Читать книгу All the Romance You Need This Christmas: 5-Book Festive Collection - Romy Sommer, Georgia Hill - Страница 17

Dory’s throat tightened, her eyes burning. How had this happened? She’d been so sure she’d found a way out, a way to keep everything perfect. Unable to bring herself to speak, Dory nodded miserably.

Anger settled on to Lucas’s face like a mask, hard and unyielding. ‘I trusted you. Hell, I slept with you! I thought we were starting something. And you were lying to me the whole time.’ He kept his voice low, but Dory knew there was no way anyone had missed what he said.

‘Not the whole time!’ Dory forced the words out. She had to make him understand. ‘Lucas, you have to let me explain.’

‘I don’t… Has anything you told me been the truth? God, I don’t even know who you are.’

‘That’s what I’ve been asking,’ Cheryl put in, but no one seemed to be listening.

‘Just let me tell you my side,’ Dory pleaded, but Lucas shook his head.

‘I don’t want to hear it. Not now. I need to fix this. Figure it out.’ He turned to Tyler and Cheryl and seemed to notice, for the first time, the true extent of their audience. Every single one of the Alexanders’ party guests had crowded into the hallway to witness the spectacle. Glaring at his brother, he said, ‘Let’s take this into the library.’

Tyler nodded and, holding Cheryl’s hand, led her towards the library, murmuring reassurances as he went. But when Dory made to follow, Lucas stopped her with a look. ‘Not you,’ he said, voice cold. ‘This is between me and my brother.’

And then he was gone, the library door shut behind him, leaving Dory alone with the crowd of fascinated socialites, and Felicia and Patrick Alexander.

After a moment of stunned silence, Felicia clapped her hands. ‘I think nibbles are being served in the dining room, everyone!’ A few people moved, but many stayed, eyes still on Dory. Could they see the way her heart thumped? As if it were making the most of its last few beats before it broke. Any moment now, her whole body might just fall apart, and all she could do was stare at the library door, hoping against hope that Lucas might suddenly appear through it and rescue her.

But he didn’t.

Felicia sidled close, while still smiling and ushering people towards the dining room. ‘I don’t know who you really are, or what your intentions were in being here, but I suggest that you go and pack your bags.’ Her voice was a whisper, but there was no mistaking the edge in it. ‘I’ll have a taxi waiting for you when you return.’

Dory nodded. ‘I’m Tyler’s assistant,’ she offered, but Felicia shook her head.

‘I don’t care. You’re never going to visit here again. It doesn’t matter who you are.’

It was true, Dory realised. It didn’t matter who she was. Not to these people – they’d hate her regardless. And in a way… it felt strangely freeing.

Any hopes and dreams she’d had about her and Lucas were over now, as much as it hurt to think it. Even if he could forgive her, she would never live this down. Never be welcome at Midfield House again. Never move past this moment. Not while she was in the States.

But that wasn’t all. She couldn’t work for Tyler now – how could she go back to the office and face him? And that meant that she couldn’t keep up the illusion of her perfect Manhattan life any longer.

A weight lifted from her shoulders at the realisation. She’d had enough of pretending, anyway.

She thought of her emergency credit card, tucked in the pocket of her suitcase. This, even her father would have to agree, definitely qualified as an emergency.

It was time to go home.

***

Lucas slammed the library door behind him. ‘What the hell, Tyler?’

‘Don’t you be mad at him,’ Cheryl snapped. ‘We’re not married anymore, remember?’

‘Trust me, I know.’ And he gave thanks for it everyday. He wasn’t the same man who’d married Cheryl, and he never wanted to be that person again. ‘So why the charade? Why rope Dory into our family mess?’ God, he couldn’t think about Dory now. He was still too angry, too confused. He needed to get things straight with his brother, first. Then he’d deal with her.

‘Dory?’ Cheryl asked. ‘You were kissing your assistant?’

‘I didn’t know you were going to be here!’ Tyler said, which Lucas thought probably wasn’t going to help his case.

‘Let me see if I’ve got this right,’ Lucas said, keen to understand what the hell was going on before Cheryl started berating Tyler for kissing another woman. ‘You were secretly dating – God, no, engaged to – Cheryl and got photographed. Mum demanded you bring the new girlfriend to visit and, knowing you couldn’t bring my ex-wife home for Christmas, you roped your assistant into being your fake girlfriend in return for a plane ticket home for New Year.’

Tyler nodded. ‘That’s about it.’

‘You did what?!’ Cheryl screeched. ‘So what? You’ve been playing happy families with her all weekend?’

‘Look, you two can fight out that part of it later,’ Lucas said. ‘What I want to know is – when did you tell Dory about Cheryl?’ Because if she’d known all along, if she’d agreed to this ridiculous scheme knowing exactly what she was doing… he wasn’t sure he could forgive that.

‘I didn’t,’ Tyler said, miserably. ‘She figured it out this morning, when she answered my phone when Cheryl called.’

‘I was trying to get hold of you to tell you I’d be here tonight,’ Cheryl said, defensively. ‘I wanted to talk about telling everyone about us. I didn’t know you had your other woman here.’

‘She’s not… it’s not like that. She was doing me a favour, so my family could have a nice, straightforward Christmas without all the angst.’ Tyler sighed. ‘I just didn’t want to drive my brother away entirely. Was that so bad?’

Lucas didn’t want to sympathise with him, but it was hard not to. He had a point, after all. If he’d known Cheryl was coming tonight, he’d have headed home hours ago. If he’d known she was dating Tyler, he might not have ever come back. It was hard enough leaving his real life behind a few times a year to pretend to be an Alexander again. But despite everything, he loved his parents, even his brother. And he’d always figured that he could give them this much, at least, to keep his family together.

Looked like he and Tyler were more similar than he’d ever wanted to admit.

With a sigh, Lucas dropped into a chair, his anger rapidly fading. ‘So this… thing with you two. It’s serious? You’re really engaged?’

Tyler gave him a sheepish smile. ‘I love her, man. I always have. Since the first day I saw her.’

‘Oh, baby!’ Cheryl launched herself at Tyler, and Lucas looked away into the fireplace.

Since the first day I saw her. How had he not noticed? His brother had been in love with his wife and he hadn’t even known. Even when he figured out that Cheryl most wanted him for his position and prestige – and not at all once he’d changed, once he’d given those things up. And the equally hard realisation that he’d loved what she represented – success, his place, his parents’ approval – more than he loved Cheryl herself. Did she really love Tyler? Or was this more of the same?

Did it matter, when Tyler loved her so much?

It did, Lucas knew. But it wasn’t his problem to fix. Tyler had what he wanted, at last. And Lucas had his own life to sort out.

Dory hadn’t known, not all along. But she’d lied to him that afternoon and kept it secret from him that evening, even as she fell into bed with him. What the hell was he supposed to do with that?

He needed to talk to her, even if he had no idea what to say. Getting to his feet, he started for the door, but stopped at the sound of Tyler’s voice.

‘Lucas? About Dory… She wanted to tell you, man. She wanted me to tell you, to make things right between us, and when I wouldn’t… she was going to.’ Tyler winced. ‘I might have… well… threatened her. Just a little bit.’

Cold fury rose up in Lucas’s chest; all the anger he hadn’t felt watching Tyler kiss his ex-wife exploding now at the thought of him threatening Dory. ‘What did you do?’ he asked, keeping his fists clenched at his sides. But if his brother’s answer didn’t satisfy him, he might not be responsible for his actions.

‘I told her that if you found out the truth before we left here on the 26th, she wouldn’t get her ticket home for New Year.’ Tyler glanced down at the floor. ‘And, uh, I might have suggested that she wouldn’t have a job afterwards either.’

‘When was this?’

‘A couple of hours ago, I guess. She’d just finished getting ready for the party.’

And she’d come to his room. She’d come to tell him and he’d dragged her into bed.

‘Look, tell her I’m sorry, yeah? And the job’s still hers if she wants it.’ Tyler pulled an envelope with a bow on it from his jacket pocket. ‘And give her this?’

Her ticket home. Scowling, Lucas took it. ‘I need to talk to Dory. You two… be happy or something.’ Lucas yanked open the library door. He was going to fix this mess, once and for all. And then he was taking Dory back to bed, with no secrets between them this time.

***

Dory crammed her belongings into her case in record time, but Felicia still had a cab ready and waiting when she got down the stairs. She’d changed into jeans and a sweater, leaving her burgundy dress on the floor of the bedroom. She was never going to wear it again, and she needed the suitcase space.

There were no lingering goodbyes; Lucas and Tyler were still in the library with Cheryl, and Felicia didn’t even feign disappointment about how things had turned out. Dory bundled into the cab and asked for the station, plugging her headphones in the moment they pulled away to avoid having to talk to the driver. The soothing sound of Christmas music reminded her that she was going home. Home, at last.

Things could be a lot worse, she told herself, and almost believed it.

She got lucky with trains and made it to the airport in the early hours. It was Christmas Day and she was going home come hell or high water. Her eyes were scratchy and sore, her whole body ached and she knew that if she stopped moving for a moment she’d start crying, so she kept going.

The airport was eerily quiet for the holidays; she supposed the number of people wanting to fly on Christmas Day itself wasn’t huge. Dragging her bag along behind her, she scanned the boards for flight times. The next flight to London left at six a.m. and her luck must have changed because she managed to get a seat on it for less than the limit on her emergency credit card. Checking her bag, Dory headed for security.

But when she got there, she found Lucas Alexander leaning against a pillar in the almost-empty terminal, watching her approach.

Her heart, which had stopped sometime in that hallway with Felicia, started thumping again, blood pulsing in her ears. ‘How did you get here?’

‘I drove,’ he said, as if the last few hours hadn’t happened. ‘Quicker than the train.’

‘I meant… What are you doing here?’ Dory let her carry-on bag drop to the ground. Apparently her miserable Christmas Eve wasn’t over just yet. She had to deal with the man she’d fallen for, hating her in person, first.

‘Catching you,’ he replied. ‘You forgot these.’ He tossed something at her and she caught it, just.

She blinked at the packet in her hand. ‘You drove all the way here to give me ginger chews.’

Lucas shrugged. ‘You get travel sick. Besides, you left before we could talk.’

‘I’m leaving,’ Dory said. ‘I’m going home, confessing everything and staying there. There is absolutely no need for us to talk.’

‘Confessing what?’ Lucas asked. ‘That you skipped a family Christmas to pretend to be my brother’s girlfriend?’

‘That I lost my dream job in PR. And my fiancé. And my apartment. That I’m just an assistant now, not the high-flying executive they think I am. And that I’m so broke I had to agree to this stupid stunt just to be able to get home for New Year.’ Her skin burned, itching with embarrassment. Shame. God, what were her parents going to say? ‘That I used my emergency credit card, the one Dad said only to use in case of near-death, to get a ticket home. And it doesn’t matter that I can’t afford to fly back to the States because I’ve got no job to come back for, and I just screwed up the one really good thing that’s happened to me this year. You.’

‘You’re not coming back?’ Lucas stepped closer. ‘I don’t like this plan. And I want to know more about this fiancé.’

‘He doesn’t matter. He never did.’ Dory swallowed around the lump in her throat, feeling tears burning behind her eyes. ‘Look, Lucas, I’m sorry. You have to know that. But now… I just want to get the hell out of this. I want to go back to my real life, whatever that’s going to be. But I think it’s pretty clear it’s not going to have anything to do with the Alexander family.’

Lucas shook his head. ‘Not good enough. You promised me a date when you got back to New York.’

Was he serious? He’d practically kicked her out of his parents’ house himself, before his mother actually had, and now he wanted to take her on a date? What had she missed?

‘I spoke to Tyler,’ Lucas went on, when it became clear she wasn’t going to respond. ‘He knows he screwed up, and I know it was a hell of a lot more his fault than yours. So if you still want your job when you get back, you have it.’

‘I told you. I can’t come back.’ The ticket she’d used her emergency credit card to buy was one-way. And even if Tyler came through with a ticket back, even if she still had a job… it was time to tell her family the truth about her life.

‘Then I’ll have to come with you.’

Dory stared at him, standing there with his arms folded across his chest, watching her steadily. ‘Did you eat the mistletoe? Is this some sort of poison-crazy you’re talking?’ She needed to know. Because something was rising up inside her and it felt an awful lot like hope. She couldn’t let that happen if he was crazy and all this was going to fall apart again.

He laughed, and it sounded more carefree than she’d heard from him since they met. ‘No, Dory. I did not eat the mistletoe.’

‘Good. That stuff will kill you.’ She looked up at him, desperation filling her. ‘I don’t understand what’s going on here, Lucas.’

‘That’s how I’ve felt since I met you,’ Lucas admitted. ‘But now, finally, I have some answers. And while I don’t like all of them… I can’t let them stop me finding out what there could be between us. Learning all the truths about you, instead of the lies. Why you came to New York, what happened to your dream job. What your family are like. Everything. Because somewhere in the craziness of the last few days… I fell for you, Dory. Hard. And I’m not going to let you just disappear out of my life without giving us a real chance.’

‘So you’re… what? Going to come spend Christmas with my family?’

Lucas shrugged. ‘Why not? You were going to spend Christmas with mine, and they’re horrible people.’

‘You have a point.’

‘So I can come?’

‘You’ll need a…’ He held up a boarding pass. ‘Ticket,’ she finished, lamely. ‘We should, I don’t know, talk about this.’

‘Flight leaves in thirty minutes. We can talk on the plane.’ He pulled an envelope from his pocket and Dory recognised the bow. ‘And if you do decide to come back, the return part of this is still valid.’

‘But—’

Lucas stepped forward, one hand at her waist, and it felt so much more right than it had with Tyler, or anyone before. ‘The only question is, do you want to spend Christmas with me? No charade, no lies, just us, your family, some mulled wine and probably cake.’

‘Mince pies,’ Dory corrected. ‘My mum makes the best mince pies in England.’

‘You know, I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a mince pie.’

Dory looked up at him, at his bright-blue eyes and cropped hair, at the shoulders she’d cuddled against, the lips she’d kissed and the face she’d fallen for, totally and completely. And she knew, whatever happened next, it would be better with Lucas beside her.

‘Well, then,’ she said, moving closer into his arms. Maybe things could be okay, after all. ‘You’d better come home with me. Everybody should taste a mince pie at least once in their life.’

Lucas flashed her a quick grin, then bent down to kiss her again, hard and fast. ‘They have mistletoe in England too, right?’

‘Forests full of it,’ Dory promised, feeling giddy. This, this was the life she wanted to go home and show her family she was living. A job she liked and a man she adored. But more than that, she wanted to show them how happy she was. ‘And I’m going to kiss you under every single bunch we see.’