Page 27 of Love, Academically

The mail order tux did wonders and must have been altered and fitted within an inch of its life, because it was practically moulded to his little conker bum.

Which was delightful. His dark, wavy hair was more slicked back than usual, giving him a more formal (but no less attractive) look.

Rhys certainly looked the part, but Lila was under no illusions as to the strain on him, only noticeable in his tight jaw and the dart of his eyes around the room.

Rhys let her hand go to smoothly lift two champagne glasses from a passing waiter and pressed one into her hand. She took a long, fortifying draw.

“Well, that’s not five-quid prosecco, is it?” she said.

Rhys laughed deeply and throatily, and he was beautiful when he laughed.

“You should laugh more,” she said with a smile.

“I laugh,” he defended.

“Not as much as you should.”

Rhys swallowed and looked over her shoulder.

“My mother is making a beeline for us,” he said. “So is my sister and her husband, James.”

“Okay, okay. How do I look?” Lila asked, running her fingers over her hair to make sure it was still pinned back as Jasmeet had done it. Of course, with enough hairspray to make even the 80s do a double take, it wasn’t going anywhere.

“You look—”

“Rhys!” a soft female voice called. Perfume swirled around her as Rhys’s mother hugged her son tightly, with a stream of Welsh.

She was tall and slender, but the curve of Rhys’s lip, and the strong line of his nose were exactly the same as hers.

Rhys hugged his mother back, his eyes squeezed shut like a little boy.

He obviously loved her very much and they probably didn’t see each other as much as he wanted, especially with the fraught relationship he had with his father.

“Saesneg os gwelwch yn dda, Mam,” Rhys said, letting her go.

“Of course, English,” Rhys’s mother turned to her with shining eyes. “You must be Lila, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“Hello Mrs Aubrey-Dallimore. It’s lovely to meet you,” Lila said, mentally giving herself a fist pump because all the practicing of ‘Dall-i-more’ not ‘Dall-more’ in the mirror had paid off.

Rhys’s hand snaked its way to the bottom of her back and it was thoroughly reassuring.

“Oh, call me Cerys. Don’t you look stunning?” she said, gripping Lila’s hands in both of hers. “Oh, don’t you make the perfect couple?”

Lila batted her eyes up at Rhys adoringly and his lips twitched, trying to keep his grin in.

“Hi,” Lila said, locking eyes with a younger, female version of Rhys. “I’m Lila.”

“Elin,” she grinned, barely able to conceal her delight, just like her mother.

The only words to describe Elin were ‘stonkingly glamorous’.

With her high cheekbones, long neck and impossibly sharp bob cut, she could have walked off a catwalk.

Well, if she was a good foot taller. The black floor-length dress that she wore was accentuated with a red fold over collar – definitely, one hundred percent designer – and Lila wondered what Jasmeet and Maddy would think.

“Rhys, we’ll talk later, yes?” his mother said, desperate hope written across her face.

“Of course, Mam,” Rhys said with a soft smile, before watching his mother continue to work the room. This was a room in which people ‘worked’.

“Don’t you look divine! Miquita?” Elin was saying.

“Miquita,” Lila agreed with a grateful smile. “Thank you so much for helping. I had no idea what to wear. I’ve never been to a black-tie thing before, certainly not anything like this,” she said, words just falling out of her mouth.

Rhys squeezed her waist and she took that as a signal to remain calm.

“You are a delight, Lila, an absolute delight. How did my awful brother manage to snag someone so beautiful?” Elin said, raising an eyebrow at Rhys. Good, if Elin bought it, then everyone else would.

“Oh, and this is James,” Elin said, flicking her fingers over her shoulder at the man standing just behind her.

“James, hi,” Rhys said, reaching past Elin to shake his hand.

“Rhys, it’s been a while,” James said with a bright, handsome smile.

If there were two people more opposite than her and Rhys, it was Elin and James.

Where Elin was hard, ruthless edges with sharp eyes that never rested on one place too long, James was a laidback little cinnamon roll who was protecting his wife’s handbag like his life depended on it.

Perhaps that’s what these Dallimores needed, a little fluffy unicorn to soften their hard points.

“I’m so glad Rhys has found you,” Elin said, stepping closer to Lila. “We’re not the dragons that he likes to make out. Well, I’m not, at least.”

“Oh, um,” Lila said. What could she say to that? Oh yes, Rhys is so stressed out about seeing you all that he’s enlisted me as a fake girlfriend.

“Elin, you’re making Lila uncomfortable,” Rhys said smoothly, stepping closer, pressing against her.

“Oh, you worry too much, big brother,” Elin rolled her eyes. “No, in all seriousness, regardless of what he’s told you, I love him. I miss him. I’m so proud of him for standing up for himself, doing what he wants to do. And now he has you as well, and you both look so happy.”

A lopsided smile tugged at the corner of Elin’s mouth as she looked between them.

“In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rhys with that sparkle in his eye.”

“Elin,” Rhys said, pulling at his collar.

Something caught Elin’s eye behind her. “James, can you see Madoc?” Elin asked, craning her neck. “He’s over there talking to dad and Rhydian.”

“Is Rhydian your uncle?” Lila asked.

“Yes, and Madoc his son, our cousin,” Elin said, eyes on the cluster of men on the other side of the room. “He’s probably plotting my downfall, trying to get on Dad’s good side so I’ll be cut out of the Spanish merger.”

Elin spared a sardonic smile for Rhys.

“Seriously big brother, thanks for taking yourself out of the equation. I can deal with Madoc, you taught me well.”

She swept away, only turning to give James a nod as if to say ‘you’re coming’ and for him to follow.

Lila smothered a laugh.

“Poor James.”

“Nah, he loves it. He loves her,” Rhys said with a grin. “Oh, and uh, just so you know, Seren is on her way over.”

“Seren your ex?” Lila whispered with a nervous smile.

“Yes, apparently everyone wants to meet my girlfriend.” Rhys smiled back at her and linked his fingers with hers.

“Rhys, hello.”

“Seren, how are you?”

Rhys performed the introductions, and wow.

How would anyone believe that Rhys had gone from this absolutely stunning woman to dowdy old her, probably with something stuck in her teeth.

Because Seren was perfect. Hair, poise, face, figure.

All perfect. She was sleek and elegant, petite and lithe and Lila’s face grew warm at her own inadequacy.

Especially when Seren ran her assessing gaze over every inch of her.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” she said, her honey voice low and smooth.

“Yes,” Lila managed to squeak out, “and you.”

“Rhys, you’re looking terribly well,” Seren said, stepping ever so slightly too close to him.

Uh, no thank you, back off lady. Lila shifted in her heels and Rhys moved with her, because she was gripping his arm tighter than the Spanx she was wearing. Seren’s eyes flicked to her.

“Your new life suits you,” she said, almost wistfully.

“Yes, Seren. It does,” Rhys said with a satisfied smile and a quick glance down at Lila. Gosh, Rhys was good at this fake girlfriend/boyfriend stuff.

“I’ll catch up with you another time,” she said, giving them both a warm smile, before gliding away. Yes, she glided.

“She won’t,” Rhys murmured. “I’ve got absolutely no desire to catch up with her.”

Lila watched as Seren started to look back over her shoulder and jumped into action. She had to hold up her part of this bargain. Shifting towards Rhys, she put both hands on his chest, smiling up at him. Rhys’s hands fell to her hips, tightened ever so slightly, and pulled her flush against him.

Yep, flush against him. Body to body. She could feel everything. Every flex of muscle, every shallow breath. Every. Single. Thing.

“She’s looking,” Lila whispered, by way of explanation.

“I don’t care,” he whispered back.

A giggle escaped Lila’s throat, but glancing up, she could see that he wasn’t joking. Not in the slightest. He was looking down at her, earnestly, a slight pink flush creeping above the collar of his pristine shirt.

Something shifted between them. Something hot and deliberate uncoiled itself low in her belly and she became so aware of every stitch of fabric on her skin, of how it pressed into her where Rhys’s hands held her possessively.

Breaking eye contact with Rhys, she focused on his bow tie, tugging at it gently, even though it was already straight.

Seren the supermodel. Elin the powerhouse businesswoman. Cerys the commander of the room. And her, Lila, a little goldfish, who felt like she was dressing up in Jasmeet’s clothes. Let’s face it, Rhys couldn’t even bring himself to tell her she looked nice.

Lila let out a sigh.

“What?” Rhys asked, squeezing her hips gently.

Lila pasted a smile on her face. Tonight was about Rhys, not her, so she would put all that aside and wallow in ice cream tomorrow.

“Nothing.”

Rhys

It was going extremely well. Rhys had managed to avoid his father at all costs, avoided his uncle Rhydian and his insipid cousin Madoc.

His mother was overjoyed that he was there. Elin had been excellent. James had been, well, James.

It was all down to Lila, he knew it was. Lila, with her perfect dress, secret smiles, and unwavering support next to him, was literally propping him up.

Pulling her against him had been a mistake but he couldn’t help it. A mistake because his dick didn’t realise that was as much as he was going to get and was making its displeasure known by being particularly troublesome in his tight-fitting tux trousers. They were just a fraction too tight.