Page 34 of Her Fake Island Wedding

Gemma had her camera in hand, but lowered it to look closely at Lucy as she walked past to leave the cabin. “Are you okay, sweetie? You look a bit frazzled.”

“That’s what the spa day is supposed to be for, right?” Lucy’s laugh sounded fake to her own ears. “Relax the bridal jitters?”

Gemma and Olivia looked at each other, and Lucy could practically hear the unspoken words.But you’re not actually getting married.

“Just don’t leave me alone with my mother,” she carried on quickly.

“On top of it,” Olivia said comfortingly. “We’ve got you booked in for private sessions with Shae all day, and your mom with Eleanora. You’ll only see her at lunchtime, when we’ll all be together.”

Lucy took a few deep breaths as they walked up to the spa, a series of luxurious timber cabins set apart from the rest of the resort, overlooking a crystal blue lagoon. She was going to relax and enjoy today, she was determined. She would never treat herself to this sort of thing normally, and she wasn’t even paying. All she had to do was let Gemma take a few pictures for publicity use, and Gemma had even promised to let Lucy see them before they were published, too.

“Good morning, darling!” Justine was already sitting in the waiting area, leafing through a glossy magazine.

“Morning, Mum. Looking forward to the spa?”

“Why, yes; it’s been a while since I treated myself. You’re the one who needs it though, darling. You look positively peaky.”

And that’s why every time I never really even get started on feeling guilty about deceiving her,Lucy thought, grindting her teeth.Every time I even think about it, she says something like that.

“Ready to get started, ladies?” a sweet voice said, and Lucy looked around to see a petite, beautiful woman with a cap of short black curls framing her face standing by the reception desk, a white beautician’s smock wrapped around her slim form. “I’m Shae and I’ll be taking care of the bride.”

“That’s me,” Lucy said, raising her hand, and Shae gave her a warm smile.

“Come along with me then. Eleanora will be out in just a few moments for you,” she told Justine.

Lucy hadn’t encountered Shae before, but took to the other girl immediately. Shae’s quiet, gentle manner was extremely reassuring, and she didn’t chatter while she began Lucy’s first treatment, a seaweed wrap over her whole body. Instead, she quietly checked Lucy was comfortable being photographed mid-treatment before calling Gemma in to take a few pictures.

It felt odd lying on the table naked except for being wrapped in warm seaweed, but surprisingly relaxing. Lucy closed her eyes and put on a small smile as Gemma snapped a few pictures.

“Come back in an hour for the massage,” Shae suggested. “Will you be okay with that, Lucy? You’ll be naked, but the shots have to be non-sexual anyway, Gemma can just take a pic of my hands on your back or shoulders…”

“I trust you girls,” Lucy mumbled drowsily. She could already feel tense muscles letting go, was really looking forward to the massage now, as well as whatever else Shae had planned.

She heard Shae laugh, say something to Gemma, and then a door closed.

The next thing she knew, Shae was waking her up, telling her it was time to take the seaweed wrap off and wash down.

“Wow,” Lucy mumbled, blinking to clear her eyes. “I must’ve been more tired than I thought.”

“It’s a stressful time, leading up to your wedding,” Shae said sympathetically. “You can snooze off again during your massage, I promise I won’t mind. It’s for relaxation rather than therapeutic, so you shouldn’t feel any discomfort unless you’ve got really stiff muscles somewhere.”

“Nothing in particular,” Lucy shook her head as Shae gently washed her off with a warm, wet cloth. “Are you married, Shae?” she asked, feeling a little awkward about being naked on the table in front of the other girl, despite Shae’s calmly impersonal manner.

“No,” Shae said, a little flatly, and then “I almost was, once.”

“How close is almost?” Lucy couldn’t resist asking.

“We were standing in front of the altar when he decided he didn’t want to go through with it.” Shae’s smile was a little tight. “Apparently, it was just me, though. He got married to someone else five months later.”

“Oh, that’s harsh. I’m so sorry,” Lucy said sympathetically.

“Thanks. I’m over it, though. Better to find out he wasn’t Mr Right before we said the vows than after.”

“Truer words never spoken,” Lucy agreed.

“Though I shouldn’t be telling you my sob story. You’re the one who’s getting married to your gorgeous sweetheart tomorrow. I’m jealous; Bryce is a darling!”

Shae didn’t know the wedding wasn’t real, Lucy realised as the therapist poured a warm, sweetly scented oil into her hands and began the massage at the soles of Lucy’s feet. It only took a minute for her to forget all about that, though, as Shae’s talented hands found pressure points and muscles she didn’t even know were tense began to relax.

“Oh God, that’s wonderful,” she mumbled, hearing Shae’s quiet chuckle as she continued her work.

“Relax, Lucy. Let it all go. I’m gonna massage all this stress out of you. Stop thinking about tomorrow and just focus on right now.”

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