He tossed the bedcovers aside and reached for his crutches beside the bed. He was completely over his foot. It wasn’t so much the pain now but the inconvenience. He was tired of how it slowed him down.
Where was Kat? Had she gone back next door? He made his awkward way downstairs and saw that her coat was no longer hung up next to his. Her hat and gloves were not on the hall table. A cavern of emptiness spread in his chest like a flesh-eating stain.
He was alone.
* * *
Kat knew Flynn was in a foul mood as soon as she arrived the next morning. She had left his bed the night before because he’d seemed restless while he slept. She’d assumed his foot was giving him trouble so she’d left so he could have the bed to himself without having to worry about her bumping him during the night.
There were other reasons she had left. One big reason, actually. Not that she wanted to examine it too closely.
He was in the kitchen stirring a cup of coffee, which seemed a little pointless, as he didn’t take milk or sugar. His back was turned towards her and even though he was wearing a business shirt and trousers she could see the tension in his body. She could even sense it in the air, crackling like static. Even Cricket was acting a little subdued. He wasn’t bouncing around and twirling in excitement but had a baleful look on his funny little face.
‘Good morning,’ she said with Pollyanna brightness.
‘Morning.’
‘How did you sleep?’
‘Fine.’
She waited a beat but he still didn’t turn around to greet her. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘No.’
Kat rolled her eyes. ‘So why are you giving me the cold shoulder?’
He turned but in doing so he lost hold of one of his crutches. It clattered noisily to the floor, terrifying Cricket in the process. The poor little mutt went careening out of the room as if someone had taken a baseball bat to him. Flynn swore and tried to pick up his crutch but Kat got there first. ‘Here you go,’ she said.
‘Thanks.’ It was little more than a brooding mutter.
‘Clearly someone got out of the wrong side of the bed. Am I supposed to play twenty questions or will you tell me?’
‘Why didn’t you stay last night?’
‘I’m being paid to house-sit next door,’ Kat said. ‘That means I’m meant to actually house-sit. Pardon me for being a little pedantic about these things but accepting money from someone without doing the work is not something I’m all that comfortable doing.’
His tight frown relaxed slightly but didn’t completely disappear. ‘I’m sorry. I’m being unreasonable. Of course you have responsibilities next door.’
Kat put her hand on his forearm where he was leaning on his crutch. ‘I was worried I was disturbing you last night. You were tossing and turning so much I thought your foot would get hurt if I stayed.’
There was a flicker of wryness in his smile. ‘You don’t take up that much space.’
‘I’d better check on Cricket,’ Kat said. ‘Is he usually so jumpy around fallen objects?’
‘My father threw a shoe at him at Christmas. I got the feeling it wasn’t the first time.’
‘I don’t think I like either of your parents very much,’ she said. ‘I hope I don’t have to meet them. I’m not one for keeping my opinions to myself.’
His smile set off a twinkle in his dark eyes. ‘So I’ve found out.’
Kat reached up and planted a kiss to his mouth before she could stop herself. ‘Good morning,’ she said softly.
‘Good morning,’ he said with equal softness. ‘Do you want some breakfast? I’ve made coffee.’
She gave him a look of mock reproach. ‘Coffee is not breakfast. You need proper nutrition when your body is repairing itself.’
He tugged on a tendril of her hair. ‘Yes, dear.’
Kat laughed off his hen-pecked husband imitation. ‘As if you’d ever allow a woman to tell you what you could and couldn’t do. Or a man, for that matter.’
He didn’t answer when she turned to go and search for Cricket, but when she glanced at him as she got to the door he was no longer smiling and that brooding frown had settled back between his brows.
* * *
The next two weeks flew past with Kat juggling rehearsals and shifts at the café. She spent most evenings with Flynn but insisted on returning to her own bed next door. The Carstairs family was coming back the following week and she wanted to make sure everything was in tip-top shape for their arrival.
On set, Elisabetta was her usual demanding self, but Kat came to look forward to their scenes together onstage. She felt inspired by the older woman’s talent and knew when Elisabetta pulled her up for something it was because she knew Kat could give more, could dig deeper, could perform from her heart and soul instead of simply acting out a role. Elisabetta loved acting the way Kat loved it. It was a driving passion, an ambition she’d had since she was young.
Kat found it a little weird to have struck up a tentative friendship with her biological father’s wife, but over the course of the rehearsals she felt a bond growing between Elisabetta and herself that she never would have predicted. She wouldn’t have described them as friends, by any measure of the word, but she liked to think Elisabetta respected her for her willingness to learn. In a rare moment in the dressing room, Elisabetta even told Kat some of her anguish over finding out about Richard’s affair with Kat’s mother.
‘I hated her and I hated him,’ Elisabetta said, leaning forward to apply a fresh coat of lipstick. She pressed her lips together. ‘The worst thing was, he was still seeing her when he’d reconciled with me.’
‘I know,’ Kat said. ‘I don’t know how you could stay married to him after that. I would’ve divorced him in a flash.’
Elisabetta turned on her chair in front of the lighted mirror, her expression a little wistful. ‘Have you ever been passionately in love?’
Kat opened and closed her suddenly dry mouth. ‘I...erm...’
‘I loved Richard from the moment I met him,’ Elisabetta said. ‘I looked into his eyes and wham. That was it. But I hate him too. Some days the hate wins, other days the love does. Right now, I’m undecided.’
‘Do you think he’s learned his lesson?’ Kat asked.
Elisabetta sighed as she picked up her hairbrush. She examined it for a moment before absently drawing a couple of hairs free from the bristles. ‘Who knows? Some men never do.’
Kat let a little silence pass before she asked, ‘Do you think I should go to his party on Saturday? I mean, would it upset you if I did?’
Elisabetta’s hand tightened on the hairbrush, the tendons on her hand standing out like white cords. But then she relaxed her hand and began brushing her hair as casually as you pleased. Swish... Swish... Swish... ‘It’s no skin off my nose what you do. I don’t care either way.’
If Kat hadn’t been an actor herself she would have believed Elisabetta. She would have taken her answer at face value. But something about the older woman’s indifferent tone rang an alarm bell. What if by going to the party Kat upset Elisabetta? What could be worse at your husband’s Sixty Years in Showbiz party than his dirty little secret showing up? Her friendship with Elisabetta—if you could call it that—was too fragile, too new, to compromise it. Her career was balanced on the high wire of Elisabetta’s approval. She couldn’t risk it. Not for the man who hadn’t wanted her to be born in the first place.
But what about Flynn?
He’ll understand.
You think?
Kat didn’t want to think about it. The topic of Richard’s party was the elephant in the room whenever she was with Flynn. An elephant with halitosis. Neither of them had mentioned Richard’s party in the last couple of weeks. But as she walked Cricket later that day she knew she would have t
o give Flynn an answer one way or the other.
* * *
Flynn listened as his male client ranted about his soon-to-be-ex-wife in between raving about his replacement of her with a woman half his age. This was his fourth client today, all of them desperate to extricate themselves out of their marriages, and yet, strangely, Flynn could think of nothing but the good side of marriage. When he heard his client try and justify his actions in taking a mistress, because his wife had been sick during her pregnancy for a couple of months and not interested in sex, Flynn’s back came up. What about the promise of ‘in sickness and in health’? Wasn’t that supposed to mean something?
He thought of Kat coming day in and day out to help him. Sure, he’d playfully blackmailed her, but she could have easily told him where to go. But instead, she had adjusted her timetable to see to his and Cricket’s needs.
His needs...
His needs were not just physical. He could have those met in the way he used to—with a casual date for a week or two. His needs now were more cerebral. He looked forward to seeing Kat, talking to her, listening to her. Watching her. Loving her.
Loving her.
For once, Flynn didn’t push the thought aside. He didn’t shove it back behind the locked door in his brain. He didn’t fight it. He let it flow through his mind, sweeping away the doubts that had lingered for too long. Of course he loved her. Hadn’t he fallen in love with her that first day? Her feisty little stand-off had made him fall like a pebble kicked off a cliff. Kissing her had sealed the deal. Making love with her had cemented it. Now there was one last step he had to take to set it in stone.
To set it in stone for ever.
‘Till death do us part’ was a promise Flynn wanted to make. Ached to make. He had shied away from it all those years because he hadn’t met the right person. The person he felt he could live with for the rest of his life. Before now, the promises had seemed claustrophobic, strangling, suffocating.
Now they made sense.
With Kat everything made sense.
* * *
Flynn was home by the time Kat got back from her walk with the dog. He was in the sitting room but instead of sitting on the sofa with his foot up he was standing on his crutches looking out of the window. He turned when she came in but his expression was difficult to read. ‘Hi.’
‘Hi.’
Was he going to come over and kiss her like he usually did? Why was he standing all the way over there? He didn’t even seem aware of Cricket, who was dancing around his ankles in a frenzy of delight. But then, as if the little dog sensed the gravity of Flynn’s mood, he lowered himself to the floor in a submissive ‘stay’ position, his scruffy little head resting on his paws.
‘Is...is something wrong?’ Kat asked. ‘You seem a little tense. Not just today but for the last couple of weeks. Is it work? Your foot? Your family?’ Me?
He gave her a smile that only involved half his mouth. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’
Kat hung up her coat, pulled off her gloves and put them on the hallstand. ‘I told you I was going to be late. We had to do a dress rehearsal and then Elisabetta had an issue with the way her hair was done. Honestly, she can be such a pain in the butt.’
There was a weird little silence.
She looked at him again, her heart jerking as if it had been kicked. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
His expression lost its surface tension, as if something deep inside him had softened. Melted. ‘I never thought I’d do this again.’
‘Do what?’
‘Ask someone to marry me.’
Kat stared at him in a stunned silence. She blinked and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Shock ran through her like a stupefying drug. She couldn’t get her thoughts to process properly. It was as though someone had scrambled her brain, shaken it up until none of her synapses were connecting. Why would he ask her to marry him? He wasn’t in love with her...was he? He had never said. Never hinted. Not one word.
Flynn came closer and, leaning on one crutch, cupped her cheek in his hand. ‘I’m sorry I can’t get down on bended knee but I love you, Kat. I want you to marry me. Please will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’
He’s only asking you because of the party.
No, he’s not. He said he loves me.
Yeah, right. The party is on Saturday. This is his insurance policy.
Kat felt like she was balanced over a canyon on a toothpick. How could she know for sure what his motives were? He had set his mind on getting her to that party. She would not be able to say no if she was officially engaged to him. It would look odd if she didn’t show. He was Richard’s legal advisor, a part of the family—a close friend to all the Ravensdales. ‘This seems rather...sudden...’
His mouth did that rueful half-twist again. ‘I know, but once I make my mind up about something I have to act. Let’s not waste any more time pretending we don’t care for each other. We belong together, darling. We both felt it the first time we met.’
Don’t do it.
But I want to say yes!
You need more time. What about your career? ‘Fools rush in’ and all that.
The tender look on Flynn’s face overrode her doubts. ‘You love me?’
His smile made her heart squeeze as tightly as a child’s hug. ‘How can you doubt it?’
Kat stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at his adoring expression. How could this be happening? It was so much more than she’d expected. She hadn’t dared expect anything. She had tried to keep her heart out of reach but it had been impossible. Resisting Flynn Carlyon had been impossible. Stopping herself from falling in love with him had been impossible. ‘But I thought you were against marriage?’
He cradled her face in one of his large hands. ‘Not when it involves you. I can’t think of anyone else I would want to spend the rest of my life bantering with. Can you?’
Kat smiled. ‘No.’
His black-coffee eyes twinkled. ‘So, is that a yes?’
She brought her mouth up to meet his descending one. ‘Yes. A thousand, million, squillion times yes.’
The kiss was getting a little more serious when Kat became aware of Flynn’s phone ringing. He had different tones for different people but she had never heard this ring tone before. She eased back to look up at him. ‘Are you going to answer it?’
‘It’s not important. It’s just Richard.’
A cold handprint touched the back of her neck. ‘Why’s he calling you now?’
‘He calls me most days.’
Kat searched his expression...for what, she wasn’t sure. Something didn’t feel right. She couldn’t explain it. It had been fine until that phone had started ringing. She couldn’t help feeling it was like the sounding of an alarm bell. She could see the rectangular outline of his phone inside his shirt pocket.
She heard it ping with a left message.
She reached for it at the same time Flynn did, his hand stilling hers. Warning hers.
‘I want to see that message,’ she said.
‘No.’
Kat raised her brow at his intractable tone. ‘Why not?’
‘It’s private.’
‘But I’m your fiancée. You get to share everything with me.’
Something hardened in his jaw. A muscle. A ligament. It travelled all the way to his mouth. ‘Not about my clients.’
‘He’s my father, so surely that’s different?’
‘It’s not.’
Kat knew he was right to insist on client confidentiality but she couldn’t get rid of the cloud of doubt blurring her vision of the future. Their future. ‘So does that mean you won’t allow me access to your phone once we’re married?’
The tension around his mouth tigh
tened. ‘Trust is a huge part of being married.’
‘Does that mean I get to keep my phone and emails private too?’
She could see the battle played out on his face. It was like a tug of war between logic and emotion. Push. Pull. Push. Pull. ‘If you insist.’
‘I do.’
The phone rang again. Same tone. Same insistent clarion call. Flynn took it out of his pocket and, giving Kat an unreadable look, answered it. ‘Richard, I’m busy right now. I’ll call you ba—’
‘Did you get her to agree to come to the party?’ Richard’s voice carried like a foghorn.
Kat’s spine went rigid. Ice-block rigid. Don’t-mess-with-me-rigid. She held out her hand for the phone. ‘I want to speak to him.’
Flynn held the phone against his chest. ‘I don’t think that’s such a great idea.’
She kept her hand out, her eyes locked on his, her determination on fire. ‘Give me the damn phone.’
‘Is that Kat I can hear in the background?’ The fabric of Flynn’s shirt only faintly muffled Richard’s theatre-trained voice. ‘Let me talk to her.’
Flynn handed her the phone with a look that suggested he felt like he was handing over a live bomb.
‘This is Kat Winwood.’
‘Kat, my dear.’ Richard’s voice was all treacle, honey and sickly-sweet jam. ‘How lovely to hear your voice at last. Are you coming to the party? Did Flynn make it impossible for you to refuse, as I instructed him?’
Kat’s hand tightened on the phone. She wanted to throw it at the wall. To smash it on the floor. To stomp on it until the screen shattered, like her dream had been shattered. ‘No,’ she said, casting Flynn a look that said, This includes you. ‘I’ve decided not to come to the party and my decision is final.’
‘But my sweet child,’ Richard said, ‘it won’t be the same without you there.’
‘You’ll get over it,’ Kat said and handed the phone back to Flynn.
Flynn clicked off the call and put the phone back in his pocket without saying anything to Richard. ‘Come on, Kat. You surely don’t think I staged my proposal to get you to—?’
The Most Scandalous Ravensdale (The Ravensdale Scandals) Page 15