Читать книгу The British Bachelors Collection - Сара Крейвен, Kate Hardy - Страница 17

LAYLA threw herself into a frenzy of activity in a bid to try and keep her anxious thoughts about Drake at bay. When she wasn’t working at the café, serving the trickle of customers that came in throughout the day and keeping it spick and span, she was tidying and de-cluttering her flat, and driving the laden boxes of clothes and bric-a-brac she’d collected to a charity shop in support of sick children. After that, she avidly perused her cookery books to come up with new and enticing recipes that she could cook for herself and Marc.

It was only in the unguarded moments that sneaked up on her from time to time that the memory of Drake—how he looked, the sound of his voice, how it felt when he took her in his arms—had the ability to make her catch her breath and her body ache with longing.

As the interminably long week progressed she relived time and time again the frighteningly naked and poignant smile he’d left her with, wishing she’d had the courage to ask him there and then what was really on his mind. Was it that he’d decided he didn’t want to commit to a relationship with her after all now that he’d revealed so much about his wounded past? Because it made him feel far too exposed and vulnerable? Didn’t he know that she’d rather die than betray him by sharing what he’d told her with anyone else?

When the working week drew to a close without any word from him at all, Layla determinedly resisted the overwhelming urge to ring him. Instead she drove to the building site where Drake had taken her that day to explain his plans for the area’s improvement, in the no doubt unrealistic hope that he might be there. He wasn’t.

When she arrived she saw straight away that the construction workers had clearly shut up shop for the day. The muddied landscape and recently erected scaffolding looked bleak, cold and abandoned … the description could well have been applied to her.

Back in her flat, she nearly jumped out of her skin when the hallway telephone rang. Abandoning the removal of her jacket, she haphazardly shrugged it back onto her shoulders and urgently grabbed the receiver.

It was him … it had to be him.

‘Hello?’

‘Layla? It’s me—Colette.’

She’d never been so disappointed to hear the voice of a friend. It was a loyal pal she occasionally enjoyed ‘girly’ nights in with—drinking wine, putting the world to rights and giggling over the latest rom-com together.

‘Hi,’ she answered, her hand shaking from the onrush of adrenaline that had poured through her when she’d thought the caller might be Drake. ‘How nice to hear from you. It’s been a while. How are you?’

‘I’m good. How about you?’

‘I’m fine, thanks.’ It grieved Layla that she wasn’t able to sound more convincing. A girl needed her friends—especially at times like these—and Colette was a good one.

‘Hmm …’ the other girl commented. ‘You don’t sound fine to me. Want to talk about what’s been going on?’

Was she a mind-reader? Flushing guiltily, Layla absently curled some silky dark strands of hair round her ear. ‘I’ve met someone, that’s all.’

There was a pause, then Colette asked wondrously, ‘You mean you’ve met a man you’re crazy about?’

‘How did you know?’

‘Because if you weren’t crazy about him you wouldn’t even tell me you’d met someone. You’re not a girl who indulges in casual meaningless encounters … or casual meaningless sex, for that matter. I’ve always sensed that when you finally met a guy you were genuinely attracted to it would have to be all or nothing. Who is he and where did you meet him?’

Feeling protective of Drake’s privacy, and how much or how little she could safely reveal about him, Layla examined the short unvarnished fingernails she’d recently taken to nibbling and sighed. ‘I met him here … in the town.’

‘Is he local?’

‘No. He lives and works in London.’

‘What on earth was he doing here, then?’

The incredulity in her friend’s voice didn’t surprise her. Their town was hardly the jewel of the county … at least not yet. ‘Working … He’s part of the professional team that’s working on the regeneration.’

‘So he’s a town planner or surveyor, perhaps?’

She swallowed hard. ‘Something like that.’

‘Okaay … I can tell you’re being more than a little protective of him … Got any plans for tonight?’

‘No … I don’t.’ Layla wished she was planning on getting ready to see Drake, and it hurt more than she could say that she wasn’t.

‘That’s settled, then. I can tell you’re in need of some friendly advice and support. As soon as I get ready, and pop into the off-licence on the way for a cracking bottle of wine, I’ll be round to pay you a visit. And don’t worry about searching through your collection for a film … we’ll have far too much to chat about for that! Bye for now. I’ll see you soon.’

As she heard the line disconnect at the other end Layla stared blankly at the wall, wondering miserably if she could summon up the energy to share confidences with a well-meaning friend when in all honesty she’d much rather crawl under the duvet and cry …

He’d sat in the car outside the house for almost ten minutes, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say to her. The first hurdle Drake had to cross was whether Layla was actually in, because he hadn’t phoned ahead to let her know he was coming. When he’d seen the lights shining from the windows of the upper floor he had murmured a fervent and relieved, ‘Thank God …’ and told himself that fate must be on his side after all.

Now that he was here he could hardly believe he’d so foolishly stayed away from her for an entire week. Yes, he had genuinely had a workload that barely gave him time to draw breath, but the real reason he hadn’t rung her was because he’d had a nagging story running in his head about her being unwilling to compromise on what she wanted. Consequently he’d allowed the twin gremlins of doubt and fear to prevent him from taking the courageous step he needed to.

This morning, for the first time in days, Drake had woken with the clarity of mind he’d prayed for and his heart filled with absolute certainty about what he should do. But now that he was here, sitting outside the gracious Victorian house that Layla had grown up in, he suddenly felt unsure again. After all, there was no guarantee that she’d be happy to see him, was there? Not after he’d so abruptly cut their last evening together short without any real explanation. What if she thought he was a terrible coward … even worse an unreliable bastard?

‘Damn!’ A colourful expletive followed his frustrated exclamation, and hurriedly stepping out onto the pavement from the Aston Martin that he’d told Jimmy he would drive himself that evening, he closed the door shut with a slam.

Straightening the blue silk tie he wore with his tailored suit, he climbed the wide stone steps up to the front door, his heart hammering harder than if he’d received a prestigious commission from the Queen herself. When he rang the bell, and shortly afterwards saw the hallway light come on through the frosted panes in the door, he stood there in dry-mouthed anticipation of seeing Layla again, fervently hoping that nothing would jinx the event.

‘Well, well, well—as you said to me when I paid a surprise visit to your office … To what do I owe the honour?’

Dressed in black skinny jeans and a biscuit-coloured cardigan, with her feet bare, Layla flashed her glossy brown eyes as if Drake was the last person on earth she’d expected or indeed wanted to see. But her less-than-warm welcome made him even more determined to get her to see reason, and his avid gaze roamed her beautiful features with a slow, teasing smile.

‘If I tell you that this past week I’ve missed you more than I’ve ever missed anyone or anything in my life will that get me an invite in for the cup of coffee I so foolishly declined when I was last here?’ he asked, his voice pitched intimately low.

She was still holding onto the doorframe, as if undecided whether to let him over the threshold or not, but there was a glimmer of what he took to be hope in her eyes, and the majority of the tension that had been making his insides ache for days slowly ebbed.

‘That’s all you want? A cup of coffee?’ she quizzed warily.

‘A cup of your expertly made coffee would be a start, I suppose.’

‘A start to what, exactly?’

‘I’m hoping a frank and truthful conversation.’

‘That’s what I’d like too. Okay. But I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until my friend leaves. She’s popped round to give me a little female support.’

Drake frowned. ‘Support for what?’

Her cheeks turned engagingly pink. ‘There are times when we women need a good friend to turn to. This is one of those times.’

‘Are you saying that you needed to discuss you and me?’ he asked warily.

‘What do you think? Did it even cross your mind that I might be feeling a little low after you left so abruptly on Sunday? We were getting on so well—you even took me back to the street where you grew up and told me about your plan to renovate the houses instead of pulling them down. But then … then we came back here and you suddenly decided you had to leave. I haven’t discussed anything personal with Colette, but I was planning on telling her that I’d met someone that I—Anyway.’ She flushed and glanced down at the floor for a second. ‘That’s when the doorbell rang. You couldn’t have timed your arrival more perfectly if you’d tried.’

‘And what were you going to tell your friend, I wonder? That I took you back to my house, mercilessly seduced you, then took you home and hurriedly made my exit, never to be seen or heard of again?’

Drake tried and failed to keep the angry hurt from his tone. More than he hated the idea of having Layla discuss him with her friend, he abhorred the idea that she might believe he could indeed be so callous.

Her face fell. ‘I would never have described what happened between us like that. Did you honestly think that I would?’

‘Look … can I come in? Can’t you tell Colleen, or whatever her name is, that I’ve driven down from London especially to see you and I really need us to talk?’

The mere idea of Layla having to entertain her friend when he was near desperate to clear the air between them and tell her his feelings made Drake feel tense and impatient again.

In an aggrieved tone she answered, ‘If you’re in that much of a hurry to talk to me, why couldn’t you have rung me earlier in the week to let me know you were coming this evening? And, by the way, it’s Colette—not Colleen. She’s a good friend, and I don’t get to see her that often. I won’t risk offending her by asking her to leave just because you’ve suddenly decided you need to talk to me!’

‘Okay.’ Forcing down his deep disappointment, Drake lifted and dropped his shoulders resignedly. ‘I’ll just wait until she goes, then … if that’s all right with you, I mean?’

‘You’d better come in.’

Removing her hand from the doorframe, Layla stood back to allow him entry into the hall. As she went past him to shut the door he had to curl his hand into a fist to stop himself reaching out to touch the shining curtain of dark hair that fell onto her shoulders. Was it only a few short days ago that he’d had the incredible good fortune to do such a thing with impunity?

‘Let’s go upstairs. Colette was about to open the bottle of wine she brought with her. Perhaps you’d like a glass?’

‘I think I’ll decline. I want to keep a clear head this evening.’

‘I’ll just make you some coffee, then.’

‘That would be great … thanks.’

When his avid gaze fell into hers for a full uninterrupted second, the cascade of heat and hunger that assailed him almost made Drake stumble, and his heart thumped hard when he saw by her darkening pupils that Layla was fighting a similar battle.

‘I should have rung you,’ he confessed huskily, ‘but I wanted to get my head straight. I had a lot to think over. Can you forgive me?’

‘You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.’

Her gentle smile was like a wisp of ephemeral smoke—there one minute and gone the next. But, having seen it, he couldn’t help but feel reassured.

At the top of the stairs a pretty young woman with gently waving blonde hair, wearing a tan-coloured raincoat over a smart blouse and jeans, stood waiting for them.

‘You’re not leaving, Colette?’ Layla asked, startled.

‘Sweetheart, you don’t need me to hang around now. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I guessed when I heard a man’s voice that it must be the guy you were going to tell me about.’ She glanced up at Drake with a smile, ‘I’m Layla’s friend Colette.’ She reached out and shook his hand, adding, ‘And you are …?’

‘Drake.’ He didn’t hesitate to give his real name, because something in the girl’s frank blue eyes told him that she was fiercely loyal to Layla. ‘Drake Ashton.’

‘You’re the famous architect that’s helping to regenerate the town?’

He grimaced. ‘I’m just one of a group of professionals that’s been commissioned.’

The blonde’s eyes twinkled mischievously. ‘And are any of the other professionals as fit as you, Drake?’

‘Colette!’ Layla shook her head in disbelief at her friend’s daring.

‘Don’t worry, Drake, I’m only teasing. Layla knows I’m very happily married, and right now I’m going to head back home and suggest that my other half and I go out for a nice romantic meal somewhere. Why don’t the two of you open that bottle of wine I brought and enjoy it on me?’

Noticing that Layla was frowning, as though concerned that her friend felt under pressure to cut short her visit, Drake caught her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. ‘I promise that the next time you and Colette arrange a girls’ night in I won’t break up your evening by demanding you spend time with me instead.’

‘That’s settled, then. I’m going.’ The blonde gave him a satisfied conspiratorial wink.

‘And the bottle of wine is on me next time, Colette,’ he promised.

‘I’ll hold you to that. Just make sure the two of you have some fun tonight, won’t you? And there’s just one more thing, Drake …’

‘What’s that?’

‘Don’t break her heart. Trust me, you’re a very lucky man that she’s interested in you. I was beginning to wonder if she’d ever find someone she really liked.’

His eyes lit on Layla in a penetrating gaze. ‘Rest assured I don’t take her for granted.’

Tearing her glance from his, Layla stepped round him to give her friend an affectionate hug. ‘Thanks for coming over. I’ll give you a ring very soon, I promise.’

‘I’ll look forward to it. Bye, sweetie.’

As soon as she and Drake were alone again, Layla walked in silence back into the flat. It disturbed him that she appeared so ill at ease. Did she really have no idea how he felt? Following her into the kitchen, he glanced at the unopened bottle of wine standing on the counter. Standing beside it were two slim-stemmed glasses and a corkscrew.

‘I know I said I’d have coffee, but shall we break the ice by having a glass of wine?’ he suggested lightly, hunting for a way to help her relax.

‘Break the ice?’ Layla rounded on him with a disbelieving glare. ‘Has our relationship become so brittle since we last saw each other that we need an icebreaker to help us communicate? I for one would rather just get straight to the point.’

‘I agree. Why don’t we do just that?’

‘You agree?’

Resisting the urge to smile, because she looked so damn adorable right then, Drake threw up his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘I do. Why don’t you go first and tell me what you’ve been thinking?’

‘All right, then. I will.’ Folding her arms, she moved restlessly across the black and white tiled floor and back again. ‘Something happened when you dropped me back home on Sunday. You were going to stay for coffee, but then you suddenly changed your mind. Personally, I don’t believe your urgent departure had anything to do with work or having to return your phone messages. Something about being in my home made you uncomfortable. What was it, Drake? Did you suddenly fear I’d make some sort of demand on you that you didn’t want or perhaps didn’t feel ready to meet? Or maybe it was that you wished you hadn’t shown me where you’d grown up because it made you feel too vulnerable?’

Wincing, Drake pushed his fingers through his hair and nodded slowly. ‘I didn’t fear you making demands on me, Layla. But you’re right … I did have reservations about showing you my old home … at least the first time. The second time we went back I was less tense, because I wanted to tell you that I’d changed my mind about tearing the houses down … that I had decided to renovate instead. But when we came back here and I saw that you’d grown up in a much better part of town than I had … and in such a beautiful home … the home you share with a brother who clearly means the world to you and who clearly adores you too … I wondered what I could possibly offer you that would be an incentive for you to exchange all that simply to be with me?’

Sweeping her fringe back off her face, Layla knew her expression was genuinely stunned. ‘You seriously don’t know what you could offer me that would be an incentive to stay with you?’

His heartbeat accelerated, making it hard for him to articulate his feelings. He drew in a deep breath to steady himself. ‘Let’s look at the facts, shall we? You have a lovely home here—a home full of warm family memories that you understandably returned to when things turned sour for you in London. You’d probably never consider living in the city again, and even though I came back here to help with the town’s regeneration and improve it I’m sure you can understand why it’s not a place I would personally ever want to live in again.’

‘Going back to what you were saying before. Are you telling me that you want me to stay with you, Drake? I mean … as in living with you?’

His mouth drying, he moved across the room to stand in front of her. ‘Yes … that’s exactly what I’m saying, Layla.’

Her soft cheeks flushed rosily. ‘Why? Why do you want me to live with you?’

The blood in Drake’s veins thundered hotly in embarrassment when he realised she didn’t know. Instead of telling her how he felt, as he’d planned to do, he’d somehow lulled himself into believing she would intuit everything. Grimacing, he silently made a vow that he would never let fear and doubt stop him from confessing his true feelings to this woman ever again.

He touched his palm to her cheek and held it there, loving the sensation of her warm satin skin. ‘I want you to live with me because I’m crazy about you … crazy to the point of feeling like you’ve put me under some kind of spell. Even when I’m supposed to be working I can’t stop thinking about you. What I’m trying to tell you is that I love you, Layla. I love you more than I ever dreamed it was possible to love anyone, and I don’t want to blow my one chance at real happiness by letting you go. If you can’t live in London, and I can’t live here, then we’re just going to have to come up with some mutually agreeable compromise.’

Her beautiful dark eyes danced teasingly. ‘What makes you think I’d never consider living in London with you?’

Frowning, Drake rested his hands either side of her svelte hips and couldn’t resist the compelling urge to bring her closer into his body. ‘That low-life of a boss of yours must have hurt you badly with what he did. I perfectly understand why the memory of such a painful experience might put you off the idea of living there. I also understand why it means a lot to you to live here. For one thing, apart from the happy memories of your childhood, your brother’s here. Not only that, you’ve got a job working for him. I doubt that you’d agree to resign to come and live with me, would you?’

‘You seem to think you know a lot about what I want and don’t want, don’t you? Will you give me the chance to tell you what I want myself?’

‘Of course.’

Emitting a soft breath, Layla smiled. ‘First of all, I love you too, Drake … I didn’t know it at the time, but maybe it happened when your incredible grey eyes looked back into mine that very first time? I never dreamt I’d fall for someone so hard and so fast, and at first it scared me. It scared me a lot. But the truth is I’d live anywhere you wanted me to just so long as I could be with you. And as for Marc—I’m sure I can persuade him to rent out my flat to help him make some extra money to pay off his debts, and also to give the café some much needed redecoration.’

‘What about your job there?’

‘I was thinking I’d keep it until the town project comes to an end. I don’t mean I’ll stay living here, if you want me to move in with you sooner, but when the regeneration is complete I’ll get a job somewhere local to wherever we’re living.’ Pausing, she reached up to gently push some hair back from his forehead. ‘There’s one more thing I want to tell you. When I lost my life savings I didn’t really lose anything of value … at least not in the sense of true value. Even though I was upset and demoralised by it at the time, after I moved back here I started to realise I should be grateful for what I had … not mourn what I’d lost. And for me it’s always been the people I love that I value the most.’

Capturing her hand, Drake brought it up to his lips and planted a warm lingering kiss in the centre of her palm. ‘You are one incredible woman—you know that?’

‘No, I’m not. It’s you who’s incredible. To come back here and help bring hope and new life to the community by improving the town after your sad experiences growing up here … well, it’s beyond brave in my book. Why did you decide to take the commission, by the way? You’ve never told me.’

He thought hard for a moment, wanting to be absolutely truthful. ‘I suppose subconsciously I was looking to reinvent my relationship with the place … to bury my regrets and turn my memories into much more positive ones. When I was first contacted about working on the regeneration my instinct was not to touch it with a bargepole. But I forced myself to think more deeply about it, and in the end I decided to take it on for the very reasons I just explained. Seeing as that decision brought me to you, Layla, I’m guaranteed the good memories I always secretly craved. I never thought for one moment that I’d find the most beautiful girl in the world living here, and that I’d instantly fall in love with her, but I did … I did. It really is a dream come true.’

‘I’m just ordinary, Drake … hardly the most beautiful girl in the world.’

‘Sweetheart, you’re going to have to learn to take compliments if you’re going to be with me, because I plan to shower you with them every day throughout our long and happy marriage.’ He smiled.

This astounding announcement put Layla’s mind into a dizzying spin and made her heart clamour wildly. ‘You want to marry me?’ she asked incredulously.

‘Just as soon as it can be arranged—and I won’t be slow to pull a few favours from the official powers-that-be to help me achieve that, I promise you.’

‘There’s one more thing I’d like to ask you.’

‘What’s that?’

This time when he responded to the notion of her asking what might be another personal question he didn’t look remotely wary or defensive, Layla noticed. Instead his glance was infinitely warm and understanding.

‘Not jumping the gun or anything … but would you really consider us having children?’

‘Would you believe me if I told you that when I realised I might have made you pregnant I honestly considered asking you to go ahead and have the child if there was one? When you told me you’d taken that emergency contraceptive I felt like I’d been robbed of an incredible opportunity that I’d never even realised was important to me.’

Feeling her heart melt, Layla couldn’t disguise the wondrous happiness she felt at his words. ‘I’d love to have your baby—you know that? Because I know you’ll be the most incredibly loving and inspirational father. In which case I’m guessing I should definitely say yes to your proposal, shouldn’t I?’

She didn’t have a chance to say anything else right then, because Drake lowered his head to hers and kissed her with a hunger that wouldn’t be sated until they both capitulated to the desperate need to be even closer—a desperately wild and passionate need that would always be a feature of their marriage until they were old, Layla guessed happily …