Page 92 of BTW I Love You


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Whoa there. ‘What the …?’ The whispered curse burst out.

His Ruby. Where the hell had that come from?

He slanted a sideways look at the woman curled up in the passenger seat, her wildly curling hair framing high cheekbones, the dusky skin a pale gold in the sunlight. Drawing a deep breath into his lungs—he let it out gradually. Relaxing his death grip on the steering wheel, he glanced at the speedometer and slowed the car.

Ruby Delisantro was not ‘his Ruby’. Not even close. He hardly knew her.

All right, maybe he’d had some of the best sex of his life in her company.

Heat swelled in his groin as he thought back to what she’d done to him that afternoon.

Make that the best sex of his life. And he planned to have more before the weekend was over. But come tomorrow evening, when they got back to London, their fling would be over.

She was not his. And she never would be.

He tapped his thumb on the steering wheel. Spotting the sign for the M5, he merged into the inside lane to take the exit signposting The South West.

He didn’t do long-term relationships. He didn’t like getting that involved in other people’s lives, because he hated the lack of privacy, and the breaking down of personal boundaries that always came with it.

As the car accelerated back into the outside lane, the screaming tension in his shoulders finally started to subside.

That moment of possessiveness, of connection between him and Ruby, had been nothing more than fatigue. They’d been up most of the night, spent several hours walking the Heath and then jumped straight back into bed for an encore as soon as they’d returned to his flat. When you factored in the long drive and the unsettling prospect of spending a weekend with his sister’s family it was probably no wonder he’d let down his guard.

From now on he’d be more careful. And if he got curious about Ruby and her past again, he’d bite his damn tongue off before he gave in to the desire to know more.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

‘GOOD God.’ Ruby tilted her head back to gawk at Trewan Manor as Cal turned the car into the hedge-lined driveway.

With its towering gables and ramparts and the huge mullioned windows, the stone mansion looked like a cross between Cinderella’s castle and the feverish imaginings of some mad Victorian architect. Ruby had first spotted the place as they wound their way up the coast road. Perched on the cliff, the gothic edifice looked dramatic and forbidding. But up close, Ruby noticed the welcoming touches—the flower-drenched boxes on the sills, the red glow of the dying sun sparkling on the sandstone, the fresh scent of sea salt and newly mown grass, and the Barbie scooter discarded on the front step—that turned the fairytale castle into a family home.

‘How long has your sister lived here?’ she asked as she stepped onto the gravel.

‘Since she met Rye,’ Cal remarked as he yanked their bags out of the back seat.

‘And that would be when?’ Ruby prompted.

‘A few years ago.’ He slammed the car’s back door.

Ruby waited for him to say more. But he skirted the car in silence.

This was getting ridiculous. She’d dozed on and off throughout the journey, noticing each time she woke up that Cal seemed more and more tense and less and less talkative. She’d decided not to hold it against him, guessing he had to be as exhausted as she was after their all-nighter—and he’d had to do all the driving, because he was a tad precious about his new car. But honestly, what was the big secret?

‘Are Maddy and her family part of a witness protection programme?’ she asked, smiling sweetly as she held out her hand for her luggage. ‘Because getting you to talk about them is harder than cracking the Enigma code.’

‘Ha, ha,’ he said, but still didn’t elaborate.

Instead of handing Ruby her bag, he tucked it under his arm, held his own and placed his free palm on the small of her back.

‘I’ve got them,’ he said, directing her towards the front door. ‘Believe me, you’re going to need both hands when you meet Maddy,’ he added cryptically.

Ruby had only a moment to debate that before a slim young woman wearing a pair of denim cut-offs and a worn T-shirt burst through the front door. ‘Cal, you made it.’ Flinging her arms round Cal’s neck, she bounced up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. ‘At last.’

‘Hello, Maddy,’ he said as she bounced back down and turned to Ruby. ‘This is Ruby.’

‘Ruby! This is fantastic,’ she declared, grasping Ruby’s hand in both of hers. ‘It’s great to meet you.’

The woman’s eyes, the same striking emerald shade as Cal’s, warmed with excitement and avid curiosity. ‘I hope you didn’t mind me strong-arming Cal into visiting. It’s just Mia’s really attached to him. And it’s her birthday tomorrow.’

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