by Trish Wylie
Ash ducked her head round and looked up into Merrow’s eyes. ‘Come on. Let’s go pull faces at Alex from the back of the room while he makes his big speech. I haven’t got to do that in years!’
‘Maybe we should get Gabe to help?’ Merrow managed a small mischievous smile as they walked back.
Ash lifted her nose in the air. ‘Unlike you and me, he has no idea of the meaning of the word “fun.”’
‘I’ve got a feeling you could help him with that.’
‘Stop it. You’re nearly as much of a troublemaker as I am. I think I love you already for that.’
Yuh-huh. The land of perfect even provided a potential sister, dammit!
‘So what’s the verdict, O’Connell?’
‘I have to decide whether or not I like your entire family after one night, do I?’
‘Oh, yeah, that’s right.’ He tangled his fingers with hers and swung her arm as he walked her through the darkened end of the house. ‘You like to take an average score, don’t you? I never did get my mark out of ten.’
She tilted her head and smiled up at him when he looked at her from the corner of his eye. ‘It’s been so long now that I kinda forget…’
Alex smiled his hint of a smile. ‘All right, so that wasn’t the best plan I ever came up with. I’m big enough to admit that. But I can’t cave now, can I?’
‘Remind me why you can’t?’
He chuckled, the deep sound echoing along the hall. ‘Because then you’d have won by making me break my resolve. And I couldn’t live with the gloating that would bring my way.’
‘Me? Gloat? As if.’
She lifted her nose in the air and Alex chuckled again at her side, his fingers tightening around hers.
‘Ash taught you that nose-in-the-air thing, didn’t she? It’s her trademark move.’
Merrow felt the effects of too many glasses of champagne bubbling up inside her chest, her burst of laughter echoing louder than Alex’s chuckle had as she swung on his hand and grinned up at him. ‘She’s wonderful. I’m glad I got to meet her.’
‘So am I.’
Merrow spun on her heel so that she was walking backwards, the affection in his voice and the softness in his eyes an open invitation for her to ask about the relationship that obviously meant so much to him. ‘You’ve missed her, haven’t you?’
His brows quirked, as if he was somehow surprised by the question. ‘It was just the three of us for a long time; I guess it’s felt wrong without her.’
‘Three musketeers.’
Alex smiled at her choice of words. ‘Everyone should have their own set of musketeers.’
Merrow agreed and loved that he understood it as well as she did. It was something else they had in common, wasn’t it? And she knew she was grasping at those connections now.
Taking his other hand, she tangled her fingers, swinging both arms as she continued walking backwards, ‘They’re there when you need them, are musketeers.’
‘They are indeed.’
‘You can talk to them about all sorts of stuff.’
‘Like how their boyfriends score out of ten…’
Merrow quite liked that he called himself that now; she hadn’t even protested when she’d been introduced as his girlfriend all night long. ‘They’re there with you through the tough times…’
Alex pursed his lips, nodding as he looked over her head. ‘Indeed they are.’ He took a breath. ‘All right, I’ll bite—what exactly did that sister of mine tell you?’
When he glanced down at her, she tilted her head and smiled a softer smile. ‘What could she possibly have to tell me? Unless you have a deep dark secret you want to share? You know—something to take the “perfect” edge off you…oh, golden child…’
She mentally crossed her fingers.
‘No one’s perfect.’ He lifted their hands a little out to the sides, opening his fingers wide, then wrapping them round hers again. ‘Luck. That’s all it is.’
‘Mmm. Luck.’ She briefly felt let down that he couldn’t have admitted to a flaw; even one. But, oh, no, he had to go and play down the hard work he added to the ‘luck’ to make his life what it was—which just made him a nice guy on top of everything else. Again. Dammit!
All right then. She’d just have to play to the one weakness she knew he did have. That way he’d have broken his word. And that was less than perfect, wasn’t it?
A stretch maybe—but a start nevertheless.
So she leaned in, pressing her breasts against his chest as she tilted her head and aimed the kind of mischievous imp of a smile up at him that she knew got to him nine times out of ten.
Alex shook his head. ‘Uh-uh. I’m not caving in before you, O’Connell.’
‘Even if I decide to make you cave?’
‘It wouldn’t be me breaking the rules this time, then, would it?’ He leaned his head in and focussed his gaze on her mouth. ‘Feel free to give it your best shot. But it won’t have been me that caved.’
‘You play dirty, Alexander.’
‘And you know just how dirty I can play, Merrow.’
Merrow gave a small moan of frustration, her eyes growing heavy, and Alex squeezed her fingers harder in warning, so she batted her lashes at him. And bit her bottom lip.
Which made him groan softly in response. ‘You should come with a warning.’
‘Oh, I tried warning you off, several times.’
‘I knew what I was doing. I still do.’
The gold in his eyes blazed across at her, and Merrow couldn’t look away, her heart beating erratically. He studied her eyes, didn’t smile, didn’t quirk an eyebrow. He just looked at her with a steady intensity that made the ache in her chest so painful she almost moaned aloud again.
She’d thought he was dangerous already. But while he looked at her that way, she suddenly knew exactly why—
She needed an escape route. Just for a minute.
‘Not yet, you don’t.’ She avoided his searching gaze as she stepped back from the heat of his body, her eyes watching one of their joined hands as it lifted again, Alex repeating the outward flex and return of his fingers. ‘You will in a week.’
When he got to see her far-from-perfect world.
They kept making small steps along the hall, their arms still swinging, until Alex’s deep voice rumbled above her head. ‘It’s not really my family that’s the problem in your head, is it?’
She still couldn’t look at him. ‘I had fun tonight. Everyone was wonderful.’
‘And you weren’t fazed by any of them, not even my parents—though you could have flirted a little less with my father and that would’ve been okay with me.’
‘He was flirting with me. I just flirted back. And it was innocent, you know it was.’ She smiled as Alex’s fingers flexed again. ‘Actually he reminded me a lot of you, which probably helped. He has that same sparkle in his eyes when he makes a joke. Though, in fairness, he’s probably funnier than you are…’
‘At his age he’s had more practice.’
‘I’ll bet he can be hard work sometimes too, though.’
‘Then I suppose that’s another thing I’d have in common with him.’ When her gaze rose to meet his, he smiled. ‘Yes, O’Connell. I too am fully aware of my failings. And just like you I choose not to make them public. It works for me.’
If he’d just make even one of those failings public it might help her sort her head out.
But before she could ask, he lifted both their arms again, repeated the flex of his fingers and then she heard the smile in his deep voice. ‘We’re here—my favourite room in the whole house.’
Untangling their fingers, he turned her around, placing a large hand on each side of her waist as he guided her forwards. And Merrow smiled in wonder at the long room, with its huge arched windows running all along one side and the light from the outside floodlights casting soft arch-shaped patterns from them onto the floor. It was beautiful. Maybe even a little bit magical. Perfect.
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��This is the Long Gallery. There used to be family portraits along the back wall, but the light was fading them so they were moved onto the walls alongside the staircases. And the room became a bit redundant—’
She felt his chest rise against her back as he took a breath before he leaned his chin on her head and his multi-toned deep voice began to share some memories.
‘Until I made it mine.’
Merrow relaxed back into him as his hands moved so that his arms circled her—one round her waist, one round her bare shoulders—his thumb moving back and forth against her skin as he continued walking them forwards, beginning to sway them the tiniest little bit from side to side as they went along.
‘I got skittles one Christmas—from Santa, of course—so I set them up in here and I’d play for hours. Sometimes I’d even sneak down here in the middle of the night. And then Gabe played too—and we’d have contests and tournaments.’
She laughed softly as he somehow managed to make it still sound exciting—as if he’d still play, given the chance, even after so many years. And she was almost able to see the two boys in the shadowy room in front of her, laughing and arguing and concentrating on winning.
‘Who was the champ?’
Alex lifted his chin and leaned his head down, placing his cheek against her hair and nudging it out of the way with his nose before he spoke softly into her ear.
‘Ah—you see the jury’s still out. But eventually we decided skittles was a girls’ game—probably around about the time Ash wanted to play—so we produced a football to kick up and down on rainy days. We smashed a couple of the window panes—got yelled at a few times—ran away and hid a few times…’
He pressed a kiss to her ear, leaned forwards to place another on the soft, sensitive skin a little lower. ‘Happy days.’
Merrow tilted her head, allowing him better access to her neck, her eyes closing as burning waves of sensation swept over her body, her voice soft. ‘I’m sure you found a better use for the room after dark as you got older, though…secret trysts…first kisses…’
He kissed her neck again; lower this time, so that the end of his nose pressed into the hollow where her neck met her shoulder, where his voice rumbled against her skin. ‘If walls could talk…’
Alex plied soft kisses along her shoulder and her breasts grew heavy within the confines of her fitted bodice. Then the arm around her waist shifted higher, his fingertips brushed beneath her breast, his thumb sliding higher to brush back and forth until her nipple pressed against the material. And his mouth worked its way up her shoulder to her neck, his feet still rocking them forwards and from side to side.
Merrow let her head fall back against his shoulder, her hands lifting to rest on both of his, his name a sigh on her parted lips. ‘Alex.’
‘I know.’ His lips formed the husky words against her skin. ‘I want you too.’
When his large hand moved up to fully cup her breast she moaned, turning in his arms to escape the torture, but winding her arms up around his neck anyway, while he continued to rock them. ‘Are you caving, Alexander?’
He chuckled, wrapping both arms around her waist to lift her off the ground. ‘Are you?’
She was, but, ‘You first.’
‘Nope, ladies first.’
‘You’re just so chivalrous.’
‘Aren’t I?’ He swung her from side to side, her skirts swirling around her ankles. ‘Just a regular Prince Charming, that’s me.’
Pretty bloody close when he put his mind to it, as it happened. And therein lay the problem.
‘Yes, but I bet Cinderella never wanted Prince Charming to—’ She leaned in close to his ear and whispered a lurid suggestion in his ear.
Which drew another low groan from his lips, a hard punishing kiss and a tightening of his arms around her waist before he began to spin her round and round and round until she was squealing with laughter and breathless. Only then did he stop, smiling a fuller, brighter smile than she had ever seen him wear before.
‘One more week—one—then this is all over…’
Which was exactly what she was worried about.
CHAPTER TEN
‘FITZGERALD?’
Alex saw Merrow glance at him from the corner of her eye as her father repeated his name.
He nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘Not as in Edward Fitzgerald?’
‘Who?’ Merrow stepped a step closer to his side.
‘My grandfather.’ Alex set his hand to the small of her back and flexed his fingers in reassurance. She didn’t need to worry about him. He could look after himself.
Her father folded his arms across his chest. ‘So you are one of them.’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Hmm.’ Her father’s green eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘I’m not sure what I think about my girl messing around with one of your lot.’
It wasn’t much of an opening, but it was one he could use. ‘I could say something about the sins of the fathers I suppose…’
His thick brown eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. Then he narrowed his eyes again. ‘So what is it you do?’
‘I’m an architect.’
‘Any good at it?’
Alex felt his mouth twitch and forced himself not to smile in case it gave up too much ground. ‘Yes.’
‘Not like you need to make money at it.’
‘Maybe not, but it’s what I choose to do.’
The older man jerked his head towards the large picture windows. ‘An architect’s salary bought you that car, did it?’
‘No—’
‘Didn’t think so.’ He gave Alex a look that suggested he’d just lost ground.
‘It belonged to my uncle. And it was a mess when I got it, so I bought it cheap and restored it.’
‘You mean you paid someone to restore it.’
‘No, did it all myself.’
‘Hmm.’ He stepped closer to the window. ‘It’s an Aston Martin?’
Alex smoothed his hand across Merrow’s back before he stepped over to stand beside him, folding his arms across his chest in a similar stance. ‘The DB5.’
‘The Bond car.’
‘Well, not the Bond car. Even a Fitzgerald has to draw the line under that kind of price tag.’ He was pushing his luck and he knew it.
But Merrow’s father simply nodded, unfolding his arms. ‘Well, I’d suppose I better see if you did a good job with it, then, hadn’t I?’
As he walked away Alex turned on his heel to smile a small smile of reassurance at Merrow, only to have her mother step forward.
‘When’s your birthday, Alex?’
Merrow rolled her eyes.
‘May twentieth.’ He raised his eyebrows as he looked at Merrow, curious as to what relevance that had in the greater scheme of things.
But if he’d waited five seconds he’d have found out. ‘Taurus, then. That’s a good combination with a Leo. Merrow’s a Leo, you know. You’ll be very sexually compatible, I take it? That’s a start.’
Merrow raised her arms and dropped them, and Alex, after a moment of silence, pointed at her as he moved towards the door. ‘That one I’m leaving with you. I’m going outside to talk cars.’
Well, it wasn’t as if he could be in two places at once was it? And cars seemed like the much better option to him—one step at a time and all that. He could win her mother over later.
A thought occurred to him, so he stepped back and smiled his most charming smile. ‘Merrow tells me you’re a Tantra Master?’
Her mother’s face brightened. ‘That I am. Do you practise the art?’
‘No. But I’d be interested to learn.’
‘Alex—’
He ignored Merrow, fully aware that he’d probably pay for it later. ‘Maybe you could just walk me through the basics of it.’
‘There’s a beginners’ class this afternoon. You could both join it.’
‘We’ll do that, then.’ A beginners’ class couldn’t be that dangerous, could it?
Not that he knew. But if it involved a few new ideas he could use when the deadline fell—in one day and six hours—then that would make every second of whatever strange stuff he had to listen to worthwhile, wouldn’t it?
‘No, we won’t, Alex.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because you have no idea what you’re getting into.’
Her mother patted him on the arm and winked. ‘I’ve been trying to get her into a class for years; seems a shame to me that she denies herself the experience. Don’t let her talk you out of it. You’ll both reap the benefits.’
‘Mother—’
‘Didn’t you hear? “Reap the benefits…”’ He nodded his head firmly at her exasperated face. ‘And didn’t anyone ever tell you, you should listen to your mother? Look what a great job she did with you.’
‘Mummy dearest—if you fall for that line I’ll know I’m adopted.’
‘You’re not adopted; you get your good looks from your mother. I’m not blind.’
Her mother chuckled. ‘Yes, I think I’m going to like you just fine, Alex—no matter what your last name is.’ She patted his upper arm, ‘Just don’t try that method on her father.’
‘I’m hoping the car might help some there.’
‘It’s certainly a start.’
‘Anything else that might help?’
She looked him over and then smiled again. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve ever windsurfed? Old fool just decided to learn this summer—there’s a school nearby. Better late than never, he says.’
Alex smiled. ‘Now that I can use.’
He left the room, jogging towards his car, suddenly feeling more optimistic than he had in the few days preceding their visit. Not that he’d ever have used the word ‘nervous’ if Merrow had pushed him on why he’d been so tense. Prepared for the worst might have been a better description. Mind you, the fact that Merrow had used every weapon in her vast arsenal to try to get him to cave in and release his tension hadn’t helped.
A little payback in her mother’s class was in order…
Merrow shook her head as she walked to the window. In-cred-ible. He was trying to pull the same trick with her parents as he had with her friends, wasn’t he? And even more incredibly—so far it looked as if it was working! He had the charm of the devil. Damn him.