Читать книгу Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection - Джанис Мейнард, Rebecca Winters - Страница 29

Chapter Twenty

Climbing the stairs, I racked my brains as to what the thing was that could possibly be worse than another pile of previously undiscovered boxes of stuff. Oh well, not much I could do about it until I found out more. Whatever it was, we would deal with it. In the meantime, I had work to do.

When Michael finally got off the call, I’d made up the beds in all the guest rooms and made a list of some items for him to either borrow or buy for them and the guest bathrooms. All of them were now looking decidedly more inviting and like somewhere he could be proud to have people to stay in.

‘I’m in here!’ I called as Michael shouted to find out where I was. I gave the throw I’d found in the linen cupboard, still in its packaging, a final adjustment as I lay it on the end of the bed. I was just smoothing it over with my hand when Michael entered the room. He didn’t say anything and for a horrible moment I thought that maybe I’d made a mistake, that something I’d used in here was a glaring reminder of his ex.

‘You can change whatever you want, obviously. I just thought I’d make them up whilst I waited for you, so that you can see how they’ll look.’

He looked down at me, then back around the room. Admittedly, it did look different. No longer was it like a disused room in a wing of an old hotel. Now, it was welcoming, chic and cosy.

‘It looks…amazing. I can’t believe you did all this.’ He glanced at the door and then his watch. ‘How long was I gone?’

‘Oh, I can work pretty quickly when I need to.’

‘My sister-in-law said she’d give me a hand making the rest of the rooms up when they – ’

‘They’re done.’

‘All of them?’

‘All of them. I assume the children will be sleeping in travel cots or on the floor or something. So they’ll need sorting but the beds themselves and rooms are all ready. Well, guest bedrooms anyway. Yours still needs a bit of TLC, I expect.’ I hadn’t dared go in there and face the rumpled sheets that probably still existed from his evening with the Parisian bombshell I’d seen leaving.

Michael was just staring at me.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

‘What? No! No, not at all.’

‘What then?’

‘I’m just a little worried about you?’

‘Me? Why?’

‘Because less than a week ago you could barely stand up and had a temperature similar to that of the surface of Venus. And now you’re running around like a whirling dervish doing things that are way beyond your remit anyway. I don’t want to turn round and find you in a heap on the floor.’

‘Because it’ll make your now super gorgeous house look untidy?’

He stepped closer and picked a pillow feather out of my hair. ‘Because despite the fact I’m a grumpy sod who reminds you of Mr Rochester, I’m not entirely devoid of the caring gene.’

I looked up at him and laid my hand on his forearm, feeling the corded muscles and the tickle of hair against the softness of my palm. ‘I know you’re not. And like I said, Mr Rochester improves once Jane’s there to show him what’s what.’

Michael’s eyes began to twinkle. I rolled my own.

‘Men,’ I said, walking away. ‘Come on. Tell me where you’ve hidden the Christmas decorations and we can start getting some up.’

‘Oh. Yes. Right. About that?’

I looked back over my shoulder. ‘Oh dear. This doesn’t sound good.’

‘I don’t exactly have a lot of decorations.’

I turned a little more. ‘When you say that you don’t have a lot, what exactly do you have?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Nothing?’

He pulled his mouth to the side. ‘Nothing. I got the stuff for the outside when we got all the things for the dog as there was a garden centre next door to the pet shop. I found one ratty bit of tinsel in the attic, which I binned, but that’s it.’

‘Not to worry. Although, admittedly, it does make starting immediately a little more difficult.’

Michael sat on the end of the bed, and Pilot, who had now wandered in came and flopped down on the floor beside him, his head resting on his master’s foot.

‘You’re really wishing you’d never taken this job, aren’t you?’ He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back.

I looked at him and my answer surprised me. ‘Not for a moment.’ Despite everything, even down to seeing a beautiful woman wrapping her arms around his neck first thing this morning, I knew this was the truth: I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

From the look on his face, it seemed I wasn’t the only one surprised.

‘I know. Shocker, huh?’ I walked back and sat next to him. ‘And if you’d asked me when I started if I’d ever be saying that, I’d have thought you’d been hitting the eggnog. But I have to say, despite you being the most annoying client I’ve ever had,’ he grinned at the tease, ‘this has actually turned into one of my most favourite jobs.’ I lifted my eyes and found Michael watching me.

‘Only one of them?’

I dropped my glance, ostensibly to lean down and play with Pilot’s velvety ears, but also because the impact of Michael’s viridescent gaze still had the ability to disorientate me and my thoughts.

‘Don’t push it,’ I replied.

His laugh surrounded me, the sound of it warming me from the inside. It made me happy to hear. Happy because I knew, just from our initial meeting, and from what Janey had told me over time, that laughing wasn’t something he’d done a lot of in the past few years. Seeing any client happier made me happy. But with Michael, it had a bigger impact. It went deeper than I was used to. Of course, this was just because I knew that his happiness had a knock-on effect of making my best friend happy, so it was bound to affect me more. Not to mention the fact that he had rescued Pilot and was giving him a wonderful life.

‘You can’t blame a guy for trying. So, what happens now? I guess I need to go shopping. Anywhere you recommend?’

‘John Lewis is always pretty good for decorations or Marks at Marble Arch. Liberty obviously always has gorgeous stuff but as you’ll be buying in bulk that might be pushing it a bit. Once you’ve got all the basics covered, you can always add to it if you see something special somewhere.’

‘Right,’ he said, pushing himself up off the bed. ‘I guess I’d better get on with it then.’

‘Would it be possible to put any less enthusiasm into that statement?’

Michael rubbed the back of his neck. ‘That obvious, huh?’

I did a quick sideways tilt of my head. ‘You might get away with it with some people but I’m an expert, remember?’

‘How could I forget? Talking of which, I guess I’ve mucked up the plan for today by not having supplies ready. I’ll pay you for your time, obviously. I’ve just had my head stuck in that pitch and then this thing with Selene came up that I’m really excited about. I guess I didn’t really think.’

‘Not a problem,’ I said, pasting on a smile. So, Selene was more than just a one-night stand then? It would seem that Michael O’Farrell really was moving on – in all directions. ‘I’m sure you can manage and if you can’t, then just shout and I can always pop round one evening to help you finish off.’

‘Yes, right. Sounds good.’

‘You sound about as thrilled at that prospect as of shopping,’ I said, looking up at him. ‘Or perhaps Selene could help? She’s clearly got great style.’

‘Yeah.’ He nodded distractedly. ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said about my bedroom needing some attention.’

‘Oh?’

‘I mean, if I’m going out for this stuff, maybe I should just go the whole hog and get anything I need for that too. At least the whole place is finished then.’

‘Sounds like a sensible plan. And it’ll be good for you to have somewhere that looks less…blah.’

‘“Blah”?’ He quirked an eyebrow at me.

‘Yes. Blah.’

‘You’re calling me “blah”?’

‘No,’ I said, standing and turning to smooth the edge of the bed where we’d been sitting. ‘I’m saying your bedroom should reflect who you are a little more. And whilst you’re a lot of things Michael O’Farrell, “blah” is definitely not one of them.’

He frowned at me. ‘I think, if I dig deep enough, there might be a compliment in there somewhere.’

I smiled and headed out of the room.

Michael followed me. Then he stopped. ‘Wait a minute.’

I turned.

‘Why on earth would I ask Selene to help me decorate my home? I mean, yes, you’re right, she does have great style and she loved the house, but I think asking a prospective client to pop round and stick up some tinsel might not be the professional action I could take.’

I stared at him for a moment. ‘She’s a…Oh…I just thought that…And you said she…And you were both…’

‘Are you actually going to finish any of those sentences?’

I thought for a moment. ‘Probably not.’

He gave me a half-smile. ‘So you thought me and Selene were a thing?’

‘She’s very beautiful. And she was leaving your house early and looking very friendly. It was hard not to assume…’

‘She’s flying to New York this morning but wanted to pitch something to me before she went. I’ve known her and her father – and her husband – for years now and have done some work for them before. They have a project they’re proposing in Paris and I’m their first choice for architect. She wanted to talk to me about it before she jetted off, just to see if I was interested. It was just a business breakfast meeting, nothing more. She’s effusive in her attentions to people she likes, male and female. It’s just her way. But it wasn’t anything more than that.’

‘Oh. Well. That’s great then. I mean, about the possible Paris job, I mean. Not about you and her not being an item. Which is fine too. Obviously. I mean, it’d be fine if you were too, although, not technically, as she’s married but you know what I mean.’

Michael was looking at me, bemused. ‘Glad that’s all cleared up then.’

I think I need a lie down.

‘So, getting back to my bedroom and your accusations, what do I need to do to make it less…“blah”?’

I shrugged. ‘It’s your room. You know what you like. You’re an architect and you said you’ve been doing up houses with your family since you can remember. You must have an idea by now.’

‘I’m a design guy – structural stuff. Colours and twiddly bits like cushions were always dealt with by the girls.’

‘How very modern and enlightened of you.’ I cocked an eyebrow at him.

He held his palms out. ‘Hey, I didn’t make the rules! Although it may have had something to do with me and my brothers thinking navy blue was a great idea for one of the bedrooms in a place once.’

‘Navy can be nice.’

‘True. But probably not for all the walls and ceiling.’

‘Ah yes. Well, now I can see why the decision-making privileges on that aspect might have been withdrawn.’ I slid him a look. ‘You’re not thinking of doing that in there, are you?’ I nodded up the stairs and he laughed.

‘No. I hasten to point out that we were teenagers at the time. I’d like to think my taste has improved a bit since then. Although I’m still a bit lost when it comes to twiddly bits.’

‘I can give you a list, if you like?’

‘Can it be an incredibly detailed one?’ His tone was hopeful.

I sighed. Michael looked at his watch.

‘It’s nearly lunchtime, how about I take you to lunch and maybe you can just kind of give me a few pointers whilst we’re out?’

I frowned and looked at my own watch. ‘Michael. It’s half past ten.’

‘Even better,’ he said, resting his hands on my upper arms. ‘How do you feel about breakfast?’

‘I’m not sure I have any specific feelings about it.’ I couldn’t help smiling.

‘Great. I know just the place. Come on.’ He turned to go, taking my hand as he did so.

‘Michael you don’t have to buy me breakfast or lunch to get me to help you with this. I’m happy to do it.’

He took a couple of steps down the stairs, then looked back at me. ‘And I’m happy to take you to breakfast.’ He came back up a step, causing me to tilt my head to look at him. ‘Hopefully it’ll go some way to making you forget what a pain in the arse I was when you first started here.’

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever forget that. But,’ I moved my head to keep his gaze as he began to look away, ‘it doesn’t mean I haven’t forgiven you for it. You don’t need to buy forgiveness from me.’

‘I’d still like to take you to breakfast.’

‘You mean you still want help with the shopping.’

‘If I can only have one, it’s still breakfast.’

‘Because that one features food?’

Michael laughed. ‘Give me a break woman. You’re ruining all my romantic gestures here!’

Both of us stopped. I felt my jaw gaping and snapped it shut.

‘I mean…that didn’t exactly come out like I meant it to.’

‘No.’ I swallowed, feeling a stab of disappointment I couldn’t explain, and tried to smile. ‘I don’t imagine it did.’

‘Just as well, eh? You looked pretty horrified!’

I did?

‘I really didn’t mean to.’

Surprised? Yes. Horrified? Hello? Have you looked in a mirror lately?

Michael gave my fingers a gentle squeeze before letting go of my hand. ‘It’s OK. I could never accuse you of not being honest with me. I’m just going to pop the dog next door to my neighbours in case we’re out longer than expected. I’ll be back in two minutes.’ He hesitated. ‘Assuming you’re still up for it?’

‘Of course.’

‘Good.’ He smiled, but his enthusiasm was more tempered than it had been earlier. He jogged down the stairs, the dog at his heels and grabbed Pilot’s ‘go bag’. This made it easier for him to take the dog round to Janey’s or next door or wherever quickly and only required him having to collect a couple of things.

‘Find your Ted, boy.’

Pilot skidded on the wood for a second as he looked around for his teddy. Catching sight of it halfway down the stairs, he thundered up, clamped his jaws around it and then charged back down to Michael, his tail wagging at the prospect of whatever exciting thing was happening next. Michael grabbed his keys, ushered the dog out of the door and pulled it closed behind him. In the silence of the house, I sat down heavily on the stair and tried to untangle my thoughts.

I was well aware that my attitude to this job was different now. As Bernice had noticed, I was far less hesitant now. In fact, it was probably fair to say I eagerly anticipated my visits.

I’d been happily telling myself that it was because, as we got further through the progress, the house was being freed from all the clutter and could be seen properly: The high ceilings, large windows, beautiful cornicing were all there for me to see and fall in love with. But, what if the house wasn’t the only thing I’d fallen for…I stood up so suddenly I had to grab the banister as the force of the action gave me a head rush.

No! That was absolutely ridiculous.

There was no way I could have possibly…Except I’d got the same feeling when I’d woken at Janey’s and seen Michael sitting there. Which was in a different house entirely. Which meant…what? I plopped down onto the stair again, my mind spinning. The key turned and Michael came through the front door, minus Pilot. He glanced up, stopping when he saw me sat there. In a few strides, he was up the stairs and crouched in front of me.

‘Are you all right? I knew you were doing too much so soon after that bug knocking you out.’ He put a hand on my forehead.

I pulled his hand down. ‘I’m fine. And can you not sit like that. It’s making me nervous. I’ve got visions of you bumping backwards down the stairs!’

He swung his body round and parked himself next to me on the stair.

‘So, what’s up?’

‘Nothing. I was just thinking.’

‘About what?’

I glanced round, met his eyes for a moment and then turned back. ‘About…what you’ll need, you know, for finishing off the rooms and stuff.’

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. ‘You finished thinking about that now then?’

‘Yes,’ I said, looking back at him. ‘I’ve got everything straight in my head now.’

He didn’t reply for a moment, just watched me, his eyes seeming to search mine for something.

‘That’s good then,’ he said, eventually, giving a brief smile. ‘Better go hit those shops then, eh?’

‘Is breakfast still on?’

‘Breakfast is always on.’

We didn’t talk much on the walk to the Tube. Partly because there was still some remnant of weird atmosphere lingering since the whole ‘romantic gesture/not a romantic gesture/horrified look’ thing this morning. I also got the feeling that Michael knew I hadn’t been thinking solely about the house when he’d found me on the stairs. The other thing that prevented us from talking was that we were both wrapped up like little Eskimos – well, one of us a lot more little than the other – with scarves tucked up under our noses as the wind blew glasslike shards of hail at any bit of exposed skin it could find. Combined with the fact that the temperature was now falling below freezing, judging by the snowflakes that were now drifting down intermittently, and the pavement had become an assault course of frozen puddles and patches of black ice. Right now, the priority for both of us was just keeping upright and in one piece.

We entered the station and flashed our Oyster cards on the reader before heading down into the depths to catch a train into the centre. The crowds squashed and yanked us apart. I’d spent over four years in London now, honing my skills in this area, but unless you were built like a functional brick outbuilding, like my companion, there were still times when it was hard not to get scooped up and hustled along a few feet in the wrong direction. When this happened for the second time, Michael reached over and grabbed my hand, pulling me back in the right direction. I expected him to let go, but he didn’t.

‘If you get swept off again, it’s possible it’ll put a serious delay in me getting food. So, if you don’t mind, I’ll keep hold of you for a while.’

I didn’t mind at all.

‘I knew this was all about the food.’

He grinned, the sound of the train entering the station and the swell of people limiting the ability for further conversation. Tumbling out at Bond Street, Michael’s hand still firmly wrapped around my own, I stopped to the side of the pavement, momentarily watching the snow as it floated gently down. A shove in the back brought me out of my reverie and I saw the look in Michael’s eyes at the guy who’d done it. I tugged on his hand.

He looked down. ‘Please tell me I was never that much of a dick,’ he asked.

‘I’ve no idea. I never saw you in this particular scenario.’

He gave me a patient look. ‘You know that doesn’t reassure me a whole lot.’

‘OK. How about this? I’m sure you weren’t. Is that better?’

‘Funnily enough, not terribly convincing.’

‘Oh well. I can’t help you then.’

Michael slanted an amused look my way as we arrived at Selfridges. He held the door, and we headed up to the Aubaine Bistro.

***

‘That was utterly delicious,’ I said, putting my cutlery to the side of my plate. Michael had already finished. Big surprise.

‘I can’t believe you’ve never been here.’

‘Just never got around to it, I guess. But I’m glad I have now. Although, it might have been a mistake.’

‘Mistake?’

‘Don’t look so worried! I mean that in a good way. I didn’t know what I was missing before. Now I do.’

He nodded, a soft smile on his face. ‘I can understand that.’

I smiled back.

‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Of course,’ I said, finishing off my apple and pear juice. Again, totally delicious.

‘On the stairs, earlier…’

Uh oh.

‘I…just wondered if you were OK. You looked pretty serious. And I’d gone and blabbed something stupid about romantic gestures and here you are, having just broken up with…him. I didn’t mean to upset you. I sometimes have a habit of saying the wrong thing. As you witnessed with Lily and the whole divorce thing the other week.’

Automatically my hand reached for his. ‘You weren’t to know that she was super sensitive about that sort of stuff right now. It was clear how horrible you felt about it. God knows everyone can see how much you adore those children and that the last thing you would do is upset them!’

‘I don’t want to upset you either.’

‘You didn’t. Don’t worry.’

He turned his hand so that mine now lay in his. ‘Well, I know you weren’t just thinking about home décor. You have your little happy face on when you do that.’

Laughter bubbled out. ‘Excuse me? My “little happy face”?’

‘Yeah. Don’t be defensive. It’s cute.’

‘I am not “cute”.’

‘What’s wrong with cute?’

God, he had the most beautiful smile when he really let it happen. Like he was doing now.

The waiter brought over the bill and put it down. I moved to take it but Michael was quicker.

‘Answer the question.’ He slipped his hand away and rummaged in his jacket for his wallet. He pulled out some notes, put them with the bill and we got up to leave. I let my scarf hang down as I drew my coat around me. Michael picked up the ends of it and gently put one over each of my shoulders. ‘Still waiting.’

‘I just think it’s a little inappropriate of you.’

His eyes bulged for a moment and then he caught the tease in mine. ‘Inappropriate, huh?’

‘Entirely.’

‘Good. Add it to my list of faults.’

‘Already done.’

‘How wonderfully efficient of you.’

‘I don’t like to disappoint.’

He gave me a look that was hard to read but the twinkle in his eye gave me a clue. I threw him a mock snooty look back.

‘As I said, entirely inappropriate. Now, get that wallet back out. You’re going to need it.’