Chapter 26


    Hannah didn’t trust her voice work, so she simply nodded.


    “You know, I was dubious about this wedding, but this…” Sarah opened her arms and twirled around


    the room. “You’re getting married in a castle for flip’s sake. Just like we always dreamed we would,


    when we were little, you know, when our knights came to rescue us.” Sarah frowned, no doubt


    remembering why she wanted a knight to rescue her, and Hannah pulled her back into a hug.


    “That was a long time ago. And you know, I have to say it, Logan is no knight.” She let her sister go and


    smirked at her reflection in the full mirror. “And I sure as hell am no damsel in distress.”


    “Maybe not, but you’ve got to admit the venue is awesome. Did you tell him it had always been your


    dream to get married in a castle?” Sarah asked.


    Startled at the question, Hannah turned back round to look at her sister.


    “No, I assumed he’d asked you. After all, you always had your heads together whispering about


    wedding ns, or so it seemed.”


    Sarah sniggered and tapped her nose. “Never you mind what we were whispering about, but no, I


    didn’t tell him. This was all Logan’s ide


    a. All I did know is that he wanted it to be somewhere different and special.” Sarah pursed her lips, and


    Hannah could almost see the wheels turning in her sister’s head. Ever since she’d told Sarah about


    this wedding and the reasons behind it, Sarah had insisted that there must be more to it than that, but


    then her sister was a hopeless romantic. Hannah, however, was a realist, and while her heart might


    have leapt in joy when she realized where they were getting married, it was all for show. To make them


    look real in the eyes of the authorities, that was all this was. Nothing more and nothing less.


    “What?” she asked.


    “Oh nothing.” Sarah grinned. “I know you keep saying this is all for show yadda, yadda, yadda, but I’ve


    seen the way he watches you. That man is just about ready to eat you alive with his eyes most of the


    time, and you…” Again, with the pursed lips, which were starting to irritate the ever-loving heck out her.


    “I what? Spit it out, already, I know you’re dying to. And if Logan gives that impression it’s only because


    he’s horny. We haven’t had sex since we got engaged so … oh what now?” She frowned at Sarah’s


    knowing smirk.


    “I bet that wasn’t your idea, was it? And it sure exins why you’re so ready to bite my head off. How


    can you even keep your hands off that hunk?”


    “Sarah!” Hannah didn’t quite pull off her outraged hiss, if Sarah’s growing amusement was anything to


    go by, and she knew her own cheeks were ming. Damn her propensity to blush at the drop of a hat.


    “What?” Sarah shrugged onece covered shoulder and grinned. “Just because I’m engaged doesn’t


    This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org.


    mean I can’t look and appreciate another man’s fine physique, and your future husband is packing in all


    the right ces. I bet he knows how to use it all, too, right?”


    Hannah simply shook her head at her incorrigible sister, and Sarah giggled.


    “Seriously, though, think about it. And this whole non-sex thing until you’re married? Really, does he


    strike you as a man who would willingly forego that for any lengths of time? He wanted this wedding to


    be special, and there’s only one reason for that, if you ask me.”


    Hannah’s heart skipped a beat at the certainty behind her sister’s words, even as the rational side of


    her brain instantly dismissed that crazy notion.


    “No, you’re wrong. Logan doesn’t do love, he made that perfectly clear, which is fine by me. I’m only


    using him for sex, anyway, or at least I will be once we’re married.”


    Sarah burst outughing, and Hannah followed suit, ‘cause, really that sounded ridiculous when you


    thought about it.


    Once they got their merriment under control, Sarah shook her head.


    “Yes, well, believe that, if it makes you feel any better, but I know you. You’ve got a soft heart, and lord


    knows if ever there was a man who needs the love of a woman it’s Logan. Just be careful. I can see


    you getting hurt, and we both know that emotional scars run far deeper than physical ones, and some


    might never heal.”


    Hannah opened her mouth to refute that silly notion, but the words of denial stuck in her throat. She


    took the ss of fizz Sarah handed her, and frowned at the bubbles.


    “There’ll be no danger of that, I can assure you, sis.”


    The liey like a brick in the bottom of her stomach, and made the excellent champagne taste like


    sawdust as she swallowed.


    Come what may she had to guard her heart. She could do this, right?


    Logan straightened the cuffs of his monkey suit for the umpteenth time, and scowled at the elderly


    registrar. Where the fuck was his bride to be? It didn’t take that long to walk down the castle steps and


    make her way into the garden where the ceremony was to be held. The photographer aimed her


    camera into his face, and he flexed his fingers against the urge to wrench that piece of equipment out


    of her hands and throw it into the stream which formed a smallke. An idyllic setting the brochure had


    said, and he supposed that was true.


    The way Hannah’s eyes had lit up in silent joy, when they’d pulled up the long gravel drive yesterday


    afternoon had certainly been worth the organizational nightmare to get them all up to Scond and


    everything put in ce in just under a month.


    It had given him a far too suspicious glow inside to know he’d made her happy. He wasn’t going to


    examine his motives too closely, that’s for sure. This was a means to an end, that’s all. Admittedly one


    with pleasurable side benefits, or at least it would have those once little Hannah was finally his. What


    had possessed him to instigate the no sex until they were married rule, anyway? He needed his head


    examined, but he hadn’t wanted to muddy the waters.


    If the one night of sex which was indelibly imprinted on his brain was anything to go by, he’d lose


    himself in her soft body at the detriment of all else, and Logan had needed his head in the right ce


    for this all to work out.


    So far, so good. The prenup his solicitor had drawn up was as watertight as one could make these


    things, and as per Hannah’s request—one that still didn’t sit right with him—she would leave the


    marriage with nothing more than the clothes on her back.


    Maybe that’s why he seemed addicted to seeing that joyous light in her blue eyes. If she was


    determined to not avail herself of his money, he could spoil her a little in other ways. Like the


    engagement ring. He’d chosen the deep sapphire, set in a cluster of priceless diamonds and tinum,


    because it reminded him of the color of her eyes. Not that he’d been foolish enough to mention this to


    her.


    That would give her entirely the wrong idea. Logan had resented the ache in his chest when he’d all but


    thrown the box at her. That moment shouldn’t have meant anything more than making sure she wore


    the required jewelry to make them look real.


    Her gasp of surprise and the way she’d looked up at him, blinking away tears—Logan cursed under his


    breath—it had stirred emotions he didn’t want to acknowledge. It had started a seeming deep-seated


    need to make her happy, to see those expressive eyes light up in joy and hope, and it felt damn good


    to know that he was the reason for that smile. A smile she’d hitherto bestowed only on Rhia.


    “Rx, she’ll be here soon. It’s the bride’s prerogative to bete.”


    George, Hannah’s sister’s fiancé and his best man by the sheer necessity of having to keep things in


    the family, pped him on the back and grinned. “And wipe that scowl off your face. This is supposed


    to the happiest day of your life, yet you look like man about to face the gallows.”


    Logan shook his head, made a nonmittal grunt, and forced his tight shoulders to rx as he


    looked around the select few people who’d been invited.


    His side of the guests looked far too empty. His solicitor and his wife, a few business clients, chosen


    specifically with future deals in mind—it always helped to butter them up—and the empty slot where his


    mother ought to be. Unfortunately, she was recovering from a nasty chest infection, and thus unable to


    attend.


    Hannah had urged him to postpone the wedding a couple of weeks, but Logan couldn’t afford that


    luxury. The custody hearings were looming, and he knew his every move was under scrutiny by the


    authorities. While he’d been granted temporary custody of his niece—as per the terms of udia’s


    living will, a fact which still astonished him—her grandparents had started a vicious battle to smear his


    name.


    This wedding was damage limitation of the highest order, and it had to work. While he was far from


    suitable daddy material, he owed udia this much.


    The wedding march started up, and George’s low, appreciative whistle raised the fine hair on his neck.


    Even without that warning of his bride-to-be’s approach, he’d have known Hannah was near. The


    breeze kicked up, bringing with it the scent of her light perfume, and inhaling deeply, he turned around.


    He blinked at what he saw. Rhia came first, her little face screwed up in concentration, as she clutched


    her basket to her chest and threw handfuls of rose petals on the red carpet that had beenid to form


    the makeshift aisle.