by Tina Folsom
Holly couldn’t imagine having somebody like a maid or a cook working for her. It seemed so decadent. She shook her head. Well, it wasn’t her life.
She caught up with Jonathan just as he set his foot on the first step of the grand staircase leading to the upper floor. “No, you’re not!” she called.
The boy turned his head, spotted her, and giggled, then used his hands to hoist himself farther up the stairs. But he didn’t get far, because Holly grabbed him and pulled him into her arms.
He giggled even louder. She lifted him up higher and spun, making them both turn like a carrousel, Jonathan’s legs swinging in a wide circle.
Dark blotches appeared before Holly’s eyes and she stopped abruptly. “Whew.” She caught herself and for a moment stood still, Jonathan still in her arms, leaning against the banister for support.
“Again!” Jonathan demanded.
“Later, Jonathan. Holly’s feeling a little dizzy right now,” she explained to the boy.
Before he could say anything else, the front door opened and several people entered. It wasn’t hard to guess who they were: Paul’s parents and his great-aunt Mirabelle. The old lady looked rather robust, with a very alert look on her face. Holly knew instinctively that this woman had a mind of her own.
Paul’s father was helping her over the threshold, but she shook off his arm. “I’m not an invalid, Brad! So don’t treat me like one.”
Holly suppressed the smirk that threatened to spread on her face and shifted her gaze to the woman who entered last: Paul’s mother. She was dressed as though she had just left a Coco Chanel fashion shoot. Her eyes instantly fell on Holly, then on Jonathan.
“Oh, look at my boy! He’s grown so much!” She charged past her husband and Mirabelle, reaching out her arms and practically ripping Jonathan from Holly’s hold. “You must be the new nanny. I’ll take him now. Why don’t you take an hour off?”
“But I—”
“No worries, I’ll tell Olivia that it’s okay,” she interrupted, barely giving Holly a sideways glance. “Where are they?”
“On the terrace. I was just going to . . . ” Holly’s words trailed off and she watched Paul’s mother disappear with the child in her arms.
Slowly, Holly turned to the other two new arrivals. “I’m not the nanny.”
Mirabelle’s alert eyes examined her, then a smile spread over her face. “Well, of course not. Everybody can see that.” She tossed Paul’s father a frustrated look. “But then, some people only see what they want to see.” Then she looked back at Holly. “The boy seems to like you.” Mirabelle stretched her hand out in greeting. “I’m Mirabelle, and this is my nephew Brad. And you are?”
Holly shook her hand and was surprised at how firm the old lady’s grip was. “I’m Holly. I’m—”
“Holly is my girlfriend,” Paul’s voice came from a few yards behind her.
She turned and saw him approach, a big smile on his face. He immediately pulled his great-aunt into a big hug and almost lifted her off her feet. The old lady chuckled.
“So great to see you, Aunt Mirabelle!” he greeted her.
“You always say that.”
“Because it’s true!” Paul claimed, and released her. Then he nodded to his father. “Dad, how was the drive?”
“Tolerable.”
Mirabelle leaned closer to Paul while glancing at her nephew, Paul’s father. “Your father is a saint. Your mother wouldn’t shut up the entire drive down here. I tell you, I now know the entire menu for the anniversary party, plus the names of all the waiters, the florist, and whoever else is involved in pulling this thing off. Maybe next time I’ll take the train down.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Mirabelle,” Paul’s father said softly. He made a dismissive gesture and exchanged a look with Paul. “Your great-aunt is exaggerating as usual. Your mother has so many things on her mind.”
Mirabelle rolled her eyes, then stepped closer to Holly. “So, you’re Paul’s girl.” She looked at Paul. “How did you manage to get this stunning beauty to go out with you? Did you drug her?”
“I assure you that wasn’t necessary.” Paul grinned and put his arm around Holly. “This amazing woman here actually likes me.”
When Paul’s eyes met hers, Holly felt warmth spread in her belly. Yes, she did like him. She liked him very much indeed.
“In that case, you’d better hold on to her. You never know when you’ll be that lucky again.”
Paul laughed. “I have to apologize, Holly, but Aunt Mirabelle has a twisted sense of humor.”
“I think your great-aunt is perfectly fine.” Holly winked at the old woman, feeling an instant connection with her when she smiled back. “And she’s right too. You’re a very lucky guy!”
“Dad, help me out here,” Paul addressed his father dramatically, while pulling Holly closer to his side as if to make sure she knew he was only joking. “I think the women are ganging up on us.”
“You’re only noticing that now, son? Welcome to my world.” Then he stretched his hand out to Holly. “Very nice to meet you, Holly. Call me Brad.”
Holly stepped out of Paul’s embrace to shake his father’s hand. “Nice to meet you too.”
“What’s going on here? Why aren’t you coming out to the terrace to say hello to Olivia and Quentin? Tara is here too. You remember Tara Pierpont, Aunt Mirabelle, don’t you?”
Everybody turned to see Paul’s mother approach. She was alone and had obviously handed off her grandson to somebody else. When her eyes fell on Holly, she appeared displeased. “I said you could go now. We’re watching Jonathan for a few hours. Come back at dinner time to get him ready for bed.”
“Mother!” Paul snapped, making her look at him in surprise.
“What did I say?”
“You just ordered my girlfriend around.” He reached for Holly’s hand. “This is Holly.”
“You brought a girlfriend?”
Holly felt her eyes on her body, as if she were being inspected at a cattle auction—not that she’d ever been to one.
“What about Tara? You can’t have two women here for the week!”
“I didn’t invite Tara. You did. So you’ll entertain her, and I’ll entertain my girlfriend.”
“But you didn’t tell me . . . ”
“I told you at lunch in New York that I’d be bringing Holly this week.”
“But I thought you were just making it up, because you didn’t—”
“—didn’t want you to interfere in my private life?”
Holly could not only see Paul’s anger surging, but his mother’s, too. “I told you I had a girlfriend, so get used to it. I expect her to be treated with respect.”
His mother huffed. “And what do you expect me to do with Tara? I promised her mother—”
“Your problem, not mine! And I’d appreciate it very much if you stopped talking about setting me up with another woman while my girlfriend is right here. Don’t pretend you don’t see her. It’s downright rude, and I thought appearances were so important to you.”
His mother’s jaw dropped, speechless for a moment.
“Come, Holly, let’s join the others on the terrace and enjoy the sun out there.” Paul turned, pulling her with him, his arm slung across her back and his hand resting possessively on her hip.
When they entered the living room and walked toward the French doors leading to the terrace, Holly was finally able to find her voice again. “Oh my God, she hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you per se. She hates the fact that she can’t get me to marry somebody like Tara, who has the right family connections.”
“I shouldn’t be here.” How would she survive the next few days? How would she even survive dinner with Paul’s mother spewing venom like that?
Paul stopped walking and turned to her, pulling her to his chest. “I need you here. I promise you, I won’t leave your side. She won’t be able to attack you. Of course, that doesn’t mean that she’ll be nice to you. But yo
u’re with me. Don’t forget that. We’re a team.”
Slowly she nodded. “Okay.”
Paul dipped his head. “Thank you. You’ll do great. And I’ll reward you generously afterward.”
She locked eyes with him. “How?”
“You know how.”
He captured her lips, making her forget everything for a few moments and giving her a taste of her reward. And for a reward like this, she could even tolerate Paul’s unpleasant mother.
23
Holly breathed a sigh of relief as Paul finally led her along a small path that ended at the beach. Dinner had been tense, with Paul’s mother alternately ignoring her and making snide remarks, or talking to Tara about people and events Holly had no knowledge off, thus making her feel like an outsider. She’d counted the minutes until dinner was over and she was able to get up. Luckily, Paul had announced that he had promised her a walk on the beach and had not even waited for anybody to protest.
Though it was dark, light from the houses along the shore was enough to let them see where they were going. The moonlight reflecting off the calm water did the rest.
“You were great today,” Paul said, squeezing her hand. “First with Jonathan and then, well . . . ”
“You mean because I resisted the urge to scratch your mother’s eyes out?”
He chuckled softly. “Yes. Among other things.”
She felt an odd closeness to him, something that had started to develop after the previous night in each other’s arms. Something seemed to have changed between them, and she now felt that there were things she wanted to tell him. But she didn’t know how to start.
“Jonathan adores you,” Paul said.
Holly made a dismissive gesture. “It’s just my blond hair. Most little kids seem fascinated by that.”
“It’s more than that. It was the way you spoke to him. You gave him your full attention, and I think his parents don’t often do that. They’re too wrapped up in their own problems.”
Holly had noticed the tension between Olivia and her husband too. It was hard not to notice that they had marital problems. “Jonathan is just looking for someone to love him.” She would not make the same mistake with her own child. She would give her child all her love.
“It was probably a mistake to have a child that early in their relationship,” Paul mused. “Who knows? Things might have turned out differently if they hadn’t had Jonathan before they really knew each other.”
Holly was glad that it was dark so that Paul couldn’t see the sadness that was probably showing on her face. Yes, having a child early in a new relationship could be a huge strain, and many couples couldn’t weather that storm. It was another good reason not to confess to Paul that she was pregnant. “Yes, you’re probably right,” she said instead, and searched for something else to say.
For a few moments there was silence between them.
“I had a wonderful time last night,” Paul began. “Can I hope for a repeat tonight?” He looked at her from the side and she stopped walking. He stopped as well and turned to her.
Was this maybe the right moment to tell him what she’d been wanting to tell him since last night?
His eyes searched hers, and she noticed the concern in them. “Did I say something wrong? If I did, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. You know you don’t have to share my bed if you don’t want to, but I just thought after last night—”
Holly put her finger over his lips to stop him from saying anything else. “Paul, there’s something I have to tell you.”
She could feel how he held his breath, as if he was expecting bad news.
“I’m not an escort anymore. I quit two months ago. I quit the day of Sabrina and Daniel’s wedding.”
It was out. She felt relief at finally having told him the truth.
His chin dropped. “But . . . ” He shook his head, before trying again. “Why didn’t you tell me back then? Why didn’t you say anything? You let me call you a . . . ” It seemed he couldn’t even say the word now. “Holly, why didn’t you tell me the truth? It would have changed everything.”
Holly shook her head. “It would have changed nothing. Even if you had believed me then—which you wouldn’t have—you would have thought I was making excuses.”
“No, Holly—”
She pressed her hand against his heart. “Please, hear me out.”
Paul nodded silently.
“The message you saw on my phone came from Misty, my boss. It was her reaction to my telling her that I was quitting. I sent her my resignation a few minutes before I propositioned you at the reception—because that’s when I realized that I didn’t want to sleep with men for money anymore. I wanted to sleep with a man because I was attracted to him. Because I desired him.” Holly ran her eyes over him. “The night we had together was wonderful. For the first time in a long time, I was free to feel.”
Paul ran a hand through his dark hair. “Oh God, Holly, I’m so sorry. I destroyed all that by the way I treated you.”
“It’s not your fault. Most men would have reacted that way.”
“If I’d known . . . ”
“Had you known, you would have reacted the same way, because my past is still the same. The thing that has changed is my future. But people don’t judge you by your future, they judge you by your past. And my past I can’t change, as much as I want to.”
Paul shook his head and cupped her shoulders with both hands. “But if you quit, then why didn’t you at least tell me when I proposed this . . . this arrangement? Why didn’t you just tell me to go to hell? How could you allow me to drag you back into it?”
“Remember the matchmaking business I was telling you about?”
His forehead furrowed. “The one from your cover story?”
Holly nodded. “The day you called me, the bank had just refused my loan.” The reason why wasn’t exactly something she needed to disclose to Paul. “I was desperate. I wanted to buy the business. I needed the money.”
Realization spread in Paul’s eyes. “Let me guess—the purchase price is two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
She didn’t even have to nod, but only blinked, then dropped her gaze. “It’s buying me a future. So I figured I’d sell myself one last time.”
Paul released her shoulders and looked past her, out to the ocean, as if he wanted to avoid her. “And the reason you slept with me last night?”
“What are you saying?” Didn’t he know why she’d come to his bed?
He whipped his gaze back to her. “I’m asking you whether you slept with me last night because I’m paying for your time.”
“You know as well as I do that you didn’t pay for that. We agreed that what you paid for was my playing your girlfriend. It didn’t include sex.”
“Damn it, Holly! I asked you a straightforward question: Why did you sleep with me last night?”
She fisted her hands at her hips. “Are you dim-witted or something? Don’t you get it? I slept with you because I’m attracted to you! Idiot!”
A grin spread over his face. “You know that you’re totally sexy when you’re angry.”
Holly huffed, turned back in the direction from which they’d come, and started walking. Paul grabbed her hand and kept pace with her.
“I should never have told you anything.”
“You mean the fact that you quit the escort business or the fact that you find me hot?”
She whipped her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “You’re twisting my words. I didn’t say you’re hot.”
“That’s what I heard. Besides, the way you rode me last night kind of hinted at that.”
Annoyance welled up in her. “Then why did you have to ask me why I slept with you?”
“Because I hate guesswork. I wanted to hear it from your own mouth.”
“Well, now you’ve heard it!” For some reason she felt exposed. Well, not for some unknown reason. She knew very well why she was pissed. While she had exposed her feelings
by admitting that she was attracted to him, he had said nothing in return.
Suddenly Paul tugged at her hand and made her turn. She realized that she would have walked past his parents’ house in the dark, had he not guided her to the path that led up to the pool.
When she headed toward the terrace, Paul pulled her in the opposite direction. “What?”
“We’re not done talking. And for this talk, I want some privacy.”
Reluctantly, she let him lead her to the little pool house that stood a few yards away from the pool. He reached up to the ledge over the door and pulled a key from it, then unlocked the door and nudged her inside.
Paul locked the door behind him and leaned against it. A moment later, a low light illuminated the room. Holly had only a moment to glance around and notice that there was a large sectional sofa in one corner, a coffee table in front of it, and a door leading to another room, before Paul began to speak.
“Would you please tell me why you’re suddenly angry?” he asked softly, his eyes full of affection.
Holly blinked, wondering if she simply saw what she wanted to see. She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s nothing.”
He took a few steps toward her and instinctively she stepped back. By the time he reached her, she’d backed herself against a wall. Paul placed his hands on either side of her head and leaned in.
“Holly, I’m sorry if I said something that bothers you. I wish I knew what it was so I could take it back.”
She looked at him, searching his eyes. Was he really trying to understand her? “It’s not something you said.”
Paul furrowed his forehead. Then he suddenly said, “So it’s something I didn’t say.” He came even closer, his chest now touching hers. “Baby, I think I told you yesterday morning when I apologized to you that I’m still attracted to you. That hasn’t changed. On the contrary. After what happened between us last night, and the things you just told me, I have an even harder time keeping my hands off you.”
