Free Sarah's Secret by Catherine George Page A

her one of the direct looks she was coming to know. ‘Then why don’t you?’
    Sarah’s eyes widened. ‘Are you saying you would come with me?’
    ‘Remember I told you I’m strictly a one at a time kind of guy?’ said Jake elliptically.
    ‘Yes. Why?’
    ‘I assume you function on the same principle?’
    ‘Of course I do.’
    ‘Then as far as I’m concerned we’re a couple.’ He gave her a mocking little bow. ‘If you want a partner for the occasion, I’m yours. I even own a morning coat.’
    Sarah gazed at him, her mind working overtime. The offer was tempting. Very tempting. ‘I’m staying overnight,’ she warned.
    ‘I’ll book a room at the same hotel, then.’
    ‘But can you just take off like that—from Pentiles, I mean?’
    ‘The firm won’t grind to a halt if I’m away for a day or two,’ he said, then gave her a smile tinged with arrogance. ‘I am Pentiles, remember. I take time off when I want.’
    Sarah frowned. ‘If you do come with me,’ she began, choosing her words with care, ‘my friends will probably read more into it than you’d like.’
    ‘Than you’d like,’ he corrected. ‘I don’t see a problem. Just introduce me as a friend.’
    ‘The female section of the group will take one look at you and flatly refuse to believe that!’
    Jake frowned. ‘Why?’
    ‘You know perfectly well why,’ she retorted irritably. One look at those dark-rimmed blue eyes and gold-streaked hair, plus the physique that went with them, and she’d probably be beating girlfriends off with a stick.
    ‘But it’s true. I am your friend,’ he pointed out. ‘Not entirely by choice, on my part, I admit. I’d like a closer relationship. Much closer. But I know damn well I must toe the line or you’ll send me packing.’ His eyes glittered with sudden heat. ‘Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve been tamed so easily.’
    Sarah gave him a fulminating look. Jake Hogan might be lounging at ease on her sofa, but with that particular light in his eye he looked about as tame as the average free-range lion.
    ‘If you do come to the wedding—’ she began, but he held up a hand.
    ‘I am coming. I like weddings.’
    ‘You must be the only man I know who does!’
    ‘As I keep telling you, I’m not the average male,’ he reminded her affably. ‘And on the subject of weddings I speak from experience, having survived the nuptials of two sisters and several cousins, featured as best man at two of them, and still lived to tell the tale.’
    Against her will Sarah began to laugh. ‘Oh, all right. Then thank you, Jake. You win.’
    ‘I always do.’ He grinned at her. ‘So where’s the wedding?’
    Sarah wasn’t in the least surprised to learn that Jake knew the area she mentioned. She listened, amused, while he spoke at persuasive length, first to the receptionist at the Greenacres Hotel in Norfolk, then to the manager, turning on the charm to an outrageous degree before giving his credit card details to secure a room.
    ‘Only one in the place, due to the wedding. The manager was reluctant at first to let me have it, because it’s a brand-new renovation and isn’t quite finished. But I persuaded her to have it ready by the time I need it,’ he said afterwards, and gave Sarah a smile of such blatant triumph she laughed in his face.
    ‘You were shameless. I suppose a technique like that wins for you every time,’ she said severely, but he shook his head, sighing.
    ‘Not quite. If I thought it did I’d try it with you, Sarah.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Time I was off.’
    ‘Look, Jake, if you change your mind,’ she said awkwardly. ‘About the wedding, I mean, please feel free to do so.’
    Jake got up, pulled her to her feet and took her by the shoulders, his eyes utterly serious. ‘I won’t change my mind. If it makes life easier for you to have a partner at this wedding I’ll be there for you, Sarah. We’re friends, remember. That’s what friends are for.’
    Impulsively she