.
    “Thanks.”
    He averts his eyes politely, like a massage therapist in a spa—i.e., completely pointlessly, since he’s seen it all—and I slip into the gown.
    “I’m sensing you’re a coffee snob.” He raises his eyebrows. “Would I be right?”
    I open my mouth to say, “Oh no, anything’s fine!” Then I stop. I
am
a coffee snob. And I’m a tad hungover. And, truth is, I’d rather have no coffee than some depressing cup of dishwater.
    “Kind of. But don’t worry. I’ll have a two-second shower and get out of here—”
    “I’ll go out for it.”
    “No!”
    “It’ll take two seconds. Same as your shower.”
    He disappears, and I start to look around for my handbag. I’ve got a hairbrush in there. And some hand cream, which could double up as moisturizer. As my gaze rakes around the room, I find myself wondering if I like him. Whether I might see him again. Whether this might even become … a thing?
    Not a
serious
thing. I’m mid-divorce; it would be nuts to leap into a relationship. But it was good last night. Even if I’m only remembering half of it accurately, that half was enoughto want to reprise it. Maybe we could have some kind of regular arrangement, I find myself thinking. Every month, like a book club.
    Where
is
my bag? I wander farther into the room and see a fencing mask hanging on a hook. There’s a sword too, or whatever they call them. I’ve always liked the idea of fencing. Oh, I can’t resist. Gingerly, I take the thing off its hook and put it on. There’s a mirror hung on the wall, and I head over to it, brandishing the sword.
    “Arise, Sir Thingummy,” I say to my reflection. “Haaa-yah!” I do a kung fu action at myself, and the paisley dressing gown flaps round my ankles.
    Now I’ve got the giggles. And suddenly I want to share this ridiculous moment with Lottie. I pull out my phone and speed-dial her.
    “Hi, Fliss!” she answers at once. “OK, I’m on the
Brides
website. Veil or no veil? I think veil. What about a train?”
    I blink at the phone, wanting to laugh. She’s become a bridezilla. Naturally. The great thing about Lottie is she doesn’t bear grudges or dwell when she’s thwarted in life. She just changes direction and charges off, eyes on the horizon.
    “Veil.”
    “What?”
    “Veil.” I realize my voice is muffled in the helmet and shove it up to the top of my head. “
Veil
. So, you called the wedding off OK? Ben didn’t mind?”
    “I had to talk him into it, but he was OK in the end. He said he only wanted what I wanted.”
    “Did you take your honeymoon night at the Savoy anyway?”
    “No!” She sounds shocked. “I told you, we’re waiting till we’re married!”
    Damn. She’s still on that crazy plan. I was hoping the lust goggles might have slipped a little.
    “And Ben’s happy with that?” I can’t help sounding skeptical.
    “Ben wants
me
to be happy.” Lottie’s voice takes on a familiar, syrupy tone. “You know what? I’m so glad we talked, Fliss. The wedding’s going to be
so
much nicer. And the plus is: you and Ben can meet each other first!”
    “Gosh, introduce him to your