by Laney Rogers
So Maggie had been at her side when the relationship with John ended, and he had called her every derogatory name under the sun while he gathered his things together and then slammed out of the apartment.
Gina sighed as Mary took a sip of her juice and carefully put the cup back on her tray table. “I think you’re very brave, going to a strange country not knowing anyone. I don’t know if I’d have been brave enough at your age. Young people these days are so much more self-sufficient than when I was in my twenties. Can I give you some advice, Gina?”
Gina smiled at the older lady. “Yes, please, anything you can think of would be great.”
Mary laughed. “Well, in my experience, first impressions mean a great deal. When you meet your brother and sister, trust your instincts. Don’t let anything you’ve been told, or what they say to you, cloud your judgment about them, about your father, and about the things that happened between him and your mother. Go with your gut feeling. It seems to me that you are an intelligent, educated woman, so don’t let others get in the way of common sense.” She paused and gave a chuckle. “Right, end of lecture. I spy the drinks trolley heading this way. What about a tipple then, love?”
Gina frowned. “A tipple?”
“It’s English for a glass of something good, preferably alcohol!”
“Oh well, in that case, a tipple sounds great,” Gina replied, laughing. After a couple of seconds, she added, “Thank you for the advice. I really do appreciate it. One minute, I feel like I must have lost my mind, doing this, and the next, I can’t wait to meet my other family and experience Britain. But hey, at least I know one British person before I land.”
Mary’s face took on a serious expression. “You know what? I realize that we only just met and everything, but I’m going to give you my number. You remind me so much of my daughter, and I would hate to think of her being in an unfamiliar country with all that ahead of her. If anything goes wrong or you just need to hear a friendly voice, you call me, okay?”
Mary took out a pad of paper from her bag and wrote down her details, then ripped the sheet out and handed it to Gina. “Now, you make sure you call me if you need to. I live in Nottingham, by the way. You know, Robin Hood country, so it’s a few hours north of where you’ll be. But we have a good public transport system, and if things don’t turn out the way you hope, I’m only a train ride away.”
“I will call, I promise. Thank you so much. I feel quite reassured now. How strange life can be, you know? I was so worried this was all going to be a nightmare from start to finish, and now I’ve met you, I’m all hyped up and ready to take whatever is coming my way.”
Mary smiled and patted her hand in a motherly fashion. The drinks trolley arrived, and they both chose their poison.
Gina held up her glass. “Here’s to your new grandson!”
“And here’s to your new adventure!” Mary replied.
The plastic cups bumped together, and the two women toasted each other.
Gina leaned back in her seat. Well, she had made her first friend, and what a sweetheart she was. Some of the churning in her stomach, which seemed to have become the norm of late, finally began to ease. As the alcohol warmed her insides, the tension she had been feeling began to slowly melt away.
The thought of meeting a new sister and brother without any of her friends or family around her had been a constant source of worry ever since the letter had arrived. She hadn’t known what she was going to do if it all went wrong and they hated her on sight. Now she had a point of contact and a new friend she could turn to.
Mary broke into her thoughts. “Do you want to try the movie that’s about to start?” It’s a comedy apparently. It’ll help pass the next couple of hours, at least.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me. Then we’ll only have about three more hours to go before Heathrow.”
The two women settled back into their seats to watch the movie. Gina tried hard to focus on the screen in front of her, but after a while, she tuned out, her mind wandering back to the task ahead of her.
The letter had been signed Guy Anderson, one of the partners in the law firm of Anderson and Webster, who, as far as she could tell, were local to the area. They had corresponded by e-mail for the next two weeks, and Mr. Anderson had offered to pick her up from the airport himself. Gina had politely declined, thinking it would be better to act independently from the start.
The thought of being stuck in a car with a stranger, for God knows how long, in a new country, did not appeal to her. After all, he could be a sleaze, a total geek, or a pushy, arrogant prick. No, it was best to be in charge and make her own decisions from the start.
Mr. Anderson had e-mailed her a picture of the house she had inherited, and Gina had been enchanted. It was just how she had imagined an English country cottage would be, although he had written that the building did need some electrical work and decoration.
Mary broke into laughter beside Gina, and her thoughts were dragged back from Guy Anderson and her house to the movie.
As the plane finally started its descent, Gina could feel her heart thumping with nerves and anticipation. This was it; for the first time in her twenty-four years, she was taking the bit between her teeth and having a real adventure, as Mary had called it.
They descended through the clouds, and she finally saw London spread out before her. The plane shifted slightly, getting prepared for landing, and Mary grabbed her hand again. Gina grinned and held on tightly until the plane touched down and slowed to a sensible speed.
The two women stuck together until they reached customs and immigration and then said their goodbyes with a hug. Mary wished her luck and reminded her to call, even if it was just to let her know how things were going.
Gina suddenly felt very alone again as she lined up with the other travelers to go through immigration. After about forty minutes or so, she had dealt with the humorless, miserable woman who was so obviously uninterested in why she was here and grabbed her one large suitcase, which, thankfully, didn’t take too long to appear on the huge conveyor belt in baggage claim.
Walking into the arrivals area, she smiled to herself, realizing that even though she was almost four thousand miles away, on a different continent, the airport was basically the same as any in the US. She’d half expected to see old-fashioned Englishmen in round black bowler hats, carrying umbrellas. In fact, she could feel the warmth of the late afternoon sun, shining through the glass exit doors. Excitement began to pulse through her veins—she was really here, in the United Kingdom, land of kings and queens, great castles and thousands of years of history.
After spotting a sign that showed the way to the London underground, Gina began to make her way through the busy area. Suddenly, a bright blue placard with large letters caught her attention, and her eyes widened in astonishment when she realized the name on the card was hers.
What the hell? It had to be a coincidence. She had definitely said that she would find her own way to Newmarket and then contact Mr. Anderson from there.
The face behind the placard was partially hidden, but Gina caught sight of a pair of dark boots, long muscular legs encased in blue jeans, and a crisp white shirt. Wow, the words sleaze, geek and prick certainly didn’t seem appropriate here. Those words, of course, were courtesy of her best friend, Maggie, who had told her that British men tended to be overly shy, geeky nerds, or beer-swilling couch potatoes. With the obvious exceptions, of course, being Daniel Craig and David Beckham.
Gina took a deep breath and walked resolutely up to the stranger with the sign. Just as she reached him, the placard moved down, and Gina found herself staring up into a pair of deep brown eyes that, after a second, traveled down her body and then up again as his lips stretched into a broad, friendly smile.
She was at a total loss for words for perhaps the second time in her entire life. The man in front of her was tall, extremely muscular, and altogether far too sexy. Whatever she had been expecting, this wasn’t it. Maybe there wa
s another Gina Ramsey at the airport today.
Shit, pull yourself together and say something, she thought, but he beat her to it.
“Miss Ramsey?” he said in a deep, strong voice. When she nodded, he carried on, “I’m Guy Anderson. I know you said that you could find your own way to Newmarket, but I’ve been here in London for a conference for the last two days, so I decided to stick around and meet you off your flight.”
Gina managed a smile as Guy reached over and took her suitcase from her. “That’s really kind of you. I didn’t want to be any trouble, but to be honest, the thought of trying to get a train or coach right now isn’t exactly appealing. So I’m very grateful.”
God, that’s really pathetic. Not five minutes ago, she had been all excited about being in a new country and doing some exploration by herself, and now a pair of gorgeous eyes and a great body had overridden her need to be independent completely. Her earlier thoughts of not wanting to be stuck with a stranger seemed to have disappeared into thin air as the two of them made their way out of the terminal.
Guy led Gina across the road and into a multistory parking lot. The air was crisp and cold even though the sun was still shining, and she shivered at the extreme temperature change from inside the airport.
Guy obviously noticed her shiver. “I always hate that about flying. You spend hours breathing in reconditioned air and then either freeze or overheat at your destination.”
Gina smiled, pulling gloves out of her coat pocket. “This should do the trick.” While she pulled them on, she hoped to God that her breath was not too evil and her hair didn’t look like it’d been pulled through a hedge backward. She’d not had a chance to look at herself since she’d used the bathroom on the plane about four hours ago. She groaned inwardly. He probably thought she looked a complete mess. He, on the other hand, was anything but. Gina couldn’t wait to call Maggie and knock her ideas about British men right out of the park.
For God’s sake, get a grip, she thought. What the hell does it matter what this man is like. You’re here to sort out the house and meet a new brother and sister. That was more than enough to deal with.
“Is everything okay, Miss Ramsey? That’s quite a frown.”
Gina glanced up at him, embarrassed. “Oh, yes, everything’s fine. It was just…well…”
Guy raised an eyebrow and then grinned as he opened the trunk of the car they had stopped in front of. It was a dark blue Daimler Jaguar, a classic, and Gina smiled in appreciation.
“Wow, this is beautiful,” she said, taking in the sleek lines and the chrome jaguar hood ornament. “It’s late seventies, early eighties, right?”
Guy closed the trunk and glanced at her in surprise. “I’m impressed. You’re a car fan?”
“My stepdad is into classic cars in a big way,” Gina answered. “It drives my mom crazy sometimes when he drags her to car shows hundreds of miles away just to look at an old Mustang or whatever, but I picked up a few pointers during my childhood. I can appreciate a nice-looking car as much as the next woman.”
He opened the passenger door for her, and she stepped in, running her hand along the cool cream leather and admiring the dark wood interior. It felt strange, sitting on the left hand side of the car but having no steering wheel. After closing her door, he walked to the other side and got in beside her, starting the engine straight away and cranking up the heat at once so she would be able to warm up. She smiled her thanks, and he grinned at her before reversing out of the parking space and driving them away from the airport craziness. This beat a busy train or bumpy coach ride any day.
Gina reached down into her bag and retrieved a couple of printouts she had brought with her from home. “I did a bit of research on Newmarket just so I had some idea of the area. It seems really interesting. I hope I get the chance to explore the area a little.”
Guy glanced at her before returning his eyes to the road. “I’d be happy to show you around myself. It’s a great place to live, and work, with plenty of history and culture thrown in for good measure.”
Gina looked through the papers for a minute or two, then reached down to put them back in her bag, accidentally knocking the book she had brought to read on the train out on to the floor of the car.
Guy flicked his eyes down for a second and caught just part of the title. “…of Dominance and submiss…”
Surprised, he trained his eyes back on the road and let Gina push the book back into the bag. Not able to help himself, he turned again and caught the flush of color in her cheeks before she glanced out of her side window.
Chapter Two
As the motorway stretched out before them, Guy settled himself comfortably behind the wheel and put his foot down. The car purred as he increased the acceleration; he had definitely been right to take his car to London instead of the train. And not just because of the chance to drive on the open road.
He glanced at Gina appreciatively, taking in her shapely legs and graceful hands resting in her lap. She wasn’t typically beautiful, but there was something definitely alluring about her, an honesty and straightforwardness she had shown from the moment she opened her mouth as well as a pretty face and curvy body.
No, Anderson, absolutely not, he told himself. It was only a couple of months since he and Jessica had gone their separate ways. It was too soon; he knew that.
Shit, what was he thinking? Just because a couple of his friends had told him he had an uncanny way of being able to pick out a submissive woman in a crowd didn’t mean that he was right about the woman sitting next to him now. Reading a book about Dominance and submission could mean anything. Lots of people got a kick out or reading about kinky lifestyles, right?
To be honest, he was surprised at the impression Miss Gina Ramsey had made on him. It was the first time he had really studied a woman and liked what he saw since Jessica had left. Maybe he would push her just a little bit and see if he could find out a bit more.
He trained his eyes firmly on the road ahead. “So, Miss Ramsey, will you tell me what that deep frown was about back in the car park?”
She looked up, startled, as if he had interrupted her in deep thought, and he was surprised to see a faint blush rise up her cheeks again as she stared at him.
“Please, call me Gina. When you say Miss Ramsey, I feel like I’ve just been caught not paying attention at school.”
Guy laughed. “Okay, first names it is.”
“Well, the thing is, my best friend Maggie informed me—after extensive research, of course—that English men were…um…how can I put this…a bit reserved and introverted. You know, a bit geeky. When you saw me frowning, I was actually wondering where she had done her research as she appears to have it all wrong. Do you use the word geek over here by the way?”
Guy glanced across at Gina and grinned. “Oh yes, we’re familiar with the expression. So tell me, was she referring to Scottish, Welsh and Irish men, or was this just an attack on English manliness?”
Gina laughed, and Guy enjoyed the way she tilted her head back as she did so.
“Actually, I hate to say it, but she told me that Scottish men were sexy as hell, and great in the sack!”
“Hmm, well, I can’t say I’ve had any experience having sex with Scottish men, but I beg to differ as far as Englishmen are concerned.”
He loved the easy banter between them, considering the only contact they had had before this was by e-mail.
“So am I the only English man you’ve had a conversation with since you got on the plane?” he asked.
“Yep, you’re the only one,” Gina replied.
Guy slowed the car down as they hit some heavy traffic and then studied her face. The blush had deepened in a very endearing way. She had obviously realized he was now aware that it was her first impressions of him that had proved her friend wrong.
“In that case, I’d like to return the compliment,” he replied in a mock-serious tone. “My first impressions of you have turned my view of American women around c
ompletely.”
Gina kept her eyes on the cars in front of them. “Oh really, and what was that view exactly?”
His answer was instantaneous. “That all American women are needy, superficial and tend to be extremely high maintenance.”
Gina gasped and swung round in her seat, apparently ready to do battle. “You arrogant jer…” The words died on her lips when she saw the huge grin on his face. “Oh, very good,” she drawled, “nicely done.”
They both laughed as Guy put his foot down and the sleek Jaguar picked up speed again.
He was enjoying himself far more than he had anticipated. She was turning out to be a fun companion to travel with.
The car ate up the miles quickly, and after a short while, Guy glanced at her, wanting to explain about the inn where he had booked her a room. To his surprise, she had fallen asleep, her head turned toward him, a peaceful expression on her face.
She really was attractive, he thought. He stole another look before turning back to the road ahead. She had a lovely curvy shape with long legs that he could just imagine wrapped around him…her arms restrained above her head, securely tied to his bedframe…
No, he had to keep it purely business. He was doing this for his father who’d retired from the family firm, and only then because her father and his had been good friends.
He settled back in his seat and let the powerful car have its head. The next hour passed quickly, and the light began to fade. When they were about ten minutes from Newmarket, Guy gently said her name.
Gina opened her eyes and sat up straight. “Wow, I guess I was more tired than I thought. Sorry I fell asleep on you.”
“I’m glad you had a chance to rest. We’re almost there now. I didn’t get the chance to tell you earlier that I’ve booked you into an inn on the outskirts of town. I know you said you would sort all that out when you got here, but this place belongs to a friend of mine and I think you’ll enjoy staying there.”
