Liv leaned beside Aaron against the wall by the door. “But who will take over for Aaron when he starts school?” she asked, clearly concerned that his plans would be pushed aside yet another semester.
“I have a backup plan,” Chris told her.
Aaron regarded him curiously. “Since when?”
“Recently,” Chris said, glancing Louisa’s way. “I’m considering offering a position to Garrett Sutherland.”
Suddenly all eyes were on Louisa.
“What you mean is, if Louisa marries him,” Melissa clarified.
Chris nodded. “Of course.”
“He is more than qualified,” Aaron confirmed.
“I agree,” Melissa said. “But is it fair to put that kind of pressure on Louisa?”
“We’re all under pressure,” Chris told her. “Besides, she’s always asking for more responsibility.”
Louisa hated when they talked about her as though she wasn’t sitting right there. Why did they insist on treating her like a child?
It was a moot point anyway. Their father was going to recover and resume his duties, then everything would go back to normal. These last couple years would be nothing more than a bad memory.
“What do you think, Louisa?” Liv asked.
Finally, she was part of the conversation. “I think you’re blowing this way out of proportion. This is just a minor setback. Father will be fine.”
She could tell by their expressions that they thought she was being naive, and she pitied them for their cynicism. This would be so much easier for all of them if they would just have faith.
No one scolded or tried to reason with her, and she was grateful for that, but she felt as though, if she didn’t get out of there soon, she would lose her mind. Even though she wasn’t supposed to see Garrett until tomorrow evening, that was one day too long as far as she was concerned.
She grabbed her purse and rose from her chair. “If the family discussion is over, I’m leaving.”
“Where are you going?” Chris asked.
“Garrett is working from home today so I thought I would stop in and see him. If that’s not a problem.”
Chris and Aaron exchanged a look. Louisa honestly expected them to tell her no. In fact, she sort of hoped they would as she was itching for a fight. To her surprise though, Chris nodded and said, “Be sure to take a full detail with you. And you leave the vehicle only after the area has been secured.”
“I know the rules,” she snapped, and everyone looked surprised by her sharp tone. Did they think there was no limit to the flack she would take from them? That she was immune to their condescension?
“Remember that Anne is flying home and we’re having dinner together here at the hospital,” Chris told her, and there was an unspoken warning of be there or else in his tone. “Seven sharp.”
If there was any way she could get out of it, she would, but for Melissa, who was desperate for company, Louisa couldn’t say no. “I’ll be here,” she said and pulled the door open. Her bodyguards Gordon and Jack were waiting for her in the hall. She gestured to them and said, “We’re leaving, gentlemen.”
On the way to the car, Jack received a call on his cell. Chris, she was assuming, because when they got in the Bentley and she instructed Jack to take her to Garrett’s town house he didn’t bat an eyelash. It was a good thing she once again failed to mention the new e-mail she had gotten from the Gingerbread Man the day before. She would have mentioned it if there had been any direct threats or even an undertone of danger. All it had said was, Louisa and Garrett sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-IN-G…
It was just his way of letting her know that he was keeping tabs on them. Par for the course.
When they got to Garrett’s place, Louisa wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that a team of security agents were already on the premises. Considering his net worth, she was a bit surprised he didn’t live in a lavish home in a gated community. Not that his townhome wasn’t very attractive, and very large, but he could afford much more. Although, she liked that he wasn’t pretentious. Definitely not the kind of man interested in money and power.
It seemed to take forever before Gordon opened the car door and led her up the walk.
“You men will wait outside,” she told him. Demanded was more like it, even though she and Gordon both knew that he was obligated to do whatever Chris ordered. But he nodded and stepped to the side of the door where he had a clear view of the street. Louisa rang the bell, nearly buzzing with excitement at the idea of her and Garrett finally having some time to themselves.
It took him almost a full minute to answer the door, and when he did he was dressed more casually than she’d ever seen him, in lightweight jogging pants and a polo shirt with the emblem of the local yacht club embroidered over his left pec. The casual clothes for some reason seemed to accentuate his size. The thickness of his arms and the width of his shoulders. His lean waist and muscular thighs.
She expected a smile when he saw her standing there, maybe a hug and a kiss, but he just looked confused.
“Louisa? How did you…what are you doing here?”
It was true that Garrett hadn’t technically invited her there, but she had been sure he wouldn’t mind if she stopped by. How could he when they would get some much needed time alone? Wasn’t that all they had been talking about? And why else would he mention, during their phone conversation Tuesday, that he would be working from home if he didn’t want her to come over?
Now she wasn’t so sure. Maybe the implied invitation hadn’t been an invitation after all.
She pasted on a smile despite the sinking sensation in her belly. “I came to visit you.”
“Chris let you?”
She nodded, keeping her smile bright. “I think he realized that if he forbid it, I might rebel.” Garrett didn’t say anything so she asked, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
He looked behind him, into the town house, then back to her. “Um, sure, come on in.”
He stepped aside to let her pass, but he was definitely edgy about something. He kept looking down a hallway that led to the rear of the unit. Behind him to the left was a staircase to the second floor.
She gazed around what was clearly a professionally decorated foyer and living room. It was undeniably male, but tastefully so. “This is nice.”
He shrugged. “It suits my needs.”
Why didn’t he smile? Or take her into his arms and kiss her? Just a few nights ago he’d been dying to get his hands on her.
There was a brief, awkward silence, so she said brightly, “Aren’t you going to offer me a tour?”
He shot another furtive glance behind him, and she began to wonder if he was with someone else. Maybe, despite his assurances that he was finished playing the field, he had another woman in his life. Her heart sank so hard and fast she could swear she felt it knocking around by her knees.
Please don’t let him be like the others, she begged silently. He had to be the one. If not, her family would never let her live it down.
Garrett cleared his throat. “It’s just that now isn’t the best time.”
Aware that her hands were shaking, she clasped them into fists, lifted her chin and asked him point blank, “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Nothing that has anything to do with us. I promise. It’s…complicated.”
From down the hallway Louisa heard movement, then the timbre of a male voice called out, “Who is it, Garrett?”
It wasn’t another woman, she thought with a relief that left her knees weak. Then it occurred to her, just because it was a man, it didn’t mean Garrett wasn’t… involved with him. Anne had dated a fellow for several months before she realized he was more interested in her bodyguard Gunter than her.
But Garrett was so masculine and virile.
Before she could work up the nerve to ask him, the owner of the voice appeared at the end of the hallway. His face was bruised and swollen and he leaned on a pair of crutches to
take the weight off a leg that was encased in plaster from foot to midthigh. It was his friend from the hospital, she realized. The one who had been in the accident.
He walked toward them, the agony of each measured step clear on his poor battered face.
“Bloody hell, Ian!” Garrett barked in a tone Louisa had never heard him use. Like a father chastising a disobedient child. The way Chris had often spoken to her when she was younger. And sometimes still did. “The doctor said to stay off your feet as much as possible.”
“Had to use the loo,” the Ian person said with a wry smile, then he turned his attention to Louisa and opened his mouth to speak, but he must have recognized her because his jaw fell instead. He looked at Garrett and said, “Damn, that’s the Princess.”
Garrett cursed and shook his head, and when Ian just stood there gaping, he kicked him in his good leg and said, “Bow, you jackass.”
“Sorry.” He bowed his head, wearing a humble grin, and said, “Must be all the pain medication they’ve pumped in me.”
“Oh, it’s all right,” she assured him and offered a hand to shake. “Princess Louisa Josephine Elisabeth Alexander.”
Balancing on one crutch, he took her hand, enfolding it in his rough, callused one and said, “I’m Ian. Ian Sutherland.”
Nine
“Sutherland?” Louisa repeated, looking to Garrett, clearly confused. And why wouldn’t she be when he’d told her this was an acquaintance who’d been in the accident. “You’re related?”
Garrett cursed under his breath. Could this day possibly get any worse? He’d hoped to get Ian settled then leave him in the nurse’s care and lock himself in his office for the rest of the day, but due to a scheduling snafu, the nurse wouldn’t be coming until tomorrow morning.
And now, to top it all off, he had no choice but to tell Louisa the truth. “Ian is my brother.”
“There’s actually an uncanny family resemblance, when my face isn’t all bruised and swollen,” Ian told her. “Although I am the better looking one.”
Louisa turned to Garrett, brow furrowed. “But you said—”
“I know. I lied.”
This would normally be the time when Ian would jump in and say or do something to make Garrett look like even more of an ass, but instead he actually defended him. It was the least selfish thing Garrett had ever seen him do. “Compared to someone like me, Garrett here is a Boy Scout, Your Highness. If he did lie, I know he had a damned good reason.”
She looked between Ian and Garrett as though she wasn’t sure what to believe.
Though Ian would usually stick around for the fireworks, he yawned and said, “If you’ll both excuse me, I’m feeling woozy from the pain medication. I think it’s time for my afternoon nap. But I hope we’ll get the chance to talk again, Your Highness.”
“I’d like that,” Louisa said with a smile, and as Ian limped back down the hall she turned to Garrett with a questioning look, as if to say, Okay, what’s the deal?
“I know I owe you an explanation.” He gestured to the staircase. “Let’s go to my office, where we can talk in private.”
She nodded and followed him up the stairs, but as they passed his bedroom, she stopped.
“This is your room?”
He nodded.
Without asking his permission, she stepped inside. She inhaled deeply and said, “Hmm, it smells like you.”
He leaned in and sniffed, but to him it smelled the same way it always did. Just like the rest of the house.
He waited by the door for her to come out. Instead she dropped her purse on the floor, hoisted herself onto his bed and leaned back on her elbows, making herself comfortable. God, did she look sexy. She wore a sleeveless pink blouse and conservative white skirt, with her hair flowing loose and soft on her back. Maybe it was his imagination but it seemed the longer he knew her, the more attractive he found her.
She patted the mattress beside her, signaling him to sit down. Apparently they were having their talk right here.
He closed the door and crossed to the bed, taking a seat to her left. “Let me say first that I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“When you first let me in and you looked so nervous, I thought maybe you were seeing another woman. Then I heard Ian’s voice and for a second I thought maybe you were seeing a man.”
The things that came out of her mouth never ceased to amaze him. “I told you before, Louisa, there’s only you. And for the record, only women.”
“Why didn’t you tell me it was your brother in the accident?”
“Because I knew you would want to meet him.”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
“Yes. Because he’s a liar and a thief and I didn’t want to expose you to someone like that. The only reason he came to see me is because my parents and my brothers have all written him off.”
She frowned. “That’s so sad.”
“No, it isn’t,” he said, and told her some of the things Ian had done to the family, how he’d cheated and lied and stolen from them. And how Garrett was stuck with him now, until his leg healed. “He keeps telling me that he’ll really change this time, but I’ve heard the story a hundred times before. People like that never change.”
“But maybe this time he really means it.”
“Do you know how he got into the accident? I told him I wouldn’t give him money, so he stole my car instead.”
“Are you sure he wasn’t just borrowing it?”
“He admitted to stealing it, not to mention a dozen bottles of my best liquor. Then he tried to make me believe he’d had second thoughts and was bringing it back. But I know better. He left and had no intention of ever coming back.”
“Yet you’re letting him stay here,” she said. “You must still care at least a little.”
“I had no choice. He had nowhere else to go.”
“If you really didn’t care at all, that wouldn’t have made a difference.”
Though he hated to admit it, she had a point. But he didn’t want her to be right. He wanted to hate Ian for all that he’d done. It was so much easier that way.
He groaned and flopped down on his back beside her.
“Stressed out?” she asked.
“Does it show?”
An impish smile curled her lips and he instantly knew she was up to no good. “You know what they say is supposed to be good for stress.”
He had a few suggestions, but he was much more interested in her ideas. “Why don’t you show me?”
She leaned over and brushed a soft, lingering kiss against his lips, then sat back and asked, “Better?”
Suppressing a smile, he shrugged and said, “A little, I guess.”
Looking thoughtful, she said, “Hmm, maybe I’m just not trying hard enough.”
She leaned over to give it another go, but he had a sudden revelation. “Hey, wait a minute.”
She stopped abruptly and sat up. “What’s wrong?”
“Something is missing.”
She frowned. “What?”
He rose up on his elbows, looking around the room. “Security.”
“Oh, they’re here. They’re outside, guarding the doors.”
“Outside? As in, not inside?”
She looked at him funny. “Yes.”
“And there’s no chance of them possibly barging in and say, coming upstairs to this room?”
He could see by the slow smile creeping across her face that she knew where he was going with this. “Only if I ask them to. But what about your brother? Is there any reason he would come up here?”
“He’s taking a nap. Besides, he can hardly walk, much less climb the stairs.”
“You know what that means,” she said.
They both smiled and said in unison, “We’re finally alone.”
Louisa was suddenly so excited her hands were trembling. “I have to be back to the hospital by seven for dinner.”
He looked at his watch. “That gives us a little over two hours.”
>
She thought of all the things they could do in two hours.
“Why don’t you lie back against the pillows,” Garrett said, and he had this look in his eyes, one that said, I’m going to eat you alive.
She realized that the dynamics had suddenly changed. A minute ago, when she was kissing Garrett, she had been the one in control. Now Garrett was clearly calling the shots, and though it scared her a little, it also thrilled her to the depths of her soul.
So why was she just sitting there wasting precious time?
Garrett regarded her curiously, “You’re not getting cold feet, are you?”
She reached up and laid a hand on his cheek. “No! I want this, more than anything. It’s all I’ve thought of for weeks. Maybe too much.”
He leaned in and brushed a kiss against her lips and she could swear she felt it all the way down to her toes. “There’s no such thing as too much.”
“And that’s the problem. Here we are alone, with no reason to stop if things start to go too far.”
“How far is too far?”
“I know it’s archaic and silly, but I want to be a virgin on my wedding night. I just think it will make it more special.”
“It’s not silly. It’s an honorable decision, and knowing your wishes, I would never let things go too far.”
His gaze was so earnest, she wanted to believe him, but who’s to say he wouldn’t get too carried away? “What if you can’t stop?”
He grinned, his dimple winking at her. “Contrary to what you may have read, not all men are sex-starved fiends. You have my word that we won’t go any further than we should.”
She believed him, because she knew Garrett would never lie to her. At least, not about something so important. And when he had lied about Ian, he’d done it to protect her.
She sat up and scooted backward, laying her head on the pillow. Garrett lay down beside her and propped himself up on one elbow. He studied her face, softly tracing her features with his index finger. “Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?”
“Probably. But feel free to tell me again.”
He kissed her instead. So tender and sweet—at first anyway. He kissed her lips and her chin and the side of her neck. He nibbled her earlobes and found a sensitive little spot behind her ear that made her shiver.
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