Runaway Groom

by Sally Clements

  “You do know how to cook, though, don’t you?”

  “Matthew…”

  He held out a hand palm flat to silence her.

  “I contacted an agency last week looking for a housekeeper, and they haven’t come up with any candidates yet.” The lie tripped easily off his tongue. The thought of some stranger spending all her time in his house while he was out of it wasn’t something he would ever contemplate, but April didn’t need to know that.

  “You need a job, and I need some help around here.” He spoke fast to convince her before she threw up more roadblocks. “Every night when I get home I’m too exhausted to even work out what I want to eat. And I have to wrangle the laundry and keep this place clean. I eat out every night because I can’t find the time to shop and cook.” He leaned forward. “You can drive, can’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “You could take the car today, fill up the fridge, and help me out. I could pay you. It wouldn’t be much but…”

  “I’d be happy to cook for you anyway, and of course I’d help you out, you don’t need to pay.”

  He held her gaze. “I don’t want you to have to go and work in a coffee shop to make money when you could make the same amount by working for me, and cut down the amount of time travelling. You’d be able to get on with the collection.” She was weakening; he could see it in her eyes. He pulled out his wallet and withdrew a bundle of notes. “It’s only for a month or so, until you have your collection finished. I’m so busy with the Albios launch, you don’t want me to starve and have no clean clothes to wear, do you?”

  Her mouth curved in a slow smile. “So, cleaning, doing laundry, shopping and cooking dinner,” she said. She reached out a hand to his. “Deal.”

  There was absolutely no reason why the feel of her warm palm against his should send a rush of electricity up his arm. He reached for the car keys from the middle of the table. “I’ll catch a cab…”

  “I can drop you off and then go on to the shop. And I can pick you up later.”

  His employees would have a field day with a woman dropping him to the office. “No need.” He pressed the keys into her hand. “I’ll see you later.”

  *****

  April didn’t want to rely on anyone. Independence was one of the reasons she’d worked all the way through college and after it as well, even though her father had always tried to foist money on her. Right now she didn’t have a choice in the matter. Matthew was right, trekking out to work every day would take away from the time she had to spend on remaking her collection. And until Elizabeth’s insurance company paid out, she had no money to pay rent on somewhere new.

  Matthew needed her and was prepared to pay for her services.

  There was something immensely satisfying about attacking a list of tasks and ticking them off, one by one. Shopping? Check. Dinner prepared? Check. Laundry done? Check. After a mop of the kitchen floor and a quick vacuum around the living room the rest of the day would be hers.

  She’d dusted every inch of the living room, found homes for all the DVDs that had escaped their boxes, and stacked them in alphabetical order on the shelves. He had an unhealthy fixation with disaster movies.

  Rooting around behind the cushions on the sofa had yielded a small fortune in change and long lost pens, and she’d rescued a jam-jar from the kitchen to stack them in. At least the laundry had made it as far as the hamper, or at least most of it had. Presumably firing dirty washing at the basketball hoop directly above the hamper was fun, and picking up the miss-shots less so.

  Now she had the house in some sort of order, maintaining it would be easy.

  She picked up the old newspapers stacked on the shelf beneath the coffee table to consign to the recycle bin, and shoved them into a large paper bag from an exclusive man’s shop.

  Her cell phone rang. April glanced at the display.

  “Hi Dad.” She settled down on the sofa and pulled her legs up. “How’s it going?”

  “I should be asking you that.” Jack Leigh’s voice was serious. “When were you going to tell me about your apartment? I had to hear it from your sister.”

  “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “She says you’ve lost your job.”

  “I lived above my job, Dad,” she explained. “It was a two-for-one strike.”

  “So you have nowhere to live, and no job.” He sounded exasperated. “Don’t you think this is something I should know about?”

  “There’s not much you can do.” She pulled in a deep breath.

  “I can send some money. Help you get back on your feet. June rang me to ask for money to buy fabric for her wedding dress. She told me you’re broke and can’t afford to buy it.” A pause. “Do I gather your sister wasn’t paying for the dress?”

  “I wanted to make it for her, Dad.”

  He made the teeth-sucking noise again. “You volunteered to cover all the costs too?”

  There hadn’t been much volunteering about it. June had presumed April would cover all the costs and it had seemed petty to ask for money, before now.

  “She…”

  “You’re a student, for God’s sake. Trying to make your way in the world without help. I admire that about you, honey, but your sister should at least have covered the costs of materials. She should be paying you for your time too, but I guess there’s no way June would even think about that.” It was the first time she’d ever heard Dad criticize June. “I want your bank details so I can do a transfer today to cover the material. I’ll add something to cover the rest of the supplies too. You shouldn’t be expected to pay for her dress. Now tell me, what do you need? Have you found somewhere else to live?”

  “I’m staying with a friend for the moment.” With luck, he wouldn’t want to know exactly who. “I’ve found a temporary job. I’ve been able to work on remaking my collection.”

  “Your collection is damaged?” Her father’s voice rose. “Your sister didn’t mention... “

  “Everything is under control. I’m sorted. It’s going to take a lot of work but I’m on top of it.”

  “I’m flying to Dublin in a couple of weeks. June wants to show me the wedding venue.” To April’s relief he sounded calmer. “I’ll spend a few days there and then fly over to see you.”

  A bead of sweat trickled down April’s spine. If he came to London, he’d find out exactly where—exactly who… “There’s no need. And I’m so busy at the moment I won’t have much time to be with you.”

  “I’ll call when I have the tickets booked.” There was no arguing with Jack in this mood. “Now, be a dear and give me your bank details.”

  *****

  As the front door swung open, the smell of something delicious wafted through the air. He should have called, should have told her he wouldn’t make it for dinner tonight.

  Matthew glanced at his watch. Four o’clock. Just enough time for a quick shower and to change before the meeting with the Albios people. Even though they were interested, there were other players in the game, and tonight would be a chance to make a personal impression over dinner. There was no way to get out of it. Hopefully April would understand.

  He checked the spotless kitchen, and glanced into the living room which was transformed from its usual messiness. The wooden furniture gleamed, and she’d even tidied up the DVDs. He peered closer—wow, she’d even alphabetized them. He’d reckoned tales of people arranging stuff in alphabetic order was an urban legend, but apparently not.

  As he climbed the stairs a low buzzing came from the floor above. She must be working on her collection. There’d be time enough to talk after his shower.

  The knowledge April was upstairs inhibited him from his usual sing-in-the-shower-fest. He loved belting away songs under the spray, but had been told often enough by his family his enthusiasm didn’t make up for the inability to hold a tune. Instead, he washed his hair, then ramped the spray up to full and rotated his shoulders under the hot steam.

  There was a shocked gasp.<
br />
  Matthew’s head swiveled, and through the transparent glass shower enclosure, saw a pair of shocked blue eyes.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” Her face was beet-red as her gaze flickered the length of his naked form and back to his face. “I—” She turned on her heel and fled as though pursued by a serial killer.

  He’d been thinking about business, but the moment he’d seen her standing in the bathroom his treacherous body had instantly reacted. With a curse, Matthew rotated the dial to cold and stood under the frigid spray until his erection subsided. It took a lot longer than he’d hoped. In fact, his reaction to her was so extreme he had to think of erection-killer things before he felt confident enough to step out and wrap himself in a towel.

  “April?” She was nowhere in sight, but at his call she peeked around his bedroom door.

  “I’m sorry. I thought there was an intruder.” She was staring at the floor.

  “It’s not your fault. I had to come home early to change.”

  Her gaze lifted, tracking up his half-naked body in a way that made his mouth dry.

  “I smelled dinner.” He felt such a heel, she’d cooked, and he’d… “I’m sorry, I should have called but I have a business dinner tonight.”

  “It’s okay. It will taste even better tomorrow.” A faint smile flirted with the corner of her mouth.

  “You have it.” He wished her damned dimple wasn’t so inviting.

  “I made lots. If you’re not going to be here tonight, maybe I’ll have a couple of friends around.”

  Relief flooded through him. Instead of being disappointed, she’d turned the situation around. “Good idea.” He walked to the clothes he’d laid out on the bed. “Don’t wait up for me, I’ll probably be late.”

  She nodded. “I’ll let you get dressed.”

  Living with April was killing him.

  *****

  Marie and Eliza were dying to get together, so she’d worked hard all afternoon, made herself a quick omelet, shoved the stroganoff in the fridge, and flicked on the fire for some instant ambience.

  She was tugging the floor-length curtains closed as the doorbell rang.

  Both her friends stood on the doorstep clutching a variety of goodies.

  “We brought margaritas.” Marie clutched a couple of silver bottles of premade cocktails.

  “And tortilla chips.” Eliza hoisted a plastic bag high. She peered behind April. “Where’s hunky Matthew?” Her eyes were wild and her eyebrows waggled up and down.

  April laughed. “I told you, he’s out for the evening.”

  Eliza’s painted lips turned down. “Aw, I thought maybe he’d have come back early.”

  “Sorry. Girls only. Come on, we’ll get glasses.” She strode into the kitchen with her two friends trailing after her. They stopped again and again on the route, admiring the pictures, the carpets, the furniture.

  “Jeez, you’d think you guys hadn’t ever seen a house before,” she teased.

  “This is no ordinary house.” Marie picked a large bowl from the shelf in the kitchen and unleashing a tortilla wave into it. “Matthew must be loaded. Look at all this stuff.”

  She’d never had Matthew down as a nester, but he obviously was. His house was beautifully put together, and she would bet her lunch money he hadn’t had any help from a decorator. “Let’s get cozy.”

  Eliza sighed. “Wow, this is gorgeous.” She set down the drinks on the coffee table, then sank on one of the sofas. “So, tell me. How are you getting along?”

  Where to begin? She’d told them both the news on the phone. That she’d moved in for a month, that he’d given her a job. She hadn’t told anyone about the kiss, somehow it was too personal to share. Especially when her thoughts were so conflicted about it. “He’s nice.”

  “He’s nice?” Eliza’s gaze sharpened.

  “Nice?” Marie echoed.

  “He’s a nice guy.” Sure, she sounded defensive. After all it wasn’t every day she backed right down from calling a man a complete heel and in fact did a complete about face. “He’s kind, and generous. He came to my rescue immediately, he…”

  “He’s a knight in shining armor?” Marie leered. “Does he kiss well too?”

  A flush heated April’s face instantly. Oh great, facial semaphore.

  Marie’s eyes widened. “OMG, he has kissed you!”

  There was no point in denying it. Not for the first time, she wished she was a better liar.

  “Has he?” Eliza asked.

  They perched on the sofas awaiting her answer, like buzzards watching the last dying breaths of a wounded gazelle.

  “Oh, fine. We kissed.”

  “When?”

  “Where?”

  “The first night.” Before she had a chance to say more, Eliza was in interrogation mode.

  “At the restaurant? When you were wearing that knockout dress?” She sighed, drowning in a sea of romance.

  “Right here, after the fire. I was wearing a onesie with ducks on it.” She giggled, remembering the ridiculousness of it. “And we were drinking cocoa.”

  “You’ve got to admire a man who kisses a woman over cocoa,” Marie sipped her drink. “Especially if she’s wearing a onesie.”

  “I can’t see it.” Eliza’s forehead pleated. “I thought it was black for winter, white for summer. I’ve never seen you in anything with yellow on it, especially not ducks. Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve nothing against ducky onesies.”

  “It wasn’t mine, you idiot.”

  “If you tell me it was his, you’ll totally ruin the moment. You know that, right?” Marie said.

  “It’s his sister’s. All my stuff was in the washing machine, I borrowed it.” She tucked her legs under her and refilled her glass. “It was just one of those things, you know, the fire—I was upset…”

  “So it was a chaste comforting kiss, was it?” Eliza leaned forward.

  Red flags signaled nope on April’s face again. “Um…”

  “Just stop beating about the bush and out with it. Every single detail,” Marie demanded. “You know you want to.”

  The feelings dammed up within needed an outlet. April breathed in deep, and recounted the story of the kiss. “And then today he came home early and I caught him in the shower.”

  The sound emanating from Marie could only be described as a squeal.

  “Behind an opaque shower-curtain catch?”

  “More like behind a totally transparent shower screen catch.” Heat flared though her entire body at the memory. Matthew was gorgeous fully dressed, but naked… She pulled the neckline of her tee-shirt away from her neck. She hadn’t been able to tear her gaze away from his spectacular body, had just stood there ogling him and stuttering like an idiot. And when he’d called her back into his room it hadn’t been much better. The wanton urge to walk over and run her hands up his broad, damp chest had been so powerful her legs had gone all trembly. It had taken all her composure to act unaffected.

  “The thing is, he’s Matthew.” Words were inadequate but she soldiered on. “I mean, he’s the Matthew, June’s Matthew.”

  “He hasn’t been June’s Matthew for years,” Eliza said.

  Marie nodded. “The past is past. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

  Eliza held her glass up. Clinked it against April’s. “Here’s to second chances.”

  Chapter Seven

  He’d rapped on her door on the way downstairs, and called, “Breakfast in ten!”

  A sound easily mistaken for the growl of an angry bear had sounded from behind the closed door.

  Ten minutes had come and gone. The bacon and sausages were keeping warm under the grill, and the fried eggs were in danger of becoming rubber Frisbees. Matthew took the two plates he had warming out of the oven and placed the dish of sausages and bacon on the table. He was sliding an egg onto each plate as the door to the kitchen opened.

  April’s usual smooth hair stuck up all over the place. She was wearing a sho
rt nightgown, and to his eternal relief, sweatpants under it.

  “Sunglasses are an unusual look for breakfast time.”

  She mumbled something, made it as far as the table, and reached for the glass of orange juice.

  “Tough night?”

  “I went sort of overboard.” She swallowed a mouthful of orange juice. Tipped the sunglasses down to reveal tired eyes. “Margaritas are actually very strong.”

  He grinned. “There should be a health warning.” He placed the jug of coffee in the center of the table on the tile with an elephant on it Amy had given him for Christmas. “Cheer up. Breakfast will see you right.”

  She ate in silence. Then after a few minutes, slipped the glasses off.

  He didn’t think he’d seen anyone look so wretched in his life.

  “How did your meeting go last night?”

  “Well, it obviously wasn’t as fun as yours.” He buttered a piece of toast and handed it over. “But I think it went well.” The all-female group from the Albios women’s department had a feminine dynamic that had been difficult to deal with. They flirted constantly with him, but frowned at any hint of flirt back. “The clients have agreed to come out today to see us in action.”

  April frowned. One side of her mouth lifted in a move not seen since Elvis.

  “Once they see the ads working, I reckon it’s in the bag.”

  “That’s today?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

  “We have to go in about…” he consulted his watch, “twenty minutes. You didn’t forget, did you?”

  “No…no, of course not, I’m just half asleep. I better get a move on.” With a teeth-baring smile, she drank her coffee, and picked up the half-eaten piece of toast from her plate. “I’ll get dressed.”

  He’d told her twenty minutes, but in fact, they didn’t have to leave for forty-five. So when April walked down the stairs thirty minutes later, they were right on schedule. She’d tied her hair up in a neat ponytail, and was dressed in a tracksuit and sneakers.

  “Is everything you own black?”

  She shot him a glare, even though his tone hadn’t been remotely sarcastic. “No, I also have white clothes.”