“Thanks for inviting us,” Will said in return, his blank expression giving nothing away. The guy was a nightmare to read.
“Is it just you and Ellie here at the moment?” Penny asked, looking around at the sweeping staircase and the grand high ceilings.
“Yes. Gareth and Ali are coming for lunch tomorrow and I find myself between unsuitable girlfriends at the moment.” He glanced over at Ellie and gave her a slow, teasing grin.
A warm flush of arousal burned in her belly and crept its way through her body. She flashed him a warning with her eyes and glanced at Penny, who mercifully hadn’t noticed the exchange.
“Sorry we’re a day late. We, uh, couldn’t get out of our other arrangement.” Penny’s eyes dipped to the floor as she said this and Ellie wondered why she suddenly looked so uncomfortable. Was she lying? She knew Penny well enough to recognize that her body language screamed “awkward” and it worried her.
Will had turned away from them, too and was staring out of one of the floor-length windows, apparently fascinated by the view of the driveway.
“It must be nice to be so popular, Will,” Ellie said and saw him stiffen in response, “I hope you’re not going to make us fight for Penny’s attention when you’re married.” She kept her tone light, but he obviously felt the sting behind her words because he turned his dark gaze on her and looked at her coldly.
The atmosphere seemed to drop a couple of degrees and everyone stood there like dummies until Gideon had the wherewithal to break the silence.
“Okay, so, let me show you where you’re sleeping and you can freshen up if you like before dinner.”
“Thanks, Gideon,” Penny said, giving him a nervous smile.
“I’ll take the bags up,” Will said, his voice rough with tension. “You stay here and talk to your friend.” The emphasis on his last word left Ellie in no doubt that Will was having as much of an issue with her as she was with him. She guessed Penny must have said something to him about her accusations of gold-digging, and he was holding a grudge about it.
Well, good. Perhaps if he were already on edge, he’d be more likely to break under questioning and give Penny an insight into his true intentions.
Will went to grab the bags and followed Gideon up the stairs, answering his question about the drive over with a curt reply.
When Ellie turned back to Penny, she was disturbed to see a confused frown on her face.
“You all right, Pen? You seem a bit flustered.”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Fine.” Her friend turned to give her a weak smile, pushing her fringe away from her face.
“You sure?”
“Yes, yes … it’s just Gideon making me feel like a gawky teenager.”
Ellie tried to ignore the strange feeling of possessiveness that twisted in her gut. “He still has that effect on you?” She gave Penny a quizzical look, unsure whether her friend was deliberately misleading the conversation so she didn’t have to admit something about Will.
“Yeah. He’s one of those people, isn’t he? You’re so aware of him in the room you can practically taste him. You know what I mean?”
“Hmm.” She tried not to think about that and motioned for her friend to follow her into the sitting room. Plonking herself onto a sofa, she patted the seat next to her. Penny sat down where she was shown.
“I can’t believe he can still do that to me, after all this time,” she said distractedly, surveying the grand room.
“Yeah.” Ellie took a deep breath. “Does Will make you feel like that?”
Penny gave a small start at the abrupt change in focus. “Will? Um … yes. Yes, he does.”
Ellie smiled uncertainly at her friend and Penny smiled back, her gaze not quite meeting Ellie’s.
“You don’t sound very sure, Pen.”
Penny looked directly at her now, her expression cold and wary. “I don’t get it, Ellie. I don’t see or hear from you for months, you don’t return my calls, and never turn up to the things I invite you to; then you suddenly appear out of the blue and start accusing my new fiancé — whom you’ve never bothered to meet — of being a money-grabbing leech.”
Ellie realized she’d pushed things too far too soon and held her hands up in apology. “Pen, what can I say? I’m an idiot. I know I’ve been incommunicado. I needed some time to sort my head out. I’m sorry. I’ve been neglecting you. It’s just the way you talked about him, it made me wary.”
“Wary? Why?”
“I don’t know, you sounded a bit … strained … ” She petered out, not knowing how to broach her fears without getting her friend’s back up again.
Penny nodded slowly, still not quite meeting her gaze. “I’m sorry if I was a bit weird. I felt guilty being so happy when you were going through all that crap after Paul left. I was afraid you’d think I was rubbing my happiness in your face.”
Guilt made her stomach contract painfully. “God Penny, I’m sorry.” She put a hand on her friend’s knee, trying to communicate how bad she felt. At the time it hadn’t occurred to her how much her disappearance from her friend’s life would affect Penny. She’d only thought about herself and her own misery.
Penny put her hand over Ellie’s where it rested on her knee. “Will … gets me, you know? I know he seems sort of closed off, but he’s kind and intriguing and smart, and I’m crazy about him.” Her face became alive with pleasure and Ellie felt a flush of something akin to shame, but she fought against it. She still didn’t trust the guy, but she couldn’t let on to Penny in case she said something to him and gave him the upper hand.
“I’m really sorry, Penny. I never should have said that stuff about Will. You love him and that’s all that matters.”
Her best friend stared at her suspiciously, unsure whether to believe the apology.
But after a few moments her expression softened and Ellie felt the tension she’d been storing up since they’d arrived begin to drain away. They’d known each other since they were five and couldn’t stay upset with each other for long.
“Look, I know it all seems a bit sudden, but he’s really great, Ellie, and he genuinely cares about me.”
Ellie tried for a convinced smile. “I’m sure he does. You’re right; I haven’t given him a fair chance. He must be great if you like him.”
“Love him.”
“Love him. Yes.”
“Ellie, you don’t need to worry about me, I can look after myself.”
“Sure you can. Just like I can.”
The two friends smiled at each other.
“It’s great to see you out and about; I’d almost given up on you seeing the light of day.”
Ellie snorted. “That’s what Gideon said.”
“So are you two getting on okay? You always seem to rub each other up the wrong way whenever you’re together.”
Her heart picked up its pace at the thought of him. “We’ve done a bit of rubbing,” she couldn’t resist saying, staring down at her hands, desperately trying to control the mischievous grin that threatened to break out on her face, “but we’re getting on fine.”
When she looked back to check that she hadn’t given herself away, Penny was staring around the room again with a far-away look in her eyes. “It’s great to finally see his amazing house. Whenever he talked about it he made it sound so intriguing.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think he’s got great memories from when he lived here with his grandparents,” she said, grateful for the change in subject.
“I’m not surprised. They sounded pretty fierce.”
“Yeah, controlling, too, if his sister’s need to disappear is anything to go by,” Ellie said, remembering the lack of emotion he’d displayed during their conversation about Harriet’s abandoning him. The memory made her uneasy.
“It’s a wonder he’s as sane as he is considering what he’s had to deal with,” Penny said, giving a small smile.
“Oh, I don’t know, I think he’s probably suppressing some insane control-freak urges under that glossy veneer,�
�� she retorted, wiggling an eyebrow at Penny and delighting in her giggling response.
Ellie reached over and hugged her friend close to her. “I so glad you’re here.”
“Me, too,” Penny said, hugging her back fiercely.
It felt so good to be laughing with her friend again. She finally pulled back to run her hands over her tired face. “You know I haven’t been away since I was cruelly dumped for an über-fertile bimbo.”
“Oh, Ellie,” Penny said, giving her a sad frown. “You’re so much better off without Paul. What a piece of work.”
“Yeah, well. At least I don’t have to put up with his snoring and his cheesy feet anymore — that’s her problem now. Serves her right, the thieving cow.” She flashed a forced grin.
Penny raised an amused eyebrow. “Ah, the next stage. Anger.”
“Yeah, feels good.”
For a moment, it felt like it could have been ten years ago when they were both single and meant everything to each other.
“Listen, do you mind if I go and find Will? I could do with a shower before dinner,” Penny said suddenly.
The mention of his name jolted Ellie out of her cozy reminiscing. “Sure, go ahead,” she said, waving her friend away, attempting to appear casual and unconcerned. She watched Penny walk away and yearned to drag her back and hold her tight so she couldn’t be corrupted by a man she seemed to love and trust implicitly, even though they’d only just met.
Something still didn’t feel right about it. Will’s possessiveness and Penny’s anxious defense of him made her as nervous as hell.
• • •
Gideon made Thai green curry for supper. The spicy-sweet aroma filled the kitchen while Ellie, Penny, and Will sat around chatting. At least Ellie and Penny did; Will hardly uttered a word unless directly addressed.
Ellie had to make a concerted effort not to keep staring over at Gideon as he moved around the kitchen with his panther-like grace. She kept having flashbacks to their sex marathon, and it was all she could do to keep her body relaxed and her mind on the conversation. She needed to concentrate now, if she was going to find out Will’s game.
To her surprise, Penny kept giving Will hurt little glances across the table, and it seemed like every time she took a small sip of her drink, he would glare over at her as if he believed she was deliberately trying to get drunk and would make a fool of herself and maybe him, too. Had they had a row? Perhaps things weren’t quite as rosy as Penny had made out. If she was smart about it, a little bit of gentle prodding might yield some answers.
“So, Will, what do you do for a living?” she asked, turning her gaze directly on him, keeping her expression as innocent as possible.
Penny shuffled uncomfortably next to her. “Will’s between jobs at the moment, Ellie, I told you that.” Her expression pleaded with Ellie to shut up and she almost cracked under the pressure to placate her friend.
“So what’s your next move, Will? How are you going to keep my best friend in the manner she deserves?” she plowed on, determined to get some sort of answer out of him.
He looked directly at her this time, his cold gaze steady and searching. “I’m going to work something out after the wedding.” His voice was level but held a hint of anger.
“Right,” Ellie replied, determined not to be put off by his abruptness. “It’s a good thing Penny’s so generous with her money. Weddings are pretty expensive, I hear.”
There was a stunned silence around the table as her words sunk in. Ellie turned to see Penny blinking rapidly before looking away, while Will just frowned down at the table.
Gideon broke the tense atmosphere by clearing his throat and announcing that dinner was ready.
They ate in silence to begin with, Penny throwing Ellie the odd, hurt glance but unable to give her the telling-off she so clearly thought she deserved.
Luckily Gideon stepped in at this point, asking Penny about their plans for the wedding and the two of them kept up a steady stream of chatter until they’d all finished eating.
Ellie kept giving Will surreptitious glances, trying to gauge his reaction to the wedding talk, but his face remained blank.
“Right,” Gideon said, tapping both palms onto the table, “You two go and relax in the sitting room,” he nodded toward Penny and Will. “Ellie and I will clean up in here.”
Penny gave him a grateful grin. “Thanks, Gideon, that was delicious.”
“You’re very welcome,” he replied, smiling at her. “Here,” he said passing her the wine, “take the bottle with you. We’ll be up with the coffee in a few minutes.”
Will reached over and grabbed the wine, almost knocking Penny’s hand away in his haste.
Ellie stayed where she was at the table and watched them go, annoyance surging through her body at how controlling Will was.
The moment they were out of the door, Gideon put one hand on the back of her chair and leaned down, looking her directly in the eye.
“Subtle Ellie, very subtle. Why didn’t you just tell him outright you hate his guts? It would save us having to continue with this ridiculous charade.”
Ellie scowled at him. “He deserved it. He’s barely uttered a word since they arrived — how rude is that? He obviously thinks he’s better than the rest of us.”
Gideon raised a thoughtful eyebrow. “Maybe. There’s definitely something weird going on.” He moved away from her, grabbing a couple of plates from the table and dumping them by the dishwasher. “You stack, I want to watch your ass as you bend down.”
Ellie’s body flooded with heat. “That’s nice, Gideon, very gentlemanly.”
He gave her his foxy grin and came back to the table for more plates. “Remember, I’m not finished with you yet,” he said, his voice deep and guttural as he stood above her. “Not even close.”
Her breathing quickened as she imagined exactly what he was going to do to her once the other two retired to bed.
“Just in case you’re wondering,” he leant down until their faces were level and only inches apart, “I’m going to fuck you ’til you’re sore,” he said with a wicked glimmer in his eye.
Holy hell, if she’d thought she was turned on before, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. Did he behave this way with all his girlfriends? On second thoughts, she didn’t want to know. It was important for her to believe that this was something special between them that no one else had experienced — otherwise she’d drive herself insane with jealousy.
Wait, not jealousy, she checked herself. More like disgust at his crassness.
Looking up at him, she rubbed her tongue along her lip and bit down gently on it before raising an eyebrow in challenge.
Gideon groaned at her expression and moved forward quickly to kiss her, knocking her teeth off her lip before gently biting down on it with his own. The bite turned into a suck and he drew her bottom lip into his mouth before releasing it and turning away.
Ellie sat there for a moment, dazed, before getting up to stack the dishwasher while Gideon made the coffee. They didn’t speak again but Ellie was acutely aware of every move he made.
“Okay, gorgeous,” Gideon said finally picking up a tray laden down with a cafetiere, cups, and cream. “Let’s go.”
Ellie followed him out of the kitchen and into the sitting room where Penny and Will were talking quietly together. They stopped speaking abruptly as she and Gideon walked up to them, and Ellie wondered if they’d been arguing.
Maybe he was beginning to crack under the pressure and Penny was getting a good look at what a loser he really was.
She hoped so.
“So, Will, where are you and Penny going to live after you’re married?” Ellie asked as she flopped down onto the sofa opposite them while Gideon put the tray on the coffee table between them.
Will stood up suddenly, making them all jump in surprise. “I’m sorry, Gideon, I have to go to bed. I’m not feeling good,” he said, rubbing an agitated hand back and forth over his closely cropped hair.
“Sure mate, no problem. Hope it wasn’t my cooking that did it,” Gideon replied, turning to flash Ellie a surprised frown.
Will’s face broke out into the first rueful grin of the day. “No, dinner was great, thanks.” He nodded to them all before turning to leave.
They all watched him walk out in silence.
“I … think I might go up too,” Penny said once he’d gone. Her voice shook slightly and Ellie put out a hand toward her.
“Are you sure you don’t want a coffee first, Pen?” she asked, not wanting her friend to leave so soon. This would be the perfect opportunity to work on her some more about Will’s unsuitability.
“No thanks,” she said in a small voice before giving them a feeble smile and hurrying after her fiancé.
Ellie’s eyes welled with tears in empathy for her friend.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Gideon said, as he took in her weakened state.
“It’s for the best, Gideon,” she said defiantly, batting his statement away with her hand. She wouldn’t let it affect her. She couldn’t if she was going to help her friend. She knew what it was like to be in the grip of a controlling boyfriend and she wasn’t going to let it happen to Penny too. “We have to be hard,” she said.
“Hmm.” He sat next to her and gave her a seductive look, reaching his hand out to walk his fingers slowly up her inner thigh. “Speaking of which, I guess every cloud has a silver lining. You really turn me on when you’re making mischief.” The corner of his mouth twitched up and a shiver of awareness made the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention.
“Alone again,” he said quietly.
“So we are,” she said, her voice shaking with the sudden onslaught of lust. How quickly she could switch from upset to exquisitely turned on when Gideon was around. She forced the thought of Penny out of her mind, and concentrated instead on the slow burn of arousal that licked between her legs.
“Shut the door,” Gideon said with a wicked gleam in his eye.
She frowned at him. “You do it. You’re closer.”
Gideon raised an eyebrow at her retort. “I made dinner, and the coffee. It’s your turn to do something useful.”
Her New Worst Enemy Page 9