Free Hitched! by Jessica Hart Page B

my puny efforts. It was only when
I could feel my face turning red with effort that I realised how absurd I was
being, and I started to giggle silently. George was smothering his own laughter
and in the end I had to press the phone against my shoulder so that Saffron
wouldn’t realise just how little attention she was getting.
    ‘You can see what a problem it is,’ Saffron was saying as I
admitted defeat and perched on the edge of the desk next to George’s feet while
I recovered.
    ‘Absolutely.’
    ‘So I’ll sort out a date for you, then?’
    Any lingering desire to giggle vanished as the smile was wiped
off my face. ‘What?’ I said, startled. ‘What for?’
    ‘I’ve just been explaining !’
Saffron heaved a martyred sigh. ‘A singleton looks so odd on the top table. I
could ask Daddy not to bring his new girlfriend, but she’s such an attention
seeker, she’d probably make a fuss. Anyone would think she was the only
supermodel on the planet!’
    It was the first I had heard about my father’s latest
girlfriend. He had never remarried after Saffron’s mother had left, but was
careful to be seen with a string of spectacular beauties, none of whom had gone
down well with Saffron. If there was any attention-seeking going on, Saffron
liked to be the one who was doing it, and she had no time for any attempts to
outshine her.
    I guessed that a supermodel sitting next to you on the top
table wasn’t any bride’s dream but if Saffron loved anyone, it was her adoring
father, and if he wanted his girlfriend there, Saffron would put up with it for
his sake.
    ‘Of course, if I explained about the odd numbers, I’m sure he’d
understand,’ said Saffron hopefully.
    Tell my father that he would have to leave his gorgeous
girlfriend behind so that he could sit next to his ugly duckling daughter, too
boring to be able to get a boyfriend of her own? I didn’t think so.
    ‘Don’t involve Dad,’ I told Saffron quickly.
    ‘I’ll ask Piers, then. His girlfriend will be on a shoot at the
wedding, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being your date for the wedding.’
    Without wanting to, I found myself looking at George, who could
obviously hear every word. He smirked at me and gave me the thumbs up.
    I smiled back at him, sweetly. ‘Don’t worry about a date for
me,’ I told Saffron without stopping to let myself think. ‘I’m bringing my
boyfriend.’
    ‘You’ve got a boyfriend?’ Saffron sounded surprised, as well
she might.
    ‘Didn’t I tell you?’ I said. ‘It’s George.’
    George’s chair tipped forward abruptly, and his feet crashed to
the floor.
    Result.
    ‘George?’ Saffron echoed blankly.
    ‘You remember him when you were up here? Roly’s friend?’
    ‘Oh, yes.’ I could practically see Saffron’s expression
clearing. ‘I didn’t know you two were...you know.’ For such a sophisticated
socialite, Saffron could be surprisingly prudish. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
    ‘I haven’t told anyone else,’ I said, wriggling my bottom more
comfortably on the desk and getting into my story. I was beginning to enjoy
myself. ‘To be honest, Saffron, this is just a physical thing for me. George is
absolutely mad about me, but you know what I’m like. I hate being crowded. It
makes things awkward on the site when he’s hanging around like a lovesick
puppy.’
    Lovesick puppy ? George mouthed in
disgust and I spread my hands in a what-can-you-do? gesture.
    ‘I haven’t told George this yet,’ I confided in Saffron, ‘but
I’m just having a good time with him until I go overseas. He’s got a good body,
and I’m not interested in anything else. I mean, it’s nice to be adored, don’t
get me wrong, but I can see me getting bored with him pretty quickly. Still,
it’s something to do in the evenings up here and he’ll brush up OK for the
wedding, so put him down as my date.’
    ‘Well, all right, but I wish you’d told me before,’ said
Saffron with a huffy little sigh. ‘It would