Her exuberance and happiness were too much. How could he explain to her just how bad things were between him and Orla? How he had failed her? How she didn’t trust in him? How she threw everything he did for her back in his face? It was easier to pretend that she was right.
He answered without looking at her. ‘Perhaps.’
‘Have you bought anything for the baby yet? I went on a crazy spurge before Milly was born. I bought her the most exquisite hand-knitted blanket in a shop in Mooncoyne. You could buy Orla’s baby one, too.’
‘I transfer money to Orla every month. She can buy whatever she needs.’
She swung forward on the bench to catch his eyes, horror in her own. ‘Please tell me you’re joking. You’re Orla’s only family. You have to buy her a present.’
He gave her blistering look. ‘Now who’s being dictatorial?’
She backed off, hands raised. ‘Okay. Fair enough.’ She paused for a whole five seconds. ‘But still—you have to buy something for your... Is it a boy or a girl?’
Frustration ate into his stomach at her question. He didn’t know, and it was humiliating and painful all at once. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Oh. Does Orla know?’
He had no idea. To avoid answering her he looked at his watch. ‘I have some calls to make.’
As he stood up she said with concern, ‘It’s gone eight thirty at night—do you really have to make calls now?’
He simply nodded, indicating that he did, but as he went to move away her hand reached out and stalled him.
‘Will you just wait for a minute? There’s something I want to say to you.’
He was about to argue, but there was a warmth to her eyes that had him sitting down beside her again.
* * *
He looked at her suspiciously and she knew she just had to come out and say what was on her mind. ‘Can I be a nag for a few minutes?’
He asked warily, ‘Can I stop you?’
‘The crazy hours you work...’
Something shuttered in his eyes and tension grew in his jawline.
For a moment she was about to apologise for overstepping the mark, but she stopped herself in time. Maybe he needed to hear some of this.
‘I know I annoyed you the other night, when I said you just wanted to be in control of everything. It wasn’t a fair comment. I understand you have a lot of responsibilities, and I admire how hard you work and everything you have achieved. What I was trying to say was that I reckon you really need more of a balance in your life.’
He crossed his arms on his chest. ‘Pot...kettle...black.’
He had a point, but that wasn’t going to stop her. ‘You’re right. We both need to get a life. Stop working such crazy hours and start having a bit more fun.’
His jaw worked and he fixed her with a cool gaze. ‘I have a life. One that I’m happy with.’
‘But your life revolves around just work. You must need downtime. A way of relaxing, blowing off steam. Answer me this—have you dated recently?’
His answer was curt. ‘No, I’ve been too busy with work.’
She rose a sceptical eyebrow.
‘What about friends and family? Do you get time to see them?’
‘Occasionally.’
‘So basically your life is just work? That can’t continue. You seem to be very hands-on with all your different subsidiaries—perhaps you should delegate more? That would free up your time and allow you to have a better balance. Time you could spend with those close to you.’
‘Are you trying to tell me again how to run my businesses?’
His voice was ice-cold, and it stung to be on the receiving end of his displeasure. Who was she, anyway, to tell a successful billionaire that he needed more in his life?
It would be so easy to change the topic. But she was the only person in his life right now, and someone needed to say these things. And she cared for him—possibly more than she should.
Her heart thumped in her chest at his obvious irritation but she ploughed on. ‘No, I’m not telling you. I’m just suggesting. Look, I know that you are super-successful, and that I lost my business last year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have an opinion. I admit I might be wrong, but at least give it some thought.’
His gaze, rather astonishingly, slowly turned from furious to quizzical to mild amusement. ‘I have to give it to you, Aideen. You’re pretty tough underneath all that beauty and happiness. I have managing directors of multinational companies who would probably agree with you but wouldn’t have the nerve to say so.’
She threw her eyes heavenwards, trying to ignore the pulse of pleasure his words evoked, telling herself he was only joking. ‘Well, I can’t see how pretending it’s otherwise will help you.’
‘You think I need help?’
He sounded incredulous. What did he think? That he was the only one who could help others? That he was the only one capable of being a knight in shining armour?
‘You say you’re happy, but my guess is that you could be happier... God knows, I know I could be.’
He looked at her quizzically. ‘What do you mean?’
How could she tell him that she was sometimes lonely...sometimes scared about facing life on her own? It would sound so needy. And it would probably set off all types of alarm bells in his brain.
So instead she leant back into the bench and said, ‘I miss being spontaneous—living life for the moment. I have been so bogged down in my business for the past five years I think I’ve stopped knowing how to have fun.’
Giddy relief ran through her body when he gave her a rueful smile. ‘Spontaneity? I haven’t had a lot of that in my life in a while.’
Something in his smile freed her. ‘Let’s do something now!’
‘It’s getting late...’
She laughed at the incredulous look on his face. ‘Let’s go clubbing.’
‘I don’t think there are many clubs in the village,’ he pointed out with a laugh.
‘We could go into Paris.’
‘Yes, but I have calls I need to make... I won’t be finished before midnight.’
‘Cancel them.’
‘I can’t.’
She folded her arms primly and said, ‘I told you that you don’t know how to have fun.’
For a while he considered her with a smile. But in the silence a tense awareness blossomed between them. His smile faded and darkness entered his eyes. He leant closer and her heart began to thunder again. She looked up into his eyes, barely able to breathe. He came even closer and his whole body seemed to eclipse hers.
His head slowed, moved down towards hers, and when his mouth was level with her ear he whispered in a lilting, sexy voice, ‘You want spontaneity...?’
A deep shiver of desire ran through her. Every pulse-point in her body felt as though it was thudding against her skin. Her body swayed closer to him, desperate to feel his strength and warmth.
Her throat had closed over. She barely managed to whisper, ‘Yes...’
His hand lay against her cheek and with gentle pressure he turned her mouth towards his. Their mouths aligned and almost touched. She closed her eyes, suddenly dizzy with wonder. She squeezed her hands into tight balls. She couldn’t touch him. Because if she did she was worried she would never be able to let go.
And then his lips were on hers and her entire body turned to jelly. His warm, firm lips teased hers with butterfly kisses and she gave a little sigh. He deepened the kiss. Her arms of their own volition snaked up to grasp the material of his sweater. Beneath her fingers his chest was hard and uncompromisingly male.
Her head swam. She swayed against him. His hard body was like a magnet. She longed to touch every part of him. She wanted more.
When he eventually released his hold on her and pulled away she looked at him, dazed, her senses overloaded.
With a lazy, sexy grin he asked, ‘How’s that for spontaneity?’
Without thinking, she breathed out in a husky whisper, ‘Pretty spec
tacular, really.’
Her already flushed skin flamed at his obvious amusement at her answer.
Flustered, she added, ‘And enough spontaneity for one night, I reckon. I think it’s time I went inside.’
She got up to leave, but he placed a hand on her arm. His eyes were soft pools of kind amusement.
‘Thank you for tonight...’ For a moment he looked down, a hand rising to rub the base of his neck. When he looked up again he said with wry amusement, ‘Thank you for the life coaching... You can pop the bill in the post.’ And then, with his eyes sparkling, he added, ‘And thank you for the kiss.’
It had been the most incredible kiss of her life. But this thing between them was going nowhere.
She gave what she hoped appeared to be a casual shrug, said, ‘Goodnight!’ and hightailed it up the steps to the terrace.
She walked briskly—first to the orangery, to return her camera, and then to her bedroom with a confusing mix of elation and worry.
It had been the most incredible, tender and emotional kiss she had ever experienced. But neighbours didn’t kiss like that...and certainly not with such underlying passion and poignancy.
She lay awake for hours later, their kiss swirling in her brain.
They were only supposed to be neighbours—nothing more.
But they already knew more about each other than many close friends did. She had revealed more about herself than she’d ever done before. And slowly, bit by bit, he was confiding in her.
And, even though she knew they had no future, time and time again her brain wandered off topic and she dreamt of him kissing her. And of that kiss leading to a lot more...
CHAPTER SEVEN
DESPITE BEING ON a teleconference with his Northern Europe management team Patrick found himself zoning out of the conversation about a project delay and losing himself in memories of how good it had been to kiss Aideen last night. The soft fullness of her lips, the press of her breast against his biceps, the low purr of frustration when he had forced himself to pull away...
It had been a stupid and reckless kiss...but a large part of him didn’t care. How could he regret something that had felt so good?
But how was he going to play it with her now? In truth, he wanted to throw caution to the winds and kiss her again. And possibly even more. But what of all the messy awkwardness that doing so would cause?
A movement at his office door had him looking away from his screen.
Dressed in navy jersey shorts and a white tee shirt, a pair of white trainers on her feet, Aideen smiled at him cheekily and waved two tennis rackets in the air.
Her long legs were toned, as was the rest of her tall, strong but curvy body. She brimmed with fresh vitality and health. She stepped into the room and he was unable to look away. An image of her brown eyes heavy with pleasure, the heat of her mouth last night, popped into his brain.
The sound of someone coughing had him looking back at the screen. Seven pairs of eyes were looking at him speculatively, no doubt wondering what had caught his attention.
He looked at his team, and then back at her.
He shouldn’t. He really needed to finish this call.
‘Elsa, take over for me.’ He looked towards Aideen and raised an eyebrow, challenging her. ‘And, Elsa? Please decide and implement whatever strategy you deem appropriate to get the project back on track. Update me only if there are any issues.’
Aideen was right. It was time he had some fun in his life.
He cut the connection on seven even more stunned looking execs and leant back in his chair. ‘I was in the middle of a conference call.’
‘You’ve been in this office since six this morning. You know what they say—all work and no play...’
He stood and walked towards her, doing his best not to allow the threatening smile to break on his lips. ‘Are you saying I’m dull?’
He took unexpected pleasure from the blush that blossomed on her cheeks.
She swallowed hard before she spoke. ‘No. Never, ever dull.’ There was a hint of breathlessness in her voice and she blushed even harder.
‘So what’s with the rackets?’
‘Well, as there’s a tennis court worthy of Wimbledon sitting unused outside, I thought we should use it.’
He placed his hands in his pockets and looked at her with playful sternness. ‘Is this a not too subtle way of making me “get a life”?’
‘You have me rumbled.’ She grinned back cheekily. ‘So, are you up to the challenge or are you too scared?’
When she put it like that there was no way he was saying no. ‘Give me ten minutes.’
As she turned to leave she said, ‘I must warn you, though. I was under-thirteen champion at my tennis club.’
He caught up with her out in the corridor. ‘So you think you might be able to beat me?’
‘I’ll certainly try.’
‘How do I put this nicely...? You don’t have a hope.’
To that she playfully threw back her head in a gesture that said she wasn’t going to listen to him and walked away. About to turn the corner, she turned around. ‘Nice delegation, by the way.’
‘And I did it without even flinching.’
She gave him a wicked grin and turned away.
She was right. He did need to delegate more. He had a talented and ambitious team surrounding him. And he was starting to suspect that he was holding them back by insisting on such centralised decision-making. He needed to empower his subsidiaries more.
He had once. When he had started out he had given them plenty of autonomy. But in the past few years, as the business had exploded in size, he had reigned them in. The truth was as his home life with Orla had become more fraught he had used work as a way of feeling in control, driven by the thinking that if he couldn’t support her emotionally he would at least do so financially. By pulling the businesses back under his control he’d felt as though he was achieving something and he’d been able to bury the feelings that went with failure.
But centralised control wasn’t sustainable. It had to change. But relinquishing that control wasn’t going to be easy.
* * *
Two hours later he threw his racket up in the air in elation. Aideen stood at the opposite end of the court wearing a deep scowl.
‘That was not out.’
‘It was out by a mile. I told you I would win.’
‘You didn’t give me as much as an inch.’
‘Like you did me any favours!’
She shook her head and stomped down towards the net. ‘I didn’t realise you were so competitive.’
‘Aideen, in comparison to you I reckon I’m almost comatose.’
With a laugh she conceded, ‘I hate losing.’
‘So I gathered. Come on. I think we could both do with a drink.’
They walked to the kitchen and he prepared them each a large glass of sparkling water mixed with fresh orange juice. They took them out on to the terrace to drink, a light breeze cooling them down.
Across the table from him she stretched her arm in and out a number of times.
‘Cramp?’
‘I think I might have pulled a muscle on a return volley.’
‘You did throw yourself about the court.’
At that she gave a sheepish shrug. ‘I admit I can get carried away sometimes. I spent my childhood trying to keep up with my two older brothers. I couldn’t help but develop a competitive streak.’
‘Your competitiveness...hating to lose...was that one of the reasons why losing the business was so hard for you?’
‘I guess. Despite my less than tidy ways, I’ve always pushed myself hard. I suppose my pride did take a dent. It was the first time in my life I failed at anything.’
Her words immediately resonated with him. His business success highlighted just how badly he had messed up with Orla. It made the success seem somewhat hollow when you didn’t have someone to share it with.
She flexed her arm again, and said, in a tho
ughtful almost sad voice, ‘I know I have to think about the future and move on. But it’s really not that easy to just wipe away the past. To ignore everything that happened. To bury the pain. I can’t help but wish that things had turned out differently.’
Something sharp pierced into him and he practically growled out, ‘Were you in love with Ed?’
She blinked rapidly and her mouth fell open. Eventually she answered, ‘I thought I was.’
A strange sensation of jealousy seeped into his bones and he had the sudden urge to punch something. He had never felt so possessive of a woman in his life. He needed to change the subject quickly—to distract them both.
‘Try to forget him—and everything that happened. I appreciate it’s hard, but it’s vital you focus on the future. Tell me about your dreams, what you personally want to do in the coming years.’
She eyed him with a mixture of surprise and suspicion. But then she shrugged and said, ‘Well, that’s a big question.’ For the longest while she paused, her brows knitted together in concentration. ‘Nothing extraordinary, really. I’ve always wanted to visit St Petersburg. And travel to Dharamsala in India. Where the most incredible mulberry silk is woven. Afternoon tea in Vienna has always sounded like fun. Oh, and I want to learn how to bake a soufflé.’
‘A soufflé?’
‘They always sink on me—it drives me crazy.’
Curiosity got the better of him and he couldn’t help but ask, even though he wasn’t certain what answer he wanted. ‘And family and relationships?’
She eyed him warily and it was a while before she answered. ‘Check back in with me in a few years’ time. Right now I’m not exactly in the mood to be in a relationship. All you men have a black mark against your names.’
‘All three and a half billion of us?’
‘Yes, every single one. Well, apart from my dad and my brothers.’ She hesitated, glanced at him briefly, and then said in a rush, ‘And possibly you if you continue being such a good neighbour.’
Trying but failing to ignore the reality check her words had caused, he answered drily, ‘Glad to hear that.’
‘So what about you? What’s on your list?’
Like her, it wasn’t something he had overly thought about. And yet it was a question that filled him with unexpected excitement. ‘I want to continue on with the restoration of Ashbrooke. The east wing in particular needs conservation work. And there’s an old bathing house on the grounds I want to restore, as well.’
Harlequin Romance February 2016 Box Set Page 61
