“That was excellent, Ellie,” Patrick told her warmly as he finished his meal.
She stood up to clear the plates; Patrick’s was completely empty, her own food was only half eaten. “I’m afraid we don’t usually bother with dessert,” she explained with a grimace.
“I don’t eat them, anyway.” He sat back in his chair to look across at her. “Ellie, do you think—?” He broke off as a knock sounded on the back door, his body tensing, his eyes narrowing coldly as Gareth opened the door and entered the kitchen.
Ellie stared at the other man in total disbelief.
What on earth was Gareth doing here?
CHAPTER TWELVE
GARETH didn’t look surprised to see the other man sitting in the kitchen with Ellie, and she quickly realised that was because he must have seen the Mercedes parked outside in the driveway and drawn his own conclusions as to its owner being Patrick.
Which posed the question: why had Gareth come here, knowing that Patrick was already there?
In fact, why had Gareth come here at all?
Not that the why really mattered; one look at the suspicion that now narrowed Patrick’s eyes, the disgusted twist on his lips as he slowly stood up, was enough to tell Ellie that he had drawn his own conclusions as to the reason Gareth was here.
Ellie felt her heart plummet at the realisation. It was one thing for her to actually claim—falsely!—to have residual feelings towards Gareth, something else entirely for Gareth to come here and so give Patrick the impression that there might be more to it than that.
Gareth gave a confident smile. “Patrick,” he greeted him lightly. “Ellie,” he added warmly.
With Patrick’s broodingly disapproving attention all focused on the other man, Ellie felt free to glare her resentment across the kitchen at Gareth. He looked so completely unconcerned at her obvious lack of welcome, so sure of himself, that a part of her just wanted to wipe that slightly mocking smile off his too-handsome face!
He raised mocking brows at her obviously glowering expression. “I didn’t have a chance to see you before you left the office earlier, so I just popped in to wish you a merry Christmas,” he told her with a challenging smile.
A merry—! What on earth was Gareth up to? With Christmas just under a week away, Delacorte, Delacorte and Delacorte had finished for a two-week Christmas holiday at five o’clock this evening. Ellie had decided to give the usual impromptu office party a miss this year, mainly in an effort to avoid seeing Gareth and so completely ruining her day. With his arrival here instead, she realised she might as well have saved herself the bother!
“You could have done that on Christmas Eve.” Patrick was the one to answer the other man harshly. “My parents are having a party that evening to celebrate my sister Teresa’s engagement to Ellie’s brother Toby; you and Sarah are obviously invited,” he explained scathingly.
Uncertainty flickered briefly in Gareth’s eyes at what was obviously news to him, to be quickly masked as he once again smiled confidently. “Of course,” he said smoothly. “But parties can be so impersonal, can’t they? And Ellie and I used to be such close friends,” he added pointedly. Not that sort of “close friends”! Thank goodness. This situation would be even more humiliating if she and Gareth had ever been lovers!
“Champagne?” Gareth’s gaze narrowed as he noticed the empty bottle standing on one of the worktops. “The two of you wouldn’t have something to celebrate too, would you?” he added, with a conspiratorially knowing look in Ellie’s direction.
He really believed that she and Toby were no better than he was, she realised angrily. “Only Toby and Teresa’s engagement,” she snapped coldly.
“Of course,” Gareth acknowledged smoothly.
Too smoothly for Ellie’s liking. Why didn’t he just go? He had obviously succeeded in what he’d come here to do, namely create a difficult situation for Ellie where Patrick was concerned, so why didn’t he just leave? Surely there wasn’t more to come…?
“Looks like we’re all going to be one big happy family, doesn’t it,” Gareth continued pleasantly.
“Two out of the three, perhaps,” Patrick rasped icily. “And in your case I wouldn’t be too sure about the third one either!” He gave the young man a scathing glance.
Gareth looked at Patrick consideringly. “I get the distinct feeling that you don’t particularly like me…” he murmured slowly, at the same time somehow managing to sound like a hurt little boy.
Not that Patrick looked particularly impressed by the latter, Ellie noted ruefully.
What she really wanted now was for both men to just leave. Her nerves were stretched to breaking point after the last hour or so, and Gareth’s arrival a few minutes ago was doing nothing to help that situation. In fact, she was starting to feel decidedly ill, not knowing from one moment to the next what Gareth was going to say. Patrick either, for that matter. The two men looked like a pair of gladiators, facing each other across the arena!
“I’ve never liked men who feel the need to beat up women,” said Patrick disgustedly, hands clenched into fists at his sides as he glared at the other man.
“Beat—? Ellie?” Gareth scowled as he turned to look at her. “What on earth have you been telling Patrick about me?” He looked slightly less confident now.
“She didn’t need to tell me anything,” Patrick assured him coldly. “I’ve seen the bruises you inflicted on her the night of the company dinner, and at my aunt and uncle’s house the following evening! Next time you feel like threatening someone, come and see me, hmm?” He looked challengingly at the younger man.
As far as Ellie was concerned, this situation was rapidly spiralling out of control; if she didn’t put a stop to it right now she had a feeling the two of them might actually start fighting in the middle of her kitchen!
She stepped forward, effectively standing between the two men. “You’ve said what you came here to say, Gareth,” she rasped—done what he wanted to do! “Now I suggest you leave.”
He continued to hold Patrick’s gaze for several more long seconds, before giving a slight inclination of his head. “I’ll look forward to seeing you both on Christmas Eve, then.” He shrugged dismissively.
“Don’t hold your breath on that one either,” Patrick bit out harshly as the other man left.
Gareth paused to turn in the doorway and look back at them. “Sarah and I have set our wedding date for Easter weekend,” he drawled mockingly.
“A lot can happen in three and a half months,” Patrick replied calmly.
Gareth gave a derisive grin. “Who knows? Maybe you and Ellie will decide to make it a double wedding!” he taunted, his smile one of satisfaction as he saw Ellie’s embarrassed dismay at the outrageous suggestion. “See you,” he added lightly, before letting himself out.
If she had thought the situation tense before Gareth’s arrival, Ellie now felt as if she could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Gareth was nothing but an arrogant, troublemaking—
Patrick spoke forcefully into that tense silence. “I will never—never, ever,” he continued with feeling, “understand what either Sarah or you see in that man!” His mouth twisted with distaste, his eyes still cold with the dislike he didn’t even attempt to hide.
As far as Ellie was concerned, she saw Gareth exactly as Patrick did. But she knew she would just be wasting her time to try and tell him that now—could see by the scorn on his face that he wouldn’t believe her.
Patrick gave an impatient shake of his head. “I think I should leave now,” he rasped, taking his overcoat from the back of the chair. “Do you want me to collect you on Christmas Eve, or will you drive over with Toby?” he added uninterestedly.
What Ellie most wanted to do right now was sit down and have a good cry. And once Patrick had gone that was exactly what she was going to do. In fact, if he didn’t soon leave she might just break down and cry in front of him!
“I’ll come over with Toby,” she answered quietly, looking down at the tile
d floor in preference to Patrick’s scornful expression.
“Fine,” he snapped harshly. “I— Thanks for dinner,” he added, with a slight softening of his tone.
That slight relenting on Patrick’s part was her undoing. The tears started to fall hotly down her cheeks, a sob catching in the back of her throat as those tears threatened to choke her.
“Hey,” Patrick murmured gently as he saw those tears, throwing his overcoat back down on the chair to come over stand in front of Ellie. “He isn’t worth it, you know,” he added dismissively, his hand moving to lift her chin and raise her face so that he could look at her.
The tears fell more rapidly because she knew he had misunderstood the reason for them, but also knew she couldn’t correct him without losing all the ground she had gained in the last few days; it would be just too humiliating if Patrick were to realise her tears were because she was in love with him, and not Gareth, as he supposed!
“Why is it that nice women seem to fall in love with bastards?” Patrick rasped, with a disgusted shake of his head.
She shrugged. “Sarah is still very young—”
“I was referring to you!” Patrick cut in harshly, grey eyes glittering coldly.
Ellie blinked, looking up at him uncertainly. “Am I a nice woman…?”
“Of course you are,” he confirmed impatiently. “One of the nicest I’ve ever met,” he assured her hardly. “In fact, the only thing that’s wrong with you is this tendency you have to be in love with the wrong man!”
She gave a choked laugh. “The only thing…?”
Patrick gave an impatient snort. “Ridiculous, isn’t it?” he dismissed disgustedly. “But I’ll tell you one thing, Ellie,” he snapped decisively. “After speaking to the man this evening, I’m even more convinced that Gareth Davies marries Sarah over my dead body!”
Ellie looked up at him searchingly. What about her? How would he feel about her marrying Gareth? Not that it was even a possibility, but she couldn’t help noticing Patrick’s omission where she was concerned…
Patrick returned her gaze for several long minutes, finally releasing her chin to take a step away from her. “Once I’ve sorted that particular situation out,” he said grimly, pulling on his overcoat, “I’m going to do everything in my power to ensure you don’t marry him either!”
She swallowed hard. “You are?”
“Most definitely,” he assured her determinedly. “There is absolutely no way that man is going to become part of my family—even by marriage!”
Oh. Patrick’s vehemence had nothing to do with her personally. He just wanted to ensure Gareth had nothing to do with the McGrath family.
She grimaced. “You’ll have more trouble convincing Sarah of that than me!”
“We’ll see,” he came back enigmatically. “You’re sure you don’t want me to pick you up on Christmas Eve?”
“Positive,” she assured him with feeling.
He nodded impatiently. “I’ll see you in a few days, then?”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
Why didn’t he just go now? He had made it more than plain exactly what his interest was in her and her supposed feelings for Gareth, so why didn’t he just leave?
Before she started to cry again!
Patrick shook his head frustratedly as he continued looked down at her tear-stained face. “I could kiss you until you’re senseless!” he muttered harshly.
Ellie’s eyes widened. “What would that achieve?” she finally murmured huskily.
“Absolutely nothing,” he accepted impatiently. “But it would make me feel a whole lot better!”
And it would reduce her to a complete emotional puddle!
She straightened defensively. “I don’t think so, thank you, Patrick,” she told him evenly.
His mouth twisted humourlessly. “No, neither do I.” He sighed, turning without another word and letting himself out of the house, closing the door gently behind him as he left.
Ellie’s shoulders slumped once she was alone.
How much more of this would she have to take? How much more of this could she be expected to take?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“TOBY, could you zip me up—?” Ellie’s words came to an abrupt halt as she entered the sitting room and found not Toby sitting there, as she had expected, but Patrick. She quickly turned fully to face him, clutching the front of her black dress to her chest. “I thought Toby was in here…” she murmured self-consciously.
When had Patrick arrived? She hadn’t heard the doorbell ring. Although, come to think of it, he hadn’t rung the doorbell the last few times he’d arrived here unexpectedly either!
“He was, but he had to leave early so that he can be at the house with Teresa when the first guests arrive.” Patrick put down the magazine he had been idly flicking through when Ellie entered the room and stood up. “You mentioned you have a zip that needs fastening…?” he prompted expectantly, once again suave and sophisticated himself, in a black dinner suit and snowy white shirt.
That had been before she’d realised it was Patrick in the room and not Toby!
“I’ll manage,” she frowned. “Okay, I understand about Toby, but what exactly are you doing here?” If Toby had told her he had to be at the McGraths earlier than arranged then she could quite easily have been ready in time to go with him. She was also quite capable of calling herself a taxi.
Patrick shrugged dismissively. “I told you. It was decided that Toby should be with Teresa when the first guests arrive—”
“I understood that bit,” Ellie dismissed impatiently. “I’m just not sure who decided you should be here.” She frowned.
“Does it matter?” Patrick dismissed uninterestedly.
Ellie gave a puzzled shake of her head; this present arrangement really didn’t make much sense.
“Turn around and let me do up your zip,” Patrick instructed dryly.
Her hand tightened on the material she held up in front of her. It was yet another new dress, a figure-hugging black tube that seemed to cling to her body magnetically, having neither shoulder straps nor sleeves to keep it in place, leaving her legs long and shapely beneath its knee length.
“I said turn around, Ellie,” he repeated encouragingly.
She wore neither bra nor slip beneath the dress, just a pair of black lace panties, the top of which would be clearly visible if she turned around, as the zip unfastened down the whole length of her spine.
But she could see by Patrick’s face that he wasn’t about to be fobbed off with an excuse, and sighed heavily as she slowly turned her back towards him.
Nothing happened for several long seconds. Ellie finally looked back over her shoulder to see what the problem was.
Patrick was looking across at her with dark eyes, his expression remotely unreadable, but a nerve pulsing erratically in his tightly clenched jaw.
Ellie turned quickly away again. “We’re going to be late ourselves if we don’t leave soon,” she encouraged huskily, finding she was trembling slightly now, unsure what to make of that look on Patrick’s face. In any other man she would have said it was— But Patrick was like no other man she had ever met!
She gave a sensitive start as she felt the light touch of his fingers on the base of her spine, her back stiffening defensively at her unbidden response.
His fingertips slowly travelled the length of her spine, Ellie’s skin seeming to burn where he touched, stopping as they reached the sensitised arch between her shoulderblades.
What was he doing? Ellie wondered with a mixture of pleasure and dismay. Pleasure because she liked his touch upon her naked flesh, dismay because the involuntary arching of her body must have told him how much she liked it!
His hands lightly gripped the tops of her shoulders, his thumbtips now moving in a slow caress against her spine and up the silky length of her neck.
Ellie swallowed hard, not sure how much more of this she could stand without turning in his arms and kissing him. Which w
ould nullify everything she had done this last week to put a certain amount of distance between them.
“The zip, Patrick,” she reminded him determinedly, her jaw clenched in tight control now.
“Your skin feels so wonderful to the touch,” he murmured admiringly, seeming not to have heard her. Or, if he had, choosing to ignore her! “But then I always knew that it would,” he continued gruffly. “When I saw you in the garden, that day in the summer—”
“Never mind. I’ll do the zip up myself!” Ellie said sharply, and she moved abruptly away to turn and glare at him. “I think it’s decidedly ungentlemanly of you to even mention seeing me that day in the garden!” she told him indignantly, eyes glowing deeply blue, her cheeks fiery-red with embarrassment.
Why, oh, why, couldn’t Patrick just pretend not to remember seeing her sunbathing topless? It certainly wasn’t the first time he had mentioned it!
She gave a low groan in her throat. “I’ll be back down in a few minutes!” She turned and fled the room before Patrick could even think of preventing her.
This was awful. Just awful. And it was only the beginning of the Christmas holiday—a holiday she had finally allowed Toby to persuade her into spending with the McGrath family. What choice did she have when Toby had refused to go if she didn’t?
But it was going to be three days of hell if Patrick didn’t hold to his promise to keep his distance!
“Ready?” he prompted lightly when she rejoined him downstairs a few minutes later.
Ellie eyed him warily, the black pashmina he had bought for her now brought back out of its box at the back of her wardrobe, draped about the nakedness of her shoulders. “There’s just my case and that bag to take with us,” she answered slowly, nodding in the direction of the two pieces of luggage she had brought down with her and left in the hallway.
Patrick bent down and picked up Ellie’s case and the bag containing the impersonal Christmas presents she had bought for the McGrath family, straightening to grin at her. “This feels almost indiscreet, don’t you think?” He quirked dark brows. “Almost as if the two of us are sneaking off somewhere together for the weekend,” he explained teasingly at her frowning look.
The Yuletide Engagement & A Yuletide Seduction Page 13