The Tycoon's Instant Family

by Caroline Anderson

  But Nick was giving her funny looks.

  ‘What are you doing tonight?’ he asked suddenly.

  She shrugged. ‘Nothing, particularly. Why?’

  ‘Come to London with me. Una and my mother will be fine with the children, and maybe your father would like to come over and stay here too, to give them a bit of back-up. Archie spends so much time in the house with them all that he’d be quite happy, and the kids would love having him here for a sleep-over—what do you say? We can go out for dinner and go to a show and just have some time to ourselves. It’s been so long.’

  It had. Ages. Apart from stolen moments in the tower, it had been weeks since they’d been truly alone.

  She flashed him a smile. ‘Sounds wonderful. I’ll start packing!’

  ‘We’d better check with the others first,’ he cautioned, but they didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact they seemed positively encouraging, so, handing the site keys over to her father, Georgie went home, showered and changed and threw a few things in a case, packed a bag for her father and sorted out some dog food, and then went back to Nick’s house.

  He opened the door as she walked up the path, his bag standing in the hall behind him and anticipation in his eyes. ‘Ready?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ she said quietly, unable to stop the smile. ‘In fact, forget the show. I’d be quite happy to spend the entire evening in the hot tub. I’ve been hunched over drawings and specifications for so long now I’ve got permanent kinks in my spine!’

  ‘I’ll give you a back rub,’ he promised, his voice a low murmur, and a shiver of anticipation ran through her.

  ‘I’ll hold you to that,’ she replied, and their eyes locked and burned.

  ‘All set? Right, you two, have a good time and don’t worry about this end,’ her father said, coming out into the hall behind them. ‘If three of us can’t keep two small boys and a six-week-old baby under control, it’s a pretty poor show. Now go on, off you go and have fun.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ she asked, but he was smiling broadly and she had a feeling he was quite looking forward to them being away. There was a flurry of goodbyes, and she slid into Nick’s sports car beside him and they set off, the powerful car eating the miles effortlessly.

  He turned into the underground car park less than two hours after they’d left, and within moments they were up in his apartment, with the sun still high enough in the sky to feel warm and low enough that it wasn’t oppressive.

  ‘Right. I believe you wanted the hot tub,’ he said, smiling, and, opening the doors, he pressed the button that lifted the lid away, and turned on the jets with a flourish. ‘Your bubbles await.’

  They didn’t bother with clothes this time. They just stripped off, laughing and racing each other to be the first to slide under the water, and then, legs tangled, eyes meshed, they let their bodies float, supported by the powerful jets that unravelled the kinks in their muscles and left them boneless and utterly relaxed.

  The water was cooler than it had been in March, refreshing at the end of a hot day, and Georgie felt all the stresses of the past few weeks melting away. ‘I feel wonderful,’ she said lazily.

  ‘I noticed,’ he replied, sliding one foot up and down the inside of her thigh. ‘Absolutely wonderful. Come here.’

  And he reached forwards, caught hold of her hand and reeled her in, so she was lying with her head on his shoulder. ‘I promised you a back rub,’ he said, and slowly, firmly, his hands started to circle against her spine, holding her closer against his body. Their legs were tangled, her hands were on his shoulders and she could feel the steady beat of his heart under her ear.

  ‘That’s gorgeous,’ she mumbled, but it wasn’t the back rub so much as being in his arms, being alone with him, the luxury of being free to do whatever they wanted. And just then, she wanted to kiss him.

  She turned her head, lifted it a fraction and looked up at him. Their mouths were just inches apart, their bodies touching all the way to their toes. And slowly, eyes locked with hers, he brought his head down and touched his lips to hers…

  ‘Oh, that was fabulous. You are so lucky to have a restaurant like that in the building,’ she told him, and he laughed and wiped a dribble of strawberry juice from her chin.

  Then the laughter faded from his eyes, replaced by something much more intense. ‘I love you,’ he said softly, and she felt her heart skip as it always did when he said the words. ‘You enjoy such simple things, make doing almost anything fun. You’ve really changed my life—I don’t know how I would have got through the last few weeks without you.’

  ‘You would have coped,’ she murmured. ‘Tory would have helped you, and somehow you would have managed.’

  ‘But not in the same way. I’ve been able to talk to you in a way I can’t talk to anyone else—and we don’t even need to talk. I didn’t realise how important that was until I had it. You know, it’s funny. I didn’t think I’d fall in love like this, without warning. I thought it would be a sensible decision, someone who shared the same lifestyle, the same crazy schedules. I thought it would happen gradually, but it didn’t. Meeting you was like falling off a cliff. Maybe it’s just that for the first time in my life I’ve met a real woman, and you’ve knocked me for six.’

  She felt the tears prickle her eyes, and reached for his hand. ‘Oh, Nick, I love you, too—so much.’

  ‘Enough to marry me?’

  For a moment she couldn’t believe she’d heard him right, but the look on his face seemed to indicate that he was serious.

  She swallowed. ‘You want to marry me?’

  ‘If you’ll have me.’

  She stared at him, looking for the lie in his eyes, but there didn’t seem to be one, just love and maybe a little apprehension. Surely he wasn’t afraid she’d turn him down?

  ‘Oh, Nick, of course I’ll have you,’ she said, and then she was in his arms and he was raining kisses down on her face, her eyes, her lips, desperate little kisses that gradually gentled and slowed, resolving into a long, lingering kiss of infinite tenderness.

  Then he gathered her to his chest, held her close against his heart and said softly, ‘Thank you.’

  He held her for an age, then slowly let her go with his right arm, slipping his hand into his pocket and then lifting her left hand in his.

  ‘I don’t even know if this’ll fit,’ he said gruffly, ‘but I fell in love with it. It’s like you—no frills, just flawless through and through. A perfect diamond.’

  She looked down and gasped. ‘Oh, Nick,’ she breathed, unbearably touched by his words and stunned by the beauty of the simple, delicate ring.

  He slid it onto her finger, letting out the breath he was holding when it fitted, and then he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

  ‘I won’t be able to wear it for work,’ she said, and he smiled.

  ‘I’ve thought of that. I bought you another diamond, a little drop on a chain to wear round your neck when you can’t wear the ring. And anyway, it’s not for long. The site’ll soon be finished, and then you can wear it every day.’

  She turned her hand so that the stone caught the light, and her eyes filled with tears.

  ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, Nick, I love you so much.’

  And with a little sob she flung her arms round his neck, buried her face in his shoulder and hung on tight.

  ‘Hey! What’s this?’ He lifted her chin, staring down into her eyes with gentle reprimand. ‘Not tonight. We’ve had enough tears. Come to bed. I want to hold you—and in the morning we’ll go home and tell the others.’

  ‘My father will be so pleased. He thinks the world of you.’

  ‘He knows. I’ve already asked his permission.’

  ‘You’ve asked—and he didn’t let on? The sneaky old thing! I thought he was grinning like a Cheshire cat!’

  Nick laughed. ‘Not everyone’s like you. Some people can keep a secret.’

  She thought of her secret, of Tory’s engagement to Simon, and
realised that Tory could tell him now. He’d be able to cope with it. He wouldn’t be happy, but he’d moved on, putting his sister’s death into perspective, and if she was by his side she’d make sure he didn’t allow his business life to become too stressful. He’d find another PA. There was probably a good one he could poach from a friend!

  ‘Where will we live?’ she asked.

  ‘Here during the week, and Yoxburgh at the weekends, I thought. Depends on my mother’s recovery and how good a nanny Una turns out to be. At the moment she’s looking good, but you know what they say—the only two things you can be sure of are death and taxes. I won’t count my chickens, but I’m sure we’ll find a way round it, all of us. The kids won’t suffer, I’ll make sure of that. If I have to take time out, Tory can manage, but I’ll make sure the kids are OK.’

  She knew he would. He’d dropped everything to go to them, had almost abandoned his business. If it hadn’t been for Tory, she didn’t know how he would have held it together in those first days.

  ‘Tory’s a star,’ she murmured.

  ‘Tory’s in love,’ he said drily. ‘I’m just waiting for her to tell me she’s marrying Simon and messing off to the other side of the world.’

  She held her breath. Did he know?

  ‘What?’

  Rats. Trust him to pick up on it. ‘Nothing. I’ve got cramp in my leg.’

  He lifted his head and stared down at her. ‘You’re a lousy liar. She’s doing it, isn’t she? Marrying Simon Darcy.’ His face broke into a smile, and he reached for the phone.

  ‘Congratulate me,’ he said after a moment. ‘Georgie’s just agreed to marry me.’

  There was a little shriek from the other end, and he held the phone away from his ear for a second, and then said into it, ‘OK, now it’s your turn to confess.’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  NEEDLESS to say, their parents were delighted about their engagement. His mother put her slender arms around Georgie and hugged her hard, and when she let her go, there were tears in her eyes.

  ‘I’m so happy for you both,’ she said, and Georgie was genuinely touched by her words. She’d gone through so much recently, and she might have resented the intrusion, wanting to keep her son exclusively to herself. But no, she’d welcomed Georgie with open arms, and she felt tears fill her eyes.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, choked, and turned to her father. ‘You knew.’

  He smiled and opened his arms, wrapping her firmly against his chest and laughing a little emotionally. ‘I did. I’m sorry, but that was one secret I had to keep. I’m so happy for you—he’s a good man, you deserve him.’

  ‘Does he deserve me, poor man, that’s the thing?’ she said with a ragged little laugh, and Nick chuckled.

  ‘I’m sure I’ll manage to bear it,’ he replied. ‘Do the kids know?’

  ‘No. That’s your job, to tell them,’ his mother said with a smile. ‘I’m sure they’ll be thrilled; they never stop talking about Georgie.’

  They were thrilled. ‘Are you going to be our aunty?’ Dickon asked, eyes like saucers, and when she nodded he threw himself into her arms for a hug.

  ‘Harry?’

  ‘Will you and Uncle Nick be in the same bed?’ he asked, and she nodded. ‘So can I still come in if I have a dream?’

  Her eyes filled again. ‘Of course you can,’ she said, choked, and, reaching out, she drew him into her arms as well. ‘You can always come and have a cuddle with me, both of you, at any time. We don’t have to be married for that.’

  Oh, God, she was going to cry all over them, but then the baby joined in, and Una appeared in the doorway with her, looking unhappy and frustrated. ‘I hate to interrupt, but I was just about to go on my day off. Could any of you deal with her?’

  ‘I’ll have her,’ Nick said, scooping the baby out of her arms and snuggling her close against his shoulder. ‘What time will you be back?’

  Una shrugged. ‘About seven?’

  ‘You can make it later if you like. We’ll cope. If you can take over tomorrow morning, that would be good.’

  ‘There’s no need. There’s nothing for me to do anyway,’ she said, and then suddenly burst into tears and ran from the room.

  ‘Oh, hell,’ Nick said, scrubbing his hands through his hair and handing the baby to his mother. ‘I’ll talk to her.’

  ‘I think she’s getting homesick,’ Liz called after him, and then looked up at them with a worried frown. ‘I don’t think she’s been very happy for the past week or two.’

  It seemed she hadn’t. Nick came back a few minutes later with the news that Una’s boyfriend had given her an ultimatum and wanted her back. ‘She’s leaving,’ he said flatly, and the boys leaned closer to Georgie.

  ‘Does that mean you’ll look after us now, Grandma?’ Harry asked, and Liz’s face puckered.

  ‘Darling, I can’t really. My leg—’

  ‘I can help,’ George offered. ‘We can manage between us most of the time, if you can be around, Nick?’

  He gave a heavy sigh and sat down. ‘Hobson’s choice, really. And Tory’s leaving—she’s marrying a friend of mine and going to New York. Boys, how do you feel about going to school?’

  Dickon brightened instantly, but Harry leant closer. ‘What school?’

  ‘I don’t know. I’ll have to make enquiries.’

  ‘There’s a very good school not far from here,’ Georgie told them. ‘It’s private, and it’s probably expensive, but it has a very good reputation for pastoral care as well as academic work, and they take children from three upwards.’

  ‘I’ll ring them,’ he said. ‘If they can take the children now, that gives us a few weeks before the summer holidays to sort something out.’

  ‘What if we don’t like it?’ Harry asked worriedly.

  ‘Hey, don’t think like that,’ Georgie said, hugging him. ‘I had friends who went to that school, and they loved it there. They had a great time.’

  ‘Have they got a playground?’ Dickon asked, and she nodded.

  ‘I believe so.’

  ‘We went to school in Brazil, and I hated it,’ Harry said quietly. ‘Mummy’s boyfriend thought it would be good for us but it wasn’t. They were mean.’

  ‘People can be, but it’s usually because they aren’t very happy themselves,’ Georgie told him.

  ‘I’m not mean,’ Harry said, pushing out of her arms, and he ran out of the room.

  Not happy, but not mean. Oh, poor baby. Georgie looked up at Nick, and he sighed and followed Harry out of the room, calling his name. They were gone for some time, and while they were gone Dickon bombarded Georgie with questions about school until she gave up, laughing. ‘I think your Uncle Nick had better phone them and then maybe you can go and have a look.’

  ‘We’re going now,’ he said, coming back in. ‘Harry’s coming too, and then we’re going for a burger.’

  ‘I thought they were vegetarian,’ Georgie murmured, but Nick shrugged.

  ‘Desperate measures. It’ll be a chicken burger. They used to have chicken sometimes.’

  ‘We can have chips, anyway,’ Dickon said. ‘I like chips. Little thin ones. They’re tasty. Can we have ketchup?’

  Nick met her eyes over the boys’ heads. ‘Coming with me?’

  ‘To the school? If you like. Dad, can you keep an eye on the site office? There’s a delivery of bathroom and kitchen fittings due in some time this morning, for the last of the town houses. Can you get them to put them in the last one?’

  ‘Sure. You go and sort the children out.’

  ‘What about the baby?’

  They all looked down at Maya, asleep on her grandmother’s knee. ‘I can manage her,’ Liz said firmly. ‘She and I will be all right. If you could just change her nappy and give me a bottle ready, we’ll be fine—oh, and the buggy. I can put her in that and lean on the handle, and we’ll cope, won’t we, my little one?’

  The school was lovely, as Georgie had heard.

  Dickon thought the play
ground was brilliant and wanted to stay in it all morning, but Harry was, as usual, the more reticent.

  ‘They’ve been through a lot,’ Nick explained to the head, while the children were taken off for an informal play session and a snack. ‘They lost their mother at the beginning of May, and to be honest I have no idea how much if any schooling they’ve ever had. They’ve moved around a lot, had some amazing life experiences, but formal tuition has probably been very slight.’

  ‘They’re only young; they’ll soon catch up,’ the head, Mrs James, said with a smile. She was a kindly woman, but Georgie had no doubt she’d deal with any problems firmly and promptly. If they were her children—which they weren’t!—she would have been happy.

  ‘Harry’s quite worried,’ she said, not sure if Nick would mind her sticking her oar in but doing it anyway.

  ‘I noticed,’ Mrs James said. ‘He’ll cope. We’ll keep a very close eye on him. Do you want them to stay for the rest of the day? See how they get on? It might make tomorrow less of a threat. Or you could pick them up after lunch.’

  ‘Ah. We promised them lunch,’ Nick said. ‘I wouldn’t like to break a promise to them.’

  ‘Then just bring them tomorrow. I’m sure they’ll be fine.’

  ‘What about uniform?’

  ‘We have a second-hand cupboard. We might be able to find a few things in there to tide you over, or you can go to our suppliers. They’re in Woodbridge.’

  They foraged in the cupboard first, found a blazer to fit Dickon and shorts and shirts and jumpers for both of them, and that just left a blazer for Harry. ‘We’ll go and have lunch and then go shopping, shall we?’ Nick said, trying to sound enthusiastic, but Harry was unconvinced.

  He was a bit happier when he discovered he could have bacon in his chicken burger, and once the blazer was bought and the shoes had been fitted, they went back with a promise of spending the rest of the afternoon on the beach.