An Affair To Remember: A Ludlow Hall Christmas
Page 12
He smiled.
Her teeth sank into his chin.
And right there Marc knew that if she was taking bites out of him they were going to be okay.
"I love you. I've missed you so much."
Now his mouth was at her neck and he inhaled the scent of his woman.
"I missed you, too," she said and her arms came around his waist and held on tight.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
She eased back to look into his eyes and saw the strain around his mouth, around his eyes.
"Kiss me."
His smile lit up the room before he dipped his head and his mouth took hers.
His lips were cool and soft against hers. But Elena wanted more, so she took more. And he gave her everything she needed to heal a sore heart.
By the time they eased back they were both breathing heavily.
"We're guests," Elena said. "We'd better rejoin the party."
He took her hand before he opened the door to the sound of laughter and high voices that mingled with orchestral Christmas music.
"We'll have our own party later," he promised, as he tugged her down the hall.
"Marc..."
He stopped and turned to her face him.
"I still have the keys to the cottage. The log burner is on, the heating is on, the champagne is in the fridge. Your things are just where you left them."
"I always spend Christmas morning with my family," she said, not wanting to give too much, too soon.
"Me, too. Maybe we can get them together later in the day at Heron's Rest? But first I want you to myself tonight. I'm not waiting for you any longer, Elena." He placed a gentle kiss on her soft mouth. "Why don't you bring the food, the wine and we'll combine our turkeys? As my mother said, let's start as we mean to go on."
He moved to kiss her again when a voice interrupted.
"Elena. May I speak with you for a moment?"
She closed her eyes.
Nico.
"Give him a chance, baby," Marc whispered in her ear.
She nodded once.
Marc gave the hand he held to Nico and the Italian towed her into his study.
It appeared it was a night for studies.
This one was huge.
The antique desk was massive and there was a fire burning low in the grate behind an enclosed fire guard.
Nico shut the door, released her hand and moved to a low sofa made of butter soft leather the colour of mocha.
"Sit," he said.
She sat, looked into his face and lifted her chin in defiance.
His teeth tugged on his top lip.
"Cara, I am sorry that you had to go through the ordeal with the police, but..."
Elena held up her hand to stop another word.
"No buts. There's a formal disciplinary procedure for the company and you didn't follow it. I understand why you did it. But didn't it occur to you or James Bond out there that you might have recruited me? Don't you think that it sickened me to read what those emails said about you and Bronte?"
"Si, but I will do anything to protect mia famiglia."
Nico's grey eyes were stormy now.
And Elena saw the love, saw the fear for that love, too.
She nodded.
The man was just trying to protect the people who mattered most.
Elena got that.
"What's happened to Jenny?"
His brow rose.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes."
"She has been dismissed."
"That's it?"
"What more would you have me do?"
Good question.
"She's very young, Nico. It's easy to make mistakes when we're young. She's a very good worker, good with the clients. I believe her boyfriend was the bad influence and used her. Perhaps she deserves another chance?"
"Not working in my hotels."
Fair enough.
The man was tough on people who let him down.
She stood. "I accept your apology."
Nico rose and went to hug her.
But Elena shook her head.
Nico studied her face.
Now his smooth brow creased.
"You are not coming back to Ludlow Hall?"
"I haven't decided yet. But at the moment I'm leaning towards a fresh start somewhere new. So, you deserve another chance, but not Jenny? Double standards, Nico."
A whole stream of Italian invective poured from his mouth as Nico paced to his desk and back again to stand in front of her.
"You drive a hard bargain, Elena Kennedy. Si, she can have a role in my organisation. But not at Ludlow Hall. I will find a place for her in the new Boutique Hotel in London, under the watchful eye of a very tough, very experienced manager. One more slip and she is out."
"Okay, I'll come back," Elena agreed with a nod. Then her eyes met his. "And I want a raise, fifteen percent. I'm worth every penny."
For a stunned moment, Nico simply stared. His mouth twitched. He threw back his head and roared with laughter.
She was caught in a big hug and both cheeks kissed.
"Ah, Bella, bella. You will drive Marc pazzo. He is a lucky man."
"You didn't agree. I didn't hear the word yes."
"Si, you may have a raise, it is the least I can do." He grabbed her hand and headed for the door. "Come, let us join our families."
Chapter Nineteen
They dropped Marc's mother and sister at Heron's Rest, and then drove back to the cottage.
Marc took her hand, placed it on his thigh as he drove and she was happy to leave it there.
It was a beautiful night.
A clear night.
The sky twinkling with millions of stars and constellations.
As the car slowed, crunching through ice, to park before the cottage, he switched off the engine and turned to her.
"Our families blended well tonight. We're a good fit," he said.
He was right.
Her brothers had been merciless the way they'd teased the lovely Nina. The girl had been pink cheeked by the end of the night, her blue eyes, so like her brother's, dancing as she'd given as good as she got. And Marc's mother had got on with Elena's dad like a house on fire. Christmas was the time for family.
Now Elena turned to him and found Marc's eyes fixed on her face.
"Are we okay?" he wanted to know.
And the fact that he wasn't quite sure of her was a good thing, she decided.
However, Elena was, when she wasn't being stubborn, a fair-minded person, too.
"We're good."
He got out, jogged around the car to open her door.
Hand in hand they walked her up the path to the door of the cottage.
When she stepped into the hall, the scents of pine, Christmas and the wood burner told her she was home. Once their coats were hanging on the coat hooks, they padded into the sitting room and Elena stopped dead.
Someone had placed a real Christmas tree in front of the French windows. The six foot fir was decorated with gold and red baubles and hundreds of fairy lights.
"Like it?" he whispered in her ear.
Elena turned to him grinning from ear to ear.
"Did you do this?"
"It was a team effort. I carried it in and set it up. My mum and Nina did the decorating."
She wandered over to study the fragile glass baubles, some of them had tiny snow men and Santa's inside. They were gorgeous. Then she fell to her knees to check out the presents all beautifully wrapped in gold paper with red velvet ribbon under the tree. And her heart fell, Marc's presents were still at her family home.
She heard him pop a bottle of champagne and turned to him.
Her eyes went wide when she read the label on the bottle.
Nothing but the best, it cost a fortune.
"My presents to you are at home," she said.
With his eyes on hers, Marc strolled around the breakfast bar, placed the drinks on the coffee table, before joi
ning her on the floor. His mouth took hers so fast her head spun. It spun even more when his tongue slipped in to dance with hers.
When he eased back her mouth was tingling, along with another part of her anatomy.
His hand reached out to pick up a small box wrapped in gold with a red velvet bow on the top. He rose and took her with him, towing her to the sofa, where he sat her on his knee.
He handed her the box.
"Open it."
Elena's heart was racing so fast against her ribs she was amazed he couldn't hear it.
Her eyes met his and she read an excitement clouded by anxiety.
Taking her time, she carefully removed the ribbon, placed it on the coffee table and then she peeled off the gold paper, placed it next to the ribbon. The black velvet box was square. Her eyes met his as she pressed the little gold button and the lid popped open. When her eyes saw the diamond, princess cut, set in a slim band of white gold, her eyes swam, even as her heart soared.
She couldn't speak.
Marc cleared his throat.
"Like it?"
She nodded.
"Marry me, Elena? Be a mother to my babies? Be my best friend? Be the love of my life?"
He took the box out of her nerveless fingers, removed the ring and placed it on the third finger of her left hand. It fit perfectly. She was blinking rapidly, trying to stop the flood of stupid tears pouring down her face. He caught her hands in his, brought them to his lips and kissed her fingers one by one. And all the while his eyes never left hers.
"Yes, I'll marry you. Have your babies. Be your best friend. I love you, so much, Marc."
They sealed the deal with a kiss.
*****
The afternoon of Christmas day found the Kennedy clan and their friends and the Jones family all sitting down at a vast table in the dining kitchen of Heron's Rest.
There was a lot of laughter, fun, good natured teasing of the women by the men as everyone tucked in to enough food to feed an army.
Elena dropped into a chair next to Marc who grabbed her to plant a hot kiss on the mouth.
"For the love of God, would you two stop with the lip-locks," Liam moaned.
"I think it's lovely," Nina said, digging a sharp elbow into Liam's ribs.
Liam pretended the elbow dig hurt.
Marc watched the by-ply between his sister and Elena's brother.
His eyes narrowed.
"I'm not sure Nina's old enough to handle your brother. How old is he anyway?" he muttered to Elena who was watching the way Liam whispered in Nina's ear, the words making the girl blush to the roots of her hair.
She patted Marc's cheek, twinkled into his eyes and gave him a smile a great white would be proud of.
"He's twenty-nine. Worry not. He's all talk."
Elena turned her attention on her brother, gave him a cheery grin.
"Marc's worried you'll lead Nina astray, Liam. I told him he's got nothing worry about. I told him about your no sex rule," she yelled to be heard over the noise.
The whole table went quiet as Daniel Kennedy looked at Liam and frowned.
"Rule?"
By Liam's look of utter confusion, it appeared he didn't know what Elena was talking about.
Excellent.
"Yeah, the promise he made to Jesus."
The Kennedy boys were regarding Liam's burning face with interest.
A pack of wolves were always quick to sense weakness in another.
"Elena," Liam said in a warning growl.
Her smile grew wider as she held his eyes and ignored the threat.
"What promise?" Adam wanted to know.
"The promise of celibacy," Elena said.
The whole table erupted in howls of derision as Liam sat back in his chair and folded his arms. He was not a happy bunny. But Elena wasn't finished, not by a long shot. She held up her hand for silence.
"Until marriage. Isn't that right Liam? Weren't you the one who told good old Tom that I had made a promise to Jesus to keep myself pure until I married?"
Her brothers now howled with laughter as Mary and Nina stared at Liam as if he'd grown two horns and a forked tail.
The way Liam scowled at her, if looks could kill, Elena would be six feet under by now.
Ahh, Karma, Karma, you are such a bitch.
At her side, Marc choked on a Brussels' sprout and Joe helpfully banged his back.
"Liam?" Daniel Kennedy eyed his son. "Have you been sticking your nose into your sister's affairs... again?"
"When did this happen?" Adam wiped streaming eyes with his napkin.
"The night I had dinner at Ludlow Hall with Tom. The night Tom dumped me because of my 'no sex' rule. You might imagine my surprise, since I'd never heard of it."
Nina Jones now turned to give Liam big eyes.
"Really? You did that to your sister?"
Now Liam glared at Nina as if she was the enemy.
"I was only protecting her. Keeping her safe."
Nina turned her laughing gaze on Elena.
"How old are you again?"
"Twenty-six."
Nina sat back and stared at Liam for a couple of beats.
Liam wriggled in his seat.
"Seriously?" Nina said. "You do realise you have control issues?"
Liam turned to Marc.
"Help me out here. I bet you vet Nina's boyfriends, too?"
Marc shrugged.
"Nope. I trust her to use her common sense." Marc winked at his sister. "However, you might have done Elena a better favour by warning her of the dangers of After Shock."
Liam shook his head.
"Nah, Elena wouldn't touch the stuff, she's not got the head for it."
"You're telling me," Marc muttered, ignoring Elena's death stare.
Now Joe entered the fray as he grinned down the table at his baby sister.
"You did not drink After Shock. When did this happen?"
"The night we got together," Marc said, oblivious to a fiancée who kicked him under the table. "That was after the crazy guy who'd escaped from the psychiatric hospital and exposed himself to Elena in the restaurant. We had to restrain him. Then Tom dumped her. And then she decided to drown her sorrows with flaming After Shocks. It was a night to remember."
Elena realised there was a lot more to this relationship thing that met the eye. She'd need to have a little chat to her beloved about what happens at Ludlow Hall, stays at Ludlow Hall.
Nina just shook her head and gazed at Elena with something like admiration.
"Wow, never a dull a moment with you, is there?"
Elena topped up Nina's wine.
"You've got that right." Then she studied Nina's lovely face, the intelligence in her blue eyes. And the germ of an idea entered Elena's mind. "You're doing a communications and marketing degree?"
Nina nodded.
"I'm taking a sabbatical until mum's feeling better. Why?"
Elena took a sip of wine, watching Nina over the rim of the glass.
"How do you fancy doing a bit of work experience at Ludlow Hall? I've an opening in my department. Pay's good and it'll give you credits for your degree. What do you say?"
Nina's eyes flicked to her brother.
Marc nodded, turned to look at Elena. "Good thinking, and thank you."
"If you're absolutely certain you want me. I'd love to do it," Nina said.
Elena lifted up her glass and dinged it with a teaspoon, asking for order and silence.
"Merry Christmas!"
In response everyone yelled,
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
THE END
Actually, it's not The End. It's just the beginning of a whole new off-shoot series to my Ludlow Hall series called Ludlow Nights. For more information and the first part of the story, HIS RULES, free, coming at the end of December 2014, please CLICK to sign up to my New Release newsletter. You'll receive information on my new stories, deals and offers. Your contact details will not be shared with a third party and I promise no
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From my family to your family, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Christine
Other Books in The Ludlow Hall Series
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Reckless Nights in Rome - Book 1
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A Stormy Spring - Book 2
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A Stormy Spring UK
Run Rosie Run - Book 3
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The Trouble with Coco Monroe - Book 4
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The Fall of Jacob Del Garda – Book 5
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A Film Star, A Baby. and a Proposal – Book 6
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