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CHAPTER 15 - The Games People Play

Cambridge was busy, the supermarket hot and crowded and Elizabeth managed to pick the queue where every single customer in front of her seemed to have a problem. After paying for her purchases, she wheeled the trolley outside and welcomed the cool breeze that wafted across the parking lot as she headed for her car. She loaded groceries into the trunk then returned her trolley and set off for home.

The journey took longer than usual due to roadworks causing hold-up's and by the time she turned into her uncle's drive, she was feeling extremely frazzled, longing for nothing more than a relaxing sit down and hot drink.

She pulled up next to the silver Vectra and frowned slightly at the sight of the unfamiliar car wondering who had come to visit. Dismissing it as probably being one of William's colleagues from the university, she got out and opened the trunk to retrieve some of the shopping.

Deliberately, she picked the heaviest box of groceries and a couple of reasonably weighty bags for good measure, just to add to her already unhappy state of mind of being badly done by and headed towards the house.

Putting down the bags, she opened the door then picked them back up and entered the house kicking the door shut behind her. She heard the sound of voices coming from the kitchen and felt a spark of annoyance that she was carrying a heavy load and no one…well, William…had bothered to come out and help.

She walked into the kitchen and pulled up short as she discovered her sister, Connor and William all laughing together like best friends as they sat around the table drinking tea. Their heads all turned at her entrance and the obvious amusement on their faces at the sight of her struggling with the too-heavy box had her fighting the petulant impulse to hurl the thing at them and then burst into tears.

Something in her face must have conveyed her feelings as, suddenly, they all stood up and hurried forward with the obvious intent of relieving her of the purchases. Feeling dwarfed by height of the people coming towards her, she failed to be grateful for their assistance and snapped peevishly, "It's alright, I can manage! I mean, I have carried them all the way in from the car on my own."

She saw Dawn's eyebrows lift and felt herself redden guiltily. There wasn't any reason for her to take her bad mood out on anyone else.

"You should have come in and got William to carry those for you," her sister said chidingly. "I mean, what's the use of having a fiancé if you don't get them doing the fetching and carrying for you?" She turned to Connor and smiled sweetly. "I definitely make you work hard, don't I sweetie?"

Connor's reply was lost on Elizabeth as she let go of the box, barely aware of the fast way William moved to catch it, and stared at her sister in confusion. "Fiancé?"

William?

What on earth was Dawn talking about? And what was she doing here anyway? And with Connor…Connor?

Oh. My. God!

Connor!

She'd been so wrapped up in feeling sorry for herself that it was only at that precise moment that the realisation of the situation hit her. Eyes widening, her face drained of all it's colour and her jaw dropped as the appalling comprehension washed over her that William must now know the truth…that she wasn't, nor had she ever been, engaged to Connor.

The rush of tears to her eyes was instantaneous and she bravely fought to keep them in check, blinking rapidly so as to clear her distorted vision as best she could while she contemplated the very good idea of running away.

William turned from dumping the heavy box he'd caught, on the table and immediately saw her obvious distress. Recognising the signs of someone about to bolt, he pushed aside his compassion and sternly told himself that what he intended to do was in the best interests of them both.

Steeling himself against the urgent impulse William had to simply take her in his arms and kiss away the tension, he summoned a casual smile and walked slowly over to her. Once within touching distance, he reached out his arm and put it around her waist before she could move away.

Ignoring the rigidity of her body, he pulled her close to his side and gazed down at her adoringly. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I'm afraid I've already broken the good news of our engagement to your sister," he told her in an apologetic tone. "I didn't think you'd mind under the circumstances." He flicked a meaningful glance in Connor's direction before looking back down at her bewildered countenance.

Elizabeth froze as she tried to get a grip on the reality that she felt was starting to rapidly slip away from her. Why had William told Dawn that they were engaged? Surely he must have figured out that she'd lied to him? So why was he spinning tales and looking at her with warmth and affection radiating from those wonderful blue orbs instead of confronting her with the contempt and disgust she more than deserved?

A sudden crazy desire to burst into a peal of hysterical laughter threatened to overcome her but she forced it back when William moved her towards the table and pushed her gently, but firmly, down into a chair. "Poor darling, you look exhausted," he said, the epitome of concern. "Just sit there while I make you a nice cup of tea."

As soon as he moved away, she tried to stand up but, for some reason, Connor and Dawn had materialised on either side of her like a pair of jailers, she thought to herself irritably.

"I don’t want…" Elizabeth began, only to be interrupted by Dawn who excitedly started chattering about how wonderful it was that she was engaged and what a dark horse she was not telling her own sister.

Elizabeth found herself staring down at her left hand in bewilderment, as though half expecting to see an engagement ring materialising there. If she closed her eyes and opened them again, would everything have returned to normal, she wondered dazedly as she heard Dawn then talk about the possibility of having a double wedding.

"No," she finally roused herself enough to protest. "Not a double wedding. Look, Dawn…"

"I agree with Buffy," William suddenly spoke up, cutting off whatever she was going to say. "Besides, you haven't set a date yet and Buffy and I hope to be married in June."

"In June!" came the twin incredulous cries of both women.

Knowing that Dawn was just playing her part, he pretended that he hadn't heard Elizabeth and focussed on her sister. "I know," he said heaving a heavy sigh as he produced an indulgent smile. "Six weeks isn't long to plan a wedding but I can't wait to make Buffy my wife and as she always wanted to be married in June, who am I to deny her?"

"Oh, that's so sweet," Dawn gushed, smiling happily at first William and then Elizabeth as she added, "You are so lucky to have him."

Elizabeth stared back dumbly at her sister and then someone…Connor, she thought…handed her a mug of tea which she gulped thirstily as she struggled to comprehend what was going on and when everything had suddenly got so out of hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry darling," she heard William say contritely and turned wide eyes towards him as he appeared at her side and draped his arm possessively around her shoulders. "I never asked if you had any luck finding a dress today." He looked over at Dawn and, to Elizabeth's stunned horror told her confidingly, "She's refusing to wear white, the silly thing." He dropped his gaze back to Elizabeth's and added in a low voice, "After all, nowadays and feeling the way we do about each other…" He trailed off and gave her a look that could've burned holes in metal, leaving no one in the room with any doubts whatsoever as to the intimacy of their relationship.

Elizabeth found herself locked in his gaze and placed the mug down on the table with a thump as her insides turned to complete mush. Swallowing hard, she found herself almost believing that the burning, melting look of desire was actually real and not just fabricated for whatever reason he alone knew.

And then, the moment was gone and William was talking about the dress again, saying that she preferred something in cream. Dawn responded enthusiastically and Elizabeth realised that her hands had curled into tight fists as she fought the urge to let out a very long, very protesting scream.

Everytime she attempted to say something, William would either cut her off or Dawn would come up with something else to do with the 'wedding' to excitedly talk about.
Frustration setting in, her head started to ache and she couldn't quell the feeling she had that she'd just strayed into the scene of an extremely surreal play where everyone, apart from her, knew their lines.

She just couldn't understand why William wasn't demanding to know why she'd lied about being engaged to Connor and, most of all, she really, really couldn't understand how she'd supposedly become engaged to William!

Engaged to William.

A shiver ran through her system at that notion and William's grip on her shoulders tightened slightly. He looked down at her and fought the urge to just pick her up, throw her over his shoulder and take her to bed until she finally admitted everything. He paused a moment in that thought and decided that if she hadn't confessed her deceit by that evening then it was a definite back-up plan.

"Buffy, we were wondering if we could stay here a couple of days," Dawn said, drawing all eyes to her. "We want to have a look around so that when Connor's parents come over we can give them a few pointers on where to visit. William said he didn't think it'd be a problem." She pulled a face then added wryly, "If it's okay with you though, we'd prefer to share a room. I appreciate that living here with Uncle Rupert makes things a little awkward for you, but really, I don't know how you and William put up with sleeping apart. Still, I guess all that running up and down the corridor and sneaking into each other's room must just add to the excitement…"

She ignored Elizabeth's gasp and turned to her fiance. "You go and get the bags and we'll meet you at the top of the stairs." Looking back over her shoulder to her sister, she grinned slyly. "Connor and I can't wait to have a little nap. You know how jet lag is," she told her with a wink.

Connor walked out of the kitchen and Elizabeth realised that this could be her opportunity to finally get a chance to speak without interruptions and ask Dawn what the heck was going on.

Unsteadily, she rose from her seat only to find that William was suddenly standing right in front of her. Head down, she tried to step past him but he moved as well so that she ended up walking straight into him. Her head jerked up at his sudden contact and his arms automatically rose to steady her…so she'd thought. Instead, they closed around her and she felt herself lean into his warm, familiar embrace…the fresh smell of grass on his clothes mixing with his own purely male scent succeeding in making her head swim with instant arousal.

One of his hands moved up under her hair to cradle the back of her neck where it proceeded to gently stroke the tension from the tightly coiled muscles there. She felt his breath against her hair and then her ear as he bent his head to murmur, "Meet me in the garden and I'll explain."

The thought that there was actually an explanation for this nightmare scenario was promptly cut short when he pulled back to softly press his lips to her temple before placing a further lingering and far more devastating kiss against her lips.

Elizabeth was breathless by the time his mouth broke contact with hers and she stared up at him dazedly.

"I'll get on and fix the mower while you show your sister to her room, okay sweetheart?" he said lightly, his face betraying none of his own fierce arousal. Without waiting for a reply, he turned away and went out into the garden.

Once outside, William drew in a sharp breath and let out a low groan as he walked slowly over to the broken lawnmower while surrepticiously adjusting the front of his pants. Damn! He swore that woman could get him hard just by glancing at him. Dropping to his knees, he began to fiddle with the blade and recalled Elizabeth's stunned expression at his casual announcement of their engagement.

He was still justifiably angry with her and even though he loved her dearly, the idea of using her own deception against her was too good an opportunity to pass up…especially for the small part of him that wanted to watch her suffer a tiny bit for all the misery she'd caused.

All he wanted was for her to accept, as he had, that there was nothing shameful or wrong in their lovemaking that night. Once she did that, he figured that the rest would automatically follow.

Sure, they had a lot of talking to do and he didn't for one minute expect to gain her trust overnight. That was something he knew they both had to work at and he was prepared to do that. However long it took.

No…the first step was her willing admittance of her deceit. Once that obstacle was out of the way and she realised he wasn't going anywhere, they'd be able to put all their stupidness behind them and finally move on.
xxxxxxxx
Still reeling from the intensity of their kiss, Elizabeth stared after William as he walked out of the door and into the garden.

"Aw, you two are so cute," Dawn observed on a sigh and then added brightly, "Come on, show me where we can crash."

Elizabeth turned to see her sister already leaving the room and roused herself enough to follow. She caught up with Dawn at the foot of the stairs and, as they went up, the brunette started to babble about how she suspected something was going on because of their chats over the phone. Not that Elizabeth had said much about William…it was more of what she hadn't said that had alerted Dawn.

Elizabeth was shocked at what she'd unknowingly portrayed to her sister, unaware that Dawn was using a little poetic licence of her own in helping to maintain William's ruse. However, the sight of Elizabeth's pale, drawn features caused Dawn to have a small pang of compunction. Her sister had already suffered once by loving a man and she didn't want to continue this charade if her sister didn't love William as he hoped.

Pausing on the stairs, she caught hold of Elizabeth's arm and smiled warmly at her sister as she turned to face her. "You know, I like William and it's obvious that he's absolutely besotted with you but…" Dawn paused, her face growing concerned. "It's just…you look so tense and you've hardly said a word. You do love him, don't you, Buffy?"

Elizabeth gazed back at her sister's kind face and knew this was her chance. Her chance to say that she had no idea what was going on and that she and William most definitely not engaged.

This was her chance…

So why wasn't she grabbing it with both hands? Why, instead, was she she replying quietly, but oh, so truthfully, to her sister, "Yes. Yes I do love him. Very much, but…"

"I've got the bags, honey," Connor suddenly called up from the bottom of the stairs, having just walked in from outside.

"That's great, sweetie, come on up," the brunette urged with a smile before turning back to Elizabeth. "What were you going to say?"

Elizabeth stared at her for a moment knowing that she wasn't about to say anything with Connor around. She really didn't want to see his face if she admitted to purloining him…albeit in name only. Somehow, she didn't think that would go down so well. Besides, William had said he'd explain and she decided that she'd see what he had to say first before making any rash decisions. Especially since a rash decision had got her into this mess in the first place!

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Connor had joined them with the bags and she showed them both to one of the two remaining spare rooms. Leaving them there to settle in, she hurried downstairs and into the kitchen.

Looking out the window, she could see William kneeling by the lawn mower and drew in a deep, steadying breath before exhaling slowly and heading outside to find out exactly what was going on.

TBC IN CHAPTER 16 – The Tables Are Turned





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