‘That’s true, but… Oh, sod it. I might as well say it, as it seems to be obvious to everyone else apart from you two. You still love her, Raff. She still loves you… Look, if you want my opinion?’
‘Since when did you, Winter, give a fuck about asking anyone before you gave them your opinion?’
‘Right okay, that’s true. You should never have walked away. But by God, I’m hoping you had a bloody good reason for doing so. If you did, then tell her.’
‘I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, she’s not too keen on talking to me.’
‘Then grow a fucking pair!’ Her voice raised again. ‘And think of a better way to communicate with her. Don’t corner her so she feels the need to run away from you.’
‘Do you think it could be that easy?’ Inside me a bud of hope was growing larger the longer we talked.
‘No, it’s not going to be easy, but then you don’t fucking deserve easy. She is way out of your fucking league. But for some stupid bloody reason my best friend loves you. Sort this bloody mess out, Raff.’
I nodded in agreement, and for a few minutes we sat side by side as I let her words sink in and, recognising the possibility that I had not only broken Lauren’s heart but also caused her other problems, filter around my system. Life was fucking cruel that was for sure. My mind however was focussed more on the other words she had just spoken.
She still loves you.
I bent my arm up and placed it around her shoulders and by holding the side of her face, I gently pulled her to me and placed a kiss on top of her head. ‘Thanks, Winter. Sometimes you’re not a crap sister.’
I felt her shoulder knock into my side. ‘You, on the other hand, are always a crap brother.’ I heard the laughter in her voice and smiled.
‘A different way to communicate, huh? Yeah, I think I can do that, thanks for the advice.’
‘Just don’t mess this up. Don’t hurt her… I shouldn’t have told you anything at all. Don’t make my telling you her secrets count for nothing. She deserves love and passion, she deserves a man who worships at her feet. I believe that after watching the two of you over the last couple of days and seeing the chemistry between you, not trying to blow your trumpet, only you can give her those things. And I want them so badly for her.’
Winter’s honesty meant everything. ‘So, I take it you’re not a fan of that Toby bloke, then?’
‘Oh, my God, NO! Don’t get me started on him. He puts in no time and effort, he doesn’t deserve her. Amy and I don’t like him at all.’
‘Noted. Now, I know you’re busy, but go and make sure she’s okay for me, please.’ I kissed her head again and left her. I wanted to search the place for Lauren but had to get back to the paparazzi and reviewers I knew were either going to make or break our new venture.
As I strode out of the kitchen, making sure I was once again tidy enough to face them, I contemplated how much this new business meant to me. Having started this whole idea to, I thought, keep us all alive and to offer our children stability, I now knew it represented even more.
I was back, because in truth my heart had never left here. As I walked back into the busy hotel, I smiled, posed for pictures and answered questions when necessary. But in my head I was lost to memories of her and us.
‘Hello, Rafferty,’ I heard Lauren’s nan’s voice call out from the kitchen. I hadn’t even realised she was there.
Immediately, we sprung apart a few inches and looked at each other, smiling. I saw a blush consume Lauren’s face. I placed a kiss on the end of her nose and grinned.
I’d been brought up to be a gentleman, so I turned my attention from her and down the hallway, to the ladies in her family, who seemed to be catching up on gossip in the kitchen.
‘Hi, Mrs. Harper, and Mrs. Harper.’ A smile spread over Lauren’s face as she turned in my arms and looked towards her nan and mum, who were now standing watching us. ‘Nice to see you both,’ I offered.
‘Take care of our girl, Rafferty,’ her knowing nan added. ‘She’s looking forward to her birthday evening with you.’
‘I promise I’ll look after her, and that’s good because I’ve had it all planned out for weeks.’ Lauren hugged me to her so tightly, I felt the smile she offered them pull up her cheeks.
‘And, Raff, you make us feel old. How many times must we tell you? Please, it’s Vera and Lisa,’ her mum reminded me. I nodded at her words.
‘Would you like a drink?’ came from Lauren’s nan.
‘NO! NO! NO!’ burst out of Lauren’s mouth. ‘Knowing Raff, he’ll politely say yes and we’ll never get out of here. Enough, you two, you are not sharing our date. He does not want a drink and he certainly doesn’t want to come in and answer twenty questions, which is what you’ll have him doing the moment you get him into your lair.’ I smiled at them both as they laughed and waved us off.
We moved backwards and Lauren pulled on the lion shaped front door knocker to close the door behind us, effectively trying to shut us away from their interference.
‘Bye, Vera. Bye, Lisa,’ I shouted out before the front door closed completely and I heard them both laughing. ‘Come on.’ Suddenly I was as desperate as her to be away from her front doorstep.
I opened the door to my car and watched as she slid over the bench seat in her short skirt and then I ran around to jump in myself.
Pushing the keys into the ignition, I fired up my old Humber and pulled away from her house. With one arm on the steering wheel, I lifted my left arm up high signifying that she was too far away. I exhaled as I relaxed the moment she moved over and into my hold.
‘Happy sixteenth birthday, Loz. I love you,’ I whispered into the top of her hair and breathed in everything about her. She calmed and centred me in ways that she didn’t understand. I’d had another shit day. The constant demands of my dad were beginning to make me feel cornered like a wild animal. He phoned again, we’d shouted and screamed at each other until my mum had wrestled the phone away from me and with tears in her eyes she’d replaced it back in its cradle. I couldn’t do what he wanted, it wasn’t in me, and it wasn’t what I wanted for my life. The disagreements at home were affecting all of us. Every time the phone rang Winter was now sprinting to get it first, she was hoping she could help me out by lying and saying I wasn’t there. The pain this was causing Mum and her, was breaking my heart. No way was I getting Lauren any more involved than she needed to be.
The sound of her voice broke up the dark thoughts in my head.
‘I love you, too,’ she replied.
I took my eyes off the quiet road for a few seconds and looked down at her beaming up at me, and bending my head forward I kissed the tip of her nose then I looked back up.
‘Stop looking at me like that, Loz. You’re distracting me.’ For a while now a growing sense of urgency to be more to each other had been growing between us. When we’d first got together, she’d not even been kissed before. But, as we spent as much time together as we could, I’d taken the lead and she’d followed wholeheartedly.
Her happy giggle made me smile. ‘I’m allowed, I’m sixteen today.’ I felt her arm tighten around my body. My dick twitched in response to her words and confidence. I glanced down to see her tongue flick out quickly to wet her lips and I exhaled loudly. She didn’t understand just how much she’d learnt in a few months.
We drove on in silence, happy to be in each other’s company and I ran over the latest argument with my dad.
‘What’s wrong, Raff. Holding you, I can feel you’ve just tensed up.’ Her voice penetrated my sadness.
‘The normal, I’ve had another row with the Colonel, I’m not sure how much longer I can put him off.’
Lauren shifted in my arms to look up at me. ‘Tell me what he said, please.’
‘Another day.’ I shifted in my seat and pulled her tight to me once again. ‘This is your birthday night and he, no matter how hard he tries, is not going to fucking spoil it.’
I felt her strengthen her hold on m
e and focussed my eyes back on the road.
‘Okay, but promise you’ll tell me tomorrow?’
I nodded in answer as I swung the car into my family’s crumbling wreck of an ancestral home. The familiar crunching gravel under the tyres of my car was like music to my ears, yet at the same time the sound of my impending doom, but my dad wasn’t going to ruin tonight. Tonight, was going to be just me and Lauren.
‘We’re at yours?’ she questioned.
‘Yeah. Wait there for me.’
I switched off the engine and climbed out of the Humber by holding onto the roof to support my tall frame. Twirling the keys around my index finger on my right hand, I shoved my other hand into my back pocket and I strode around the front of the car. I could feel her eyes watching my every movement and offered her a grin and a wink. I knew it was enough to make her blush and I loved the way she responded to me.
I pulled open the heavy door and offered her my hand. She took it immediately and I pulled her up and into my body. As soon as she was where I wanted her to be, my hands found the bare skin of her neck and my thumbs caressed her throat with my long fingers supporting the back of her head. Her head tilted back on instinct and I smiled down at her, watching her amber eyes darken, the longer I held her.
‘Kiss me,’ she whispered.
No fucking way. I wasn’t sharing the way she looked in my arms with any other fucker that was for sure.
I felt her thumbs thread themselves into my belt loops to pull me into her and hold me closer.
‘Not here. We’re probably being watched. Later, when we’re all by ourselves, I’ll kiss you,’ I whispered down to her.
‘You’re such a tease, Rafferty Davenport.’ She smiled at me.
‘I aim to please.’
‘Do I have to beg?’ Fuck, she was learning fast.
‘You can try.’ I grinned at her.
I felt her hand leave my belt abruptly and then a smack on my arse as she reprimanded me for not giving her exactly what she wanted. I moved quickly and caught her small wrist in my hand before she hit me again. My other hand snaked around her waist and I pulled her against me with force. She gasped as my erection pushed into her.
‘Are you ready for your birthday surprise, Lauren?’
‘Yes.’
I pulled myself away from her and pushing my hands into my jeans pockets, I walked backwards towards the side of my overly large family home.
‘Come on then.’ I crooked my index finger and narrowed my eyes at her as I beckoned her forward. Quickening my step, I managed to keep her at arms’ length and it was just far enough away for me to take a good look at her.
I’d never been in love before. But the vision in front of me, dancing and skipping along as she messed around ahead of me, had captured me and I knew then and there that I would never not be in love with her. It didn’t matter what crap life threw at us, she was it for me and the way her eyes sparkled under my observation, they told me that I was it for her. I couldn’t give a fuck what he said about us being too young, what the hell did he know anyway?
She made a grab for my hand and I snatched it away.
‘Oh, no… I haven’t finished looking at you yet.’ A laugh left my mouth as I took in her momentarily cross expression.
Still moving backwards, I made my legs move faster. I crooked my finger at her again.
My girl was fucking beautiful. Her chestnut coloured hair was loose, it tumbled down over her shoulders and half way down her back. Her smile was wide and her amber eyes danced with amusement at my antics. She was breathtaking, her eyes set my insides alight, and every time she focussed them on me, the rest of the world faded away. Studying her more closely, I could see she was wearing a little make-up, but thankfully not enough to cover the freckles on the bridge of her nose.
One day I was going to count every single one of them.
I smiled at her again and blew her kiss. Then I stopped dead and waited for her to throw herself into my arms. With our eyes closed and her arms securely around my neck, I picked her up off the floor. Carrying her small frame, our mouths pressed together like they were magnetised. As we consumed each other, I turned around and began to walk towards the side entrance of the house. I pressed my very needy mouth further into hers, taking everything I needed from the connection. I knew we’d reached the heavy oak gate when my boots found the cobbled paving in front of it and I booted it open. As the gate banged against the stone wall of the house her eyes flew open and she looked at me, silently giving me her permission.
I broke my mouth from hers and kissed the tip of her nose, smiling again at the freckles staring back at me.
One day I was definitely going to count them all.
But, not tonight. Tonight, I had other plans for us.
‘There you are.’ A few hours had passed since my altercation with Raff in the pantry and I hadn’t seen him since, which meant I’d been on edge all day. I walked into the kitchen, barely glancing at the offending storage area, just in time to see Amy press a button on one of the huge dishwashers in the kitchen. Although she hadn’t a clue, just by being here she made me feel more comfortable and at peace with myself. Amy had finished her shift at The Fairy Garden and was now helping Winter and I for the less formal open evening of The Manor. At the sound of my voice she turned around to face me and standing up straight she smoothed the fitted black dress she was wearing back down over her hips.
It wasn’t often I got to see my cousin looking like she did right now, her normal attire was jeans and worn out hoodies. But tonight, she looked stunning. She was done up to the nines, wearing what looked like one of my dresses, and black high heels.
‘Look at you… nice dress.’ I smiled over to her as I teased her. She really did look beautiful.
‘Oh, this old thing.’ She smiled back at me. ‘Sorry, I borrowed it. I thought I had nothing suitable with me to wear. Who knew I could have come in comfy jeans and a pair of Converse?’ She stared at me, raising one questioning eyebrow and looked me up and down.
Oh shit.
I’d showered and changed about an hour and a half ago into some boyfriend style jeans, Converse and a white, Bardot styled T-shirt that read, “My heart belongs to you…” Not a good choice I’d thought as I had checked my reflection in the mirror, but it was the only one I’d put into the small holdall this morning after hearing the change of direction on suitable attire for this evening.
What I hadn’t done was inform Amy about the change.
I grimaced back at her and silently mouthed my apology. ‘It looks better on you than it ever did on me,’ I offered, trying to appease her.
I watched her take another look at herself. There was something different about her this evening. She looked as tired as Winter and I did, but there was another addition to her normal look. Her eyes were alive, her skin looked almost iridescent and I truly hoped as she looked herself up and down, she could see what I could.
She lifted her eyes from the beautiful black lace and asked, ‘So, what brings you to my lowly domain?’ She opened her arms up wide and turned around in a circle, gesticulating the kitchen.
‘Well, Cinderella, Winter and I want you out of here. All the guests have gone into the ballroom to watch the band and we thought we could share a couple of glasses of bubbly together and then hopefully go to find our beds.’
‘I’m a little overdressed.’ She shot a quick look down at her tits. I knew what she was thinking, but seriously, she looked hot. Held in a decent bra they were almost spilling out of the space in between the plunging V neckline of the dress.
‘You look beautiful, even stunning.’ I smiled at her and she raised her eyebrows at me in question. ‘I know. Not to worry, we’ll hide you away in the drawing room, because God forbid anyone should get an eyeful of your tits.’ My laughter filled the kitchen. ‘Come on, we deserve the celebration and we’re dying to know how last night went?’ I tried winking at her, but I wasn’t good at it and often stupidly found both of my eyes cl
osing at the same time, and shot her a knowing smile.
‘I bet you do, but that will have to wait for another day. I’m too exhausted to talk tonight, just take me to the alcohol.’ Her eyes left mine as she answered.
Okay, that wasn’t quite what I’d been expecting. I’d hoped she’d had a good night, I wanted it for her and selfishly for me as well. I needed her joy to counteract my confusing day. I took a step towards her and grabbed hold of her hand. As we left the back of the house and began to move forward down the empty passageway, the sounds of the band tuning up reached my ears. My stomach turned over in excitement and my heart began to pulse in time to the beat Cade was producing. I rolled my eyes at my reaction and bit both of my lips between my teeth, to hold in a sigh.
I seriously need a distraction.
As we arrived through one door, Winter was closing the grander double doors to the ballroom behind her. She’d brought a small silver drinks trolley with her. On it, I could see two bottles of Champagne and three glasses. I smiled broadly at her as she began to push it towards the two overly large settees, placed either side of a roaring log fire.
Amy walked to one and flopped down.
‘I’m knackered, completely cream crackered,’ she declared as she kicked off her shoes and proceeded to make herself comfortable on the overstuffed settee. I smiled at her almost being engulfed by the leather that surrounded her and then looked at Winter as she fought to release the cork from the first bottle. I took a seat opposite Amy and sank down, my back and legs screamed out in relief.
POP!
Finally, the cork wiggled free and shot off towards the ceiling. The three of us smiled at each other. Hurriedly, I pushed the glasses under the stream of the escaping Champagne.
‘To us!’ Winter shouted into the warm room.
‘To us!’ we called back, clinking the expensive glasses together.
I wasn’t a great lover of Champagne, I was more of a beer girl, but this was Winter’s celebration and I was happy enough to drink a little with her. My last reading for my blood sugar had been surprisingly okay and with my shot of insulin, I felt my body could withstand a couple of drinks.
Rafferty (Default Distraction Book 2) Page 10
