The Engagement Deal

by Kim Lawrence

  ‘Is anything wrong? What brings you back?’ Holly put a lot of effort into sounding interested. She glanced nervously at the clock—oh, no! He’d be here any minute.

  Rowena’s slender shoulders lifted as she shrugged off the beautifully cut linen jacket she wore over a plain black T-shirt and the sort of snug-fitting leather jeans that only one woman in fifty looked half-decent in—Rowena looked sensational. ‘Impulse.’ She didn’t quite meet her sister’s eyes. ‘I had a free weekend so I thought I’d see if you had remembered to feed the fish.’

  Panic-stricken, Holly looked around the room, half-expecting to see some unfortunate creatures floating glassy-eyed and neglected in a tank. ‘Fish! You don’t…Do you…?’

  ‘No, Holly, I don’t; it was a joke, darling.’ She lifted the heavy strands of ash-blonde hair off the nape of her neck before she dropped gracefully into a deeply padded swivel chair.

  Holly saw Rowena’s slow smile—the one that fascinated every man she’d ever met—appear as she rested her chin on the bridge of her interlocked fingers. Holly loved her sister dearly but she often wished Rowena wasn’t so fascinatingly beautiful.

  ‘It’s a man, isn’t it?’ Rowena gave a delighted crow of laughter as Holly squirmed uncomfortably. ‘I knew it! It must be serious if you’ve learnt to cook.’

  Holly grimaced reproachfully at this reference to her culinary skills. During a brief flirtation with domesticity during her teens, the local birdlife had been the best-fed—although the best part had been hotly disputed—in the area. Famously, nothing Holly produced in the kitchen had ever made it as far as the table.

  ‘I’ve not learnt,’ she admitted, eyeing the cookbook from hell with loathing. ‘I’m learning and, if you must know, surprise, surprise, it’s a total disaster!’ She pressed a harassed hand to her sticky forehead. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that she’d been far too ambitious attempting the Thai dish. I ought to have bought Marks and Spencers ready-prepared and lied, she thought.

  ‘Careful!’ Rowena cried, leaping gracefully to her feet. ‘Are those chillies on your fingers? Don’t go near your eyes.’

  Holly automatically snatched her hands away from her face and extended them gloomily. ‘I’ve lost count of the things I’ve chopped—including my fingers. I think I’ve made a wise decision, not opting for surgery.’

  ‘Go wash your hands,’ Rowena insisted, elbowing her away from the work counter. She glanced at the recipe and then looked at the cover of the book Holly was using. ‘I’ve used this one; it’s quite simple.’ She tucked her pale hair behind her ears in a businesslike fashion.

  ‘No, Rowena, really, it’s fine. You must be jet-lagged—we’ll eat out.’

  ‘I flew Concorde,’ Rowena announced with a mellow smile, ‘and cooking relaxes me. It does,’ she insisted, in reply to Holly’s scathing hoot of derision. ‘Besides, I want to hear all about this man of yours.’

  Holly awkwardly avoided her sister’s curious gaze. They’d never had any cosy girlie chats about boyfriends over the years. She wasn’t sure whether, under the circumstances, now was the best time to start.

  Considering Rowena’s long-standing and more importantly unspecific relationship with Niall, Holly felt distinctly uneasy about admitting to her sister that he was the new man in her life. It was almost as if saying it out loud would make her realise how foolish the idea was. She was also aware of the deep streak of possessiveness in her sister’s nature. Rowena had never been very forgiving if her little sister had messed with her things. She wasn’t pathological or anything, but…!

  ‘He’s not mine,’ Holly insisted awkwardly. Admitting it brought a bleak droop to her soft lips.

  She perched on a stool and watched Rowena calmly creating order out of her chaos. It was amazing enough to be able to cook without so much as glancing at the endless list of exotic ingredients in the glossy cookery book, but to be able to do that and look like an ice princess was nothing short of miraculous in Holly’s book.

  ‘Do you do anything badly?’ she burst out with rueful affection.

  Rowena’s laugh was bitter. ‘Where should I start? How about relationships…?’

  Holly was amazed by this revealing remark. ‘Is something wrong, Rowena?…Ouch!’ She winced as she eased herself off the stool.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  Holly rubbed her tender rear. ‘I went ice-skating this morning…I spent all the time I wasn’t crawling on all fours on my backside,’ she admitted ruefully. ‘And I fell off a horse down at Monksleigh.’

  ‘I forgot you went there. Isn’t it a dreamy place? I could get used to the life of the landed gentry.’

  ‘I thought they were pretty down-to-earth,’ Holly suggested tentatively.

  ‘Yeah, I suppose they are. Tell me, was Miss Beautiful-but-dim there? Tara?’ she elaborated impatiently.

  Holly nodded. ‘She’s not dim.’

  ‘No, but she is beautiful, so permit me a bit of green-eyed monster.’

  Holly was amazed by the notion that her sister could envy any woman’s looks. Or perhaps the envy was directed more at the fact Tara had been married to Niall. Rowena’s next words seemed to confirm the latter might well be true.

  ‘I never thought she was the right woman for Niall.’ Rowena looked grimly pleased that time had proved her right. ‘I tried to warn him, but he wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘And you expected him to?’

  ‘Ouch! That sounds pretty bitter. Would I be wrong to assume Niall has been winding you up?’ She laughed. ‘The bad man. I’ll have words with him when I see him. The least he could do under the circumstances was be nice to you.’

  Holly swallowed. ‘Actually, he was quite nice…Mostly,’ she admitted diffidently.

  Rowena’s face cleared. ‘I should hope so too.’ Though I can’t imagine what possessed you to get on a horse, even for him. I know how persuasive he can be, but…’ The secret smile made Holly feel nauseous. ‘Now, skates I don’t understand. You’ve never had any sense of balance…Did you ever finally get rid of the stabilisers on your bike?’

  ‘After a fashion.’

  ‘Good God, was this a date today with your new man?’ From Rowena’s expression, it was pretty obvious that ice-skating wasn’t her idea of romance. ‘I suppose,’ she conceded, ‘there are romantic possibilities attached to slithering into the right set of arms.’

  ‘His son was there.’

  Holly had done a lot of slithering and Niall had been there to catch her once or twice. Heat crawled over her skin as she recalled how it had felt on the occasions he’d felt obliged to clasp her unsteady figure protectively against his body—probably more often than was strictly necessary, if truth be told. Holly had felt no reason to complain at the time—she still didn’t.

  ‘He’s married?’

  ‘Divorced.’

  ‘Are you sure about that?’ Rowena enquired cynically.

  ‘Quite sure…Actually, Rowena he’s—’

  Rowena gave a thin-lipped cynical smile and waved her hand. ‘Absolutely perfect, I’m sure,’ she sneered. ‘I suppose that’s him now.’

  Holly nodded as the door bell pealed insistently. ‘Probably.’

  ‘Well, aren’t you going to answer it?’

  Holly fumbled with the lock and wondered why she hadn’t just come straight out and told Rowena. It wasn’t as if she was doing anything wrong. Why the hell do I feel so guilty? she wondered.

  Niall, a bottle of wine clasped in one hand, stepped over the threshold. His expression as his eyes lighted on Holly gave a very flattering impression of raw hunger.

  Holly’s stomach-muscles clenched painfully, she felt weakly light-headed as a hot tide of desire rushed over her. As always, he looked incredible. How did he manage to do this to her, just standing there? In that second of breathless admiration and growing anticipation, she forgot all about Rowena and her disapproval.

  ‘Niall,’ she breathed huskily.

  ‘Niall?’ Rowena echoed, abandonin
g her steaming wok. ‘It is you!’ she exclaimed joyously as she flew straight past Holly, who automatically stepped back—she’d had a lot of practice stepping back for Rowena. ‘How did you know I was back? Did you get the message I left with your service?’ she asked, throwing her arms around his neck and planting a warm kiss on his lips.

  The sound of Rowena’s voice had broken the spell for Holly, who was pierced by a stab of white-hot jealousy as she saw Niall’s free hand go automatically around Rowena’s slender waist.

  They made a stunning pair. She masochistically forced herself to study the artistically pleasing picture they made as Niall returned the kiss with equally unselfconscious enthusiasm. The concerns Holly had almost successfully pushed to the back of her mind since they’d become lovers came rushing back. Were he and Rowena really just good friends? Rowena never flaunted her relationships and where her private life was concerned she was never very forthcoming.

  Just when Holly had begun to darkly wonder whether they were going in for some sort of endurance record, they broke apart, although her sister’s hand did stay on the lapel of the black leather jacket he wore.

  ‘I didn’t know you were back.’

  ‘Then why this?’ Rowena pressed, taking the bottle from his hand. She surveyed the label and let out an appreciative whistle. ‘Not that I’m complaining. You can entertain me while little sister here is busy with her new man.’ She turned her teasing stare on Holly. ‘You’ve seen more of her recently than me, Niall.’

  The satiric glitter in his eyes was too much for Holly’s composure. She sent him a reproachful look of wild appeal and began to choke noisily.

  ‘I told you to wash the chillies off, Holly.’ Rowena spared her a second before turning her full attention back to Niall. ‘You never did say: did your family swallow the girlfriend story? I must say, I had my doubts. You must tell me everything later. Right now, I want to know about this divorced man. Has Holly ’fessed up to you, Niall? She’s gone all mysterious on me. Do you know who he is…?’

  Rowena saw his eyes move very obviously to her sister’s face. Holly, her smooth cheeks very pink, was looking pretty miserable. Perhaps she’d taken the teasing too far…

  ‘As matter of fact, I do.’

  The possessive rasp of his deep voice had Rowena spinning back to him, an expression of burgeoning disbelief in her blue eyes. Then she saw the way he was looking at her sister…Holly…?

  Slack-jawed, she did a double-and treble-take. There was nothing very unambiguous about Niall’s expression; in fact, in some quarters it might be considered indecently explicit, but Rowena still couldn’t take it in.

  When Holly had dressed earlier, choosing a short silky black skirt and simple cowl-neck matching top, her wayward imagination had wilfully supplied a picture of Niall sliding his hand under her skirt. She’d thought those erotic images had been pretty hot, not to mention fatally distracting, yet unbelievably what she felt now simply hearing his voice in the flesh did more for her than any steamy images could.

  There was nothing very subtle about what was happening to her. Holly was virtually immobilised with lust. She gave a small soundless gasp and felt the muscles of her flat stomach suck in helplessly as instant desire ripped through her. If he’d chosen this moment to explore in a way similar to that which she’d imagined earlier, it would take him about two seconds flat to discover she was just about dying for his touch!

  ‘You and Holly? You’ve been…? You’re…?’ Rowena’s attractive voice emerged as a disbelieving croak before her attitude turned rapidly to denial. ‘No…No, that can’t be right.’ She laughed.

  It was the laughter that finally drew Holly’s attention back to her sister. Yes! she wanted to yell. Yes, we have been and with any luck we’re going to again—although the way tonight was panning out didn’t make that likely. Rowena looked pale and seriously shocked by their revelations, but all Holly was conscious of was the laughter. It was a joke. That would be right…Suddenly, she was very tired of being the light relief.

  ‘Why not?’ Giving an imperious little chin-tilt, she was conscious that Niall had taken hold of her hand. Was the steady pressure of his warm fingers meant to pacify or support? Either way, Holly had stepped back for Rowena for the last time!

  A flustered Rowena tore her eyes from the image of Niall’s fingers curling around Holly’s small hand. She struggled visibly to recover her sophisticated composure.

  ‘No offence intended.’

  ‘None taken.’ Holly’s spiky tone matched her sister’s in the insincerity stakes.

  ‘You took me by surprise, that’s all. I think it’s marvellous.’

  Overcompensating, Holly decided stubbornly, unconvinced by Rowena’s attempts at reconciliation.

  ‘Tell me all about it…How did you two…?’ Holly knew Rowena didn’t have a coy bone in her body, but to see her looking up at Niall you’d never have guessed it.

  Despite her slick recovery, Holly instinctively knew Rowena minded. The question was, how much did she mind and what was she going to do about it? Holly looked worriedly at her sister, all stylish blonde hair and long, long legs covered in soft supple leather. The sliver of flat tanned midriff gave a glimpse of the perfection of her celestial body. If Rowena decided to retrieve her property, what chance would Holly have?

  Deep down she knew, and was guiltily distressed by the knowledge, that she was behaving and thinking like a jealous witch. She’d been in Rowena’s shadow all her life but never until this moment had she felt so bitterly resentful of the fact—not even in her angst-ridden teens!

  It wasn’t Rowena’s fault she was beautiful and desirable and it wasn’t her fault loving Niall was making Holly feel more vulnerable than ever before in her life. If he loved me back, things would be very different, Holly acknowledged, feeling the bleak taut band across her chest tighten.

  ‘You know me…I’ve always been a tad territorial,’ Rowena was confessing with attractive self-mockery to Niall.

  Perhaps I am being paranoid, Holly thought, watching Niall respond warmly to her sister’s friendly overtures. There is such a thing as platonic friendship, although in my experience men found it a lot easier to be platonic with women who look like me rather than women who looked like Rowena!

  ‘I come back expecting to find everything the way I left it and bam! My flat, my sister, my best friend…! I’m dizzy! I’ve heard of while the cat is away, but this…’

  ‘You’ve still got your sister.’ Niall looked in her direction and Holly forced her stiff lips into a suitably harmonious grin. ‘And your flat, and I’m definitely still your best friend.’

  Call me old-fashioned and idealistic, Holly thought, still smiling like an idiot on the outside but feeling bleakly disillusioned inside, but wouldn’t it be nice if your lover was your best friend?

  With misty eyes, Rowena looked even more beautiful. ‘Why, thank you, darling,’ she said huskily, letting her fingers trail over his lean cheek. Holly swallowed and resisted the strong desire to slap her sister’s hand away. Holly closed her eyes, willing the feeling to pass; she knew his cheek, even though he looked freshly shaven, would have that slightly abrasive quality she loved.

  ‘Let me make dinner for you both and we can catch up.’

  ‘It looks to me like you already were,’ Niall remarked drily, glancing towards the kitchen.

  ‘I’m a lousy cook,’ Holly said as the sinking sensation in her stomach hit rock bottom. ‘Rowena arrived just as I was about to throw in the spoon and suggest we eat out.’

  Niall seemed deaf to the silent pleas she was broadcasting. Perhaps, she pondered resentfully, he actually wanted to spend a cosy night in with Rowena. He sure as hell wasn’t doing much to stop things heading in that direction!

  ‘Then isn’t it lucky I arrived when I did?’ Rowena started swishing around the kitchen area with teeth-clenching efficiency.

  It was bad enough Rowena had been given double portions in the brains and beauty department; to make h
er a great cook too was adding insult to injury! Things couldn’t get much worse, Holly thought, left with no alternative but to grin and bear it—predictably, they did! The evening was a nightmare!

  Rowena probably didn’t mean to exclude her from the conversation by introducing topics and people Holly didn’t know—but then again, with Rowena, who seemed to be in dazzling form, if a bit brittle tonight, you never could tell. As the night wore on, Holly said less and less and her sister—and, more importantly, her lover—after a couple of feeble efforts to include her in the conversation, didn’t seem to care less.

  ‘You seemed a bit preoccupied tonight, Holly.’ Niall had one hand braced on the wall beside the lift.

  I’m surprised you noticed, Holly thought, as her simmering resentment began to boil.

  ‘Did I? The lift’s arrived.’ She gestured coldly towards the closed door of the lift, which had swished obediently up to the top floor.

  ‘I was being polite, actually. It looked as if you were sulking.’

  She spun around, an expression of indignant outrage on her face. ‘Sulking?’

  ‘You acted deaf every time Rowena spoke to you.’

  Niall couldn’t recall having a more frustrating evening in his entire life and Holly had taken it into her head to go out of her way to make it even worse! Didn’t she realise he’d had a hard time himself trying to act normal—and he’d made a pretty pitiful job of that—when all he’d actually wanted to do was strip off that sexy little black outfit and make love to her? He still wanted her now, after she’d displayed all the seductive qualities of a spoilt brat!

  And not listening to Rowena was the height of bad taste, Holly thought belligerently. The slug of brandy she’d recklessly swigged back after dinner still glowed in her belly; it made her courageous and slightly reckless.

  ‘Nobody could accuse you of not listening to her.’

  ‘No…?’ Voice smooth as silk, Niall’s eyes had narrowed on her averted face.