But Ruby at his wedding? She’d sob, he thought. She’d hug them both. She’d make it incredibly, intensely personal.

Which would scare Rose.

And him.

In the comparative privacy of his BMW, heading for his Kensington apartment to collect his baggage, Nick had time to think, and the more he thought the more he felt like he was heading into trouble. To hurt Ruby by not inviting her…

He couldn’t invite her. And he’d specified it was just business.

But it had his foot easing from the accelerator, thinking maybe even now it wasn’t too late to draw back.

His mobile phone rang. It answered automatically on the hands-free base. If it hadn’t, maybe he wouldn’t have answered. His need for solitude to get his head right was starting to be overwhelming. But the voice came on the other end of the line before he could prevent the connection. ‘Nick?’

‘Rose.’ She sounded as spooked as he was. ‘It’s good to hear from you,’ he managed.

‘There are photographers here,’ she said. ‘Everywhere. They arrived an hour ago and there’s more arriving by the minute. My mother-in-law’s weeping so hard she’s making herself ill. The phone’s ringing off the hook. I think…is this a disaster?’

So he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed. ‘I guess it’s what we had to expect,’ he said cautiously, insensibly reassured that she was feeling the same as he was.

‘I hadn’t thought…’

‘Neither had I.’

‘It’s not too late to back out,’ she whispered.

‘Do you want to back out?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘It seemed so easy when it was just fantasy. But now…’

‘What would you do if you backed out?’ he asked.

There was a long silence. ‘Stay here, I guess,’ she said, sounding unsure.

‘You don’t want to stay there?’

‘No.’ That was unequivocal, at any rate. Then, ‘We did decide to do this for the right reasons, didn’t we, Nick?’

He had to be honest here. ‘Yes.’