Saving Katy Gray (When Paths Meet Book 3)

by Sheila Claydon

  Allowing her fingers to remain in his she nodded. “I’d like that as long as you don’t expect too much from me. I’m not used to enjoying myself…not how you mean anyway, and I can’t remember the last time I had a picnic. In fact I’m not sure I’ve ever had one except in the garden at home.”

  Reaching for the bottle of wine he topped up her glass without allowing his disbelief to show on his face. “In that case your education is about to begin, and for the record, I’m not expecting anything Katy.”

  It wasn’t entirely true of course, not here, alone with her, and miles from another living soul, but it was what she needed to hear. Until now he hadn’t considered what being alone with him meant to Katy. His past history of easy sexual conquests hadn’t prepared him for her naivety and inexperience, and the fact that she trusted him so implicitly was suddenly a burden. Glancing across at her his heart flipped. She looked so unbelievably lovely now she’d ditched her silly spectacles and let her hair curl the way it wanted to, that the thought of having to restrain himself was a physical pain. With an effort he shrugged it away and reached for the hamper.

  “Right, let’s see what delights Connie has packed for us.”

  * * *

  Full of chicken pie and salad, and with peach juice dripping from her chin, Katy laughed as Emlyn leaned across and dabbed her face with one of the napkins Connie had thoughtfully included. “I didn’t realize lunch was going to be such a messy business. If I had I’d have worn jeans and a T-shirt.”

  Pausing in his ministrations he let his gaze roam over her. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

  Blushing, she seized the napkin and finished wiping her face herself. He waited until she’d finished and then retrieved it. As he turned away to repack the hamper he carried on talking. “I meant what I said earlier Katy. I’m not expecting anything but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to pretend to be someone I’m not. I kissed you once when I shouldn’t have done and I’d like to do it again, but this time it won’t be until you want me to.”

  When she didn’t answer he twisted around to look at her. She was gazing at the river, her profile, with its short straight nose and full lips in stark relief against the blue sky. He was still staring at her when she turned to look at him and if the expression in her eyes made his heart slow then her words made it stop altogether.

  “I do want you to kiss me,” she said.”

  With something like a groan he stood up and, holding out his hand, pulled her to her feet, because kissing her was one thing, lying full length on a rug with her was entirely another. Surprised, she lifted her face to his.

  “We’re taking this slowly because you have no idea how much of a temptation you are. No idea at all,” he murmured as he captured her lips

  It didn’t take Katy long to learn what he meant though and soon after that she stopped thinking at all as a week of pent up passion exploded between them.

  * * *

  “So has the picnic lived up to your expectations?” Emlyn teased as they strolled hand in hand along the riverbank.

  The expression on Katy’s face was a delight. It was a long time since he’d seen a woman blush, and so prettily. He hadn’t realized, either, how lonely he’d become until Katy had captured his heart and shown him how little his previous dalliances had meant. Pulling her to a halt he put his hands on her waist and lifted her onto a fallen tree trunk so their faces were level.

  “You do know that I’m falling in love with you, don’t you?”

  She nodded, her eyes solemn.

  “You know, too, how difficult it’s going to be…loving one another while you’re caring for my mother. People will get the wrong idea. They’ll think I’m taking advantage of you and I can’t say I blame them. ”

  Tilting her head back so that she could look at him, she frowned. “You mean your mother?”

  “No, not my mother. She’s too consumed by her own confusion to worry about you and me. As long as we are there for her when she needs us she’ll be fine.”

  “Who then? Mrs. Tomlins, Izzie, Jack?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. Especially Jack because he knows too much about my past girlfriends to trust me with an innocent.”

  She scowled at him. “I’m not an innocent. How can I be when I’ve…when we’ve just…”

  He chuckled despite himself. “See what I mean, you can’t even say it.”

  Her scowl darkened. “Don’t cheapen what just happened Emlyn. I kissed you because I wanted to and I thought you felt the same. I didn’t know you were going to joke about it.”

  Instantly contrite, he tried to pull her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just trying to explain what your life will be like if anyone in the village finds out about us.”

  Resisting him, she shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why should anyone in Corley care?”

  With a sigh he leaned against the tree trunk. “That’s the thing. They won’t care about the things that matter such as your feelings or your reputation, they’ll just gossip about you…about us…and it will be my fault, all of it. You see it’s not just Jack who knows about my past girlfriends, it’s everyone in Corley who has ever seen me driving through the village.”

  Ignoring the knot that his words formed in her heart, Katy shrugged. “So you’ve had a girlfriend. That’s hardly news. You’re a man of the world, Emlyn, so I would be more surprised if you hadn’t.”

  “Not a girlfriend, Katy, girlfriends; lots of them. And I brought every single one home to Corley.”

  “So people will think I’m just another notch on your belt, will they…someone you’re going to dally with until you can get back to your life in London.”

  For the second time that day he winced at her words even as he acknowledged their truth. “Pretty much. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is, and I would have told you before except that I didn’t think you’d kiss me at all if you knew about my reputation.”

  To his relief she laughed. “From the moment you kissed me at Corley Hall I was beyond thinking about your reputation, or mine for that matter. It was then that I learned that falling in love doesn’t work like that. It’s not a negotiation, it just happens.”

  She didn’t resist him the second time he put his arms around her. Holding her close he stared at the river. Nothing stopped it, not the tangles of weed at the riverbank or the logs that floated with the current; not even the scatter of rocks or the small island of trees further downstream. It just kept flowing down to the sea. With a wry smile he recognized his own situation in its inexorable journey. His mother was going to carry on deteriorating, his father was going to keep well away from Corley, his own career was going to continue to stall, and somewhere in the middle of it all Katy was going to be the rock he clung to when things became even tougher than they were now. With a twinge of guilt he knew he should stop what was starting between them before she became part of the collateral damage.

  As if she sensed his thoughts Katy shifted in his arms until she could see his face and then she kissed him. When they finally drew apart his breathing was ragged and her eyes were full of a longing that until now she hadn’t quite acknowledged.

  “I should send you away,” he said. “You’ve problems enough of your own without taking on mine.”

  The dimple at the corner of her mouth beckoned provocatively. “Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this together for however long it takes, so you may as well just get used to it.”

  He chuckled despite himself. “Are you always so bossy?”

  “Always,” she told him firmly as she wriggled free from his arms and slid off the tree trunk. “I’m a stickler for time-keeping too, which means we have to collect the picnic things and drive back to Corley because I promised Mrs. Tomlins I’d be home by five o’clock.”

  With a sigh he followed her back to where they’d left the blanket, not quite able to believe that he’d foregone the opportunity it offered and had, instead, taken Katy f
or a walk along the riverbank. As she folded it up she gave him a mischievous smile.

  “I suppose you’re regretting your missed opportunity?”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Not really. You’ve been the perfect gentleman,” her voice was muffled as she bent down to fasten the picnic hamper but nevertheless he detected an edge of disappointment. With a smothered exclamation he reached for her.

  “Don’t be in any doubt that today took more willpower than I’m likely to have in the future but it was never about taking you to a lonely spot to seduce you Katy. It was about giving us a chance to get to know one another away from Corley and all the things we’ve been dealing with so far.”

  “I know.”

  Hearing the hesitation in her voice, he tilted her chin so that he could look at her. “But…?”

  “But one day is enough.” Reaching up she slid her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her, and as her lips claimed his the whisper of her words added to the tumult of his heart.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When they arrived home, sun-soaked and happy, and looking forward to spending some of the evening together, a red sports car was parked outside Oak Lodge. Leaning against it was a girl dressed in artfully ripped jeans and a designer T-shirt that clung to her like a second skin. She approached the car as soon as it stopped behind hers and kissed Emlyn on both cheeks the moment he stepped out of the driver’s door.

  “Hello darling. The woman who is looking after your mother said you’d be back soon. She offered to make me a cup of tea but I said I’d wait out here instead because I wanted a ciggie, and I know how you hate for me to smoke in the house.”

  “Lucy! I thought you were in Italy.”

  “I was, but I was bored, so I told my agent that my grandmother was ill and then acted so upset she was forced to ask Marcello to take all my shots first, so I could fly home.”

  “And is she ill?”

  “What, my grandmother? Don’t be silly darling, of course she isn’t. She’s at her house in the south of France with her latest toy boy, if you can call someone in his sixties a toy boy.”

  Then, before he could answer, she stood on tiptoe, slid her arms around his neck, and gave him another, far more intimate kiss on the lips. Jerking his head back he frowned at her. “If that was for old time’s sake Lucy, then don’t bother. I’ve moved on since you left Corley and I’m sure you have too.”

  With her arms still around his neck she shook her head. “That’s where you’re wrong Emlyn darling. I haven’t moved on at all, and neither have you.”

  If Katy had waited she would have seen Emlyn untwine the girl from his neck and move away from her. She didn’t though. Instead she grabbed her bag, fumbled the passenger door open and almost fell into the road in her haste to get away. Too late to stop her, Emlyn called her name as she ran towards the cottage. She responded with a dismissive wave of her hand.

  “Thanks for the lift. I’ll tell your mother you won’t be eating with her after all.”

  Although Emlyn called her again his voice was a background rumble against the words that followed her up the path in a clear, cut-glass accent, words that cut her to the quick.

  “Is that your latest Girl Friday darling? You do get through them don’t you? What happened to the red head? Did you turn her down? Not that I’m sorry she’s gone because, silly as it sounds, I was just a teensy bit jealous of her. With her endless legs and pale skin she could have been a model herself. And her hair was fabulous. It wasn’t dyed you know, because I asked her. No, this one looks much more suitable. Short and dumpy and sensible…is she sensible darling or has she got a crush on you, like all the others?"

  * * *

  By the time Emlyn tapped on the front door, Katy, who had changed back into her regulation navy blue slacks and matching polo shirt and twisted her hair up into a tight knot, was chopping vegetables at the kitchen counter. Leaving Mrs. Tomlins to let him in, she hurried out into the garden in search of his mother and found her in the greenhouse watering the tomatoes.

  “I need some mint,” she told her. “And some parsley. Will you show me where it is and help me pick it?”

  Emlyn watched them from the kitchen window as Mrs. Tomlins told him how much his mother had enjoyed the flower show, and how kind it was of Katy to invite her to eat with them. Then she asked him about Lucy.

  “I did invite her in you know, but she said she’d rather wait outside. She’s the girl who used to come down to Corley last year isn’t she? The one who’s a model, or have I got it wrong, is she an actress?”

  “No, she’s a model, but I think she’s wasting her talents. Acting is much more her style. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll go and ask mother about the flower show.”

  * * *

  Wondering how best to explain himself, he walked across the lawn to where Katy and his mother were cutting herbs. “It’s not what you think.”

  “I don’t think anything,” she kept her head down, refusing to meet his gaze.

  “Katy, look at me dammit! What do I have to do to make you believe me? I’m not trying to pretend that Lucy wasn’t once part of my life but she isn’t now and she hasn’t been for a long time. I had no idea she was going to come down to Corley to see me, and if I had known I’d have told her not to bother.”

  Straightening up she stared at him without wavering. “From where I was sitting you seemed pretty pleased to see her, or is that how you greet all your ex-girlfriends except the short, dumpy ones?”

  “Now you’re being ridiculous. Lucy wanted you to hear that because she’s a bitch, not because she meant it. She’s a very successful model who has suddenly noticed there are a lot of younger girls lining up behind her to take her place, so anyone who is as pretty as you is a threat.”

  Her hands full of leaves, Katy brushed past him. “Well you’d better put her mind at rest hadn’t you…after all why would someone as sensible as she obviously thinks I am ever contemplate having a relationship with her boss.”

  With a hiss of frustration he gripped her arm. “Stop it. Sarcasm doesn’t suit you and nor does that horrible scraped back hairstyle. Stop pretending to be someone you’re not and listen to me.”

  “Let go of my arm,” her voice was as icy as the expression in her eyes.

  Flushing slightly, he did as she asked, and then watched her walk away from him, her head held high. Accepting that for the time being at least, he was beaten, he made for the garden gate. Unable to stop herself, Katy turned towards him when she heard the click of the latch. As they looked at one another he delivered his parting shot.

  “I meant every word I said to you today Katy Gray and sooner or later I’m going to make you believe it.”

  * * *

  Emlyn didn’t think for one moment that Lucy was in Corley because she’d suddenly had second thoughts about their relationship. He knew her too well. She only ever did anything if there was something in it for Lucy and, lovely as she was to look at, he could no longer remember why he’d ever gone out with her. With a grim smile he realized that, thanks to his mother’s illness and his father’s uncharacteristic defection, he had at least escaped from the worst of his city friends. Deciding that the quickest way to get rid of her was to find somewhere quiet where they could talk, he ushered her into The Corley Arms and pointed to a table in the corner of the room.

  “Sit over there while I get the drinks. Is it still campari or are you sticking to non-alcoholic because of driving home?”

  Ignoring the table she followed him to the bar. “To hell with the campari. Order some champagne darling, so that we can celebrate, because I’m not going anywhere.”

  Remembering the bitter recriminations of their last argument he wondered why she thought it was okay to drop back into his life as if nothing had happened. Something in his expression dented her confidence for the briefest moment before she bounced back.

  “Actually I’ve just had a much better idea. I’ll have a campari now, then we’
ll eat, and we’ll buy some champagne for later. We can take it back to your mother’s house with us and celebrate the way we used to. I’m sure she’ll be fast asleep in bed by then and if she isn’t, well we can wait can’t we darling, because anticipation always added to the thrill didn’t it?”

  Tony, who was busying himself at the other end of the bar in a futile attempt to avoid listening to their conversation, hurried forward to serve them when he saw the black scowl on his friend’s face. Something was going on that was about to turn ugly if he didn’t intervene.

  “I suppose it’s the usual pint for you,” he started filling the glass without waiting for Emlyn to answer. Then he turned to the girl.

  “I’ll have a campari and soda as it’s obviously what’s expected of me,” she said without a smile, and making no attempt to acknowledge that they had met the previous year when she’d visited the pub with Emlyn.

  Mixing one without comment, he placed it in front of her and then moved away to serve another customer. Emlyn could pay him later when he was in a better mood.

  * * *

  “I’d forgotten how bad the service is in these two-bit country pubs,” Lucy said as she clicked her fingers at a waitress who was collecting empty plates from a nearby table.

  Emlyn, who had been controlling his temper with a great deal of difficulty ever since he’d given in about the meal, suddenly snapped. “If you find it so impossible then maybe you should just turn around and drive back to the city. I didn’t ask you here Lucy and I don’t want you here, especially if you’re going to insult my friends.”

  “Friends? Oh, you mean the barman. Actually he’s not bad for such an out of the way place. He not only mixes a mean campari and soda, he looks quite good too. More rural beefcake than country bumpkin!”