Nate’s gaze wandered over Maud and she felt her skin grow hot and uncomfortable. ‘What happened to you in there? You went in virginal and came out as if you’d been ravaged.’
Maud blushed furiously. ‘I was… by Dot!’ She plucked up the courage to raise her eyes to meet his. She wasn’t used to being the centre of such intense scrutiny, then remembered she lived every day with her mother’s watchful interference and her shoulders sagged a little. She noted that Tom had stopped talking and was watching them with interest, so she mustered up a smile for him. Why had she let Dot talk her into embarrassing herself again? She knew it was a mistake and should have stood her ground for once.
Nate relaxed back into his seat and watched the emotions play across Maud’s face. ‘Ah… Dot’s a freak of nature. I know how controlling she can be. I’ve had to put up with it for as long as I can remember.’ He smiled to show he was joking and it was said without malice to put her at ease. ‘She’s a whirlwind that keeps us all under control. She thinks I’m a lost cause in the fashion department and tells me I look like a tramp.’ Maud looked at him from under her eyelashes and noted his crisp dark shirt and trousers. He looked far from a vagrant to her, but she did giggle and look up finally.
‘So who is your date?’ he asked.
Maud was surprised at his candour. Surely he wasn’t flirting with her? Dot must have been mistaken when she said he had the hots for her. Maybe he didn’t like strangers arriving at a family dinner unannounced and decided to play with them as punishment? She gripped her hands in her lap and tried to stem the confusion he made her feel just by looking at her. He was only Dot’s older brother.
‘Who’s yours?’ she countered daringly, trying to look stern and stop herself panting and shaking when he stared directly into her eyes.
Nate leaned even further back in his chair, so she thought he might fall off, and he laughed uproariously, as his father had earlier in the evening, which made everyone stop talking and look their way. Maud shrunk into her seat a little. She hated being the centre of attention.
‘Touché,’ grinned Nate, openly enjoying himself, his earlier anger seeming to dissipate. ‘I wouldn’t have brought a date if I had known you were going to be here,’ he moved forward near to her ear, so no one else could hear. ‘Dot didn’t tell me she had found you. You’ve been on my mind a lot and I’ve been wondering where you came from. I thought maybe I’d dreamt you,’ he said, his warm breath touching her neck so that she wanted to curl into him and savour his words.
Her pulse began beating erratically and she licked her lips. She didn’t know if he was arrogant, wishful, in lust, or enjoyed playing games with feeble women. What the hell had happened to her life? ‘Surprise,’ she said feebly and sent another smile to Tom who was looking her way again.
Nate grinned in satisfaction and spooned some of the sizzling meat and fluffy rice from the pretty serving dishes onto the artisan china plate in front of her, not asking what she liked to eat or if she wanted any food. He was evidently so used to people acquiescing to his will that she began to feel a bit mutinous. He faltered when he saw her look and, for some reason, this seemed to amuse him further. ‘You don’t like the food?’
Maud raised her nose haughtily. ‘I’m sure I’ll love it. Luckily I eat anything, I was a feral child,’ she joked. She felt like she’d scored a point, but he was still smiling at her, which made her salivate for more than the food and her palms began to sweat. ‘What is it?’ She gestured towards the dish on the table with a tip of her head.
Nate seemed to find this hilarious and forked up some of the fragrant meat and began to feed her, so that she had no choice but to be gracious and not stamp on his foot. Flavour burst into her mouth and she immediately wanted more. The marinade sent spirals of ecstasy into her tastebuds and beads of sweat formed on her skin as she almost groaned out loud.
Maud flushed. Nate looked like he really wanted to kiss her, but he bunched his fists and glared at Dot instead. She seemed to be able to read his mind and gave him a triumphant look, before sending Tom a mega-watt smile that made him cough. She quickly jumped up to sit in the seat next to him as the redhead left the table in search of the ladies’ room, turning away from Nate.
Nate trapped Maud’s eyes again. ‘You’re wearing my favourite shoes.’
‘Huh?’ she looked down at her feet. ‘You have a pair?’
Nate laughed loudly again. ‘They’re my favourite – on you…’
‘Oh.’ Maud blushed furiously again. What was it about this man that made her behave like a rampant teenager? She wanted to climb over the table, sit on his lap and snog his face off. How rude of her, as her new date was sitting just across the table.
‘So tell me, how do you know my sister?’ He poked his tongue out affectionately at Dot who had moved further down the table. She turned and saw the gesture, then returned it with glee, which finally made Maud smile. She’d lost out on sibling rivalry and affection as she was an only child, but Daisy had two sisters and a brother and they were constantly arguing, hugging, supporting and annoying the hell out of each other.
Maud thought about telling him how she had really met Dot, as the story would probably make him laugh again and she was already addicted to the sound. Instead she improvised carefully. ‘We met through our love of art. We’re both passionate about what we do, but we’re not very confident in the results.’
Nate frowned at this and Maud thought he was going to take her hand, but he reached for his wine glass instead and took a sip. She was strangely disappointed and took a huge gulp of her own wine, almost snorting it back out again as it was so strong. She usually bought the cheap stuff from the supermarket and had thought there was no difference from an expensive bottle, but now she knew different. This wine was heaven.
Nate was looking across the table at Dot again as she threw her head back and laughed at something Tom said. ‘Dot’s not short on confidence. With her art, she just hasn’t found the right medium for her style yet. She can express herself well, but she needs to stop trying so hard with her painting. It’s completely forced and it shows in her work. She’s vivacious but her paintings are not like that.’
Maud looked across at Dot too, but she knew that the bright exterior hid a soft centre. Dot pretended to be so outrageous. ‘She’s not as confident as you think.’
Nate looked stung by her words and Maud could have kicked herself. Who was she to tell Dot’s bother that she knew her better than he did? ‘Sorry,’ flushed Maud. ‘I didn’t mean to be insulting. It’s just that Dot is a bit in awe of your talents. You’re hard to live up to.’
Nate fleetingly put his hand on her leg, seemingly without thinking, which almost made her jump out of her skin in shock, before he gently kissed the back of her wrist and then placed her hand back onto her lap. ‘Dot doesn’t need to live up to me. She’s perfect as she is.’ Maud could see he meant what he said, but the skin where his hand had touched her leg felt like it had just been branded.
He moved closer and whispered into her ear again and his mouth, oh so close to her neck, made her shiver. ‘So are you...’ he whispered daringly.
Chapter Sixteen
Maud woke up with a throbbing headache and winced as she tried to pry her eyes open. They felt like sandpaper had been wedged between the eyelids and her eyeballs and she drew in a sharp breath of pain. Nate had been refilling her glass of wine all last night and she’d gained confidence and managed to speak to most of the people at dinner, even the redhead, who was someone Nate’s parents had introduced him to the month before. It looked as though they treated him the same way they did Dot, and foisted friends on him at every opportunity. He could hardly grumble, if they looked like the redhead, whose name she’d found out was Ruby. Maud had a sneaking suspicion she had died her hair to match her name, as the colour was just too perfect. Perhaps she would have enough courage to dye her hair one day, but to be honest, she quite liked her natural golden tones, with the wispy lighter highlights tha
t she was born with, she just wished her hair would behave and stay poker straight, so that she didn’t have to waste hours taming it.
She couldn’t remember getting home or even saying goodbye to anyone, but she vaguely recalled a fleeting sound of raucous laughter as she regaled them with the artistic abilities of her class of seven-year-olds and then flinched, as she hated being the centre of any crowd and had never held anyone’s attention with interesting tales or adventures before. Dot’s parents had cuddled her and welcomed her to the family at some point too. Did this mean she was now in some sort of artist sect? She really should find out more about people before she invaded their lives and became one of them.
She groaned and tried to lift her head off the pillow, before rapidly sinking back down again into its blissful featheriness, as pain ricocheted through her temples and she started to feel sick. What must Tom think of her? He’d seemed to be pretty merry himself, from what little she could recall. Then she remembered him pulling her onto the little dance floor at the back of the restaurant. It had been a dark and sensuous place and she had melted into him, although he had been virtually propping her up and laughing into her ear as he drew her to him, but then Nate had appeared, shaken Tom’s hand and told them the party was leaving. It had been so embarrassing as Tom had tried to pay for their meal, as had she, but Nate had waved them away and said they were his family’s guests, which made Tom glow with pride and her feel a bit dizzy. Tom seemed relieved, but Maud hated being indebted to anyone and would rather have paid her own way.
She tried again to lift her weary head and she managed gently to pull herself into a sitting position with her hands tucked under her backside for extra stability. She waited a moment for the room to stop spinning and then noticed a glass of water on her side table. She reached for it gratefully, proud of her foresight, then frowned as the glass was sitting on a folded, hand-written note.
She leaned forward slowly and tried to focus on the slanted handwriting, then huffed and picked it up to hold it in front of her nose to work out what it said when the words stopped moving around on the page like little ants scurrying home. That didn’t work either, but then she realised that she’d automatically put on the glasses that sat on her bedside table and she must have fallen asleep in her contact lenses. Yuck. She took the glasses off and cursed herself for being so lazy and forgetful. She never slept without taking her lenses out, as she was half blind without them but they stuck to her eyes if she left them in too long.
Squinting at the note again, she saw that it said, ‘sweet dreams. Thought you might need a glass of water in the morning. I have a feeling I may be a thorn in your side. I left your shoes by the bed as you tried to throw them out of the car window. Love the mural in your bedroom, by the way. The bed looks comfy too...’ It was signed Nate in a lilting text and had a small kiss just under his name. Wincing, she peeked over the side of the bed and saw her shoes with the roses winding around the heels sitting prettily next to her bedside cabinet. She groaned out loud and slumped back onto the bed. It was all coming back to her now.
She recalled dancing with Tom and rubbing herself up and down his body, then Nate refusing to let them pay for the meal and offering to give them a lift home as he was driving and had only had one small glass of wine. She had protested and tried to recall if she’d seen Nate actually take more than a sip of wine, as she’d been focussing on his mouth quite a lot, but she hadn’t. Tom had been ecstatic about the offer of a chauffeured ride home and jumped at the chance to get Nate on his own as they hadn’t spoken at the dinner party. His face was flushed with the excitement of the evening and he went on and on about how extraordinary Nate’s work was and how he had started his own modest collection of art and was a patron of local artistry. It should have made Maud cringe with embarrassment, but she had for some reason found it ridiculously funny. She had joshed Nate about his big ego as if they were the best of friends and, instead of getting angry with her, he seemed to find everything she said or did highly amusing. He had drawn the line when she had tried to throw her shoes out of the window, though, and had given her a stern look, which she had giggled at. Then he’d handed her his coat and she’d immediately fallen asleep and probably dribbled all over it as Tom was already passed out on the back seat and snoring loudly.
The whole evening had been a bit surreal and she picked up the note and read it again. She hoped she’d been gracious enough to thank Dotty and her parents for inviting her to the dinner in the first place, but had a feeling that she’d just noisily kissed them all on the lips and then rubbed noses with them as Nate had jokingly told her that this was how they greeted each other. On the way home he’d told her he had been messing with her and that his parents would never forget her. Once again, she should have been mortified, but was so sloshed that she’d laughed out loud and grabbed his face and kissed his lips and rubbed noses with him while they waited at some traffic lights, before she passed out. Oh man, why was she such an idiot?
Nate must have dropped Tom home and then come into her house. She wondered what he thought of it, after the amazing places he must usually hang out in. The house wouldn’t tell him much as it kept her secrets well. Her bedroom, on the other hand, was her inner sanctum and it represented everything she loved: nature, the sea, colours and textures. It must have been a shock coming in here after the stark white walls outside. The thought of him lying her in bed and taking his time to look around her bedroom made her face flame and her stomach protest, so she grabbed it and rubbed it gently to try and ease the ache inside.
She had caught the train to the restaurant and the gallery opening. She presumed that Nate lived near both, so why would he drive her all the way out of town? Maybe he saw Tom as a new customer, although Dot had suggested he wanted to play with her. Maybe he enjoyed picking up waifs and strays as much as his parents did?
She gingerly looked down at her body and let out a hiss of air when she realised Nate had eased her out of her dress. She hung her head in shame as she remembered flinging her arms around him as she stood there in her very colourful underwear, thanking him for bringing her home. Ever the polite school teacher. Bloody hell. What would he think of her? He had been so kind bringing her home, but she had a boyfriend... of sorts… and had literally thrown herself at another man on their first date. Plus, although she wore boringly plain clothes on the outside, her magpie tendencies didn’t stop at dresses and jumpers, all of her underwear was stunningly beautiful with delicate lace and intricate designs in strong, bold colours. No one had seen her underwear in a while and this particular habit had only begun fairly recently anyway, as she decided that she was the only one likely to see it, so she could be as bold and racy as she liked. Nate must think she was some sort of secret dominatrix.
She held her breath and turned the note over to the back and saw he had drawn a quick sketch of a very sexy lady in red-hot knickers and bra. How un-gentlemanly of him, she fumed, but then decided he’d had the good grace to refuse her sort of offer, when she’d draped herself all over him. She didn’t know whether to be affronted that he’d turned her down or grateful that he’d left her to sleep. The little sketch was sultry and suggestive, and oh, so personal, so she took one last look at it and opened her side table drawer to slip it inside. She wondered how many women woke up to this type of note from a famous artist. With a sinking heart she realised that it was probably quite a lot.
Chapter Seventeen
Stripping off the offending underwear and throwing on her old dressing gown, Maud slowly walked into her kitchen, before frowning and retracing her steps as her mobile phone rang in the black handbag next to her bed. Picking it up she flinched at the bright, breezy, and very loud voice.
‘Maud? It’s me.’ Maud trundled back into the kitchen and felt her muscles tense at the excruciating noise from the voice on the line. She felt her way along the kitchen counter until she reached the medicine drawer and grabbed a packet of headache tablets, before ramming them into her mouth dry a
nd then gagging on the chalky taste.
‘Me who?’
‘It’s Dot. Did I wake you up?’ Dot sounded far too spritely to have been at the same dinner as Maud the previous evening. Maybe she was used to drinking buckets of wine? The delicate glasses had practically held half a bottle each and Nate and Elliott had topped her glass up all night. Maud thought of Elliott’s boyish good looks and kind humour and wondered how Dot could be so lucky, surrounded by such masculine beauty every day. Maud tried to clear her head and think.
‘Uh, no... I don’t think so...’ How the hell could Dot be awake so early in the morning? Maud very slowly turned her whole body towards the round clock on the wall, as she knew moving her head was not such a good idea right now, and realised that it was actually past midday.
Dot suddenly sounded concerned. ‘Are you ok? Do you need me to pop round?’ Maud felt a wave of nausea overcome her and she leaned an arm on the cold granite surface of her countertop to steady her heaving stomach.
‘I’m fine,’ she ground out. ‘How can you sound so perky?’
‘Well, I didn’t drink as much wine as you, although Nate did have to hide the last bottle after you tried to dance on the table,’ she laughed.
‘Nate was the one filing up my glass all night. Well, him and Elliott, who is so hot by the way.’
Maud could imagine Dot frowning and picturing Elliott’s face. ‘I suppose he is pretty gorgeous, but I’ve never looked at him that way. He’s my ‘other brother’. Loads of women like him, but he’s a bit more selective than Nate.’ Maud flinched as Dot carried on, ‘I haven’t seen Elliott with a woman for a while. Do you fancy him?’
Maud grabbed a glass and ran it under the tap for a fresh drink, in the hope of soaking up some of the residual wine, or diluting it at the very least, then gulped it down and pressed the cool glass to her face. ‘He’s certainly easy on the eye and such a sweetheart, but I’ve just started dating Tom. I got the impression Elliott has his eye on someone special.’ She downed the last dregs of the water and slid down onto the floor with her legs out in front of her, and tapped the speaker button on her phone before placing it gently on the floor next to her. She kept her back straight and pressed into the cupboards for support and held her palm to her forehead to see if she had a fever.
If You Love Me, I'm Yours Page 9