The Proposal Plan Page 4

  ‘… go out for dinner some time… nothing heavy, just a relaxing evening…’ she heard Gabriel saying. She picked up her orange juice, trying to keep the smug smile from her face. Same old Gabriel. Get the caveat in up front. No chance of the relationship being any more than a couple of dates, so make it clear from the outset. She noticed the firm set of his jaw at this angle and the way his dark hair curled a little over his collar. He was truly gorgeous. No wonder Joanna was mesmerised. And he certainly seemed to have the gift of making her feel as if she was the only woman in the room for him. Because it didn’t appear to matter how often Lucy glanced his way, she might as well have been invisible for all the notice he took of her. She stood up and went to the bar to get another drink, deliberately ignoring them as she passed. Why should she care if Gabriel chatted up yet another woman? It wasn’t as if it were anything she hadn’t seen before, after all. She picked up the menu at the bar and looked through the fat-laden snack list. If this was going to be a long and extremely dull evening, she’d need something to get her through.

  Lucy checked her watch. Six forty-five. They’d only been jogging for five minutes and already she was flagging. She’d had hardly any sleep, tossing and turning half the night, unable to switch off. When she’d eventually dropped off at about three it had felt as if her alarm had gone off ten minutes later. Her head ached horribly. Gabriel seemed as fresh as a daisy however, despite the fact it was so early in the morning. She wondered if he’d be seeing Joanna again and mentally slapped herself down. It was nothing to do with her and she absolutely didn’t care.

  ‘So what conclusions did you get from last night, Relationship Guru?’ she panted, more to bring her mind back on task than because she really wanted to speak.

  Gabriel glanced sideways at her and then slowed to a stop. There was a bench a short way off and he slowed her down too by grabbing her arm, then pointed at the bench as they approached it. ‘Let’s sit down for a bit, shall we? You look beat.’

  She was too out of breath to argue, and frankly the idea of sitting down for a few minutes sounded wonderful. She followed him to the bench and they sat down and gazed out across the still river. The early morning was fresh and cold and she could see her breath, the clouds from her mouth diminishing slowly as her breathing recovered from the run. Gabriel opened a bottle of water and handed it to her.

  ‘It was an interesting evening,’ he began.

  ‘I’m surprised you noticed anything that went on between Ed and me,’ she grumbled. ‘You spent the entire time trying to prise Joanna’s phone number out of her.’

  ‘Just setting up my cover,’ he protested with a grin. ‘Don’t want Ed to work out there’s something going on, do you? Don’t you think he would have wondered what the hell was going on if I’d spent the entire evening watching the two of you interact? Not that you really did,’ he added pointedly.

  ‘Hmm,’ she said, unconvinced. ‘What are your conclusions, then? Tell me there was a point to it all.’

  ‘Of course there was a point to it. I spent a couple of very useful hours observing you and Ed, and what I saw confirmed what I already thought.’

  ‘Which was…?’

  ‘The reason it doesn’t occur to Ed to propose to you is because it won’t give him anything more than he already has. Except perhaps a large bill for wedding costs.’

  Lucy groaned. ‘Frankly I was expecting something a bit more insightful than that.’

  ‘I can give you insights. That was just the concise version.’ He took a swig from his bottle of water and glanced at his watch.

  ‘Go on, then.’

  ‘OK…’ He stood back up and began stretching to keep warm. Lucy made no move to join him. The way her muscles felt this morning a few stretches were going to make no difference. She might as well give up right now and walk home. But not before she’d heard him out.

  ‘First of all, just look at the people you are hanging out with,’ he said.

  She frowned. ‘What about them? I didn’t see you moaning last night when you were chatting to Joanna over drinks and nibbles.’

  He shook his head at her. ‘You’re missing the point. They’re all settled, aren’t they? Well, except for Joanna, but just from a quick conversation with her I can tell she wants to be settled, too. They’re all married or about to be married.’

  ‘I see where you’re going with this, but you’re wrong. Digger and Kate aren’t married, they live together—’

  ‘That’s only while Kate pushes Digger towards marriage. You can see the pattern with them—it’s the same as you and Ed. The only difference is that Digger has actually moved in with her while Ed’s hanging on for dear life to his bachelor pad. What I’m trying to say is that marriage is essentially a girl thing. Your average guy has no real drive to get tied down like that. He’s quite happy to live with his girl without all the trappings.’

  ‘Marriage isn’t just about trappings,’ she protested. ‘It’s a commitment. It gives proper, constant stability.’

  ‘Only if you choose to see it that way,’ he countered. ‘Living together is a commitment, too, you know. You just don’t have to spend a fortune on a wedding in order to do it. But that doesn’t make it any less significant.’

  She shook her head to try and clear it. He always did this—confused the issue so she ended up questioning her own certainties. ‘Get to the point!’ she snapped.

  He took a deep breath, the way he always did when he was going to say something that he knew would provoke her. ‘Part of the reason for you wanting to get married is a subconscious desire to fit in with your social group. And Ed will never ask you unless he’s painted into a corner, because when you pare it right down, he has nothing to gain over and above what he’s already getting from you. He has the freedom to keep his own social life; he has you looking after him from every angle. And the pair of you already fit in with all his mates. Why go and spend a fortune making it official? Eventually he probably thinks he’ll ask you to move in with him, but, hey, there’s no rush.’

  His sideway glance to measure her reaction told her he knew perfectly well that he was making her angry. Her head ached and her brain felt as if it were swathed in cotton wool. She didn’t have the energy to explode at him as she normally would. Instead she settled for sharpening her tone.

  ‘To be perfectly honest, Gabe, this amateur psychology rubbish is starting to get on my nerves. All I want is a few pointers. I don’t want or need my whole life deconstructed.’ She stood up, wincing at the throb in her head at the sudden movement. ‘I’m starting to wish I’d never told you about any of this.’

  He shrugged. ‘No problem, Lu. I thought you wanted my help, and I’m not going to just tell you stuff you want to hear. That’s not how I work. I’ll give you my opinion and then it’s up to you how you act on it. But what I’m saying is, if you change nothing about your relationship, if you carry on playing the part of a wife before you actually are one, then don’t expect Ed to propose to you any time soon.’

  ‘I don’t expect him to propose any time soon. I’m going to propose to him. Isn’t that the whole point of this?’

  ‘Of course. But don’t you think it makes sense to work out why he hasn’t taken the bull by the horns himself? Then you can make changes that keep him on his toes and stop him taking you for granted. You have to admit that would be a good thing for your relationship. He doesn’t seem to feel like he has to make any effort with you at the moment, does he? I mean, just look at him last night, sulking into his whisky glass at the end of the table. I’d be surprised if he said more than ten sentences to you all night. Why does he think it’s OK to treat you like that? He might have had a bad day, but that’s no excuse. I’ll tell you why—it’s because you let him think it’s OK.’

  She looked at his serious expression. The problem with her friendship with Gabriel was that their usual sparring was self-perpetuating. She heard herself talk to him sometimes and thought she really was just arguing for argument’s sak
e because she never wanted to be the one that gave in. She couldn’t fail to see that he had a point and she would be an idiot not to accept it. Too tired to keep bickering, she sighed. ‘OK, OK, I’ll admit I can see where you’re coming from.’

  To his credit Gabriel obviously knew her well enough to restrain himself from making any gesture or sound of triumph, simply nodding in agreement, and so she felt able to continue calmly rather than taking the plunge back into the row that any crowing on his part would have provoked. ‘Where do we go from here, then?’ she asked. ‘I’m putting myself in your hands.’

  He began jogging lightly on the spot. ‘Well, the next logical step is your appearance, of course. We’ve covered your social life, we’ve looked at the way you react and respond around Ed. Now, you need to make him sit up and take notice. We start with how you look and then we move on to the way you behave. Right?’

  ‘Right,’ she repeated, with more conviction than she felt.

  ‘Good,’ he said in a businesslike tone. ‘Then as you’re obviously desperate to quit running you can go home now. Meet me on Thursday night in the city centre.’

  Her heart sank.

  Lucy locked the door of the cake shop behind her and listened until the alarm system finished beeping and set itself before heading to her battered yellow Mini car. It was already dark outside and she cursed the car’s next-to-useless heater, which roasted her right foot but left the rest of her freezing cold as she made her way through the steady traffic into the main city centre. Towards the shops. The knot in her stomach wouldn’t go away. She didn’t like clothes shopping and applauded the ascent of the Internet, where she could buy what she wanted online in the comfort of her own sitting room, a cup of coffee to hand, and send back anything she didn’t like. She had aspirations to extend her cake business one day to encompass online shopping.

  Sighing to herself as she parked, she realised that if she wanted to keep expanding her business then the cash investment that seemed so important to Ed wasn’t likely to be a reality any time soon. Still, Ed would understand that, she was sure. He was as steady as a rock, one of the things that attracted her to him. Not unpredictable or headstrong. Not like Gabriel at all, she thought unexpectedly, and frowned. She had no place thinking that, she admonished herself. It was of no consequence to her how Gabriel differed from Ed; she wasn’t one of his endless stream of girlfriends, thank goodness. She had no idea how they put up with him, not knowing if he would be there for the next date or not. She easily silenced the small voice at the back of her mind that protested that unpredictable was a million times more interesting and exciting than steady. It was also a million times less safe.

  It was Thursday night, late-night shopping in Bath, and Gabriel had ‘called in a favour’, as he described it, and organised a personal shopping session for Lucy. Not necessarily to buy anything, he had placated her when she’d raised a frugal eyebrow—Gabriel had expensive tastes and she really didn’t need that kind of encouragement. But to try on a few new things and look at the kind of thing men apparently liked their women to wear. According to Gabriel this was a world apart from what women thought men liked them to wear.

  ‘A subtle distinction, but by the end of today I think you will agree an important one,’ he said confidently as he led the way into the heart of the city on foot, having parked the Aston Martin close enough to her Mini to make it look shabbier than ever. Bath looked beautiful in the dark, lights from the shops brightening the cobbled side streets. ‘A few changes and it could kick-start your relationship. Ed won’t know what’s hit him.’

  ‘I’ve never had any complaints before,’ Lucy pointed out. ‘In fact, Ed’s really good about complimenting me on my appearance. He always notices when I get my hair cut. He likes the way I look.’

  Gabriel nodded admiringly. ‘He’s got his head screwed on, I’ll give him that. Always stick to the rule.’

  ‘What rule?’

  ‘You know, if you can’t say anything good, then don’t say anything. She always looks beautiful, especially in the morning, and if she ever asks you if something makes her look big the answer is always no.’

  ‘Even if it does?’

  ‘Especially if it does.’

  Lucy stared at him. ‘Is there really this underlying theme of men playing some kind of game with us or are you just messing about?’

  She sounded shocked and he slowed his pace to a stroll and looked at her with a grin. ‘Maybe I’m overstating it a bit,’ he said. Then he raised an eyebrow as he apparently debated the question to himself. ‘Though not that much. There is something of an unwritten rule for men.’

  She looked at him quizzically.

  ‘You learn about it as you go along. It’s not worth the grief sometimes to be brutally honest so you tell her what she wants to hear and then enjoy your quiet life. Men don’t notice what women wear half as much as other women do.’

  ‘In that case what the hell is the point of us being here?’ God, he could be exasperating at times.

  ‘Because we want Ed to sit up and take notice, don’t we? Look at you through fresh eyes. And the easiest way to make a man do a double take is with your appearance, right?’

  Gabriel dragged her by the arm into the beautiful old building that housed Jolly’s department store. Designer and high street in one vast place, with chandeliers and lots of steps up and down to different departments. As they stepped out of the lift and walked into the lusciously carpeted personal shopping suite Lucy was surprised to see him kiss the cheek of the impeccably dressed assistant who greeted them. Surely that was a bit overfamiliar, wasn’t it?

  ‘Lucy, this is Amanda,’ Gabriel said.

  Lucy nodded uncertainly at the perfectly groomed blonde woman in her understated suit and heels.

  ‘Amanda, thanks so much for fitting us in,’ he said warmly, and led the way into the suite, walking next to the woman as Lucy lagged a few paces behind them feeling drab in her jeans and sweater. ‘Getting married soon, could do with a makeover…’ she heard him say and her eyes widened. What a cheek!

  Amanda showed them both to a huge squashy leather sofa, and then disappeared through a side door. The moment they were sitting down and she was out of earshot, Lucy elbowed Gabriel hard in the ribs.

  ‘Ow!’

  ‘Serves you right!’ she said in an angry stage whisper. ‘Could do with a makeover? There’s nothing wrong with the way I look!’

  ‘Calm down, Lu.’ He held his hands up in mock surrender. ‘I’m just keeping her sweet. Just making sure she realises we’re not, you know, together. Do you have any idea how booked up this place gets? Told you I’d call in a favour. I knew Amanda would squeeze us in, time being of the essence and everything.’ He winked at her.

  She rolled her eyes skyward in exasperation. ‘You mean I’ll be getting dress tips from one of your conquests? You must be joking!’

  He made an urgent shushing gesture, which infuriated her all the more. ‘Keep your voice down! She’s not a conquest, since you ask, but she is a friend of a friend and—’

  ‘Oh, great. She just isn’t a conquest yet, then. Big difference.’

  ‘Will you just chill out? She’s excellent at her job and you want to try on some new stuff. Where’s the problem?’

  She shook her head impatiently at him and then pasted a polite smile on her face as Amanda reappeared with an armful of clothes and began hanging them on a rail at the side of the room.

  She threw a glance Lucy’s way and smiled. ‘Size eight,’ she said. ‘Possibly a ten in jeans and definitely petite.’ It was a statement, not a question.

  Lucy nodded in admiration. ‘You’re good,’ she had to admit.

  Amanda came over to the sofa and smiled at them. ‘That’s what I’m paid for,’ she said. ‘Follow me, Lucy. I’ll pull some things together for you to try and we can get an idea of what suits your body type best and what colours work well for you, that kind of thing.’ She shifted her gaze to Gabriel. ‘Make yourself comfortable, G
abriel. There’ll be some drinks along in a minute.’ She flashed him a brilliant smile. Gabriel smiled back at her and stretched out in the corner of the sofa, his arms behind his head.

  Lucy followed Amanda into the curtained fitting-room section of the suite. None of the horror of the communal changing room here, thankfully. No desperate shrugging into clothes and deliberately avoiding eye contact with everyone else, all of them doing exactly the same thing. Instead a large, private square room with a clothing rail down one side and a mirror down the other. A much larger bank of mirrors was placed outside, of course, by the sofas, where you could have a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of yourself as you walked around, and where your guest could watch and give you feedback. In her case that meant Gabriel. She felt absurdly shy. It was ridiculous, she told herself. She’d known Gabe all her life practically. And anyway, it shouldn’t matter what he thought about how she looked; this was all aimed at Ed, after all. She shrugged out of her plain T-shirt and took the first item off the hanger.

  Gabriel surreptitiously got out his smart-phone. Not entirely to check his emails, but also to avoid conversing with Amanda, who drifted back to him on a cloud of her own perfume every time she left Lucy to change into some new item. Attractive as she was, he had no time for a fling right now. Another assistant had briefly appeared and deposited a tray of sparkling wine and nibbles to one side of him.

  He looked up at the swish of the curtain as Lucy walked self-consciously out into the centre of the mirrors. She was wearing a long black skirt and a flowing blouse over it with a busy floral print. He could tell just by looking at her that she liked it. Of course she did. It could have been from her own wardrobe.

  Amanda was shaking her head. ‘Pretty, but it totally drowns your figure, there’s no definition there.’ She deftly grabbed a handful of blouse and held it against the small of Lucy’s back. ‘See how much better it would look if it was nipped in at the waist? I’d like to see you in something a bit more eye-catching, too.’