Free All Because of You (Lakeview #2) by Melissa Hill Page B

jumped the gun a little bit with the proposal thing. But she was so sure she’d read the signs right! She and Steve clearly adored one another, and he was always telling her how wonderful she was – particularly in bed, where they tended to spend most of their time.  
    So why wasn’t she wonderful enough to marry? Sod it! Natalie followed him into the room, yet again cursing herself inwardly for wanting it so much – and admittedly so soon. Maybe six months wasn’t that long after all – not long enough for Steve anyway. Six bloody weeks had been enough for Natalie to know she wanted to marry him – or indeed to get married at all!
    But why did she want it so much, she wondered? What was wrong with things the way they were?  They got on great and had a great sex life – what more did she want?
    But despite her exciting career and lively social life, lately she’d been thinking a lot about settling down and starting a family. At thirty-two she’d been living, working and partying in London for nearly fourteen years and at this stage was beginning to tire of it all. While she adored her work, deep down she felt that there had to be more to life than working eight to eight and schmoozing some of London’s most self-important glitterati. 
    And, she admitted ruefully, her good friend Freya’s forthcoming wedding had a lot to do with that. 
    When Natalie first moved to London almost a lifetime ago, she’d been full of energy and enthusiasm, eager to experience life outside rural Hertfordshire. Hoping for a foot in the door of the London PR scene, she’d applied for a job as a senior publicist’s assistant, and it was here that she first came into contact with Freya Parker.
    The two girls had hit it off almost immediately and for the next few years they shopped, partied and sampled the best of what the city had to offer, including the men.  Naturally confident and incredibly flirtatious, Freya was never short of a man or two, while Natalie’s curvy figure and outgoing personality also drew men like flies. Throughout the years, Natalie worked hard at the agency, gained some important clients and even more important media contacts, and it wasn’t long before she was headhunted by one of London’s most prestigious firms, Blue Moon PR – the improved salary greatly helping to finance her girl-about-town exploits.   
    In the meantime, Freya met the love of her life Simon Ford and soon things began to change. Within a few months, Natalie’s best friend had changed from mad, fun-loving, champagne-guzzling Freya to a sensible, more mature, occasional drinker who, instead of partying in some of the city’s best bars and clubs, now preferred to host sophisticated dinner parties at the new home she shared in South London with her city broker fiancé. 
    It was inevitable that their city-girl friendship wouldn’t last forever, Natalie thought, but while she was genuinely thrilled for her friend, she still couldn’t help thinking that Freya’s fabulous new house, her upcoming wedding, and her blissful domesticity seemed to garishly highlight her own lack of progress in this regard. Natalie had been ready to settle down and get married for some time, and the fact that Freya had beaten her to it merely made her want it all the more. Not to mention the fact that everyone she knew – Danni (who was only twenty-five!) included – seemed to be getting engaged and married too and Natalie was now in serious danger of being the only one left behind.
    Having decided that it was too late to go out to dinner, Steve had since settled himself comfortably in front of the TV. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked.
    “No, I don’t mind,” she said, slumping down on the sofa alongside him, her pure silk Ben de Lisi now decidedly wrinkled from all the sitting around waiting. “I’ll be up early tomorrow morning anyway. I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on.”
    The comment was intended as a jibe but, sure enough, he