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He stared at her, a stunned look on his face—followed by anger, followed by...what?
She didn’t know, but rigidly she stared him out. He looked so stunned—did no one pull him up on his bad behaviour?
He sighed and closed his eyes. A groaning growl emerged from somewhere deep in his gut. ‘You’re right.’
She was.
‘I know you’re right.’ He kept his eyes shut. ‘I’m sorry I snapped. I was feeling guilty. I’ll go see them.’
Would that make him feel less guilty? About what? ‘Great.’
He peeled one eye open and looked at her. ‘You have to come with me.’
‘What?’
The other eye snapped open and he sat up, the vital energy sizzling from him again. ‘It’s the only way I’ll go. You promised me unlimited sex for the time I was back in the country.’
‘Back in New York,’ she clarified.
‘This is still New York,’ he said carelessly. ‘The cottage is in the Hamptons. You don’t come with me, I don’t go.’
She stared at him as if he was loco. Which clearly he was. ‘I can’t just turn up to your family home uninvited.’
‘I’m inviting you.’ He flopped back onto the pillows.
No, that still wasn’t okay. ‘Your family will get the wrong idea.’
He looked amused at her concern. ‘What—would it be so dreadful if they thought you were my girlfriend?’
She clamped her mouth shut for a second. Then breathed. ‘It wouldn’t be honest.’
‘We’re having sex round the clock. It’s not entirely dishonest.’
‘We’re having sexual relations, not a relationship,’ she said crisply, ignoring his laughter. ‘And it’s precisely because of that, that it’s not a good idea if I come.’
‘Your coming is a very good idea. There’s nothing I like more.’
‘Juvenile innuendo aside,’ she said loftily, ‘I don’t believe this is sensible.’
‘You didn’t want sensible. You wanted fun. And I can promise you fun.’
She was diverted by that tone in his voice. The thread of promise. ‘Wicked fun?’
‘So wicked you might not be able to walk.’
She stared at him. The extent to which he turned her on with just a look and a laughing tease was appalling. She didn’t want to have any nights without him. Not when she was having so few as it was. She didn’t want to miss a minute. And besides all that, she was curious. She wanted to know more about him. Wanted to understand why it was he didn’t want to go there without dragging a distraction with him.
He smiled. He knew he’d won. ‘I’ll tell them you’re a friend of George’s staying here—which is true—and that you’re coming to see some more of the US of A. I’ll even get you a separate bedroom. They won’t suspect a thing. I’m very good at sneaking around the house.’
‘I’ll bet,’ she said acidly.
He laughed. ‘We’ll go for a night. Maybe two.’
‘How are we going to get there?’ She frowned, all the practical problems hitting her at once.
He sat up and reached out for her wrist, drawing her back to sit on the bed beside him. ‘Well, I was planning on taking a car. If you can’t cope with coming in a car I’ve paid for, you could try to hitch a ride. Or you could go by train and we’ll pretend we don’t know each other at all...’
She elbowed his ribs. ‘Smarty pants.’
‘If you want to be with me, you’re going to have to put up with my making the travel arrangements. I’m very good at travel arrangements. It’s a family thing.’
‘I still don’t—’
‘Look,’ he growled and pulled her closer, his hands shaping her curves. ‘I want you with me. That’s the only way I’ll go. If you want to see me make happy family time with my parents then you just have to suck it up. I’m not paying you for sex. You are under no obligation to do whatever with me even if I pay for your travel arrangements.’
She chuckled and clutched at his shoulders as he rolled above her. ‘You really can’t forgive yourself for that mistake, can you?’
* * *
Three—lazy tourist fun but PDA banned—days later Caitlin put on the seat belt in the front passenger seat of a sleek Porsche convertible. The drive wasn’t nearly long enough for her to master her stupid nerves. And why on earth hadn’t he visited them sooner when it was less than a couple of hours’ drive?
‘I thought you said this was a cottage?’ Caitlin wheezed as they turned the corner and the house came into view. It wasn’t like the kind of cottages they had back in England. This was a three-storeyed wooden mansion with separate accommodation wings, a car-turning bay, expansive lawns and formal gardens. And that was only what she could see from the roadside entrance. Heaven only knew what incredible features she’d find round the back—beach side.
‘I shouldn’t be with you.’ She twisted towards him as he slowed down on the gravel drive. ‘This is your family...your mother.’ And a place that looked as if it would be featured in an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. This was so out of her league.
‘Don’t worry about it. She doesn’t bite. I, on the other hand, just might have to.’
‘Stop it.’ She elbowed his upper arm.
‘Only if you stop worrying. As I said, I’m telling them you’re George’s special friend.’
But George was there, next to his parents, waiting at the top step to meet them. Along with another guy she didn’t recognise. Both younger men lifted their eyebrows, then their eyes narrowed and swift, sly smiles appeared.
‘Huh,’ James grunted as he killed the engine. ‘It’s a whole damn family reunion.’ He sent Caitlin an apologetic grin. ‘We might have to improvise.’
Caitlin hung back but her awkward feeling was momentarily swamped by curiosity as she watched James walk quickly up to his mother and envelop her in a huge hug. In a second he’d turned back to her to introduce her to his parents and to his other brother, Jack.
Irene, James’ mother, was petite, immaculately presented and had a beautiful, genuine smile.
‘It’s so nice of you to welcome me here. I know it was unexpected,’ Caitlin said, wishing she weren’t blushing.
Or that James was so obviously amused by her blush.
‘It’s a pleasure to have a friend of the boys,’ said Irene.
Caitlin bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself laughing at the woman’s reference to James, George and Jack as ‘the boys’. They were giants next to her.
George winked at her. ‘How’re you finding New York?’
‘Amazing. Thank you so much.’ She smiled at him.
He nodded easily. ‘When I left London Hannah had disappeared off the scene—buried in her manuscript research. I’ve never met a more “method” actress.’
Yeah, Hannah preferred to live her characters’ lives. ‘She gets very absorbed in her work,’ Caitlin said, refusing to let anything other than pride and enthusiasm sound in her answer. She was aware of James’ eyes on her as she answered. The disapproval she sensed from him about her lack of relationship with her sister was nothing short of ironic.
‘Your sister’s an actress?’ Irene asked with a bright smile. ‘You didn’t want to act too?’
‘I did do some acting work for a while,’ Caitlin fudged. ‘But I really don’t have the talent or the drive. I’m happier backstage.’
‘Oh? What do you do?’
Caitlin fixed a smile to her face and answered the kindly meant questions, all the while thinking of the dynamics. The polite welcome mat was fully unrolled for her, but there was no hiding the absolute joy in Irene’s eyes as she’d watched James walk up to her. No hiding the way she’d hugged him as if it had been forever since she’d been able to.
Just how long had it b
een? And why? Was it really only work that kept James from coming home more often?
‘I didn’t know you were still here,’ James said quietly to his twin as he watched Caitlin walk into the house with his mother. Jack had already gone ahead with his father, talking business no doubt.
‘I didn’t know you were bringing Caitlin,’ George replied.
‘She seemed lonely,’ James said blandly. ‘I thought she might enjoy a change of scene.’
‘Nice to see you being social.’ George’s brows knitted together. ‘How are the two of you rubbing along in the condo if most of the rooms are out of action?’
‘We figured it out.’ At George’s sly smile, James rolled his eyes. ‘You know how capable we are of bunking down when necessary.’
‘When necessary.’
