Giggling, Izzy reached up and kissed the top of his lip, sucking the cream into her mouth. If she was watching anyone else do this, she would be groaning and muttering to them about getting a room but with his arm round her waist and a huge smile on his face she didn’t care what anyone else thought.
‘Come on, there’s lots to see,’ Ethan pulled away slightly, wrapping his arm round her shoulders again, but as Izzy turned away from him she came face to face with Bex and Gabe. Bex looked horrified, clearly having witnessed the cutesy displays of affection from them moments before.
‘What the hell is this?’ Bex demanded, gesturing to the two of them.
Izzy half expected Ethan to relinquish his hold on her, so she was surprised when Ethan’s grip on her shoulders tightened slightly.
Izzy tried to find some words to explain the situation, but there was no label she could put on their relationship that Ethan would be ok with. There was equally nothing that she could say to Bex that she would be happy with either.
Gabe broke the awkward silence. ‘I’m Gabe, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you.’
Ethan shook Gabe’s outstretched hand. ‘None of it good, I’m sure.’
Gabe laughed, amiably. ‘My girl is very protective over Izzy, I’m sure you can understand that.’
Ethan nodded. ‘I feel the same way.’
Izzy looked up at him, her heart soaring with love for him.
‘So you’re sleeping with him?’ Bex was not to be put off.
‘We’re not actually getting a lot of sleep lately,’ Ethan smirked, clearly unfazed by her.
‘That’s disgusting, you’re her boss.’
‘Bex. I’m a grown woman, I’m quite capable of making my own decisions.’
‘Not good decisions, clearly.’
‘Decisions that make me happy,’ Izzy said, pointedly.
‘And that’s all that we can wish for,’ Gabe said, trying to keep the peace.
‘We’re going to talk about this,’ Bex said to her before flashing Gabe a look.
Izzy shrugged. ‘We can talk about it if you want, it won’t change anything.’
Bex glanced between her and Ethan, clearly furious.
‘Oh look honey, there’s that flower stall you wanted to look at for the wedding. It was great to see you guys,’ Gabe said, ushering his fiancée away from them.
Izzy watched Bex go and then turned back to Ethan. ‘I’m sorry she’s like that with you.’
Ethan shrugged. ‘Most people are, the Chases don’t have a good reputation and although most of the rumours aren’t true, there are a lot that are.’
‘They don’t know you.’
‘They don’t want to. Come on, there’s a great traditional sweet stall up here.’ He strode off, holding her hand so she had to hurry after him.
‘It doesn’t bother you.’
‘Not one bit.’ He turned to look at her. ‘Does it bother you being seen with someone with such a bad reputation?’
‘I don’t care what people think, it only bothers me that people would judge you and your family based on rumours and not take the time to get to know you properly.’
‘There’s not much to know. I’m an ass. I have no respect for women, I run a company that’s based on sexual role play and I spent most of my younger years causing trouble in school and out of it.’
‘You’re a man that adores his dog and rescues kittens…’
‘I didn’t rescue Fang, that was a lie. I bought him for you so you wouldn’t be sad. Don’t start thinking I’m a hero, because I’m not.’
She stared at him. ‘Then that makes you an incredibly kind and generous man.’
‘I think your view is slightly rose tinted, but thank you.’
‘You’re a man that loves his family, that looks after them. You’re a man that works hard to create a business and to build it into a success. You’re not an ass to me.’
‘Well yours is the only opinion I care about, so I’m glad about that. Shall we go see the huskies?’
He walked away and she sensed the subject was closed. She caught up with him and he wrapped his arm round her shoulders, pulling her to him. She kissed his neck and he squeezed her against him affectionately.
‘Ooh look, Australian jewellery.’ She pulled away from him to look at a nearby stall. Ethan moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling into her neck. There were some beautiful pieces, hand carved wooden moons, stars, birds and kangaroos. She fingered a smooth wooden heart as she looked around at the other Australian paraphernalia.
The woman behind the stall smiled over at her. ‘Can I help you with anything?’
‘Just looking at the moment. You have some beautiful things here.’
‘Thank you, they are sourced from all over Australia. Those wooden necklaces are from Cairns.’
‘I’m going to Cairns in a few weeks,’ Izzy said, excitedly.
‘Oh you will love it, and you’ve picked a good time to go, the weather will be lovely. Will you go as far as Cape Trib?’
‘Yes I have a trip planned to go there and I’ll be diving at Green Island.’
‘Ooh that’s a lovely place to dive, it’s not the best place to see the reef but it’s a great dive. That dragon there,’ she pointed to a green jade like stone. ‘Is made by a man who lives on Green Island.’
‘It’s beautiful.’ Izzy looked at the dragon but her eyes wandered back to the lopsided heart that captured the patterns and striations of the wood perfectly.
‘We’ll take the heart,’ Ethan said, handing over the cash.
‘Ethan, I don’t need you to buy me things.’
‘Well I want to.’
As the woman retrieved his change, Ethan picked up the necklace and fastened it round Izzy’s neck, sending goosebumps straight down her back at his touch.
The woman handed over the change. ‘Well have fun, it’s the trip of a lifetime, you’ll love it.’
Izzy smiled as Ethan guided her away.
‘Thank you for my necklace.’
‘It suits you. Are you excited about your trip?’
She felt her face split into a grin. ‘I cannot wait. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to go to.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t know, the mountains, the rainforests, the waterfalls, the beautiful beaches, I want to see it all. It’s just my favourite place in the whole world. The people seem so friendly and I want to see all the wildlife too.’
‘How long are you going for? Was it six weeks?’
‘Yes initially, I’ve booked trips and hotels for that time. My brother came into some money and he has paid for my flights and hotels for the first six weeks and I’ll be visiting him too. I’m not sure what I’ll do after that. He works at a zoo and he reckons he can get me some work too.’ She trailed off at the thought of leaving Ethan. Even a few days without him would hurt, six weeks would be torture. The plan really had been to go for a few months or longer but that had been because she had nothing for her in England anymore. With Bex emigrating to Canada, and no job or boyfriend to tie her to the UK, there hadn’t seemed much point in staying. But now there was Ethan to factor into the equation. Or was there? Ethan could get bored of her in a few weeks. There was no point in changing any of her plans for him, not when it could all be over within the next few days. Maybe he would come with her and she wouldn’t have to change anything. And maybe she should wait till nearer the time before she started worrying about that. A lot had changed between them in the last few days, a lot could change again before she left.
‘Oh look, puppies,’ Izzy said, distracting herself from the turmoil that was churning away in her stomach. Ethan’s good mood seemed to have diminished slightly too.
She leaned over the fence and one of the husky puppies nuzzled against her hand.
Ethan bent to stroke a puppy too and his smile returned as the puppy he was stroking rolled over onto his back and nibbled at his hand.
‘
I’ll miss you,’ Ethan said, quietly but before she could reply he was walking away towards the small train that did circuits of the woodlands for the visitors. By the time, Izzy had rescued her scarf from a puppy’s paws and caught up with him he had bought two tickets for the ride.
She looked at him quizzically, the great Ethan Chase didn’t seem the type to want to go on a train ride that was quite obviously meant for children.
‘We might see some deer, come on,’ Ethan waited for her to climb on board but when he climbed in and sat next to her, there was no room at all and she found herself squashed against the plastic window. There was a seat opposite her which he could have sat in, but he clearly didn’t want to sit away from her. The train rattled off down the track, because of the cold the ride was deserted and soon they were travelling through the trees.
‘You could come with me, to Australia,’ she said, quietly.
‘I can’t leave the business.’
‘You could come for the first few weeks, not the whole time that I’m out there.’
‘Someone needs to answer the phone, keep the company going. I can’t just cancel bookings, that’s very bad for business.’
She sighed and looked out the window. The company would always come first for him and that would never change. He leaned forward to kiss her to soften the blow. Ethan started to undo his long coat and she quickly pulled away from him.
‘We are not having sex on a kid’s train ride, apart from anything else, it’s way too cold for that.’
He scooped her up and pulled her onto his lap and then fastened the coat around her, so she was trapped against his body.
‘No sex, I promise, but kissing is allowed isn’t it?’
‘I thought you don’t like kissing.’
‘Yeah well, I’m breaking all my rules with you.’ He leaned down and kissed her, his lips burning against hers as even with the softest touches, she seemed to melt against him.
‘How long is this train journey?’ Izzy whispered against his lips.
‘Half an hour.’
She snuggled tighter against him. ‘Perfect.’
*
Izzy watched Ethan walking by her side, eating a burger. Everything about him was masculine, huge, he exuded an energy and strength that commanded attention. But there was a raw vulnerability to him too, and it wasn’t a side to him that many people realised existed.
He sat down on a bench, stretching his leg out carefully in front of him. She had seen him do this a few times. He didn’t walk with a limp, but sometimes it was clear that his leg was hurting in some way. She’d seen the scars in bed too, it was horrific. But this did nothing to diminish his bear-like strength or vitality.
‘Can I ask you a question?’ Izzy said, tucking into a burger that was almost as big as her head as she sat down beside him.
He slid her across the bench towards him, so there was no gap between them. ‘You can ask me anything.’
She smiled at this. ‘The accident with the army, what happened?’
‘I’m not entirely sure. We were on some training exercise in this old warehouse. I hopped out of the car, ran into the warehouse as I was told to and the next thing I’m waking up in the hospital with half my left leg hanging off. There’d been some big explosion, something went very badly wrong and the whole building was destroyed. They managed to sew me back together but they didn’t think I’d ever be able to walk on it again.’
‘Does it still hurt?’
‘Not anymore, it aches a bit in the cold and I suppose I tend to favour my right leg as I don’t want to put any strain on my left leg. But I’m pretty much back to normal now.’
‘The human body is a miraculous thing. How it heals itself.’
‘It really is. There are parts of my body I never thought would heal, but recently I’ve seen that they can.’ He stared at her intently. She didn’t think he was talking about his leg anymore.
‘That’s where the money came from,’ Ethan said, changing the subject as his tanned cheeks flushed pink at clearly saying too much.
‘What money?’
‘The money to do up Oakwood House, the van and the office. It all came from the army. I got a huge pay out for what happened to my leg. It took long enough for it to be paid out though. It only came through about three years ago.’
‘How did you run the business before the money, was it that different to now?’
‘Well after my dad died, Mum didn’t want to live in Oakwood House anymore – too many memories for her. So she moved out and gave the house to us boys. Kyle lived with her, he was still at school at this stage and Gizmo was already living in a flat with Tia, so me and Charlie lived there for a while. We rented out the basement for the Kidnap My Wife stuff whilst we lived upstairs. It was all a bit awkward. There were so many times we’d bump into the clients or hear them going at it. But we were broke so we didn’t have a choice. We even used one of the bedrooms as the office. We had a rusty old van for the kidnapping and it broke down more than it ran. Charlie basically kept us afloat with her salary for the first year as most of the money we made from the company we poured into the van or doing up various parts of the house. When the army money came through it meant that we could buy our own house and leave the amorous couples to it.’
‘And you looked after Kyle and Gizmo too?’ There was no way Kyle could afford that house by himself, not on the mediocre salary he was getting from KMW
‘Kyle was driving my mum mad, they were arguing all the time. It made sense to get him out and into his own house and somewhere I could keep an eye on him too. And I wasn’t about to leave Gizmo in that cold, damp flat either. There was enough money to help us all out.’
She smiled at his generosity. ‘Did you buy anything for yourself, fast cars, expensive yacht?’
‘There wasn’t much left after doing up Oakwood House and paying for three new houses. I was going to take Charlie to New York, she’d always wanted to go, but she died before I got the chance.’
‘I’m sorry.’
He stared at her. ‘I don’t know what it is about you that makes me talk. I never talk about her, but with you it’s easier, everything is easier.’
She felt the smile spread across her face and he leaned his forehead against hers.
‘Lucky charm!’ A shrill woman’s voice interrupted their moment. Izzy pulled away from Ethan to see a woman who was so wrinkly she looked to be about two hundred years old. ‘Lucky charm?’ she said again. Izzy looked at the box of assorted tacky trinkets, that looked fresh from a Christmas cracker, there were rings, brooches, and various sad looking animals. None of them looked particularly lucky.
‘Erm how much?’
‘A pound.’
Izzy picked up a brooch that looked like a sprig of tiny purple flowers and handed over a pound coin. The woman took the money and then clasped her hand. She gave a little laugh of triumph and then snatched Ethan’s hand and laughed again.
‘Your daughter is going to be an Olympic swimmer, she wins the silver medal.’
Silence hung over them, so heavy it was almost tangible.
‘We don’t have any children,’ Izzy said, not daring to look at Ethan.
‘Of course you don’t, they’ve not been born yet. Cora is your oldest, she’s the Olympian. There’ll be two others as well.’
Before Izzy or Ethan could say anything, the old lady had wandered off, chasing down some poor unsuspecting man.
Izzy chanced a look at Ethan, he’d gone very still next to her.
‘Don’t pay her any attention, she’s clearly madder than a box of frogs.’
‘Cora was the name of your grandmother wasn’t it?’
Izzy swallowed. His cousin had done a really good job whilst researching her. ‘It’s quite a common name, I’m sure she just plucked that name out of the air.’ Ok she had been freaked out by the mad old lady choosing that name over any other but she was trying not to let it show. ‘It doesn’t mean anything.’
Ethan s
tared down at his half eaten burger, screwed it up in the paper and threw it in the bin.
‘I think it’s time we went home.’ He stood up, and after a moment’s hesitation he reluctantly offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. As they walked back to his car, the silence stayed between them. The honeymoon was clearly over.
*
Ethan sat in his car and stared out at the traffic lights, through the steamy glass. Izzy was sitting next to him, holding his hand. How could something that felt so right… feel so wrong? Today had been one of the happiest he’d spent in years. Waking up and making love to the beautiful woman next to him, spending the day together, trying foods, stroking puppies, walking, chatting, holding hands like they were a proper couple and he had loved every second. He genuinely enjoyed her company. Everything had been perfect until the old lady had barged in on their cost moment. The clouds had rolled in, bringing with it Ethan’s bad mood. He had barely said a word to Izzy since. The last thing he wanted was marriage and children. Going down that path again would only lead to pain. The universe or fate was a fucked up thing. He had been happy once and fate had stolen that away from him, he wouldn’t give fate the same chance again.
He looked down at her hand, entwined with his on his leg. He disentangled his fingers and gripped the steering wheel tightly. She kept her hand there, resting gently on his thigh and he clenched the wheel so hard, he feared he might break it off the steering column. This was going to end. He didn’t need her anymore.
Chapter Nineteen
He pulled back into the office car park, but waiting outside the office was a woman. Emily. Izzy looked at the woman suspiciously and an idea formed in his mind. Although there was no romantic involvement with Emily at all, Izzy didn’t know that and this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of Izzy once and for all. Everything had changed since she had crashed into his life a few weeks before and he wanted nothing more than to go back to his simple, uncomplicated life where he could never get hurt. He looked between the two women, the beautiful one sitting next to him that held his heart and Emily, and made a snap decision and probably a terrible one. He grabbed his phone and ordered a taxi to come to the office, then he hung up and turned to face Izzy. Judging by her hurt expression she already knew what was coming.
Tied up With Love Page 20
