‘I work here.’ She still had her arms round his neck and he his hands on her waist, and to Alix it was the best moment, ever. ‘I’ve been here for months.’
‘And no one told me?’
‘We wanted it to be a surprise.’
‘It was certainly that.’ His grey eyes laughed down at her. ‘I shall have words to say when I get home.’
‘Are you going now?’
‘In about half an hour. I’ve got a car laid on. Want a lift?’
‘Of course.’
‘OK. Meet me out front.’
He went to let her go but she pulled him closer and stood on tip-toe to murmur in his ear, ‘I’m glad you’re home, Rhys.’
His eyes met hers for a moment, saw the radiance in their depths. ‘Still?’ he asked, only half teasingly.
‘Still,’ she answered with sincerity. ‘Always.’
He brushed her lips with his, then said, ‘See you later,’ and walked out of the office.
‘Well!’ Kathy exclaimed as soon as he’d gone. ‘You’re a dark horse. I thought you said you didn’t know him.’
Alix came back to earth to find everyone staring at her, which made her blush. ‘Oh, no; you never asked me. You just took it that I didn’t.’
Some of the others came to cluster round and Kathy gave her a shrewd look. ‘You could easily have told us. Why didn’t you?’
‘I wanted to surprise him.’
‘Well, you certainly did that. And you obviously know him very well,’ one of the men said.
Alix coloured again at the emphasis that had been put on the last two words. ‘Oh, yes. I’ve known him nearly all my life. We live next door to each other, you see.’
Faces cleared and people went back to their desks, a few picked up phones to pass on the tit-bit of gossip. Kathy looked as if she longed to do the same, but instead pulled her chair closer to Alix’s and said enviously, ‘How fantastic that you know Rhys. God, I’d give anything to live next door to him. But I’d never have been able to keep it secret like that. Do you see much of him when he’s home?’
‘Oh, yes, lots,’ Alix told her, conveniently forgetting the last couple of years. ‘We go out together, too.’
‘Really? Oh, wow! Just wait till Donna Temple finds out.’ And unable to resist any longer, Kathy reached for the phone.
Several curious faces were looking out of windows when Alix was supposed to meet Rhys, but as it happened he was standing in the foyer, talking to another man when she came out of the lift, a man in his forties, not as tall as Rhys but broad and tough-looking. She hesitated but Rhys saw her and beckoned her over. ‘This is the surprise I found waiting for me,’ he said with a grin. ‘Alix, this is Todd Weston. Todd, meet Alix North. I’ve been pulling her out of scrapes since she was shorter than my knee.’
Alix gave him an indignant look, but smiled as she shook the outstretched hand of the head of the company. ‘Hello, Mr Weston.’
‘Hello, Alix,’ he said with a Canadian accent. ‘Isn’t that a boy’s name?’
‘I thought she was a boy the first time I met her,’ Rhys said before she could speak.
Todd Weston looked her over and grinned. ‘Well, she’s certainly changed.’
‘So she has,’ Rhys agreed, and they both laughed as Alix blushed furiously.
A chauffeur came in to say the car was there so Todd bade them goodbye. ‘See you Monday and we’ll talk further, Rhys.’ And he clapped him on the shoulder before walking away.
Alix glanced up as they waited on the pavement for all Rhys’s luggage to be loaded in the car, saw the faces at the windows, and couldn’t help hoping, with great satisfaction, that one of them was that of Donna Temple.
They got in the back of the car, the glass screen dividing them from the chauffeur, and Rhys said, ‘Well, urchin, how did you get the job?’
‘Purely on merit,’ she assured him. ‘Although your father did find out about the vacancy,’ she admitted.
Rhys’s eyebrows flickered and he gave her a thoughtful look. ‘Did he, now?’
Alix chuckled richly. ‘But wasn’t it the most perfect surprise?’
‘It certainly was; in your letters you just said you’d got a job.’
‘Oh, you did read them, then?’
‘Of course.’
‘But you never bothered to answer any of them,’ she pointed out tartly.
‘Yes, I did; I sent you postcards from all over the place.’
‘Postcards!’ Alix exclaimed with such a disgusted expression that he laughed. ‘What good are those to a girl?’
‘You used to collect them,’ Rhys pointed out.
‘I didn’t collect them—I kept yours.’
‘What, all of them?’
‘Of course.’ Alix didn’t say that they were among her most treasured possessions, along with the gifts and Christmas and birthday cards that he had given her over the last sixteen years.
Maybe she didn’t have to, because Rhys ran a finger along her throat and up to her chin, and said, looking into her eyes, ‘You’re a funny one, Alix.’
‘Why—because I’m so single-minded about you?’
He smiled and gave a small shrug. ‘Yes, I suppose so.’
‘I don’t see why. Some children know what they want to be—a doctor or a dancer or something—from a very early age, and usually everyone thinks that’s great and they’re given every help and encouragement. Well, it was more or less the same for me. I saw you and I just knew I wanted to be with you,’ she said simply. ‘I can’t help it—that’s just the way it is.’
Rhys shook his head at her. ‘I was sure you would have grown out of that by now.’
Alix smiled at him, a delightfully mischievous smile that gave her face an elfin quality. ‘And I was sure you would have grown into it by now.’
That made him give a burst of laughter and there was an arrested expression in his eyes as he looked at her. Her hand was still in his, but now he put his other hand over it. ‘Tell me what you’ve been doing,’ he commanded, giving her all his attention.
‘I haven’t seen you for more than two years; it would take ages to tell you everything.’
‘Well, we have plenty of time. Tell me about college.’
So Alix told him, leaning against his arm, her voice and face animated as she recounted experiences and anecdotes, gratified to have his interest, inwardly bursting with pleasure to be near him.
‘And did you make lots of friends?’ he asked her.
‘Oh, yes, loads. Some I see quite often because they work in London, too. And we’re all determined to have a big reunion for our whole year in July.’
‘Males as well as females?’
‘Of course.
‘And didn’t any of the men at college take your fancy?’
Again she gave him an impish look. ‘No, it’s OK, Rhys, you don’t have to be jealous.’
‘There wasn’t even one man who interested you?’
She shook her head with certainty. ‘No, not even one.’
‘You’re incorrigible,’ he grinned.
Alix smiled back at him and moved closer, her eyes drinking him in. After two years he had changed little, although a line at the corner of his mouth seemed to have deepened. She put up a finger to touch it. ‘You’re starting to get a cynical line here,’ she said reprovingly.
‘It’s old age,’ he said flippantly.
‘Not experience?’
‘Experience?’ He raised an eyebrow at the note in her voice.
‘Of women.’ And she lifted candid blue eyes to meet his.
Rhys’s eyes narrowed. ‘What’s this—office gossip?’
‘Yes,’ Alix answered, unable to be anything but truthful with him.
She waited for him to deny it, but he merely sat back and said, ‘What have you heard?’
‘That women fall over you wherever you go.’
‘What?’ He gave a crack of surprised laughter. ‘You surely don’t believe that rubbish, do you?’
‘Why not? I think you’re fantastic so why shouldn’t other girls?’
‘Well, it isn’t true.’
Alix tilted her head to one side to look at him, all wide-eyed innocence. ‘You mean you don’t go out with other girls when you’re away?’
There was a slightly considering look in the grey eyes that met hers, but then Rhys grinned. ‘Somehow I don’t think you’d believe it if I said I didn’t.’
‘Of course I wouldn’t,’ she answered. ‘It wasn’t only economics I learned at college, you know. I understand that men have to—gain experience of life.’
‘Such worldly wisdom in one so young,’ Rhys mocked, making her blush and punch his arm.
‘You know what I mean,’ she scolded.
He smiled down at her, a look of tender affection in his eyes. ‘Yes, urchin, I know what you mean. And have you gained some experience of life?’
The colour in her cheeks deepened. ‘No. It’s different for girls.’
‘Not all girls.’
‘Perhaps not,’ she admitted. ‘But it’s different for me—because of you.’
Rhys gave a gasping sigh. ‘Alix! You shouldn’t do this! You’re putting too much onus on me.’
She gave him a steady, earnest look. ‘Do you want to marry someone else, Rhys?’
‘No, but——
‘Not Donna Temple?’
His brows drew into a frown. ‘Who told you about her?’
‘Everyone knows about you and her. Do you want to marry her, Rhys?’
The frown deepened for a moment, then cleared, and there was a definite note in his voice as he said, ‘No, I don’t.’
‘Or anyone else?’
Amusement was coming back into his eyes. ‘Or anyone else,’ he agreed.
Alix gave a smile of pure happiness. ‘So that’s OK.’
‘Is it?’
‘Of course. You promised to marry me over sixteen years ago, and I’m going to hold you to it. Besides, if you don’t want to marry anyone else, then you might as well marry me. Everyone thinks it’s about time you settled down.’
‘“Everyone” being my parents, I take it?’ he guessed shrewdly.
‘And me.’
‘But what if you meet someone else and fall in love?’
She shook her head in absolute certainty. ‘I won’t. I’m in love with you.’
That made Rhys frown again. ‘And what if I meet someone and fall in love with her?’
Alix gazed at him for a moment, then let a mock-savage look come into her face. Stretching her hands like claws, she said, ‘Then I’ll tear her eyes out and scratch her to pieces. I’ll boil her in oil and grind her bones to dust.’
‘Ugh! Nasty.’ Rhys shook his head as if in horror, but there was amusement in his face. ‘I take it you’d be jealous?’
‘Of course I would.’ She grew suddenly serious. ‘You remember the last time we saw each other, when I was eighteen?’ He nodded. ‘Do you remember what you said then?’
Rhys gave her a wary look. ‘No, but I’ve a feeling it was probably something as unwise as that incautious answer I gave to a four-year-old imp who pushed her way into my garden—and my life.’
She smiled, liking that, and leaned towards him so that he put his arm round her. ‘I wanted you to marry me, then—when I was eighteen, I mean, but you said I’d got to wait until I was no longer a teenager and ask you again. Well, I’m not a teenager any longer, Rhys.’
He pursed his lips, sighed and nodded. ‘I was right; it was an unwise thing to say.’
‘But you did say it.’
‘So I did.’
She looked up at him, her eyes soft and radiant as stars. ‘So will you marry me, Rhys?’
For a long moment he didn’t speak, then bent to lightly kiss her parted lips. ‘You’re very special to me, Alix—but when I want to marry a girl, I’ll do the asking.’
Alix sat back, deep disappointment in her eyes, but then she frowned and said, ‘Well, I must say you’re taking a hell of a long time about it. A girl could die of frustration waiting for you to come home, you know.’
Which unexpected riposte made him give a crack of laughter and completely eased the situation again. His arm was still round her and he gave her a spontaneous hug. ‘Urchin, you are something else.’
Which she rightly took as a great compliment. Wisely, then, she changed the subject, asking him about Australia, which lasted until they reached their village.
‘Can you drop me off outside your house and I’ll walk round to mine?’
‘Don’t you want to go through the gate?’
Alix shook her head. ‘No, your parents will want you to themselves for a couple of hours.’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Only a couple of hours?’
She grinned mischievously. ‘We’re all having dinner together at my place.’
Rhys gave a mock groan but leaned forward to tell the driver to stop. ‘I might have known. What else have they got lined up for me?’
‘Well, there’s the welcome home party, and your grandparents are coming to visit, and then——’
Rhys raised his hands in protest. ‘Enough! Enough. I can’t take any more.’
‘Well, it’s your own fault,’ Alix pointed out prosaically. ‘You shouldn’t be such a lovable hunk.’
‘“A lovable hunk”!’ Rhys gave her an outraged look. ‘I’ve been called some things in my time, but that…Get out of the car, woman; I’ll see you later.’
Alix did so with a chuckle, and walked home whistling; for the first time Rhys had called her woman instead of urchin, which to her mind was a tremendous step in the right direction.
He was home that time for over six weeks, and to Alix it was wonderful because she saw him not only when he came to Kent, but often in London, too. He drove her back to the office on Monday morning, using his own car this time, but she didn’t see him for the rest of the day. Her own office seemed to be extra busy all that morning as several members of staff seemed to visit it for little reason. One of them was Donna Temple. She had her dark hair down today, sleekly combed behind her ears and turning up at the ends. And she was wearing a dress that would have cost a whole month of Alix’s salary, but which was well worth the money, the way it stressed the length of Donna’s legs and curved in to show the narrowness of her waist. Alix was smartly and neatly dressed, but she hadn’t yet found her own style, and she knew a moment of envy for the older girl’s sophistication.
Donna’s eyes swept over Alix when she came into the room, but she talked for several minutes to one of the men about some papers she had with her, and turned to go before apparently noticing Alix and coming over to pause by her desk.
‘You must be Alix North, Rhys’s little neighbour. Right?’
The other girl’s voice was all sweetness but Alix could recognise a put-down when she heard one. ‘That’s right. And you are…?’
‘Donna Temple.’
‘Oh, yes, Rhys’s little…’ She didn’t finish the sentence, just let it hang in the air. Behind her Kathy smothered an over-awed giggle, and the smile on Donna’s face changed, became fixed.
‘Perhaps you were going to say friend,’ Donna said curtly, breaking the silence. ‘I am a friend of his, yes. I suppose he told you about me?’
Alix shook her head. ‘No, he didn’t mention you.’
‘Well, he will. How are you getting on here?’ Donna asked, abruptly changing the subject.
‘Very well, thank you,’ Alix answered warily.
But it seemed that the older girl wanted to be friends because she gave a gracious smile and said, ‘Well, if you have any problems, just let me know. Rhys wants you to get on in the firm and I’d be happy to help.’
‘Thanks,’ Alix answered. ‘But I think I can manage on my own. And I don’t have any problems.’
The older girl nodded and walked out of the room, all eyes following her.
‘Phew!’ Kathy exclaimed. ‘I rather think our Donna wants you on her
side. Probably hopes to get to Rhys’s parents through you.’
‘If Rhys had wanted her to meet his parents he would have taken her down before now. Anyway, he isn’t interested in marrying her,’ Alix said with certainty.
‘No?’ Kathy’s eyes grew round. ‘How do you know? Did he tell you?’
Belatedly remembering Kathy’s love of gossip, Alix thought she’d better be more circumspect, so said, truthfully, ‘I was with him most of the weekend and he didn’t mention Donna once.’
‘Really? How come you were with him?’
‘Our parents are the closest friends. We all had dinner together at my house, then his parents gave an open-house party for him on Saturday; one of those whole day things where people come and go the whole time. I was helping with the food and everything.’
‘You are so lucky, Alix,’ Kathy said soulfully. ‘How about inviting me down one weekend when Rhys is there?’ But then she said, ‘Donna must have been really curious about you, just like all the other people who’ve been wandering in here today.’
For a day or so people continued to be curious about her, but it all died down when Rhys didn’t come into the office again. Alix didn’t see him for a few days, but then he phoned her at home one evening. ‘How about lunch tomorrow?’
‘Of course,’ Alix agreed immediately, shelving a shopping hour with Kathy without hesitation. ‘Where and when?’
‘Meet you in the foyer at one. See you, urchin.’
Alix hadn’t expected him to meet her in the building, hadn’t expected him to take her out in London, if it came to that. Next day she wore a new outfit and was there early, eager to see him as always. But Rhys was a few minutes late, and when he came out of the lift Donna was with him.
The other girl had a possessive hand on his arm and was laughing up at him. Alix felt a harsh rip of jealousy, that was instantly gone as Rhys said, ‘Excuse me, Donna. I have a date. ‘Bye.’ And he smilingly walked over to Alix and kissed her lightly. ‘Hello, little one.’
‘Hi.’ She dropped her voice. ‘Am I being used?’
His eyes immediately filled with laughter. ‘You could say that.’
‘It’s going to cost you a really good meal.’
‘It will be worth it.’
To Have And To Hold (Mills & Boon Vintage 90s Modern) Page 2