Finally (22 page)

"Do you really think I'll ever find 'the one', Mum? You know, like you have Dad and Megan has Rick?"

"Of course, you will! You are gorgeous and you are beautiful on the inside, too. Somewhere out there, there's a man just for you. And I'm not saying that because I'm your mother. But you won't find this person if you don't go out enough! Most of your contacts are work-related and you have such strict rules about not dating anyone connected to your work. You should socialise more, Clarise."

Her mother hadn't hidden the fact that she was worried she would end up a spinster and would have no one to share her life with. With her track record of hardly going out on dates and her past relationships not lasting more than two and a half months—her time with Daniel being the longest—she shared her mum's concerns.

Ruefully, she remembered the time when she and Daniel took her parents out to dinner. At twenty-nine years of age, she had finally introduced a boyfriend to her parents. Her mother had been so excited it was like she herself was going out on her first date.

Three weeks after that, she was single again. She felt she had failed at something significant and swallowed the pain and guilt that attacked her at disappointing her parents—and herself.

"Are you okay, Clarise?" Victor's voice brought her back into the present.

"Yes, I was just thinking of Megan's plan to foist single men on me. I don't want to look desperate! How mortifying would that be?"

She smiled at the man in front of her. She couldn't help but think that it was, indeed, very unfortunate for the female population that Victor was gay. He was really hot-looking and a decent guy to boot.

"I'm so looking forward to your sister's engagement party but I seriously hope there are no handsome, muscular hunks there or I won't be able to keep up our pretence."

They laughed out loud.

CHAPTER TWO

Victor got out of the car, looking gorgeous in his light grey, long-sleeved, collared shirt and black pants. He went to the passenger side to open Clarise's door. With her in a chic, blue silk dress that hugged her figure in all the right places, the two of them were a picture of a beautiful couple.

"Thank you, darling," she murmured to Victor as she gracefully got out of the vehicle. Her eyes danced with controlled laughter as she watched him act out their game. "What is your mantra again tonight?" she teased him.

"I'm a sexy, handsome, straight man who's crazy about you," he whispered with a snicker. "Don't make me laugh or we'll give the game away. Your parents are watching us."

Clarise waved to her parents. They, too, had just arrived and were patiently waiting for them, trying not to stare at Victor.

She knew Megan would have told their mum straight away about her 'new boyfriend' after she had called a couple of days ago. She'd informed Megan she was bringing a date to her party after all.

"Is this your new boyfriend?" her sister had asked with open interest.

"I work with Victor, and we, umm, get along really well and we really like each other," she had answered. "There's the complication of working together but we seem to be managing it quite well. I'm really looking forward to introducing him to you guys."

She wasn't good at lying and had tried to sound mysterious. She wanted Megan to believe there was something romantic between her and Victor without actually saying the words. She must have succeeded because right now, as she and Victor walked hand in hand towards her parents, she could tell her mum was trying to hide a huge, pleased grin.

She made the necessary introductions before they proceeded towards Rick's parents' house, where the engagement party was being held. Before they walked in, her mum pulled her aside.

"Well, he's better looking than Daniel, Clarise. And he seems like such a gentleman."

She smiled with relief.

~~~~~~~

T
he Smithson's house was in full party mode. There was a large marquee in their manicured backyard, which was decked out with gold, silver and light pink balloons with a small dance floor on one side and a sumptuous buffet and round tables on the other.

Clarise marvelled at the number of expected guests. For what was supposed to be a small party for family and close friends only, there were still around fifty place settings. But she knew Megan worried about their other friends she couldn't invite, as she and Rick had to be ruthless with their guest list.

She nervously thought of the single men Megan had invited. Not many, she hoped, feeling guilty. She should have thought of the charade with Victor much earlier.

She caught sight of her sister, looking radiant and beautiful with Rick beside her. She felt a warm glow in her heart with seeing her younger sister so happy. With only fifteen months separating them, they shared a very close bond.

"Meg!" she called.

Her sister ran to her and hugged her tightly before turning to Victor.

"Hi, you must be Victor," Megan said, discreetly checking him out from head to toe.

"Yes, how are you Megan?"

"I'm wonderful, thank you. I'm glad to meet you."

"Likewise," Victor responded.

"I'll leave you in the capable hands of Clarise, Victor. My boss just arrived and he's by himself. I better introduce him to some people."

"Don't worry about us," Clarise said. "Go attend to your guests."

Megan gave her another hug and whispered in her ear, "He's hot, sis."

"I know," she whispered back.

Megan winked at Victor before walking away.

This little charade seemed to be working and Clarise allowed herself to relax.

~~~~~~~

"L
illy!" Clarise heard Megan call out as an adorable and cute as a button three-year-old girl walked in with her parents, Mark—Rick's older brother—and his wife Bella. With them was Bella's brother Evan.

She felt Victor tense by her side. "What's wrong, Victor?"

"That's Evan," Victor responded a little nervously. "I know him. And he certainly knows me!"

"What do you mean 'he certainly knows you'?"

"Well, I met him at this speed dating thing two weeks ago, and we've been out on a couple of dates. He's really cute, isn't he?"

"Oh, no, Victor! You're supposed to be my boyfriend tonight!"

"Don't worry, darling. I'll tell him of our little secret and ask him to go along with it. I'll just go talk to him and we'll pretend we're talking about work or something." With that, Victor sauntered to Evan, his eyes shining.

She rolled her eyes upwards and prayed that Victor—and Evan, for that matter—could keep the charade up for her, just for tonight. How highly embarrassing would it be if the others noticed that Victor was gay when they'd already assumed he was her boyfriend?

Geez, I might as well have 'loser in love' stamped on my forehead. Please Victor, you're a straight man tonight.

"I didn't know Victor knew Evan," Megan said from behind her, making her jump.

"Oh, they met at an industry function, you know, for work and I think Victor wanted to talk to Evan about an article in the latest issue of
Lifestyle
," she babbled.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to bring a date tonight until you told me about him two days ago," Megan said with a grin. "It's a shame. There is a very eligible man here and Rick and I were excited to introduce him to you."

"Megan," she said with a warning in her voice.

"Yes, I know, I know. No matchmaking for me tonight," Megan said with a laugh.

"Well, that's a relief!"

"You know, we did invite this guy for the purpose of introducing him to you," Megan commented. "We'll just have to explain the situation to him."

"Are you saying there's only one of them here tonight? You certainly gave me the impression that you were going to invite all the single men you and Rick know. I'm glad you didn't, though."

Megan chuckled, "Yes, that was my original plan. But Rick and I decided that wasn't a good idea. One at a time would be better, we thought. More personal."

Megan's look became serious, her eyes narrowing. "Is there a possibility that Victor is 'The One'?"

"I couldn't be happier he's here with me tonight," she answered cryptically. It was the truth, although it wasn't an accurate answer to the question.

Megan, however, seemed satisfied with her response. Her sister patted her arm and walked off with a smile.

She said a silent 'thank you' to the heavens.

~~~~~~~

B
y the time dinner was served, Clarise had slipped into a carefree mode. She chatted cheerfully with Bella and Mark about their business.

The couple owned two popular restaurants that served food and beverages that were made of chocolate or had it as a main ingredient. The concept had been a huge success and they would soon be opening a third location.

Mark and Bella's story was an inspiring one and she recently had the pleasure of writing an article about their journey for
Lifestyle by Design
.

That was what she loved most about her job. She got paid to write about some of the best restaurants, hotels and professional services, which meant she got to sample their offerings and interview some very interesting, influential and successful people.

"Hey Mark," Bella said to her husband. "Didn't you say Will wanted to talk to Clarise about an article for his business?"

"Oh yeah, Clarise," Mark said. "My friend Will runs a boutique travel service that's very specialised. He caters to the well-to-do and his company organises high-end type trips for those whose tastes are very discerning. He'd seen the article you wrote for us and he was wondering if your magazine would consider doing one for his business."

"High-end travel? Sure, it's something we can have a look at," she responded readily.

Because of the magazine's immense popularity, they had been receiving plenty of requests from businesses and establishment owners for write-ups on their products and services. Those savvy entrepreneurs knew that exposure through
Lifestyle by Design
ensured a deluge of new clients.

"Great!" Mark replied. "He'd be pleased to hear that. He's actually here so I'll introduce you to him. I was meaning to do it before dinner started but he arrived a little late."

Bella pursed her lips and mused, "You know, I've been wondering why Rick invited Will to tonight's party but didn't invite his other tennis buddies."

Mark chuckled. "Rick mentioned he invited Will because he's single and available. He didn't want to elaborate when I prodded him but it looks like the engaged lovebirds are playing matchmaker for Will and someone else. I wonder if it's with that girl sitting next to him. I'll have to quiz Will about her when I get the chance."

Clarise and Bella followed Mark's line of sight and Bella pointed Will out to her.

Her breath hitched as she caught sight of the handsome in a rugged kind of way man with slightly wavy, dark brown hair talking to Mary Jane, Megan's best friend. She didn't recognise the other person sitting on the other side of him, but it was another male.

Well, Mary Jane is not single
, she thought to herself.
Her husband is currently in Brisbane for work
.

With a heart-flutter, it hit her that this good-looking eye candy was the single man her sister had meant to set her up with.

Geez, if I had only known about hunky Single Will tonight, I wouldn't have plotted that charade with Victor.

She was surprised at the turn of her thoughts. She composed herself and tried to look cool, calm and collected.

"So, Clarise, I'll introduce you to Will later, okay? He's really keen to see how he can be in your magazine," Mark said innocently.

"Yeah, sure," she said a little too brightly, trying to hide her discomfiture.

They don't know
, she assured herself.

*******

W
ill became more relaxed as the dinner progressed. There were no unattached women at his table and no one had been introduced to him so far. He knew that Rick invited him to this party to set him up with some single woman. Apparently it was all Megan's idea but Rick was happy to go along with it.

He had been single for nine months now and, seeing how devoted he was to his parents, he was a favourite among his friends to be matched up with nice single girls they knew. They all thought he was a decent guy—and very eligible.

But after Karen, he was not after a serious relationship. No strings attached, casual sex worked just fine for him and that was all he was after right now. If Rick wanted to play matchmaker for one of Megan's family or friends, he was not going to entertain it. It could destroy his friendship with both Rick and his brother Mark.

He knew that Rick hadn't grasped how determined he was to keep his status as 'not in a relationship'. He hadn't talked to anyone about the reason why. As far as he was concerned, it was no one else's business but his.

No, he wasn't interested in meeting a potential love interest but he was keen to meet a particular woman—Rick's future sister-in-law—for business reasons. He wanted to have an article on
Lifestyle by Design
. He would be opening another branch in Melbourne and the magazine would give him the exposure he needed for his expansion goals. Clarise Carson's article for Mark and Bella's restaurants had done wonders for their business and he would jump through hoops to have the same opportunity.

Dinner was mostly finished, apart from a handful of people going back to the buffet table to load their plates again. The DJ announced that it was time to start dancing and played a slow, romantic song.

Will scanned the room, looking for Mark, who promised to introduce him to Clarise. He spotted him on the dance floor with his wife Bella in his arms. He also saw the engaged couple, who were busy looking at each other with lovestruck eyes while dancing intimately together.

I might as well look for her and introduce myself.

He hadn't meant to arrive late but he got held up with some urgent work. People were already getting food when he arrived. Mark did point Clarise out to him and he registered the fact she was in a blue dress, although he didn't get to see her face well from where they were standing. He only noticed her long, silky, beautiful dark hair that fell straight down past her shoulders.