Premier Deception (26 page)

“
How has it
been?
”
Charlotte asked Sylvia gently.
Sylvia
’
s face dropped, the brave mask
that she had worn slipping away.
“
Not
good, I went home as agreed and he was really angry. I laid out my
conditions and he had to agree to them because his parents were
coming and he doesn
’
t want them to know
that things are so bad. Jackson went off to boarding school so I
went to my parents. I had to come home though because
it
’
s the Christmas break. I told Ronnie
that if anything happened to me I had left instructions with a
solicitor outlining everything and I would keep quiet all the time
he left me alone. In public I would be the dutiful wife but he was
to keep away from me in private.
”
Charlotte sympathised,
“
it
can
’
t be easy living like that for either
of you,
”
she said softly.
“
No it
’
s not, Ronnie
takes great pleasure in letting me know that he is seeing other
girls. He is always bringing them to the house when I am out and
making sure that there is enough evidence lying around, I think to
make me jealous.
” “
And are you?
”
teased Charlotte, Sylvia laughed,
“
absolutely not.
”
Suddenly Charlotte saw her face change and it really lit
up, there were no prizes for guessing who had just come in and she
knew that Luke must be here. Sure enough she looked around and saw
him enter the marquee with a glamorous lady on his arm. Max and
Charlotte exchanged a puzzled look and Sylvia saw their
expressions.
“
That is
Luke
’
s sister Julia, she is stunning
isn
’
t she?
”
Charlotte felt relieved and looked at her with interest.
She had the same strong dark good looks that Luke had with a
fabulous figure in a tight fitting dress with a fishtail skirt. She
had the same dark eyes and Charlotte guessed she must be about
early 20s. Luke looked amazing, his dark hair was swept back and he
looked great in a dinner jacket, very smart and sophisticated. They
saw them and Charlotte waved to them. They came over and once again
Charlotte saw the look that passed between Luke and Sylvia and her
heart ached for them.

Julia turned out to
be hilarious. She was such fun and kept them in stitches all night.
Soon it was time to grab something to eat so they all made their
way outside where Gloria had laid on the most fabulous buffet.
There was the most amazing food laid out and
Charlotte
’
s eyes widened in disbelief at
the different dishes on offer. They loaded their plates and all
found a seat set around a fire pit with flaming torches all around.
Charlotte noticed Luke sitting next to Sylvia with Julia on his
other side. She noticed the little looks and occasional touches
that they shared and glancing at Max she saw that he noticed it
too. They shared a look between them wishing that the four of them
could be true about their feelings, Charlotte sighed, how much
easier life would be. Max looked concerned upon hearing her
sigh.
“
Are you cold Charlotte? Would you
like to go inside?
”
He placed his arm
around her shoulder and pulled her close to him.
“
I
’
m fine here
thanks,
”
she said looking into his eyes
and smiling. It was as though they were the only ones there and
nothing else mattered.

Just then Ronnie came
weaving his way over obviously drunk and tension returned to the
group.
“
Come on darlin,
”
he said drunkenly to Sylvia.
“
Lets dance, everyone
’
s asking
where you are.
”
Charlotte saw Luke tense
up but Sylvia said,
“
of course how rude
of me, I must mingle,
”
and Charlotte saw
her reluctantly get to her feet. She gave Luke a reassuring look
and he watched helplessly as she was pulled back into the
marquee.
“
Come on,
”
said Luke to Julia,
“
lets dance,
at least we can keep an eye on them in there.
” “
Would you like to dance Charlotte?
”
said Max. Charlotte nodded, thinking any excuse to be in
his arms. They all made their way inside where the party was now in
full swing.

The string quartet
had been replaced by a great live band. They were currently singing
Mustang Sally, so any thoughts of a nice romantic dance with Max
went out of the window. They all hit the dance floor and enjoyed
the music and dancing. Charlotte laughed to see Ben lift Chantelle
high in the air and then dip her to the floor and Julia was having
a great time in the midst of all the footballers. Max was in great
demand as usual, as was Luke. Many of the ladies grabbed them to
dance at every opportunity and Charlotte laughed given some of the
ladies who did the grabbing, put it this way they
weren
’
t all supermodel types. She herself
had a great time dancing with her team who were taking great
delight in spinning her around and trying to make her look
silly.

Charlotte was having
the time of her life and enjoying every minute of it. Suddenly
somebody grabbed her around the waist from behind and spun her
right out of the marquee outside. Surprised she turned to see who
had accosted her and no surprises saw Ronnie grinning at her. He
still had hold of her and pulled her down the path towards the pool
area.
“
Let go Ronnie,
you
’
re drunk,
”
she shouted, but he carried on until they reached the side
of the pool. He gathered her in his arms and held on
tightly.
“
Don
’
t
fight it Charlotte, you and me we
‘
ve
unfinished business,
”
and he bent his
head to kiss her. Charlotte suddenly relaxed in his grasp taking
him by surprise.
“
Ronnie,
”
she said softly looking up at him through her
lashes,
“
you are right,
”
and she smiled at him. He was so taken aback
that she was suddenly so willing.
“
Yes we
do have unfinished business,
”
and with
that she twisted her arm out of his and brought his arm up around
his back with her other one. She lifted her leg and placed a well
heeled foot into the centre of his stomach and pushed him into the
pool, just as Max, Luke and most of the team burst out of the
marquee.

Everyone was shocked
and stopped in their tracks. Ronnie couldn
’
t believe it and suddenly everyone was laughing
hysterically. Several of the team shouted
“
Pool Party!
”
and jumped in with
him. The scene was chaotic and Charlotte couldn
’
t stop laughing. Max raced up to her laughing.
“
Are you ok? I didn
’
t
know you could fight that well!
”
She
grinned at him.
“
Well four years as
captain of the school Judo team obviously paid off.
”
He said,
“
well I had
better watch myself hadn
’
t I, one false
move and you
’
ll knock me out. Although
this might be a risky move would you like to dance?
”
Charlotte nodded happily and they went into the
marquee hand in hand. The music had slowed down and Max took her in
his arms.
“
At last,
”
he said looking deeply into her eyes. He held her against
him and slowly they moved in time to the music. They were in their
own little world; it was as if there was no one else in sight. They
moved around the dance floor as one, the lights were twinkling
around them and Charlotte truly felt like she was in a fairytale
now. He brought his hand up and traced the side of her face, her
heart almost stopped, his touch was gentle and his eyes were boring
deeply into hers. She couldn
’
t look away
and was glad that he had such a firm hold of her because her legs
felt like jelly. Slowly he tilted her chin towards him and gently
brought his lips to hers as if in slow motion. His kiss was gentle
and tender and her head was spinning. Never had she experienced
feelings this powerful before. She was totally lost in the kiss and
she never wanted it to end. This was so worth the wait. They
carried on dancing and kissing gently both of them totally in tune
with each other. They didn
’
t notice when
the song changed, it didn
’
t matter, all
that mattered was that they were together at last.

Finally they came
back to reality and Max looked at her and said,
“
I have wanted to do that since the moment I saw you sitting
in that waiting room looking so vulnerable and beautiful. The more
I have got to know you the more I wanted to but I had to be sure
that you wanted it too.
”
Charlotte
reached up and stroked his face as he had hers and said
gently,
“
I felt it too. You were all that
I could think about from the moment I left you that day until now.
Nothing else matters to me. As long as we are together it
doesn
’
t matter what happens now.
”
Once again they kissed and it felt so right,
like two parts of a jigsaw had finally come together.

Suddenly they were
aware that they were the focus of rather a lot of attention. Around
them watching were members of her team and staff. Sylvia, Luke and
Ben and Chantelle were watching them with big smiles on their faces
and when they stopped and looked around them a big cheer went up.
They both grinned at each other and laughed.
“
What
’
s the matter you
lot?
”
said Charlotte.
“
Can
’
t a girl get any privacy
around here?
”

The music suddenly
stopped and Gloria announced that there would be fireworks outside.
They all rushed outside and Max grabbed one of the blankets on a
nearby seat. He wrapped it around Charlotte
’
s shoulders and pulled her against him as they watched the
fabulous display. I never want this night to end thought Charlotte
happily.

They never saw Ronnie
again that night. He had apparently gone inside to change his
clothes and dry off and their paths never crossed again. As the
night slipped away the party ended. The guests started drifting
away and reluctantly Max turned to Charlotte and said,
“
I must get you home. You must be tired and your
parents may be anxious.
”
Charlotte nodded
disappointed that the evening was coming to an end. They thanked
Gloria, Mitchell was nowhere to be seen and headed off to the
car.
“
I have had the best night,
”
said Charlotte to Max.
“
I couldn
’
t have had a better time
and it
’
s all down to you.
”
They had reached the car door and Max turned to
her and said,
“
I have too. I
couldn
’
t have wished for a better night.
I hope that it will be the first of many though,
”
and he pulled her towards him and once again his
kiss felt like sparks of electricity shooting through her. Despite
the cold air she felt a warm glow envelop her and she was oblivious
to anything around her. Reluctantly they stopped and he opened the
car door for her to get in and all too soon they were back to her
house and the night was over.

Charlotte woke late the next morning.
Despite the late night she woke up feeling full of energy and hope
for the future. Quickly she pulled on some leggings and a
sweatshirt and headed off downstairs. Her family were having
breakfast and the smell of bacon frying greeted her as she entered
the room. Jake was attacking a huge plate of bacon and eggs and on
seeing her shouted, “Lottie, come on tell me everything, what
happened, was Ben there? Did you get any autographs for me?” “Yes
Charlotte, come on tell us everything, what was the house like,
what was everyone wearing and don’t spare any details about that
lovely driver of yours, I could see that he was besotted from the
moment you walked down those stairs!” interjected her mother.
Charlotte laughed happily as her father said, “leave her alone you
two and let her get in the door, Mary get Lola some breakfast and
then maybe she just might tell you.” He winked at her as she sat
down. Charlotte spent the next half an hour describing everything
about the party. She missed out the pool incident or “pool gate” as
everyone at the party had referred to it. She also kept quiet about
her blossoming relationship with Max, she wanted to keep that to
herself or at least not share it with her family, she couldn’t wait
to phone Imogen and Zoe and tell them though.

She excused herself from the table and ran off to her
room to do just that and spent the next hour telling them both
everything in turn. Whilst still on the phone to Zoe she saw a text
coming in from Sylvia. Once the call was ended she read the
text.

It just said:

come
round this morning for a catch up. Having some of the girls over
and would love to see you.

She had nothing
planned so texted back and said that she would love to. Quickly she
got ready and asked her mum if she could borrow her car to get to
Sylvia
’
s. She expected that Ronnie must
be out and really loved spending time with Sylvia, she hoped that
they would become good friends. As she got into the car the phone
rang and it was Max.
“
Morning,
”
he said in his sexy voice,
“
how do you feel this morning?
” “
Happier than I have ever felt,
”
she answered softly.
“
Thank you
for such a wonderful time last night, it was a shame that it had to
end.
” “
Thank you it was all down to your
company. Listen I cannot wait to see you again are you busy today,
maybe we could grab some lunch somewhere?
”
Charlotte
’
s heart leaped with
joy.
“
I would love to. Sylvia has just
asked me round for coffee with the girls but we could meet up after
say about 2pm.
” “
I will look forward to
it I
’
ll pick you up then,
”
he said.
“
Have a good
morning,
”
she said happily and set off
for Sylvia
’
s house.