An Unlikely Bride for the Billionaire by Michelle Douglas Page A

Fairweathers had a lot of clout.
    â€˜She must be over the moon.’
    â€˜I haven’t mentioned it to her yet. He’s agreed to a meeting—nothing more. I don’t want to get her hopes up until it’s official.’
    Dylan was certainly going above and beyond where Carla’s wedding was concerned. Especially when he wasn’t even convinced that it would go ahead.
    Correction—he wasn’t convinced that the groom was worthy of the bride. That was an entirely different matter.
    â€˜Mia, are you still there?”
    â€˜Yes. I... That’s great news.’ She tried to gush, but she wasn’t much of a one for gushing. ‘I’m very impressed.’
    â€˜Liar.’ He laughed. ‘You couldn’t care less.’
    â€˜I want Carla’s wedding to be perfect.’ And she didn’t care how surly, bad-tempered or humourless Thierry happened to be. With her whole heart she hoped he treated Carla with respect, that he made her happy...that he did indeed deserve her.
    â€˜That I do believe. The thing is, Felipe wants to meet at Plum Pines this afternoon—two o’clock, if possible. He’s only in Newcastle for a couple of days, and his decision on whether or not to take the job apparently depends on the potential locations Plum Pines offers for wedding shots. He wants to start with the lily pond.’
    In other words he wanted her to be available at two this afternoon to take Felipe around.
    â€˜That won’t be a problem.’
    She’d finished supervising the weed eradication programme last week. She was in the process of helping Veronica create an action plan for a particularly inaccessible area on the northern boundary. That, along with path maintenance, was what her week consisted of.
    â€˜Are you on your lunchbreak?’
    She traced a finger along the wooden edge of the picnic table. ‘I am.’
    â€˜Excellent! That means we can chat.’
    She stared up into the eucalypt canopy above and shook her head. Dylan always wanted to chat. The sooner he got back to FWE and his usual work the better. He wasn’t the kind of guy who liked sitting around and twiddling his thumbs, and she had a feeling Carla’s wedding wouldn’t have his full attention until he’d passed judgement on Thierry.
    She suspected he rang her just to ‘chat’ in an effort to remove the sting of Thierry’s incivility. Which was totally unnecessary. Only she didn’t know how to say so without sounding ungracious.
    â€˜What are you having for lunch?’
    She was having what she always had. ‘A sandwich.’
    â€˜What’s in it?’
    She lifted the top slice of bread. ‘Egg and lettuce. Why is this important?’ Nevertheless, she found herself suppressing a smile.
    â€˜Are you having chocolate once you finish your delicious sandwich?’
    She choked back a laugh. ‘I refuse to have chocolate with every meal. I have a banana.’
    â€˜But you’re missing a food group! You have carbohydrate, protein, a fruit and a vegetable, but no dairy. Chocolate is dairy. It makes for a rounded meal, Mia.’
    She couldn’t help but laugh. ‘I’ll see you at two, Dylan.’
    She hung her phone back on her belt, a frown building through her. In the last fortnight Dylan had developed the habit of calling her a couple of times a week—always during her lunchbreak. Some days he didn’t mention the wedding at all. She sometimes thought his sole reason for calling was simply to make her laugh. But why would he do that?
    Was it really all for Carla’s benefit?
    Do you think he’s doing it for your benefit? Do you really think he could be interested in you ?
    It was a ludicrous notion—utter wishful thinking. They’d set their ground rules. Dylan wasn’t any more interested in a relationship than she was, and a fling was out of the question. But the wisdom of that reasoning