Читать книгу All the Romance You Need This Christmas: 5-Book Festive Collection - Romy Sommer, Georgia Hill - Страница 15

‘Now, these decorations have been handed down through generations of Alexander women,’ Felicia said, holding one of the boxes close to her chest. ‘They’re very valuable. And fragile.’

‘Lucas and I will be very careful with them,’ Dory promised. She wasn’t entirely sure how she’d agreed to decorate, as well as fetch, the tree. After the stony silence of the drive back to Midfield House, tree bouncing on the roof, she’d been hoping to hide out in her room until it was time to get ready for the party. But Felicia had been waiting in the hallway with boxes of antique decorations, and before she’d been able to make her excuses, Lucas had volunteered her. Again.

She was getting a little bit sick of that, actually.

Dory reached out to take the box of decorations, and Felicia leant back. Dory let her hand fall, and glanced back at Lucas who, having set the ridiculously oversized tree into its stand in the hallway, was now stringing lights around it, without waiting for the branches to drop and settle. He wasn’t even looking at her, and still Dory got the impression that he was up to something. Just biding his time before he attacked again.

‘They were bought for Patrick’s great-great-aunt by an English lord,’ Felicia went on. Did she expect Dory to be impressed by her own country’s aristocracy? Clearly she hadn’t spent enough time reading the British gossip magazines.

‘I’m sure they’re beautiful,’ Dory said. ‘Do you think maybe I could see them?’ The boxes looked awfully small, even if there were six of them. Could there possibly be enough decorations in there to cover the ginormous thing Lucas had dragged in from the forest?

‘Of course.’ Felicia gave her a bright, brittle smile. ‘Let’s set them out on the table over here.’

Placing the box on the console table next to the tree with great care, Felicia lifted the lid, and Dory gave a reverential sigh. However crazy protective Felicia was over the things, Dory couldn’t deny that they were beautiful.

‘They’re incredible,’ Dory said, earning a real smile from Felicia for once. ‘They’ll look stunning on the tree.’

‘And you’ll be careful?’ Felicia asked. ‘Only, they’re a tradition in the family…’

‘We’ll be careful, Mother,’ Lucas said, putting his arm around Felicia and leading her towards the kitchen door. ‘So trust us and leave us to it. I’m sure Freya needs your supervision on something.’

The thought of what the maid might be screwing up elsewhere was apparently enough to make Felicia forget about leaving precious heirlooms in the charge of the interloper, and Lucas shut the door behind her before she could change her mind.

Leaving Dory alone with Lucas again. Just what she didn’t want. Dory didn’t know what he was playing at, but the way he looked at her, as if he could see through every lie she’d ever told, made her intensely nervous.

Where the hell was Tyler? Why couldn’t he help with this? Maybe then Lucas would stop making her feel so on edge.

Of course, it didn’t help that she really, really wanted to find out what would happen if she just told Lucas the truth.

Looking for a distraction, Dory reached into the box and lifted out the first decoration. A handblown glass teardrop, streaked with blues and silvers. ‘They’re so delicate.’

‘Don’t you start,’ Lucas said. ‘We’ll never get this damn thing decorated if you start acting like mother about them.’

‘Hey, you’re the one who volunteered us for this gig,’ she said, putting down the first decoration and picking up another. She wasn’t going to look at him. Wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he got under her skin.

‘Yeah, but I had an ulterior motive.’ Dory froze. Dammit. Against her better judgement, she looked up. His smile and raised eyebrow didn’t quite match his tone. She swallowed. What was he playing at? What did he think he knew? What had he guessed?

‘And what’s that, then?’ she asked, heart drumming in her chest.

‘I wanted to get you alone.’ He’d moved closer, suddenly, close enough that her blood hummed.

‘You’ve had me alone all morning,’ she pointed out, turning away again.

‘No,’ Lucas said, patiently. ‘I’ve had you and Santa and the elf and the tree. Not what I need.’

‘Didn’t seem to stop you asking all manner of inappropriate questions.’

‘It stopped you answering them, though.’ His voice was soft, like he was talking to a frightened kitten. Gentling her along. ‘Dory—’

She spun round, cutting him off. ‘What? What do you want to know? Or do you just want to tease me and make me feel even more uncomfortable here than I do anyway? If you’ve got a real question, ask it.’

He watched her for a long moment, then nodded. ‘Okay, then. Why are you pretending to be in a relationship with my brother?’

***

‘What do you know?’ Dory asked, her face pale in the bright white lights from the tree. ‘I mean, what are you talking about?’

‘Too late, sweetheart,’ Lucas said. ‘You already slipped. I know you’re not the woman in those photographs, for a start. Want to tell me who she is?’

Dory shook her head, staring down at the decoration in her hands. ‘He never told me.’

‘But he convinced you to come along and take part in this little play-acting thing he’s got going on?’ She nodded. ‘What did he promise you?’

‘A trip home.’ She looked up, eyes bright and words coming too fast. ‘I couldn’t afford to go home for Christmas, you see, and he knew I really wanted to go. So he said if I’d do this, come here for a few days, he’d give me two weeks off and a plane ticket home for the 27^th. I couldn’t… I just wanted to go home.’

Her expression, pleading with him to understand, made something inside his chest ache. Had he ever wanted to go home that badly? Even when he was in boarding school? He didn’t think so. ‘That doesn’t explain why he didn’t just bring his actual girlfriend.’

Dory’s gaze darted away again. ‘He just said that bringing her would be worse even than your parents finding out he was dating his assistant.’

God, that really didn’t sound good. ‘And you didn’t demand to know who she was?’ He would have. Would never have gotten mixed up in something like this without knowing the full score.

‘I just wanted to go home,’ Dory said again.

Lucas sucked in a breath, then let it out slowly. ‘Okay. Okay, I understand.’ He gave her a lopsided smile. ‘And actually, it’s kind of a relief.’

‘It is?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Why?’

Could he say it? Should he? Lucas stared at her, waiting to hear what he had to say, her wide eyes curious now, rather than afraid. Screw it. He’d come this far. ‘Because it’s kinda bad form to fall for your brother’s girlfriend.’

Her breath came out in a whoosh. ‘You’re… I mean, you… You too?’

You too? With those two little words, he knew he wasn’t alone in this. That he hadn’t imagined the connection between them, in the car, or eating cake late last night. Even fetching the damn tree that morning. She felt it too.

Relief flooded through him and, without thinking, he stepped forward, needing to be closer, but she dodged back. ‘What is it?’ he asked.

Slim fingers held up the ribbon of one of his mother’s precious decorations. ‘Let me put this out of harm’s way.’

He chuckled, watching her place it carefully on the tree. Then she turned back to him, lower lip caught between her teeth. ‘Lucas… we still can’t…’ she stopped and tucked her hair behind her ears. ‘I’m here as Tyler’s girlfriend.’

‘Pretend girlfriend,’ he clarified.

‘It still has its responsibilities,’ she said, with a small smile. ‘We’re in the main hallway of your parents’ house, Lucas. If someone walked in here…’

‘Yeah. Yeah, okay.’ She was right. Of course she was right. Whatever secret Tyler was keeping… he needed to find that out before he could blow apart this fake relationship they’d set up. He needed to know what trouble Lucas was in, and how he could fix it, without getting dragged back into the family responsibilities.

One step at a time. Talk to Tyler. Fix the problem. Go home to his farm and check on the restaurant. Take a trip to the city to see Dory, as soon as she got back from Britain. And then…

There was only one problem with the plan, Lucas thought, as his body swayed closer to Dory’s again, almost without his permission. He never had been a patient man.

***

She should step back. She really should step back. Move away, out of the aura of possibility that Lucas projected. She couldn’t be here, couldn’t do this. Her job, her trip home, keeping up the illusion of her perfect life, everything depended on her being Tyler’s perfect girlfriend this weekend. She needed to stop this.

But Dory didn’t step back.

Lucas’s hand wrapped around her hip, pulling her closer, his lips descending on hers, firm and decisive, as if telling her it wasn’t worth arguing with him.

Not that she particularly wanted to.

Her hands moved up to his chest, feeling the strength of him through his sweater, snaking around to his back as the small gap between them disappeared completely. Suddenly she didn’t care how much she shouldn’t be doing this.

Lucas’s grip tightened as both arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close, and he deepened the kiss. Dory’s whole body tightened, desperate for more. If it weren’t for all these pesky clothes – and her boss and his family in the house…

Reality snapped back into place, and reluctantly Dory pulled away from Lucas’s lips. Breathing harder than seemed reasonable from just one kiss, she looked up into his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers, arms still tight around her.

‘We can’t,’ she said, voice soft.

‘Yet.’ Her heart lifted a little at the word, and the husky way he said it.

‘Yet,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll be back in the country in a couple of weeks. Tyler will have to break it off then – or I will. The deal was only for these few days. Once I’m back…’ What? What would happen next? What did she even want to happen – besides getting Lucas very naked in her bed?

‘I’ll call you,’ Lucas said, only that didn’t sound like enough. To him either, it seemed, as he went on, ‘I’ll visit. Or you can come out to the farm. See the restaurant.’

‘See where this goes,’ Dory interpreted.

‘Yeah. Exactly.’

She smiled. ‘I’d like that.’

She was still close enough to feel his chest sink as he let out a breath of relief. ‘Good. That’s… good.’

It took a huge effort, but Dory made herself step back, and Lucas’s arms fell away in acceptance. He gave her a lopsided smile and scrubbed a hand over his short-cropped hair.

‘So, for now I guess we just… decorate the tree.’ Dory looked back at the oversized fir, naked but for a few strings of fairy lights and one small, glass teardrop. How long had they been doing this, anyway? What if someone came to check on them?

‘Yeah,’ Lucas agreed. ‘And I find out exactly who that woman in the photo with Tyler really was.’ He shook his head. ‘Whatever he’s gotten himself into this time, I need to fix it before it becomes a thing, and Dad decides he can’t be trusted and I get dragged back into the family business again.’

A chill settled over Dory’s spine, and she wrapped her arms around her middle to try and find some of the warmth she’d felt in Lucas’s arms. She didn’t know exactly how Lucas felt about his ex-wife, but from Tyler’s determination to keep the relationship a secret, she guessed his reaction probably wouldn’t be good.

‘Do you have any idea who it could be?’ she asked.

Lucas raised his eyes to heaven. ‘With Tyler, it could be anyone. Maybe the daughter of a competitor? Or some scandal-prone minor celebrity? Tyler’s never been exactly… discerning in his relationships. But if he figured that risking Dad finding out that he was dating his assistant was a better option… well, it can’t be good.’

Except it wasn’t a business scandal Tyler was afraid of, Dory knew now. It was a family one. And if Lucas was determined to find out the truth…

‘Let’s get this tree finished first,’ she said, trying to sound light-hearted when, in truth, her heart felt as heavy as Christmas pudding.

She needed to talk to Tyler. Needed to get him to confess to his brother, to figure a way out of this mess for all of them.

Before Lucas found out on his own.

***

By the time the tree was finished, Dory wasn’t sure she could take the frustration of being in the same room with Lucas much longer. Part of her was desperate to just yell ‘Tyler’s sleeping with your ex-wife!’ and damn the consequences. Another, equally loud and insistent part, just wanted to kiss him again, maybe even more, and with a similar regard for what happened next.

Stepping back, Dory took in their handiwork. The tiny glass antique decorations sparkled and shone, reflecting the fairy lights and sending twinkles of lights cascading over the walls.

‘It does look beautiful,’ Dory said.

Lucas placed the lid on the last of the now-empty wooden boxes that had held the decorations. ‘It looks like a picture from a magazine. Just like the rest of this house.’

Dory turned, frowning at the tinge of bitterness in his voice. ‘You don’t like picture-perfect?’

‘I don’t like fake,’ Lucas said. ‘And I don’t like the idea of living a life just to fit someone else’s idea of perfect.’

Dory glanced away, thinking of her own, fake-perfect life. ‘It’s just a tree, Lucas.’

‘Yeah.’ He huffed a small laugh. ‘Yeah, it is. Sorry. Just… thinking about Tyler again.’

‘Think about it tomorrow,’ Dory suggested. ‘We’ve got tonight’s party to get through first.’

Lucas groaned. ‘It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.’

‘Well, I have to admit, I’m a little excited.’

‘Don’t be.’

‘I am!’ Dory insisted. ‘A famous Alexander Christmas Eve party, and I get to attend. It’ll be a story to tell the grandkids.’ Lucas’s gaze shot up to meet hers and Dory’s eyes widened. ‘Not that I’m saying… I mean, not… I wasn’t thinking…’

‘You weren’t thinking they would be my grandkids, too,’ Lucas said, putting her out of her misery.

‘They were hypothetical grandkids.’

‘Well, yeah. We haven’t even slept together. Yet.’

Something buzzed through her blood at the word ‘yet.’ ‘No. We haven’t.’ Why couldn’t she look away from his eyes?

After a long moment, Lucas grinned and dropped his stare. ‘Besides, if they were mine, attending a family party would hardly be such a big deal.’

Dory forced a laugh. ‘There is that.’ A thought popped into her mind, growing and growing. If she and Lucas pursued an actual relationship… she might have to visit Midfield House – and the Alexander clan – again. Which made it all the more important that Tyler sorted out this whole affair amicably.

Right now.

‘Well, if we’re done here, I need to go call home before I start getting ready for the party,’ Dory said.

‘Yeah, I should probably do the same,’ Lucas said. ‘Check that the farm and restaurant are coping without me.’

‘I’m sure they’re simply withering.’ Lucas returned her grin and, before she even registered what was happening, he had one arm wrapped around her waist again, hauling her close. ‘We said—’

‘Shush,’ Lucas murmured. ‘Just one more kiss.’

He leant in, and Dory’s whole body strained to get closer. Just one more kiss. How could she possibly say no to that?

***

It was a good fifteen minutes before Lucas finally let Dory slip away up the stairs, away from his arms and his kisses. He stood in the hallway, watching her skip lightly up the steps, wondering exactly how much his brother would hate him if he just dragged his assistant/fake girlfriend off to spend Christmas on his farm, instead of here, pretending not to care as his mother passive-aggressively insulted her again.

He sighed. No. He needed to talk to Tyler first.

‘Have you finished?’ Felicia click-clacked into the hallway in her heels, a slight frown line marring her forehead. She stopped a few feet away. ‘Oh. It looks…’ Lucas waited for the inevitable complaint, but it never came. ‘Perfect. Thank you.’

He blinked at his mother, trying to process what had just happened. ‘Uh, well, Dory did most of it.’

A slight twist at the corner of her mouth at the sound of Dory’s name told him that a perfectly decorated tree was unlikely to change Felicia’s opinion of Tyler’s supposed girlfriend. He wondered if that would change were he the one to bring her home for the holidays next year.

‘Well, I’m sure I’m very grateful to you both.’ Felicia glanced down at her watch. ‘Now, time is getting on. I’m going to need you to start collecting guests from the station before long.’

For once, Lucas wished his mother would actually use her immense wealth and staff, then felt bad for being selfish. ‘Don’t we have a driver who does that sort of thing?’

‘Of course we do.’ Felicia gave him an impatient look. ‘And he’ll be running trips, too. But for our oldest friends… you know they like to see you.’

They didn’t, particularly, Lucas knew. But Felicia liked for them to see him. To show that he was still here, still part of the family, not wasting away drunk every night after his divorce, as some gossip rags would have it.

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Give me a list of train times?’

‘It’s already in your room.’ Felicia headed towards the dining room then stopped in the doorway, turning back towards him. ‘Oh, before you go and get changed – could you hang the mistletoe for tonight?’ She waved a hand at the table behind him and he saw the stems with their glossy green leaves and bright-white berries, waiting to trap unsuspecting party guests into locking lips.

He hadn’t even needed it for Dory, though. The need to kiss her had been overwhelming. And he was pretty sure he wasn’t imagining that it had felt the same for her, too.

Maybe, just maybe, if he got a quiet moment, he could catch her again later…

‘I’ll put it up,’ he promised. ‘Then I’ll take a shower, put on the monkey suit, and go start fetching guests.’ Talking to Tyler would have to wait a few hours. But no longer.

‘Thank you,’ Felicia said, her smile warmer than it had been since he arrived. She always liked him best when he was doing what he was told.

Standing on the lower steps of the stairs, Lucas reached up and pinned the mistletoe into its usual place, in the centre of the hall. But he kept back one stem, carrying it upstairs to his room with him. Just in case.