Married By Christmas. Carole Mortimer

go out the back way,’ Patrick suggested lightly. ‘Unless you want to fight your way out through the chaos?’

      ‘No, the back way is fine.’ Her coat didn’t matter any more; no doubt it would be returned to her in time!

      ‘Patrick!’ Geraldine had crossed the room to stop them at the door, a restraining hand on Patrick’s arm now. ‘I realise you’re angry with me right now, but please don’t—’

      ‘I’m not angry with you, Gerry,’ he cut in contemptuously. ‘No one has any ties on you; they never had!’ His face was cold as he looked down at her.

      ‘This isn’t important just now,’ the beautiful redhead dismissed impatiently. ‘Anyone but Lilli, Patrick,’ she groaned.

      So the woman did have a conscience, after all! Unless, of course, she just didn’t want Lilli, in particular, walking off with one of her men...? In the circumstances, that was probably closer to the truth.

      ‘Please don’t worry on my account, Geraldine.’ Lilli deliberately used the other woman’s full name. The two of them had never been particularly close in the past, although Lilli did usually call her Gerry; but after this evening she hoped they would never meet again. ‘I know exactly what I’m doing,’ she affirmed.

      Geraldine looked at Lilli searchingly for several long seconds. ‘I don’t think you do.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘And I’m absolutely positive you don’t, Patrick,’ she added firmly. ‘Lilli is—’

      ‘Could we leave now, Patrick?’ Lilli turned to him, open flirtation in the dark green of her eyes. ‘Before I decide snakes and ladders is preferable!’

      He looked at her admiringly. ‘We’re leaving, Gerry,’ he told the other woman decisively. ‘Now.’

      ‘But—’

      ‘Now, Gerry,’ he insisted, opening the back door for Lilli to precede him. ‘Enjoy your party,’ he called over his shoulder, his arm once more about Lilli’s waist as they stepped out into the cold December evening.

      The blast of icy cold air was like a slap on the face, and Lilli could feel her head swimming from the amount of champagne and wine she had drunk during the evening. In fact, she suddenly felt decidedly light-headed.

      ‘Steady.’ Patrick’s arm tightened about her waist as he held her beside him. ‘My car is just over here. Don’t you have a coat?’ He frowned as she shivered from the cold while he unlocked the doors of his sleek black sports car.

      She suddenly couldn’t remember whether she had a coat or not. In fact, she was having trouble putting two thoughts together inside her head!

      She gave a laugh as he opened the car door for her to get in, showing a long expanse of shapely leg as she dropped down into the low passenger seat. ‘I’m sure you’ll help me to get warm once we reach the hotel,’ she told him seductively.

      His mouth quirked. ‘I’ll do my best, Just Lilli,’ he assured her, the promise in his voice unmistakable.

      Lilli leant her head back against the seat as he closed her door to move around the car and get in behind the wheel. What was she doing here...? Oh, yes, she was getting away from Geraldine and him!

      ‘Any preference on hotels?’ Patrick glanced at her as he turned on the ignition.

      Hotels? Why were they going to a hotel...? Oh, yes...this man was going to make love to her.

      She shook her head, instantly wishing she hadn’t as it began to spin once again. ‘You choose,’ she said weakly.

      She wasn’t actually going to be sick, was she?

      God, she hoped not. Although she had no idea where they were going as Patrick turned the car out onto the road. And at that moment she didn’t care either. Nothing mattered at the moment. Not her. Not him. Not Geraldine Simms!

      ‘All right?’ Patrick reached out to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

      She didn’t think she would ever be ‘all right’ again. She had felt as if her world had shattered three months ago; tonight it felt as if it had ended completely.

      ‘Fine,’ she answered as if from a long way away. ‘Just take me somewhere private and make love to me.’

      ‘Oh, I intend to, Just Lilli. I intend to.’

      Lilli sat back with her eyes closed, wishing at that moment for total oblivion, not just a few hours in Patrick Devlin’s arms...

      CHAPTER TWO

      ‘YOUR jacket.’ The garment was thrown over the back of a dining-room chair.

      Lilli didn’t move, didn’t even raise her head. She wasn’t sure that she could!

      She had been sitting here at the dining-table for the last hour, just drinking strong, unsweetened black coffee; the smell of food on the serving plates sitting on the side board had made her feel nauseous, so she had asked for them to be taken away. There was no one else here to eat it, anyway. At least, there hadn’t been...

      ‘Did you hear what I said?’

      ‘I heard you!’ She winced as the sound of her own voice made the thumping in her head even louder. ‘I heard you,’ she repeated softly, her voice almost a whisper now. But it still sounded too loud for her sensitive ears!

      ‘Well?’

      He wasn’t going to leave it at that. She should have known that he wouldn’t. But all she really wanted to do, now that her head had at least stopped spinning, was to crawl into bed and sleep for twenty-four hours.

      Fat chance!

      ‘Lilli!’ The impatience deepened in his voice.

      At last she raised her head from where it had been resting in her hands as she stared down into her coffee cup, pushing back the dark thickness of her hair to look up at him with studied determination.

      ‘My God, Lilli!’ her father gasped disbelievingly. ‘You look terrible!’

      ‘Thank you!’ Her smile was merely a caricature of one, even her facial muscles seeming to hurt.

      She knew exactly how she looked, had recoiled from her own reflection in the mirror earlier this morning. Her eyes were a dull green, bruises from lack of sleep visible beneath them, her face chalk-white. Her tangled hair she had managed to smooth into some sort of order with her fingers, but the overall impression, she knew, was not good. It wasn’t helped by the fact that she still had on the revealing red dress she had worn to the party the night before. A fact Grimes, the family butler, had definitely noted when she’d arrived back here by taxi an hour ago!

      But if her father thought she looked bad now he should have seen her a couple of hours ago, when she’d first woken up; then she hadn’t even been wearing the red dress! And the rich baritone voice of Patrick Devlin had been coming from the bathroom as he’d sung while he took a shower...!

      Her father dropped down heavily into the chair opposite her. ‘What were you thinking of, Lilli?’ He looked at her searchingly. ‘Or were you just not thinking at all?’ he added with regret.

      He knew; she could tell by the expression in his eyes that he did. Of course he knew; Geraldine would have told him!

      Because her father had been the man at Geraldine Simms’ side last night, the gorgeous man that Sally had referred to so interestedly, the man Geraldine had been draped over so intimately, her ‘ageing lover’, as Patrick had called him.

      ‘Were you?’ Lilli challenged insultingly. ‘Yes, I saw you last night,’ she scorned as a guarded look came over her father’s handsome face. ‘With Geraldine Simms,’ she continued accusingly, so angry she didn’t care about the pounding in her head at that moment. ‘But I suppose you call her Gerry.’ Her top lip curled back contemptuously. ‘All her intimate friends do!’

      He