by June Hopkins
Mollie sighs, “Christ Jack, is that all? Don’t worry my lips are sealed although I am slightly miffed. Mum and Lou would go mental over that little titbit.”
“I know, I’m sorry to ask but you see how it is on the TV, and believe me it’s no exaggeration. I was seeing someone once, who shall remain nameless. The paps got hold of it and no word of a lie, they stalked me for weeks. It drove me mad; they went through my bins and everything. We split up because of it, which is a shame 'cause I actually quite liked her. Megan had it bad when she first started seeing Johnny. It’s calmed down a lot now, but it’s still annoying. Anyway, I hope you don’t mind me saying.”
Mollie laughs at him, “You are such a dork. No I don’t mind; I can see where you’re coming from and I’ll keep quiet. Now get on with the story,” she demands impatiently.
Jack smiles a wide sexy smile, relieved she isn’t pissed off with him. He gets into his stride and continues.
“OK, well as I say they’ve been seeing each other for about eight months, although to be fair they don’t get together that often. Serena’s just finished one film and is now starting on another. I bet if I actually added it up they have possibly only seen each other once a month since they met if that, and then only for a few days at a time. Though if you listened to Serena, they’re getting married and having kids imminently. It’s safe to say that she’s an awful lot keener than Kieran is.
Mollie feels her heart skip slightly at this revelation and she swiftly kicks herself for being an idiot.
“So when you say ‘not keen’..?” she asks and is annoyed at herself for the tinge of hopefulness in her voice.
Jack eyes her steadily, “Oh dear, so I was right. You do like Kieran then?”
Mollie feels the heat rise in her face. Flustered, she gulps at her lager to give her the opportunity to look away from him. Jack just watches her as she blushes and avoids eye contact.
He feels slightly annoyed that she appears to like Kieran, even though he’s lied to her about Serena. What’s the matter with her? Kieran isn’t going to dump Serena. He hasn’t got the bollocks.
Jack thought after last night that he and Mollie were going to get things on again. He had been thinking about it all day. He hadn’t counted on her still mooning after Kieran, though. Jack is used to women being all over him and it irks him slightly that Mollie doesn’t seem to be interested. Yet from the way she had kissed him back last night, she clearly still fancies him. Jack conveniently ignores the fact that she was ridiculously drunk.
No, she fancies him. She’s just playing hard to get isn’t she? Jack frowns as he tries to figure it out. She probably doesn’t trust men at the moment which is hardly surprising. It’s probably safer to like someone who you can’t have. Jack feels happier that he has figured out the reason. Mollie is gorgeous, fun, kind and, if memory served, not bad in the sack either. Jack decides he is going to get Mollie back, but he just needs to be a little patient.
Mollie has controlled herself and changes the subject. She doesn’t like the look in Jack’s eye... he’s up to something.
“Anyway Jack, I want to know every last detail of the Oscars! Who did you meet? Who are your friends? I want name dropping, and lots of it. If I have to sign the Official Secrets Act, then you can make it worth my while. So start dishing the dirt,” she demands.
Jack laughs at her enthusiasm. He’s used to hanging out with the rich and famous now, but can still remember the feelings of being completely awestruck in the early days. He finds himself flustered even now if he’s introduced to an amazing celebrity. Jack wants to change the subject as well and so he happily regales Mollie with his many tales.
As soon as Mollie and Jack had left the Hall, Serena ordered Kieran upstairs. With no credible reason to refuse he had led the way to his bedroom. He now lies on his back in the same bed Mollie had slept in. Serena is breathing softly, her perfect, naked form draped over him. He stares up at the ceiling feeling terribly guilty. Given the circumstances, and although reluctant to have sex, once in the bedroom and thanks to Serena’s erotic striptease, he had found himself indulging rather enthusiastically. He squeezes his eyes as she snuggles closer to him in her sleep. Most heterosexual men in the world would give their right testicle to be in his position. Why was it that in order to perform he had found himself fantasising that Serena was Mollie? That had definitely never happened to him before. He had just had amazing sex with a glorious woman whilst thinking of another one the entire time. He shakes his head in bewilderment.
Looking down at his chest and Serena’s dark head, he feels another stab of guilt. God, how would she react if she knew?
He also feels guilty about Mollie. He should have told her that he was in a relationship. He should have admitted it on the first night. Trouble was he couldn’t bring himself to put her off. He selfishly wanted to see if the chemistry really was mutual. After she had kissed him, in this very bed, and he was convinced that it was indeed mutual, he should have said something. He should never have pushed it and gone to the pub. That was tantamount to stalking, wasn’t it?
He couldn’t control his emotions that night and unfairly came on to her knowing that she liked him, and then he ran away. ‘Bloody coward,’ he thinks angrily as he clenches his fist.
Today, she had been amazing. What an enigma. She had been eloquent, knowledgeable and passionate about the estate and a million miles away from the giggling, drunken woman who sang on the karaoke and snogged him in the Gents’. Mollie is clearly a very intelligent woman, one who has many sides to her and he wants to get to know all of her but the chances of that happening now are remote at best. The look she had given him as she was shoved out of the study spoke volumes. She wasn’t going to want to speak to him any time soon.
Yet, there was a small flicker of hope. If he could get rid of Serena, would Mollie forgive him? She would if she liked him as much as he thought she did. Question was, how the hell was he going to be able to finish with Serena? And even if he pulled off such an impossible task, would Mollie be waiting?
Of course then there was Jack. What the hell had he been playing at, going all proprietorial over Mollie, making out that she was his girl? Where were they now? Was Jack making a play for her? Kieran wouldn’t put it past him, Jack had a tendency to want what he thought he couldn’t have. Jack wasn’t stupid - he knew that Kieran liked her and that Mollie liked him. He had pulled Kieran to one side in the pub when they were getting touchy-feely. Jack had hissed in his ear that he wasn’t playing fair with her and said that he should tell Mollie about Serena. Kieran, who had been pretty drunk at the time, had told Jack to “fuck off and mind his own business.”
Did Kieran even have a foothold on the moral high ground, given that she had been Jack’s girlfriend for three years? Not to mention the small issue of him already being in a relationship. He didn’t exactly have the right to tell Jack to back off. If Jack decided he wanted Mollie, Kieran wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Bloody Jack!
The other unexpected problem he now had was the estate and how he felt about it. When they had signed on the dotted line, his only designs on the place were to turn it into a luxury hotel. It had been business all the way, but now something had changed and although he hated to admit it, that something was Mollie. Earlier, her passion for the place, her amazing ideas, well they had captured his imagination. He was starting to see the old place through her eyes.
Yes, obviously still a business but perhaps, maybe, they could retain it as a family home? He knows his mother likes the old place and Jack and Megan quite probably don’t care either way.
Kieran can see himself as Lord of the Manor. He feels a weird urge to invest in Hunter wellies and a Barbour Jacket. He shifts uncomfortably in the bed and Serena stirs. Kieran lies very still as she settles back down, snuggling closer to him. He wants time to think and he can’t do that if she wakes up.
His business brain moves through the possibilities. They could have the best of both worlds and retain
the Hall as their home. After all, they don’t have a family home. Marylyn’s cold, clinical London townhouse is the venue for any gatherings, Christmas and the like. It isn’t ideal, the house holds no warmth. It has the look of an expensive show home and as much character.
Before their inheritance they had all lived on council estates and afterwards they had all bought various properties, none of which were inhabited that often. Perhaps the Hall could offer them a common meeting place; a home for family times; somewhere to spend Christmases together.
Was it possible? Could the old place pay for itself? It could if they were clever about it. With his ideas and Mollie’s, he believed that they could make it work.
A wide smile breaks across his face as his thoughts take root. He would offer up the ideas to the rest of them tomorrow and see if they agreed with him. If they did, well then he would have just the job for Mollie. She could manage the place for them, leaving them free to carry on with their other business. Yes, Mollie would be perfect for it. As he closes his eyes and allows himself to drift off to sleep, he congratulates himself on a brilliant plan.
After spending a few hours in Jack’s company and indulging in a three course meal, Mollie is feeling completely full and a lot happier when she pulls up in front of the Hall to drop off Jack.
She doesn’t switch off the engine and Jack glances over at her, “Can I interest you in a coffee?” he asks as he waggles his eyebrows suggestively.
Mollie laughs and swipes at him, “No thank you, I’ve just had one, remember? I’m absolutely stuffed and if I don’t take this skirt off soon it may explode.”
Jack waggles his eyebrows again, “I could help you with that. You could stay over.”
“What are you like, Jack Murphy? Honestly, do you really believe that I’m that cheap? A three course dinner in the Dog and Duck and you’re in my knickers!”
“Ah, come on Molls. I did buy you a coffee as well, which you have just pointed out. Don’t be so tight. Anyway, if your mum and dad hadn’t come back when they did last night, I reckon we would have been at it like rabbits,” he reminds her playfully.
“Don’t remind me. No, you had your chance years ago. What happened last night is not going to happen again. It’s safe to say that I’m not going to get that drunk again,” she informs him with an amused air.
Jack looks at her sulkily, “Bloody hell. Well in that case I’m going to have to up the ante if you won’t take me seriously.”
Mollie narrows her eyes at him suspiciously, “Jack, I do not want you to ‘up’ anything, do you hear me? You and I had our time; I don’t want to repeat it. Let’s just enjoy being friends again, OK?”
Jack gazes at her steadily, “I don’t believe you,” he states simply. “You don’t kiss someone like you did me last night unless there’s something there.” He puts his head on one side as he challenges her to argue. Mollie’s eyes widen.
“So, as I said I will have to try harder. I know you don’t trust me Molls but I really would like us to have another go. I miss you,” he tells her sincerely.
Mollie bursts out laughing, “Jack you are truly unbelievable! 'Miss me’! Don’t be ridiculous. You know as well as I do that you never gave me a second thought from the moment you walked away from me at the airport.”
Jack puts on his hurt face and opens his mouth to argue. Mollie puts her hand up to stop him speaking.
“No don’t. Stop being such a dick. I’m too old to fall for all that bollocks again. I kissed you back last night quite simply because I was wasted. That’s it. Quite frankly, you could have been anyone.” Mollie ignores his hurt face. “No Jack, I mean it. You and I are history. I don’t want you to try in any way shape or form, do you hear me?”
Jack just gazes at her forlornly for a few seconds and then his face changes as an idea pops into his head.
Mollie looks alarmed, “Jack, what’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Nothing for you to worry about Molls, honest. Anyway I’d better get in before that skirt explodes. He leans over and kisses Mollie’s startled face, then jumps breezily out of the car.
Mollie leans over to the passenger door, “Jack! I mean it Jack,” she says sternly as he closes the door. He completely ignores her and virtually skips away from the car as she calls his name.
Watching him bound up the front steps Mollie smacks the steering wheel in frustration. What the hell is he up to now? He’s like a bloody great kid and she’s seen that look of excitement and determination on a number of occasions. None of them ended well.
As she turns the car and heads up the drive she recalls one occasion when he had decided to climb a high scaffold in order to draw a moustache onto one of the gargoyles which watched them from high up on the university wall. That particular escapade had ended with him falling and having his arm in plaster for six weeks and she had six weeks of hard labour completing all his uni work for him.
At the top of the drive, she pulls out onto the road and thoughts of Jack recede. Instead, thoughts of whether Kieran and Serena are in bed at this very moment replace them. Shaking her head angrily to remove them, she resolves from now on to stay away from both cousins before they drive her insane.
Chapter 20
Kieran wakes at six thirty on Monday morning. Untangling himself from the suffocating limbs of Serena he slides from the bed without waking her. Showering and dressing in double quick time he creeps out of the room. In the corridor he takes a deep, calming breath and heads downstairs. Serena’s cloying presence is playing on his frayed nerves.
Last night he had explained to her in no uncertain terms that he would be unable to spend any quality time with her. Undeterred by her pouting sulk he made it abundantly clear that he was here at the Hall to work. The fact that she had chosen to show up unannounced on a whim did not change that. Serena could sulk for England and withheld sexual favours last night in an attempt to demonstrate her displeasure. Kieran had been exultant. He wondered if he could find enough reasons to keep out of her way for the duration of her stay.
Their usual itinerary on other dates involved bed and lots of it. Serena loved nothing more than to indulge in lounging in her boudoir with him, having an indecent amount of sex. She loved to watch films on her enormous TV. She would order extravagant food and expensive champagne from her staff and have it delivered to the room on demand. This was how she liked to relax.
Kieran admitted to enjoying it on the first two occasions. Like Serena, he rarely got the chance to relax properly. However the allure had quickly faded. Kieran didn’t like to stay in one place for too long. He enjoyed going out and liked the social aspect provided by public places.
The difference was that Serena didn’t. She had very few places she could go out in public without there being a fuss, hence her love of chilling out in private.
Serena expected to do that with him here, she expected him to put everything on hold because she had turned up. He wasn’t prepared to do that and if it pissed her off so much that she left, then so much the better.
He hadn’t been lying to her, he really did have a busy few days ahead. Today he would be in meetings, tomorrow interviewing and the rest of the week, well, he would come up with something. Serena was staying the week, with a possibility of a trip to London at some point. Kieran fervently hoped that the London trip would come off. Of course if she was bored enough she would go regardless. Kieran congratulates himself on another great plan as he makes himself coffee.
When Serena appears for breakfast at nine she is far from happy. He had left her in bed alone, and she couldn’t remember if that had actually ever happened to her before.
Having to put on a false smile for the others throughout breakfast is tedious to say the least. Hearing that Kieran really was intent on being holed up with his mother, cousin and sister for the rest of the day certainly didn’t improve her mood.
Serena had clearly underestimated him. She foolishly believed that she had made her displeasure crystal clear the pre
vious evening and assumed that he would get over himself and change his mind.
Serena isn’t used to people saying no to her. She shoots icy glares at him at every opportunity but Kieran appears completely unmoved and she becomes frustrated and angry. However, there is a consolation prize. During breakfast it becomes apparent that Johnny is also at a loose end and this cheers her up somewhat. She consoles herself with commandeering him for the day. Being forced to hang out with a Premiership footballer wasn’t exactly all bad. Serena smirks to herself as breakfast comes to an end.
“Well, come along Johnny, shall we run along and play? Let’s leave this boring lot to their tedious meeting. I’m sure you have some fabulous ideas for keeping me entertained,” she gives him a saucy wink and flashes a flirtatious smile at him.
Kieran hears Megan’s intake of breath and watches her hand tighten on her cup. She is far from happy.
With a grin, Johnny stands, bends quickly to kiss Megan’s angry face and bounces after Serena as they both leave the room.
Over her shoulder, Serena throws him a self satisfied smirk. Kieran moves to cover Megan’s arm with his own and hold it down. He knows she wants to throw the cup at the pair of them. Megan scowls openly at their backs as they waltz through the door, “Bitch!” she hisses quietly.
Kieran frowns. Serena loves to cause trouble. She thrives on the drama. She believes Kieran is jealous but she couldn’t be more wrong. He’s angry that she is blatantly upsetting Megan with her ridiculous flirting.