by Louise Bay
“What needs to be decided on?”
“Expensive wine, German handmade kitchen, moody lighting, clean modern aesthetic—clearly you had someone come in and dress this place.” She swept her hand up. “I mean it looks like something out of a magazine. It’s all typical rich guy stuff.”
Where was she going with this?
“And then . . .” Something caught her eye behind me, and I turned to find she’d been drawn to the picture of me and my brothers at Beau’s graduation. “Then there’s stuff like this—you wanting a garden and your mum cooking you dinner.”
“You’re saying I’m hiding something?”
She looked at me and shook her head. “No, I guess I’m just leafing through your layers.” She grabbed the picture frame. “Is this you and your long-lashed siblings?”
I chuckled. “It’s me and my brothers, yes.”
“Five is a lot.” She smiled as she took in the image. “Are you standing in order of age?”
Our parents used to arrange us like that when we were little and the habit had stuck. “Yeah. I guess.”
“Jesus,” she said. “That’s some good-looking family you got there.”
“I’m the best-looking one, right?” I asked, thinking about how since we were teenagers, we’d jostled to be considered the most handsome, the best at football, rugby, cricket, the most outstanding student. We were a brotherhood of superlatives, always battling for first position.
“Do you think that helped you become as successful as you are—being one of five? Having to compete?”
“I’ve never thought about it,” I said, handing her a glass, picking up my wine, and heading to the sofa. “My family has always been supportive. I mean, we’re competitive, of course we are. It used to drive my mum wild, because we’d fight to the death over a game of capture the flag—the oldest three of us, in particular. But if the neighborhood kids came round—that’s when we circled the wagons and were unbeatable.” My brothers and I fought and competed throughout our childhood, but there was an unbreakable bond among us. And it gave me strength.
“Who would win?” she asked, sitting down opposite me. “At capture the flag.”
“Me,” I said without hesitation. “I’d do whatever it took to win.”
“Did you cheat?”
Her question hit me like a ton of bricks to my chest. Had she somehow learned about what happened at Oxford? “No. Never,” I said. “Sometimes I’d be accused of taking it too far. Less with my brothers but with other kids.”
“How far is too far?” She took a sip of her wine. “Wow, that’s good,” she said, closing her eyes for a little longer than a blink and pressing together her plump lips.
“You know, just brother stuff. I didn’t put anyone in hospital.”
“And seeing you with Beau, it seems like you’re all still close.”
“I joke about it but yes. My older brother, Jacob, is a doctor at The Royal Free and lives just around the corner. I probably see him the most.”
“Wait, I thought Beau was the doctor?” she asked.
“Yeah, they both are.” I shouldn’t have mentioned Jacob. I didn’t want Madison digging for the parts of my history that I didn’t want to relive. The last thing I needed was her uncovering the ties between me and Mark Alpern.
“Really? What about your other two brothers? What do they do?”
Before I could answer, I was interrupted by my doorbell.
“The food,” I said and got up.
When I came back into the kitchen with our dinner, she’d managed to find plates and cutlery.
“Do you have placemats?” she asked, just as I pulled open a drawer in the island where I stored them.
“God, even your placemats scream sexy.” She put the weathered brown leather mats down in front of the barstools at the island.
I paused, my hands poised to retrieve the contents of the bag. I tried to bite back a smile. “Even my placemats?”
Our eyes locked. “You know I think you’re sexy.” She looked away. “Especially when you have the food. Now hand it over.”
I knew she’d been attracted to me at the wedding. I knew she’d liked me enough to have sex with me. But what I didn’t know was that she found me sexy, present tense.
I pulled out the foil containers and set them on the marble. “I think you’re sexy whether or not you have the food.”
We were skirting danger. We shouldn’t be talking like this.
“We should focus on the food,” she said, trying to avoid eye contact but unable to disguise the smile hovering at the edges of her mouth.
“We should,” I agreed.
She took a deep breath as if she was pressing reset. “So, all five of you will go to see your parents this weekend?” she asked, opening one of the dishes and dividing it between our plates.
“Looks like we’ll all be descending on Norfolk.” She passed me the full plates and I set them down on my sexy placemats.
“Sounds fun,” she replied, as we both took a seat.
“Were you hoping to join us?” I asked, joking.
“Absolutely,” she replied with a grin. “Is that an invitation?”
“You seriously want to spend the weekend with me and my family?”
“I want—I need to make this article good. So the more I get to know you, the better.”
“What are you looking for that you think you’ll find in Norfolk? There’s no big secret to uncover.”
I didn’t mind answering her questions, but I couldn’t help thinking she was looking for something bad. And it concerned me that when she didn’t find it, she was going to be disappointed.
“I’m not looking for secrets. Just depth. I really want to be good at my job. I’ve wanted this job for a long time and . . . and I want to do my best.” She cut herself off as if she didn’t want to elaborate. “I’ve got a lot to prove. And if I don’t, there’s a thousand people coming up behind me who will gladly take my place.” She sounded tired. Her eyes dimmed a little as she spoke.
“And you have a house deposit fund to replenish,” I added, trying to lighten the mood.
She smiled almost gratefully. “Exactly. So,” she said in an unsubtle attempt to change the subject. “This is what you normally do when you come home? Open a bottle of wine and order in?”
I thought about it. It was unusual for me to spend an evening like this. “Sometimes. I’d be working if you weren’t here.”
“What do you do for fun?” she asked.
Why did images of naked Madison laid out before me like a feast flash in front of my eyes? I tried to push them to the back of my mind. Thinking about her like that was the last thing I should be doing, especially while she was technically interviewing me. I might want to hold her gaze a little too long, watch as she wet her lips with her tongue, wonder how long it would take to strip her naked and have her kneel before me and swallow my cock, but I needed to cool the fuck down. I shrugged as if I didn’t long to have her slip her thighs around my hips. “Relax. Hang out with my brothers. Go to the gym. Visit my parents. The usual things.”
“Pick up women,” she said, supplementing my list.
I widened my eyes. “I’m a single guy and I like to have fun. It doesn’t impact my work.” That probably sounded defensive but she’d managed to push a rather sensitive button.
“So you keep saying. You ever been in love?”
What had that got to do with anything? “I love my job,” I replied.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“There’s no big tragedy in my past that’s going to make your article juicy. I wasn’t abandoned as a child. I wasn’t bullied in school. I work hard and I’m good at what I do. And I’ve had a bit of luck along the way. I’m not sure there’s much else to say about me.”
Madison took a sip of her wine, set it on the counter. “I’m not sure that’s true.”
“Come to Norfolk,” I said. “See for yourself.” I had nothing t
o hide—at least nothing she’d find out about in Norfolk. And anyway, she might enjoy the trip. I’d seen hints this evening of the immense pressure she felt; maybe a little time away would help ease her worries.
“Really?” she asked.
“I’m an open book.”
“I would really like that.” She glanced at her watch. “I should go.”
“It’s not ten thirty yet,” I said.
She slipped off her stool. “You might wake up after five hours sleep looking like you stepped onto a Gucci photo shoot, but I do not.”
Sleep or no, she should leave because I wanted her to stay.
When I stood, we were inches apart. “I think Gucci would have been lucky to have you last Sunday morning from what I remember.”
A shy smile curled the corners of her mouth. “How would you know? I didn’t see you last Sunday morning.” She glanced at her feet. “Not in daylight anyway.”
“I saw you,” I said. “At breakfast.” I’d watched as she’d gone from one end of the buffet table to the other and back again before starting from the beginning and picking out fruit, yogurt, and toast. She’d either been lost in her own world or completely focused on the food. I couldn’t decide. “You sat at the table by the window.”
She frowned and looked up at me as if she wanted to ask me something but knew she shouldn’t.
“You left before I could say hi. But you looked very pretty.” Without thinking, I took a strand of her hair and tucked it around her ear.
“I really should go,” she said, without making any attempt to move.
“Yes, that’s probably best,” I replied, sweeping my thumb across her cheekbone. Was she thinking about last Saturday night? Had she been able to read my mind in the office today as I mentally peeled her shirt from her body?
“We’re . . . I mean, it’s not . . .” Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. I slipped my hand behind her neck, where the heat of her skin molded my fingers to her shape.
“You could stay,” I said, my breathing shallow, my heartbeat thudding in my veins.
Her lips parted. “I want . . .”
Just a second before I dipped to kiss her, she pulled away with a snap. “I have to go,” she said, looking toward the kitchen counter. “I had my bag somewhere.”
I pushed my hands into my pockets and watched as she scurried over to collect her bag. “I have to go,” she mumbled again. She shot me a quick glance and I nodded.
Sleeping with her again was probably a bad idea. There was too much to lose. Too much at stake.
But I was beginning to think it would be worth it.
Fifteen
Nathan
No matter how many times I visited this place, I still checked all the signs, never quite confident I’d find the café down this rabbit warren of corridors that all looked the same. The buzz of voices, the distinct scent of boiled cabbage, and the clank of thick hospital china coming around the corner told me I was close. There, on my left, was the entrance. I checked my watch—just in time. Although no doubt Jacob would be late. I picked up a tray and joined the queue for the hot food, grinning to myself. If Madison thought I should have a butler, what would she think of me standing in line for soup at a hospital cafeteria?
What Madison failed to realize was that for the Coves, medicine trumped everything. Regardless of how busy I might be, I wasn’t saving lives. If I wanted to see my brother, I went to him.
I collected my bowl, roll, spoon, and bottle of water and paid, then went to find a free table. People complained about hospital food but the soup was always amazing. Didn’t matter the flavor.
I scanned the tables for a free seat before I spotted Jacob across the room, his hand in the air, trying to get my attention.
“You’re early,” I said as I slid my tray down opposite his. “What happened, did you kill all your patients?”
“Yup,” he said, dipping his bread in the leek and potato and taking a bite.
“Excellent job. Good to know you’re still making Mum and Dad proud.”
He shrugged with the kind of confidence that only came with the knowledge that he had in fact made his parents proud. All my brothers had, because they were all doctors.
“Will you make it up to Norfolk next weekend?” he asked. Jacob was the one of us who made it up to see our parents least often, but now he’d made consultant, hopefully he’d find the time. “I’m definitely there. You?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” I said. “Beau said it’s going to be all five of us.”
“Yeah, we’ve not been together since Christmas.”
“Is anyone bringing a guest?” I asked. Every now and then Jacob or Beau would bring a girlfriend back to Norfolk, but it didn’t happen often. I knew Madison coming with me—even though it was strictly business—would raise eyebrows.
Jacob shrugged. “Don’t think so.”
“I’ve got a journalist following me around at the moment. From the Post. They’re doing a profile of me.”
“Really?” Jacob asked, taking a spoonful of soup. “Doesn’t sound like your kind of thing.”
“Our PR director arranged it. I’m taking a lot of hits at the moment and she thinks a positive profile might help.”
“I saw that story about you and Audrey. Is there something going on with you two?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know I’ve never slept with Audrey. It would be like sleeping with my sister.”
“I don’t think it would go down well with Mum and Dad. You know how much they like Mark.”
I pushed out a breath. They were going to be devastated when they found out what he’d done. They’d treated him like a son. He’d come home for Christmas the first year we’d shared a room at university and later, they’d acted as a reference for his first job. My parents had taken pity on Mark—his mother had left him and his father was in and out of prison. But perhaps the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree.
“I can promise you, I have never and will never sleep with Audrey.”
“So this journo is going to be staying at the house? Is he a good guy?”
“Yeah, Mum said it was okay if she stayed.”
Jacob looked at me over his soup spoon. “She?”
“Women can be journalists now, Jacob. Some can even read and do maths. It’s an amazing world we live in.”
“And you’ve invited her back home?”
“She asked to come. Is it a big deal?”
“You tell me,” Jacob replied. “You’ve never brought a woman back to Mum and Dad’s before.”
I wanted to tease Jacob, to reassure him that it was just business. Madison could have been a man or a woman, and they still would have been welcome to follow me back to Norfolk. But I didn’t think it would have been true. In fact, I was fairly certain that if our relationship was purely professional, I never would have agreed to have Madison join me for the weekend at my family’s home. I’m not even sure she would have asked. “She wants to see me outside of a work context. Meet my family.”
Jacob’s eyebrows inched higher on his forehead. “Interesting.”
“The board thinks this Post thing’s a good idea. They feel I’ve been uncooperative with the press up until now.”
Jacob chuckled. “Doesn’t sound like you.”
“So apart from the job, what’s going on with you?” I asked. “Your penis fallen off yet because of the lack of attention?”
“My penis has plenty of attention, thank you.”
“Your hand doesn’t count.”
“I’m sleeping with an anesthetist, actually.”
“Becky, who I met last time I was here?” He’d walked in with her when we last met up and had introduced me before she’d been called away. I hadn’t realized they were sleeping together but she was attractive. She had the same glasses as Madison and the same look of concentration that could be mistaken for a glare.
“Yeah,” he said, knocking me out of my memories of the night of the wedding. “Becky. We found oursel
ves on the same shift pattern last month and bumped into each other a lot.”
“Sounds romantic.”
He chuckled. “No less romantic than the sport-sex you engage in. Can you remember the last time you saw a woman again after you slept with her?”
The image of Madison, her head tipped back and her throat exposed, waiting for me to trail my tongue over it, flashed in my mind. “More recently than you’d expect, actually.”
Jacob paused, his spoon midway from the bowl to his mouth. “Go on,” he said. “Are you here to tell me you’re getting married?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. Anyway, it wasn’t through choice, just coincidence.”
“You know what they say about coincidence?” He paused waiting for me to guess. He should know me better. “It’s just another name for fate. Who is it?”
“Just some girl I met at Noah and Truly’s wedding. Turns out she—” Shit. I didn’t want to confess that I’d actually already slept with Madison. He’d never let me live it down. “She came for an interview the next day.” Not quite a lie. But not the truth either.
“Did she get the job?” he asked.
I chuckled but didn’t respond.
“Have you slept with her again?” he asked, his eyes narrowed as if he were trying to read my mind.
I shook my head. When we’d first made our pact to keep things strictly business, I thought it would be no big deal. I didn’t believe in going backward and had always felt that variety was the spice of life. But the more time I spent with Madison, the more I liked her. Somehow, she’d become more and more attractive with every passing day. “No, I mean. That would be awkward, right?”
He held my stare, then went back to his soup. “I don’t know, mate. I guess you have to decide how much you want to sleep with her versus how much you need to be professional.”
“I’m not saying I want to sleep with her.” Thinking it? Absolutely. Saying it? Not a chance.
“My advice is that if you just want a roll in the hay, an employee isn’t the way to go.”
I nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. And I need to focus on keeping the board on my side, making sure this article is right. I have a thousand lunches organized for the next six months.” I mentally ran through the list Gretel had given me of all the journalists, fund managers, and analysts I’d be wining and dining over the next few months. I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit in the running of the company with all the time it was going to take up.