“Okay, that sounds fair.” He leaned forward, his face inches from hers. “But be careful what you ask for because you just might get it!”
He planted a slow, lingering kiss on her smiling mouth.
And that was the moment the photographer took the picture.
William’s head whipped around and he stared in shock at the paparazzo standing outside the restaurant window, grinning impishly at them as he clicked a few more photographs and then disappeared.
~*~*~*~
On the drive back to Rother Hill Manor, William was still seething. Barbara saw him glance over at her. She reclined comfortably on the black leather seat and watched the countryside blur past as William sped along. It seemed as though his annoyance with the paparazzo had made him drive even faster than usual but somehow she wasn’t concerned. With William she always felt safe.
“How can you stand it – the lack of privacy?” he asked in amazement.
Barbara shrugged. “You get used to it after a while. It comes with the territory, I suppose. I didn’t choose a life of obscurity, William. I chose a life in the public eye. Lack of privacy comes with that. Does it really bother you that much? With your powerful family you can’t be completely unused to it.”
“It’s not that I don’t get the occasional photo in Hello! and the tabloid newspapers, but it’s nowhere like it is with you. Everywhere we go, people stare or take photos. It’s like you live in a fish bowl.”
Barbara gave him a side glance. “You sound like you’re blaming me,” she said quietly.
“No sweetheart,” he said quickly. “Absolutely not. I don’t find you to be an attention seeker like some celebrities. I’m sorry for sounding so irritated. I’m really irritated for you, not at you. I just can’t stand the thought of your being treated like a thing to be gawked at. It’s so obscene.”
“I admit that sometimes I do feel that way, but, like I said, it comes with the territory. Still, I’m grateful to your family for allowing me to spend the summer with you. It’s been like ‘The Great Escape’.”
William geared down as he turned a corner and smiled disarmingly, his eyes between her and the road. “Sweetheart, trust me, we enjoy having you very much. We’re not doing you any favors. You’re the one who’s gracing us with your presence. You know, I’ve always heard how egoistical Hollywood stars are. You’re nothing like the stereotype. You’re really the sweetest girl I’ve ever met.”
Barbara felt warm and fuzzy all over. “Why, thank you, Wills. You actually make sweet sound sensational. I’m truly flattered.”
His smile widened as he slowed down to press the intercom button at the gate to the property. He announced himself and waited for the gate to open.
“‘Sweet’ wasn’t really the word I was looking for but it did seem like the safest,” he said, glancing at her meaningfully as he drove up the long, tree-lined driveway.
“Oh? What other less safe words would you have used?” she shot him a flirtatious sidelong glance.
“There’s sexy, gorgeous, irresistible, amazing, sensational...I could go on and on.”
Barbara looked down at her hands. She felt almost overcome with emotion at the things he was saying about her. Sure, these adjectives weren’t new. Open any magazine and these were the words used to describe her, but coming from William they meant the world to her.
They reached the garage bay and when he finished parking William turned off the engine and drew her close to him. “We’re taking you out tonight,” he said softly, his face so close to hers that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.
“Who’s we?” she asked breathlessly as she ran a hand though his wind swept hair.
“All my cousins, except the twins. They’re underage so they can’t go where we’re going.”
“I hope you don’t plan to take me anywhere that I can’t tell my momma about.”
William scoffed at her in mock outrage. “Madam, I’ll have you know that I’m a gentleman, not a rogue. Your honor and good name are safe with me. We’re going somewhere that you could bring your momma. If she isn’t too much of a prude that is.”
Chapter 12
That somewhere was Vista Nightclub in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. It was 11:30 p.m. when they arrived. After they emerged from the limousine they were led through a private entrance and ushered into the VIP section.
Barbara was used to the nightlife, yet she now tensed as some of the unwholesome memories of clubbing came back to her. She’d been to clubs where the drugs flowed freely. Where people consumed alcohol until they ended up puking. Where people simulated sex on the dance floor and some actually were having sex in dark corners, albeit with most of their clothes on. The language had been rough and often the lyrics to some of the popular dance songs weren’t much better.
All this was in such stark contrast to the wholesome serenity of the country living she’d enjoyed for the past few weeks that for several minutes she felt nostalgic for Rother Hill Manor. She wondered why William had brought her to a nightclub and, for the first time since she met him, she questioned his judgment.
She needn’t have, she soon realized. The Fosters didn’t party like some of her industry colleagues. Yes, they drank the Moët & Chandon they ordered, but it wasn’t to excess. They drank slowly and spent more time talking and joking and occasionally dancing to the music than much else. And the joking was clean, not foul and mean-spirited.
Barbara soon relaxed. William sat beside her with his arm lightly around her shoulders as they chatted about a dozen things. They spoke close to each other’s ears so that they could be heard over the loud music.
After about an hour, he jerked his head towards the dance floor and said in her ear, “Let’s dance.”
Barbara loved dancing and welcomed the opportunity to dance with William. The music was mostly R&B, pop and techno funk and they danced to hit after hit. Barbara was very impressed by William’s moves. “Where’d you learn to dance like this?” she asked.
“There are some things my mother insisted that I learn how to do well. Dancing was one of them. I had to learn to ballroom dance and that included Latin dancing as well. At the time it was a bother but over the years I’ve seen the value of it. Every girl wants to dance with me at parties.”
“I can see why.”
Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, the music turned to soul. William excused himself. When he returned Barbara asked, “Where’d you go?”
“I made a request of the DJ,” he responded.
“A request? I didn’t know they allowed that here.”
He grinned at her. “I slipped him a fifty-pound note so he was very obliging.”
A few minutes later Let’s Stay Together started to play over the PA system.
Barbara’s eyes widened. “Is that what you requested?”
William drew her close. “Yes. I’m officially calling this our song because it sums up how I feel about you.”
He sang the words in her ear as they danced.
Barbara sighed as she melted into William’s embrace. She felt so ethereal. She considered vaguely that it was probably a combination of the alcohol, the bright, moving lights, and loud music that was having this effect on her. But she concluded that it was more likely because of how she felt about William. She felt so safe and secure in his arms. She never wanted to be apart from him. If she could freeze time she would.
When they returned to the estate it was 4:30 in the morning yet, strangely, she wasn’t sleepy, she was wide awake and felt as though she was floating on a cloud.
They bid the others goodnight but they didn’t want the night to end. They retreated to the library and William sat in a corner of one of the huge couches and pulled Barbara into his lap. She leaned against his chest and lay her head on his shoulder. They didn’t speak at first, just stayed in that position in contented silence for a while.
Barbara was the first one to speak. “I feel so happy. I don’t want this time to end, Wills,” she confessed wi
th a sigh.
“I know, sweetheart. I don’t either.”
“Wills?”
“Yes?”
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
“There are many things I want to tell you.”
“I mean about how you feel. I told you the other day that you were conquering my heart but you haven’t told me how you feel.”
She could feel his chest move as he laughed.
“Okay, I’ll tell you how I feel.” He turned her face and looked deep into her eyes. The intensity she saw in his almost stopped her breath. “I love you, Barbara Dickson, so much it makes my heart ache.”
Barbara sighed as her spirits soared. “Oh, William, I love you.” Those words seem so inadequate to describe the depth of feeling she had for this man.
He leaned down and his lips met her own. They kissed long and deep.
“Come up to my room,” she said breathlessly.
He moaned and they shared a slow, tantalizing kiss. When they came up for air he said in a husky voice, “Let’s go.”
They ascended the stairs hand in hand and began to make their way in the direction of Barbara’s room.
Suddenly, the Duchess appeared, seemingly out of thin air.
Barbara gasped and her hand flew to her throat.
“Granny!” William exclaimed.
Barbara had forgotten that William’s grandmother was an early riser. She got up at 5:00 a.m. each day and had her morning devotion in the library before taking a walk over the estate around 6:00 a.m. It had to be around 5:00 a.m. just then.
The Duchess raised an eyebrow as Barbara’s eyes dropped to the black leather Bible in her hand.
“William. Barbara. You two are up quite late, aren’t you?” she asked in a gentle tone, belied by her sharp gaze.
William dropped Barbara’s hand. “Uh, yes, Granny, we got back home a short while ago. We were just heading to bed. I mean to sleep! Alone! Separately!”
Barbara looked at William. His face was as red as a beet.
She decided to help him out, after all he wasn’t doing a very good job on his own. “Duchess, what William is trying to say is that he and I were just about to say goodnight to each other,” she lied, trying valiantly to look the Duchess in the eye but failing.
“Is that right?” the Duchess asked drily. “Well then sleep tight, both of you. Wills, your room is to the left as I recall. You seem to have lost your way.”
“No, Granny, I was just showing Barbara to her room.”
“I’m sure that Barbara can get there all on her own.” Her eyes slid from William to Barbara. “Can’t you, Barbara?”
“Of course I can, Duchess. Thanks, Wills, but I’ve got it. Good night. I mean good morning. I mean good bye.”
With nary a backward glance Barbara practically flew to her room. She firmly closed the door behind her and slumped against it in mortification.
~*~*~*~
A few days later, William declared that he and Barbara would be going sailing – alone.
“I want Barbara all to myself,” he announced unabashedly to everyone at breakfast. “You lot have monopolized her time for way too long. I’m putting my foot down.”
“We’ve monopolized her time, have we?” Prudence exclaimed in outrage. “Might I remind you that I’m the one who brought her here and I hardly get to spend time with her these days, thanks to you. You are the interloper.”
“Never mind all that,” William continued, undeterred. “Tomorrow we’re going sailing and I’m giving you lot notice that two is company and three or more is a crowd, thank you. Find your own activities, Fosters.”
Next day, they departed immediately after breakfast. During the ride to the Brighton Marina, Barbara learned that William was a member of the Brighton Marina Yacht Club.
The wind was light and the waters calm and uncrowded as they left the jetty and motored out into the bay in the SV Golden Compass. William pointed the bow of the boat into the wind and Barbara reclined on deck and watched him as he hoisted the mainsail. He then adjusted the sail settings to take the best advantage of the light wind. Barbara could feel the boat begin to heel a little and start speeding up.
William set a course for Weymouth. As the boat sailed, he and Barbara snuggled in the cockpit enjoying the cool breeze and each other’s company.
Barbara took a sip of her bottled water. “Is your family related to the royal family?” she asked.
William laughed. “Where did that come from?”
Barbara shrugged. “Your grandparents are a Duke and Duchess doesn’t that mean they’re royals?”
“Not everyone who carries the title duke or earl is a member of the royal family, sweetheart,” he said teasingly.
“But are you?” she persisted.
“There is a distant connection but that’s not the reason for the title.”
“Oh, so how does the whole titled thing work then? How does someone get a title?”
“Why do you ask? Do you have plans on getting one?”
She wiggled her eyebrows comically, “You never know…”
William laughed and moved away from her to gently turn the tiller that steered the yacht. “That might be a bit difficult. Only members of the royal family are granted new hereditary peerages.”
“Hereditary peerages…what’s that mean?”
He groaned. “Barbara, please don’t make me discuss such boring stuff. They’re so many other exciting things we could be chatting about.”
“Wills, come on. For my role in The Lady I did a fair amount of research on British nobility. I scratched the surface but now I’ve got you captive on the high seas. So this is a great time to get some more insight into this subject. Don’t deny me the pleasure, please. I find the whole titled thing fascinating because we don’t have anything like it in the States.”
He tossed her a heart-stopping smile. “Since you put it that way, my love, I’m happy to comply.”
She sat back, her face glowing. “Good. So, you were telling me what hereditary peerages mean.”
“Noble titles won through great wealth, favors to the king, or good deeds and then passed on from one generation to the next.”
“So, how did your family win their title?”
“Most likely because of our great wealth.”
“How did the Fosters become so wealthy?” asked Barbara curiously.
“Land. Acres and acres of land. It began with the marriage of Amelia Wright and Sir Harry Foster in the mid-sixteenth century. Amelia had inherited 500 acres of land in London. A century later the Fosters developed the northern part of the land around Foster Square and a few generations later they developed other areas in London. It was in, I think, 1734 that Thomas Foster was created Duke of Westminster.”
“Wow, you’re a wealth of knowledge. I don’t know even a quarter as much about my own ancestors.”
“I retain information easily that’s all,” he said matter-of-factly, with a shrug.
“So, are your uncles dukes too?” Barbara asked.
He shook his head.
“Only the senior family member inherits a substantive title. So next in line after Gran-dad is Uncle Andrew. He holds Gran-dad’s lesser title of Marquis of Westminster but he’ll be the next Duke of Westminster when Grand-dad passes. The other titles Grand-dad holds are Earl Foster, Viscount Belgrave and Baron Foster. Those titles are currently held by my other three uncles.”
“What about your mother and Aunt. Don’t they have titles?”
“No. My mother and aunt are styled Lady Kendra Lamport and Lady Kate Foster Brennan.”
“And you? Are you addressed as Lord William Lamport?”
“No, I’m a gentleman or esquire. Which really means very little in the scheme of things except it earns me a place among the formal orders of precedence of the UK. My father is a Baron and I’ll inherit his title. In the meantime I’m addressed socially as plain old mister. I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“I couldn
’t care less what you have before or after your name. I’m in love with you, Lamport, not with what you possess. I hope you know that.” Barbara said wrapping her arms around his neck.
William dipped his head and dropped a kiss on her lips. “I do know that. I was just being facetious, sweetheart.”
When they docked in Weymouth a couple hours later, William grabbed a picnic basket and they took a leisurely ten-minute walk to the Weymouth beach holding hands.
William told her about his parents and why the Queen had knighted his father and then created him a life peer as Baron Lamport of Luton in the County of Bedfordshire.
“My great-grandfather, George, started Lamport Holdings back in 1917. It was then passed to his son, William, on his death, and he expanded the company throughout the UK. It was only when William II, my dad, took over the business that the aggressive overseas expansion began, a strategic move that propelled the company to the top of Britain’s financial sector and placed London in the top five of the world’s financial cities. The Queen knighted him for his contribution to the financial services sector in 1995 and created him Baron in 1998.”
When they reached the fine, open stretch of sand Barbara shed her top and shorts, revealing a patterned turquoise two-piece bikini.
William took off his own shirt and pants and said, “I’m going for a swim. Join me?”
They swam and frolicked in the sea for over an hour. After they collapsed on the beach and rested for a few minutes, they virtually inhaled the delicious meal that William had asked the kitchen staff to prepare for them. Between mouthfuls of their gourmet sandwiches, fresh fruit, and juice, William spoke with passion about his love of business and his vision for Lamport Holdings to expand and diversify and become the top privately-owned company in the world.
Barbara realized that this was one of the things she found so attractive about him – his ambition, drive and passion. He seemed to approach everything with confidence, energy and determination.
William reclined on the beach towel and watched Barbara lazily.
“Enough about me,” he said. “I feel like I’ve told you my life story in the last few hours. It’s my turn to hear about you: The Exciting Life and Times of Miss Barbara Dickson.” As he said this he reached out and playfully tugged on a strand of her damp hair.
The Royal Couple: A Christian Romance (Royals Book 1) Page 12
