AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was halfway out of the door when the sound of the phone ringing on his desk halted him.
In two minds whether to answer it or not, he glanced at his watch — only 4.30 pm. For a man renowned for religiously working a minimum of ten hours a day, his recent coming and going on a whim was starting to raise a few eyebrows. He might be a partner, but he wasn’t unsackable. ‘Templeton,’ he barked into the receiver.
‘Ah, so you do go to work occasionally.’ The sweetly sarcastic voice of his sister.
‘I’m nearly always working.’
‘That used to be true, until a certain model appeared on the scene again. Now when I try your office, you’re hardly ever there.’
With a sigh of resignation, he sat back down at his desk. ‘Was there a purpose to this call, or is it wind up my brother time?’
‘I see having a glamorous house guest hasn’t improved your manners. I was phoning, darling brother, to see how you and Lizzie were getting on. I’d have phoned your mobile, but I wasn’t sure if she’d be with you. This way I can ask all the questions I want to ask.’
A sliver of panic rippled through him. ‘We’re getting on fine.’
‘Are you sleeping with her yet?’
Good God. He eased open the top button of his shirt and slid his tie down enough so he could breathe again. ‘Of course I’m not.’ It was hard to know which was the more far-fetched. The idea of him sleeping with a glamorous supermodel, or the truth. The idea of him sharing the same roof as the woman he loved and not sleeping with her.
‘Why not? You’ve had a thing for her for ages, and now she’s living with you. Blimey, Nick, you’ll never get a better opportunity than this.’
‘I’m not sure I need relationship advice from my baby sister, thank you very much.’ Was it him, or was his office suddenly uncomfortably hot?
‘That same baby sister is happily living with the man she loves. She wasn’t too scared to go after what she wanted.’
‘I’m not scared.’ Liar. You’re terrified Lizzie will laugh at you and never be able to look you in the eye ever again. ‘But it’s . . . well . . . complicated.’
‘All relationships are. What’s so complex about this one?’
‘She thinks of me as a brother. She lives in America. She’s recovering from a sex ordeal.’ The barriers slipped easily off his tongue. ‘Do I need to go on, because I can. She’s way out of my league, she loves parties and the limelight—’
‘Enough,’ Charlotte stopped him in mid-flow. ‘That sounds like a list of excuses, not a list of genuine reasons that might keep you from getting together, even if it’s only for a passionate, romantic, short-term fling.’ When he didn’t reply, just huffed into the silence, she sighed. ‘I can tell you’re anxious to rush back to your cosy life in the country, so I won’t keep you. Just do yourself a favour, Nick. Don’t analyse this too much. Relationships aren’t something you can work out on a spreadsheet.’
She put the phone down before he could muster up a suitable, pithy reply. Sisters. Sometimes they thought they knew everything. Yanking his tie further down, he picked up his briefcase and walked out to his car. As he drove the long commute back to the barn, he couldn’t help but think what an odd existence he had at the moment, caught between two lives. Between country dweller and city lawyer. Between friend and lover.
Chapter Fifteen
When Nick finally arrived at the barn he found Lizzie curled up on the sofa watching an American soap opera with half an eye.
‘If you’re watching that, you must be feeling rough.’
Unfurling her long legs from the sofa, she moved towards him with her arms outstretched. ‘Nick, I’m so sorry.’
As she easily settled into his arms, his chest tightened. He was going to miss this when she’d gone. Not just someone to come home to, but Lizzie to come home to. ‘I’ll take the hug, but what are you sorry about?’
‘Dragging you into all this mess.’
‘Dragging me in? If I recall correctly, I was the one who hauled you back to England with me. And I don’t regret a single minute.’
‘Tell me that tomorrow when you find yourself plastered all over the papers as my latest love interest.’
He laughed incredulously. ‘Yeah, that’s really going to harm my reputation, people thinking I’m having an affair with Elizabeth Donavue.’
‘It might do, if Sally believes it.’
He recalled Sally’s face as she’d drawn back from kissing him and felt a wave of misgiving. Sally probably would put two and two together and believe he’d ended things because he’d started sleeping with Lizzie. While he didn’t care too much about the dint to his reputation, he was annoyed that a couple of bastards, out to make money from Lizzie’s misfortune, might end up hurting Sally, too. ‘We’ve already established Sally and I aren’t in a relationship.’ He shifted away from Lizzie slightly, enough so he could keep his equilibrium vaguely intact. ‘You know, you’ve got to stop worrying so much. In a few months’ time nobody will remember any of this. I’m going up to call Dan now, see if he’s filed the lawsuit yet. Do you want to listen in?’
She nodded. ‘I’ll be there in a minute.’
