Читать книгу All the Romance You Need This Christmas: 5-Book Festive Collection - Romy Sommer, Georgia Hill - Страница 16

Tyler wasn’t in their room when Dory got back, which, she decided, was probably just as well, since her lips were still tingling from Lucas’s kisses. And it gave her time to figure out what she was going to say to her boss, too. It was a delicate situation, after all. So, you’re sleeping with your ex-sister-in-law? probably wouldn’t go down too well.

The only problem was she found it kinda hard to focus on the very serious conversation she needed to have with Tyler, when her mind kept getting invaded with thoughts of his brother. The way Lucas’s hands had gripped her hips, hauling her close. The feel of his chest under her hands. His back, his shoulders, his lips…

Focus, Dory. She needed to sort things out with Tyler so she could get back to the good stuff with his brother. Simple as that.

Because if Lucas found out that she’d known Tyler was sleeping with Cheryl before Tyler confessed all… well, that kind of thing tended to put a dampener on the sexy times.

In the end, she decided to call home while she waited for Tyler, and tried not to cry as she heard the sounds of her traditional family Christmas Eve – so unlike the black-tie traditions of the Alexanders – in the background.

‘Are you really still working on Christmas Eve?’ her sister, Molly, asked when their dad handed her the phone. ‘Or have you met some super-hot guy and made plans to spend the whole Christmas period in bed?’

A bit of both, Dory wanted to say, but didn’t. ‘Yeah, my boss needed me here, so I’m still working.’ Technically true, as long as Molly didn’t ask where ‘here’ was.

‘Poor thing. We’ve just polished off the last of dinner. Dad’s cracking open more wine for mulling – he’s mixing his own special spice blend again this year. And Mum has the mince pies in the oven, so it’s all business as usual here.’

Dory’s stomach actually rumbled at the very thought of her mother’s mince pies. ‘Wish I was there.’ In the background, Dory heard her brother complaining about having to listen to Cliff Richard again. She wondered how horrified he’d be if he knew she’d voluntarily included it on her Christmas playlist.

‘We do too,’ Molly said. ‘But New Year, right? I think Mum and Dad are planning a bit of a party here, to celebrate having you home. Give you a chance to see everyone.’

‘That sounds brilliant.’ Just a couple more days and she’d be home. And for once, thinking about coming back to the States again didn’t give her the same rolling wave of homesickness she usually got. Because the good old US of A had Lucas Alexander in it…

‘Well, I’ll let you get back to work,’ Molly said. ‘You’ll call tomorrow, right? And we’ll see you in a few days, yeah?’

‘I will. Can’t wait. Merry Christmas, Mol.’ Dory pressed the button to end the call and flopped back on to the bed. Just a few more days. She could make it that long without inappropriately seducing Lucas. Right?

She headed for the shower – slightly chilly, just in case – and pulled out her dress for the party. Long, red-wine coloured, and a little bit slinky. Smart but sexy. Hopefully sophisticated enough to satisfy Felicia and Patrick, expensive-looking enough that people would believe Tyler would date her, and sexy enough that Lucas would spend the entire evening imagining slipping her out of it. Perfect.

The party guests wouldn’t be arriving for a couple of hours, but if she was all ready she could go downstairs and see what she could do to help. She had a feeling that, after her chat with Tyler, she might want to be somewhere away from him for a while, anyway.

Tyler finally returned to the room just as she was putting the finishing touches to her make-up. Shoving her lipstick back into her clutch bag, she swivelled round on the dressing table stool and smiled up at him. ‘You’re back!’

He blinked at her. ‘You’re… ready? Already?’

‘I thought I’d see if your mum needed a hand with anything downstairs,’ Dory said, still smiling manically. ‘But I, uh, need to talk to you about something first.’

‘Oh God.’ Tyler dropped to sprawl on the bed. ‘That doesn’t sound good. Can I just remind you that I spent all night on that sofa, so I ache like hell, and I’m still hung-over from drinking brandy with my father last night. Are you sure this can’t wait?’

‘Actually, it really can’t,’ Dory said, apologetically. ‘And it kind of has something to do with you sleeping on the sofa last night.’

Tyler sat bolt upright. ‘Look, Dory, I was joking about sharing the bed. I don’t think it would be very appropriate. I mean, you’re my employee. And I’m involved with someone. Seriously involved.’

‘I know,’ Dory said. ‘She called this morning. Repeatedly.’

Colour faded from Tyler’s already-pale cheeks. ‘She did?’

‘Yeah. And you were passed out cold. So… I answered the phone.’

‘Shit.’

‘So, I guess I finally understand why pretending to date your assistant was a better option than bringing your actual girlfriend home for Christmas,’ Dory joked, but it fell flat.

‘Look, you don’t understand. Cheryl and I…’

‘Are going to have to explain this to Lucas. Quickly.’

‘What? No! Not a chance.’

Dory’s frustration level rose. ‘Why not? If you guys are serious, he’ll have to find out eventually.’

‘But not now. Not here,’ Tyler said, firmly.

‘You have to tell him, Tyler. Or I will.’

Tyler stilled, staring at her. ‘And why do you suddenly care about what my brother does and doesn’t deserve to know?’

Heat hit her face as she blushed. Staring down at her navy-polished nails, Dory said, ‘It’s the decent thing to do.’

‘But that’s not why you want me to do it, is it?’ Tyler’s voice sounded tight, like he was holding something in. ‘So, what? You’ve fallen for him over a snowy walk in the forest and some Christmas ornaments and you want to get out of our deal? You’re really going to risk your trip home for one night with my brother? Are you sure? Because I can tell you, Cheryl says he wasn’t all that much to write home about.’

Dory didn’t believe that for a moment, but that wasn’t the point. She needed to keep her focus here, and not get distracted by thoughts of Lucas in bed. ‘He already knows, Tyler. That we’re not really dating, I mean. He could tell it wasn’t me in the photos.’

‘So what did you tell him?’

‘That you’d asked me to come and cover for you this week. That you hadn’t told me who the woman in the photos was.’

Tyler raised an eyebrow. ‘Very clever. Not quite a lie, but not quite the truth either.’ He tutted. ‘Keeping secrets already. Doesn’t bode well for the two of you, does it?’

Weariness settled over Dory. She just wanted this to be over, already. ‘Look, he has a right to know the truth. We don’t have to tell your parents, and I’m happy to play the dutiful girlfriend for the next couple of days. But after that, after I get back from my trip home, I want to be free to date anyone I like – including your brother, potentially. So he has to know the truth.’

But Tyler just shook his head. ‘Not a chance. I’ll tell him when I’m good and ready, and I can promise you now, that won’t be this weekend.’

‘Then I’ll tell him.’

‘No, you won’t.’ He looked so smug, so sure, that Dory’s jaw ached from clenching it, biting back the names she wanted to call him. ‘Because if you do, I guarantee you he’ll forget all about your little flirtation and punch me out in the middle of my parent’s party. Which, I think we can both agree, will not constitute you holding up your half of the bargain. Which means you won’t get this.’ He reached into the bedside-table drawer and pulled out her plane ticket home, bow stuck on the envelope. ‘So, just in case, I’ll hang on to it, I think. Until we’re on our way out of here, the day after tomorrow.’

Dory’s heart clenched as she watched him tuck the ticket in his pocket. ‘He deserves to know, Tyler.’

‘Maybe. But not today. Not if you want your trip home. Or a job when you get back again.’

She wasn’t sure she even wanted the job, after this. ‘Why are you doing this?’

Tyler’s shoulders sagged, and he gave her a tired smile. ‘Believe it or not, I’m not trying to make you miserable. I’m just trying to save my family from imploding.’

‘I think you might have lost your shot at that when you started sleeping with your brother’s ex-wife.’ Tyler shrugged, as if to say ‘what can you do?’ Watching him, Dory felt compelled to ask the question that had been in her mind since she answered the phone that morning. ‘Are you in love with her?’

God, he looked so tired. ‘Of course I am. I always have been.’

‘Even when she was married to Lucas?’

‘Long before,’ Tyler admitted, and Dory couldn’t help but feel a little bit sorry for him. ‘And I’m sorry, Dory. But I can’t let you ruin this for me.’

***

Lucas tweaked his bow tie in one last attempt to get the damn thing to lie straight. He looked like a waiter, but he supposed chauffeur wasn’t all that far off. It fitted how he felt at these events, anyway. Out of place, and only there to perform a service – to prove to all and sundry that the Alexander family were still as close a unit as ever.

Even if it was a complete lie.

The rap on his door surprised him and he knocked the tie wonky again. Swearing under his breath he tugged on the bow and pulled it out, leaving the tie dangling around his collar. He’d fix it later.

Yanking the door open, he expected to see his mother, come to check he was leaving for the station.

His breath caught in his chest. Not his mother. Not anything like.

‘You look incredible.’ Lucas let his gaze trail down from the pink of her cheeks, over the line of her collarbones, the curves of her breasts, waist and hips, all the way down the silky fall of her dress to the high heels on her feet. God, he wanted to see her legs. Wanted to see every last inch of her.

‘You’re looking pretty… great yourself.’ At Dory’s breathy words, he pulled his attention back up to her lips, red and plump and made for kissing.

‘Is everything okay?’ he asked, trying to keep his mind on her conversation, rather than what he wanted to do to her body.

‘I needed to…’ She bit her lip, and an irrational hope rose up in Lucas as to exactly what Dory might need. ‘Can I come in?’

Lucas stepped aside, and she slipped past, into his room. Just where he wanted her…

The mistletoe lay half-forgotten on the table under the window and, as he shut the door behind him, Lucas saw Dory pick it up, twisting the stems between her fingers. ‘Had plans for this, did you?’

With a shrug, Lucas moved towards her, his bigger hands covering hers completely. ‘Hopes. Not plans.’

She looked up at him. ‘So what were you hoping?’

‘That I’d get to do this again.’ Sliding one arm around her waist, Lucas pulled Dory to him, bending his head to meet her lips with his. She tasted every bit as sweet as she had earlier, and the dress let him feel every curve of her body, close against his. He wondered if she could feel how hard he was for her, through the fabric of his suit. Wondered, if he angled his leg so, if he could feel the heat of her…

‘Oh God,’ Dory moaned against his mouth as he slid his knee between her thighs, using his free hand to hitch up her skirt. ‘This wasn’t… I didn’t…’

‘Want me to stop?’ Lucas murmured, in between placing kisses along her throat.

‘God no!’ Her arms wrapped around him, emphasising her words, and he had to kiss her again, deep and desperate. When she finally broke away, he was breathless, mindless, aware of only one thing.

‘I really, really want to make love to you,’ he whispered, mouth against her ear.

He didn’t pull back, didn’t want to see any indecision or doubt on her face. He knew the reasons for that, and they weren’t to do with him, or with her not wanting to be here. But right now, he couldn’t care less about Tyler’s problems and schemes. All he cared about was Dory, and the desperate need to get her into his bed.

‘Please,’ she said, softly. ‘God, yes, please.’

That was all he needed.

***

Lucas’s kisses were intoxicating. Dory couldn’t help but lose herself in them, the dizzy way they moved from her lips to her neck to the curve of her breasts above the neckline of her dress. Had she ever felt this desperate, this out of control, with Ewen? If she had, she couldn’t remember it. This feeling of fate, the inevitability of this moment, was entirely new to her. As if the bizarre set of circumstances that had brought her here simply couldn’t have happened any other way.

Giving in to destiny, Dory ran her hands over the broadness of Lucas’s back, feeling every muscle through his shirt, thankful he hadn’t put his jacket on yet. Even the thin cotton was too much separation for her. She wanted nothing between them, no barriers at all.

Except secrets.

Dory shook the thought away, focusing on the feel of him under her hands instead, letting her hands roam lower, holding him close against her body. Lucas let out a low groan, in between kisses, and she couldn’t help but feel powerful, as if he were as lost in this moment as she was – and equally unable to control it.

Tugging her towards the bed, Lucas reached around and unzipped her dress, so by the time they reached the edge of the mattress the silky fabric was already pooled around her feet, leaving her in only her best lingerie, stockings and heels.

Lucas took in the view, and Dory’s cheeks grew warm watching the heat in his eyes. God, she wanted this. Her whole body ached for him. And yeah, she knew they needed to talk, that she had things she had to tell him… But that would ruin this perfect moment and, quite simply, she couldn’t stand to lose this. Not when she was so close to having him…

‘God, you’re beautiful.’ Lucas brought one hand up to run across her shoulder, down her arm, to her waist. Gently, he pushed her down to sit on the edge of the bed, kneeling between her legs, one finger hooked in the edge of her knickers.

Dory swallowed. Hard.

Telling Lucas about Cheryl could definitely wait until later.

Later turned out to be quite some time away.

Warm and dozy in Lucas’s arms, Dory squinted across his broad chest at the clock on the bedside table.

‘Don’t look at it.’ Lucas’s voice was low and husky. ‘If we don’t know what time it is, we can’t be late.’

‘I’m not sure it works that way,’ Dory said, but let her head drop back down to rest against his shoulder anyway. ‘Your mother is going to kill me.’

‘I’ll protect you,’ he said, tightening his grip on her naked body. ‘Besides, she’ll kill me first. I’m supposed to be picking up guests from the station right now.’

Dory winced, and tried to rise, but Lucas kept her plastered against his side. ‘We should get up,’ she mumbled against his skin. ‘I need another shower now. And to redo my make-up.’

‘Don’t wanna.’ Pressing kisses against the top of her head, Lucas’s hand roamed down over her hip, cupping her bottom as he held her close.

‘Neither do I,’ Dory whispered back. Her body still thrummed with slow satisfaction, but her mind was returning rapidly to reality. Fate, destiny, inevitability – they were all excuses. Just another lie to tell herself to get what she wanted. She still had to tell Lucas the truth, but Tyler was right about one thing − she couldn’t do it now. Quite apart from ruining the Alexander Christmas Eve party, she couldn’t let the memory of this moment be ruined by what would follow.

After Christmas, she’d tell him. Before she left for Liverpool. Then he would have time to sort out his feelings – and his brother – before she got back, and his parents would be none the wiser. Perfect.

Somewhere downstairs, there were voices. Clinking glasses. The party had started. Their precious, stolen moment was over, for now.

Reluctantly, Dory pulled away, sitting up slowly to let her body catch up with the new plan. Most of her still seemed to be luxuriating in the memory of what they’d just done. Lucas’s hand fell away, and she stood up, smiling back down at him. She could still feel his hands, his mouth, his body, over every inch of hers. God, they had to do that again. Really soon.

‘Mind if I borrow your shower?’ she asked. Tyler might still be in their room, and she really didn’t fancy facing him again alone just yet. She had enough make-up in her evening bag to repair her face, she hoped.

Lucas waved a hand towards the bathroom lazily. ‘Go ahead.’ He grinned at her. ‘But I’d lock the door, if you don’t want me joining you.’

Fifteen minutes later, thanked to the locked door, Dory was ready to face the party. Lucas, however, was still in bed.

‘You go down first,’ he said, sitting up at last. The blankets fell away from his chest and Dory bit her lip just looking at the glory of him naked. ‘I’ll follow in a bit.’

Dory nodded. ‘Good idea.’

‘You realise you’re still here, right?’ Lucas asked, eyebrow raised.

‘I’m going. Any moment.’ She allowed herself one last, long look, then shook her head and tore her gaze away. ‘I’m gone.’ Striding across the room as fast as she could in the ridiculous heels – the only ones she owned that went with the dress – Dory stepped out on to the landing, pulling the door to behind her. She sucked a deep breath in, listening to the sounds of the party below, louder now. It was time to face the music.

***

‘Where the hell have you been?’ Tyler whispered, the moment she made it downstairs. His hand went automatically to her waist, holding her close like a good fake boyfriend should. Dory plastered on a smile for the guests milling around the giant Christmas tree in the hallway, but all she could think was how very different it felt to be standing so close to Tyler, rather than his brother.

‘Sorry,’ she said, even though she wasn’t. ‘I got caught up calling home. They’re all drinking mulled wine and everyone wanted to wish me a happy Christmas Eve.’

‘Whatever,’ Tyler said. Still angry from earlier, then. ‘Come on, Mum’s been telling everyone about you, so now there’s a whole list of people waiting to meet you. It’s show time, honey.’

‘Then let’s go,’ Dory said. She could face anyone right now, still on a high after sex with Lucas. And maybe later, once everyone had gone, she and Lucas could find a quiet corner and some mulled wine of their own…

Twenty minutes later, her enthusiasm was starting to fade. She’d smiled, she’d feigned interest, she’d nodded politely… and every time she’d felt the eyes of the guest she was talking to slide away, either back to Tyler or over her shoulder, looking for somebody else. Tyler hadn’t seemed to notice, probably because they were all still engaged in conversation with him. His hand had stayed at her waist the whole evening, an unwelcome reminder of their charade.

And worst of all, there was still no sign of Lucas. How long did the man take to shower, anyway?

‘Oh, look, you two!’ One of Felicia’s friends – Dory had lost all track of names by now – pointed up above them. ‘Mistletoe!’

Dory stared up. So that was where Lucas had got it. He must have been hanging it for his mother. And now she was trapped under it with his brother. Perfect.

‘So there is.’ Tyler sounded about as enthusiastic as she felt, but he turned towards her anyway, looping his hands around her waist. ‘Pucker up, honey.’

Oh, the romance.

Tyler lowered his lips to meet hers, chaste and dry, and behind her, Dory heard the front door open.

‘So sorry we’re late,’ a woman’s voice said, too loudly. ‘Only I’m afraid, Felicia, your driver never made it to the station. Might be the weather – it’s just started snowing out there, you know. I said we should call, but Cheryl insisted that we get a taxi, and you know what these cab drivers are like. We’ve been all around the houses to get here!’

They both froze as the woman said ‘Cheryl’, and Tyler started to pull back. Which meant Dory could see the staircase over his shoulder again.

Could see Lucas standing there, staring at them.

Dory’s eyes widened as Lucas looked away, and his expression turned hard and stony. She wanted to run to him, but Tyler’s arms were still around her bloody waist and she was still supposed to be his girlfriend and – oh God! – was Cheryl there?

‘Tyler? What the hell?’ Well, that answered that question. Cheryl’s voice was almost as loud as her mother’s.

Too late, Tyler’s arms fell away and he darted past her. ‘Angel, I can explain! What are you even doing here?’

‘I was invited.’ The pretty brunette folded her arms over her chest. ‘I thought it would be a good time to announce our engagement.’

‘Your… God. The woman in those photos.’ Lucas’s voice rang out across the silence of the crowd as he made his way down the stairs. ‘I knew it wasn’t Dory, but I never thought… my ex-wife, Tyler?’

‘Emphasis on the “ex”,’ Cheryl said, but Lucas ignored her. Ignored the crowd of people watching their every move, taking in every moment of the drama.

Instead, he just stared at Dory. ‘And you knew.’