‘Come and join us,’ he invited, over an almost tinder-dry throat.
His gaze tracked every tread as she descended the staircase. When she reached his side, his blue eyes devoured her as though he would swallow her whole.
‘You look stunning,’ he told her, uncaring that the mingled guests drinking their champagne overheard him. Turning, he lifted a fluted glass full of the fizzing, sparkling wine from the waiting tray and placed it into her hands. ‘Let me introduce you to my guests.’ He smiled.
Georgia told herself she must be dreaming. But even amidst the spellbinding grandeur of the gleaming hallway, the champagne, and the interested glances of the other smartly dressed assembled guests, it— was the man who stood beside her that held her attention— above all else. His riveting features and commanding— physique were captivating enough without the benefit of being dressed in the most exquisitely tailored tuxedo, so that he resembled the elegant hero of a bygone old-fashioned movie…Georgia’s heart throbbed so hard she thought she might faint.
But Keir was leading her up to one person after another, and her dazzled brain was barely able to recall their names as they were introduced to her even in the very next second after they’d been voiced—because she was so enthralled by the man at her side…
‘You’ll be seated next to me,’ he whispered in her ear, just after he’d suggested they all go in to dinner. And, with his hand thrillingly at her back, so that she felt the heat from his palm burning her through her clothes, Georgia just about managed to smile and nod her agreement.
CHAPTER TEN
CURIOUSLY, KEIR HAD not elaborated upon who she was to his guests, other than to say, ‘Georgia.’ And as the lavish dinner progressed, and the wine and the champagne flowed, she sensed the interest in her presence at his side gain momentum.
Finally, the elderly Colonel sitting to Keir’s left, where— he sat at the head of the table, leaned across and announced rather pompously over his wine saturated— breath, ‘You’ve done well for yourself, catching— the eye of our young Laird, what? All seems a bit of a mystery, though, if you don’t mind my saying. Where are you from? Who are your people? Do we know them?’
Everything inside Georgia froze. She knew that everyone at the table must have heard what the man had said, because suddenly other conversations around her seemed to die as abruptly as though a conductor had tapped his baton and ordered a silent pause. As she slowly let out her breath and the blood started to throb hotly again in her veins, she glanced across at the slightly piggy eyes examining her so relentlessly,— as though she were some daring unwanted usurper at this dinner party. With all her dignity she said quietly, ‘There’s no mystery. I’m actually working for Keir—Laird Strachan. I’m from London, and my “people” are mostly gone, I’m afraid—but even if they were still living I doubt if you and they would have moved in the same circles.’
A hand slid over hers and gripped it tight. She almost jumped out of her skin until she realised it was Keir. He was looking directly at her inquisitor, and in the flickering candlelight there was something about the set of his jaw that told Georgia he was furious, even though his expression was outwardly benign.
‘Colonel…I think your opinions are a little on the presumptuous side…if you don’t mind my saying. Georgia is my guest this evening and I would have you respect both her feelings and mine by not interrogating her as though she were some kind of miscreant. As for your enquiry about her family—I can tell you personally that Georgia can claim parentage— of the very highest caliber. I hope that satisfies.’ —
‘Of course…Meant no offence. Do forgive.’ Blustering, his cheeks momentarily as pink as the rare beef that the Dean of the Cathedral had just been served, the Colonel took hurried refuge in his generous glass of claret and the conversations around the table began to hum again, as though somebody had switched a radio back on.
Under cover of the other talk, Georgia turned her anxious gaze immediately to Keir.
‘Perhaps I’d better go? My presence might be making it awkward for you and I know how important— this dinner is for your reputation.’
‘Don’t run away.’
‘I’m not! I’m just—’
‘To hell with my reputation! If I can bear this, you can too.’ He drew her hand onto his firm thigh, encased— in its fine tailoring, and his heat instantly transferred itself to her body. It made her yearn to be alone with him, instead of having to endure this endless tension filled dinner with people she didn’t like, and who were clearly judging her behind their falsely bright smiles. He was right…she did want to run away.
Her admiration for Keir increased tenfold, because— he could endure such an ordeal and not show even by the merest glimmer of an impatient look or turn of phrase that he’d far rather be doing something else than wining and dining the local ‘great and the good,’ as he’d put it.
‘Stay with me.’ His voice lowered to a husky command as he briefly and urgently roamed her candlelit features. ‘I need you here…don’t desert me.’
There had been no dilemma about whether he should spend the night with Georgia or not. In the end, Keir had simply had to admit that he had zero resistance as far as she was concerned, and part of him had thought to hell with the consequences. Increasingly throughout the dinner she’d been all he could think about.
Oh, he’d done his bit. He’d discussed the house, the— gardens, the local politics in the community, and he’d smiled and been diplomatic. But after what the Colonel had said to Georgia Keir had made it very apparent that he would not tolerate any further speculation— about either her person or her presence beside him at the table.
Thank God the event was over. His well-fed guests were now on their way back to their various homes, their effusive and complimentary remarks as they’d left, about the house and the gardens, still ringing in his ears.
And leave it to the Colonel to have the last word. ‘Your father would have been proud of you, my boy!’ he’d— declared, as he’d unknowingly gripped Keir’s wounded arm and all but made him cry out with the agony of it. The comment had elicited an ironic grimace on its own merit, though. Keir doubted very much if anything he’d achieved at Glenteign would have made James Strachan proud—but quite frankly he no longer cared whether he would have had his father’s good opinion or not. The man was dead, and he was beginning to see that as far as the estate was concerned he could write his own history now that he was in charge.
Having told Georgia to go up to bed ahead of him, Keir now let himself into her room unannounced,— and saw straight away that she stood in the golden light of just one small bedside lamp, wearing the same distracting short, silky robe she’d been wearing the night he’d returned from NewYork…the night of the storm. His heartbeat quickened at the curiously— shy glance she gave him.
‘It’s got quite chilly tonight, don’t you think?’ she remarked.
‘I’ve got something that will warm us up.’ Keir held up the bottle of cognac he’d brought from the drawing room, along with two crystal-cut brandy glasses.
Approaching the bed, he placed the bottle and the glasses carefully down on the little oak cabinet beside it and pulled off his tie. The sound of the silk sliding against the stiff linen of his shirt collar was unwittingly sensuous to Georgia’s ears. Knowing intimately— what the impressively taut musculature beneath that expensive tailored shirt looked like, and remembering how his hard body had felt pressing down on her in bed, she knew she didn’t have a cat’s chance in hell of hiding the need that poured through her bloodstream right then.
Her cheeks burned so bright she must appear to him as though she had a fever.
‘The food tonight was wonderful, wasn’t it?’ she chattered. ‘And Moira did an incredible job of making everything look absolutely—’
‘Here…drink some of this.’
A glass of darkly golden cognac was put in her hand, and Keir’s long fingers briefly glanced against hers. Because she was so spellbound,
Georgia lifted the glass to her lips and tasted some of its fiery contents without question. When the brandy’s burn reached her stomach and ignited there, her whole body was infused with the most delectable melting heat.
‘It’s delicious.’ Cupping the thick crystal tumbler between her hands, she glanced almost nervously at Keir.
After he’d whispered in her ear just as his guests were getting ready to leave that he intended to spend the night with her she’d hardly known how to get up from the table, because the sheer anticipation of his visit had rendered her limbs as weak as a lamb’s. Now face to face with him in the softly lit bedroom, the— gentle diffused lighting making his handsome features appear even more formidably compelling than ever, she knew she was utterly lost. Already, his gaze and his body—never mind his highly seductive voice—had made her incapable of refusing him anything. And she yearned to chase away some of the pain that she sometimes witnessed in his incredible blue eyes. Now that she knew some of the story of how that pain came to be there she craved that chance even more.
‘What have you got on under that robe?’ he asked her now, a dark eyebrow lifting ironically as he removed his jacket and then started to unbutton his shirt. ‘If you want to make an already enslaved man even happier please tell me it’s not very much…’
‘I don’t have anything on underneath.’
‘Really?’ With a slow, knowing smile, Keir moved towards her and took the glass of brandy out of her hand. Silently he placed it beside his own on the oak cabinet. When he turned back to Georgia he said huskily, ‘Open your robe…I want to see.’
Seeing the shy hesitancy on her face, Keir took pity on her. ‘Maybe this will help.’ He bent and switched out the lamp, so that the only light left illuminating— the room came from the silvery rays of the nearly full moon that filtered in through the open casement windows.
With the softest of sighs Georgia undid the belt on the flimsy little garment and stood there unmoving as Keir glimpsed the tender globes of her breasts and the smooth flat plane of her stomach. Gilded by moonlight, her long dark hair curled prettily against her shoulders. Any poet worth his salt would write sonnets to her.
‘Any more instructions?’ she joked, and he saw her shiver a little.
Again he smiled knowingly. ‘Yes…Take off your robe completely and get into bed.’
As she did so, Keir turned to the swift removal of his own clothing. He had a delectable glimpse of Georgia’s perfectly peach-shaped bottom bathed in moonlight before she quickly lifted the counterpane to slide underneath it, and he wanted her so badly that he practically hurt with the need. When he got into bed beside her, all her hesitation and self-consciousness— seemed to vanish and she immediately welcomed him into her arms…just as if she was welcoming— him home again. Having not experienced such an addictively seductive feeling in his entire life up until now—from any quarter—Keir was infused with an almost unbearable sense of rightness and a bone-deep pleasure.
Now, as his lips sought hers and he hungrily reacquainted himself with her extraordinarily sensuous taste, he sensed the oppressive weight of all his cares and darkness slip away as though by magic.
‘Thank you for staying with me tonight…you made the whole thing bearable,’ he breathed, gazing down at her rapt face. ‘And I’m sorry you had to endure the Colonel’s little outburst. The man was an old friend of my father’s, and as you could probably tell he’s still living somewhere in the Middle Ages as far as some of his views are concerned.’
‘It’s only natural that friends and associates expect you to be seeing someone from your own background, I suppose.’ Her smile a little unsure, Georgia considered the man looking down at her with a sudden flicker of doubt in her hazel eyes.
‘It’s nobody else’s business but my own!’ Keir replied a little gruffly, hating the idea that she might think he was influenced in any way by other people’s expectations of him.
‘It’s mine too, Keir. Don’t forget that.’
‘I would never take you for granted, Georgia…I promise. Now, where were we?’
When he would have captured her lips again, Georgia put her hand against his chest and stopped him. ‘You were amazing tonight,’ she whispered, her fingers playing lightly against the dark silky hairs coiling on his chest. ‘The perfect host and the perfect Laird. Glenteign wouldn’t be the same extraordinary— place without you.’
‘I never wanted to come back here again. I never thought I would…’ His expression darkened a little.
‘But you did, and everything’s going to be all right, Keir. You do know that, don’t you?’
‘Is it? Somehow I can almost believe it when you tell me.’
Moving his hand downwards, he lightly stroked her breast, fiercely enjoying the soft gasp of pleasure that feathered over his already exquisitely aroused senses. As far as he was concerned the time for talking was ended…words were not what he craved at all. Forgetting everything but the lovely woman in front of him was what he wanted right now…that, and— losing himself for a while…a long while…in the sheer enchantment of her.
Not for the first time in the few weeks since the dinner party did Georgia tell herself that this magical hiatus from real life that she was enjoying with Keir—working alongside him during the day and sharing his bed at night—would sooner or later have to come to an end.
He hadn’t discussed the topic with her at all, and neither had either of them mentioned his permanent secretary Valerie’s eventual return. It was clear that they were both keeping their own counsel about things—perhaps not wanting to risk spoiling what they had right now with worries about the future. But, even though he’d assured her that he wouldn’t take her for granted, Georgia was afraid to ask Keir outright what his intentions were lest she sign her own warrant to heartbreak.
Autumn was upon them. There were signs everywhere,— both on the estate and in the picturesque surrounding— areas. She saw it each day in the rolling pastures and heather-clad mountains when she walked out early in the morning with Hamish. She saw it in the burnished leaves lying underfoot, and sensed it in the distinct nip in the air. Georgia also registered the changes coming in the magical dawn mists that covered everything in a blanket of icy ethereal silver.
It was a water-colourist’s paradise, and some of the scenes she saw would stay in her mind and heart for ever, but not knowing what would happen, and almost dreading the prospect of going home again—even— though she knew she had to—Georgia felt like a small sailing craft in the middle of a vast, unpredictable— ocean, with nothing to protect her but God’s grace from a possible storm at sea that would capsize her.
For the first time in her life she was in love. So in love that there was only one topic that never tired of recurring in her mind…Keir. She had never wanted anything in her life more than him. In the past all she’d wanted to do was provide a sense of security and happiness for Noah. She had hardly dared allow any personal wants or needs to come into the picture at all. Her deepest hopes and dreams had been put on hold for so long that she’d almost forgotten that she’d ever dreamed them. But now, with Keir, they had surfaced in glorious Technicolor to taunt her.
Leaning over the stunning old-fashioned clawtoothed— bath in her bathroom one evening, Georgia trailed her fingertips in the steaming scented water. Satisfied that the temperature was just right, she went to the equally old-fashioned and beautiful gilt mirror there, and pinned up her tumbling chestnut hair in front of it before removing her light pink cotton sweater, then her lacy white bra. Folding the items over the white rattan chair next to her, she straightened— again. Just as she did so, she experienced a wave of acutely hot tingling in the tips of her breasts. The sensation was almost painful.
Wincing in surprise, Georgia studied her body carefully in the reflection before her—as carefully as a scientist staring down a microscope at some fascinating— sample on a slide. The dusky pink area around her nipples appeared significantly darker, and even with her own surpr
ised gaze she could see that her breasts definitely looked a little larger. Cupping them, she felt a sharp stab of shock slice dizzyingly through her as she realised that they felt heavier too. Staring into the mirror as though transfixed, Georgia’s clear hazel eyes easily registered the repercussions— of shock that were ebbing through her.
‘It can’t be…can it?’
Moving to the rattan chair, she sank down into it, her— arms crossed protectively across her chest as if to ward off even the possibility that she might be pregnant—because even with her lack of experience in these matters Georgia realised that that was her state. But how could she be pregnant?
Staring at the pink wall, with its tasteful cream border patterned with tiny pink roses just above the steaming bath, she made herself remember in detail all the times that she and Keir had made love. It wasn’t difficult. There were days when she seemed to be able to think of little else. She wasn’t on the pill—not yet—but he had always used protection…even— when passion consumed them and threatened— to make them reckless. Something must have happened that they’d somehow overlooked. Georgia had read that sometimes it could, even with the safest protection.
She shook her head with a groan. Why hadn’t she paid better attention to her periods? They were always so regular, and the fact that she was at least eight days overdue should have told her that something— was amiss. But her mind had been all over the place, and she hadn’t even noticed. Now what was she going to do? She wasn’t in a position to have a baby! Financially and practically, every which way, it— wasn’t a possibility. She had a home to run, bills to pay, Noah’s business to support whenever she could. It just wasn’t feasible that she could do all that and raise a child as well! If she attempted it she could potentially lose everything she had worked so hard to attain.
But, inevitably, the biggest question in Georgia’s mind was Keir. What on earth was he going to say when she told him that she was pregnant with his baby? At this moment in time she didn’t even know if he’d planned on seeing her again after she left Glenteign…let alone if he desired a proper committed— relationship with her. Even the prospect of a relaxing scented bath to ease away the stresses and strains of the working day did nothing to release the tension inside her as she wondered just how she was going to break the news…
Boss Meets Baby Page 40
