Love You Better Read Free

she had ever wanted, and she wasn’t about to let Smith ruin it all.
    ‘You mean like you apologised for all the stuff you did? It’s funny, because I don’t remember you ever saying sorry for shagging around behind my back.’
    ‘Come on, Eff – it wasn’t as simple as that.’
    ‘Do you know what, Smith? I don’t care anymore. Really, I d on’t. And if you’re seriously waiting to hear me say sorry for moving on, then I suggest you go and hold your breath.’
    She bent down to pick her shoes up and stalked away from him. Why was he here, ruining everything? Her life was so much simpler now. It was easy, stable and reliable, and she could trust Oliver in a way she never could Smith. She never had to analyse with Oliver. She always knew where she stood, without question. Smith, on the other hand, was a walking enigma, and she’d failed to solve it.
    ‘I hope it’s worth it,’ he called after her.
    ‘It is,’ Effie replied without turning back. ‘ He is.’
    ‘Well then, I wish you nothing but happiness.’ His voice dripped with sarcasm, and she stopped, gripping the shoes in her hand. She turned and walked back over to him.
    ‘Why did you really come back?’
    His excuse about money was balls. Travelling was one of the things he always used to talk about, and a year around the world was his dream come true. It had come about after a dire chain of events, but even still, he’d used the money left to him by his grandpa, and there was no way he could’ve spent twenty grand already.
    He stared back at her with his grey eyes. ‘I had to see if it w as tru e.’
    ‘If what was true?’
    ‘You. Getting married to someone you barely even know, for no good reason.’
    Behind him, Lou came through the doors, holding two glasses of champagne, and her jaw dropped, her mouth forming a perfect O when she saw the two of them standing inches apart. Effie looked over Smith’s shoulder at her as Lou discreetly jerked her head to one side, and Oliver followed her through the doors.
    Oliver smiled when he saw her. ‘There you are.’
    Effie froze with panic at the sound of Oliver’s voice, and Lou scarpered, closing the door behind her in a vain attempt to protect the wedding guests from the impending drama about to be unleashed outside.
    ‘I thought you might need this – it’s cold out here,’ Oliver said, holding the faux fur shrug to match her dress. He looked at Smith, and Effie opened her mouth. Why weren’t the words coming out to explain who Smith was?
    ‘I’m Smith.’ He outstretched a hand, breaking the silence. ‘I ta ke it you’re the husband.’
    ‘Guilty as charged. Oliver Barton-Cole.’ Oliver laughed, his perfectly pronounced words sounding woefully out of place as he shook Smith’s hand.
    She looked at the two of them. Oliver stood a couple of inches taller than Smith, and in his smart tux, he looked devastatingly handsome and every bit the charming, thirty-year-old man with the world at his feet. Smith’s naturally rugged edge stripped away any kind of respectability the suit should have given him and left him looking like the brooding, dangerous kind of guy that any woman in her right mind would do her best to avoid. Effie couldn’t take her eyes off him.
    Smith looked from Effie to Oliver and back again. ‘I’d better leave you to it.’
    ‘You’re not staying?’ Oliver asked, and Smith shook his head.
    ‘Nah, I’ve got places to be. I just wanted to give my congrats.’ He looked at Effie and nodded. ‘Nice seeing you again, E ff.’
    She looked away from him as he left. It hadn’t been nice seeing him – it was the complete opposite in fact. It had made her head fight for control over the natural impulses of her body, the impulses that Smith had always elicited in her.
    Oliver put the shrug around her shoulders, and her body sighed under its warmth. After Smith’s unexpected appearance, the shrug was almost as comforting as Oliver’s reassuring presence.
    ‘Who was