‘Please, we don’t stand on ceremony here. It’s Greg and my wife’s called Sarah. She’s just sorting the gravy, which she’s used my best damn brandy for. Every bloody year. I’ve just given her a flea in her ear about it. I swear I’m locking it up next Christmas. Come on in, she’s dying to meet you. It’s the first time Lucas has brought a girlfriend home with him.’
‘Really?’ I laughed, feeling more reassured by the second.
‘Alright, enough with embarrassing me Dad, and if Mum’s got out the photo albums to show Summer how scrawny I was as a teenager, I’ll be driving us both straight back to London.’
‘No you won’t,’ I laughed. ‘These I have to see. I had to go through it all when you met my parents, it’s only fair.’
I gazed around in awe as we were waved in and his dad closed the heavy wooden door behind him. We were in, what could only be described as, a baronial hall, with an imposing sweeping old staircase and beams as large as trees running overhead, with slender ones latticed all over the walls. I’d never seen a Christmas tree so tall, all decorated in silver and gold. Mr. Steel, or Greg as he’d insisted I call him, gave me some of the history of the house as we walked across the uneven huge flagstones on the floor. Lucas put his arm around me, to steady me, as I walked carefully in my heels and I smiled my thanks at him. Greg opened another old wooden arched door and led us into a massive family kitchen. I was immediately hit by the delicious smell of the turkey cooking and my stomach rumbled. It was past two o’clock, and we’d said we’d be here for one-thirty. I took a quick look around to see the room was painted cream between the sandblasted light beams. There was a lovely red Aga, an oak free-standing kitchen, a cosy dining table, then a well-worn leather sofa and armchairs either side of a large inglenook fireplace, which was already being put to good use, pumping out heat which was more than welcome given that my dress had no sleeves.
‘Sarah, they’re here,’ called Greg, to a slender tall woman with long jet black hair, who had her back to us as she stirred something at the modern range. She turned around smiling, as she wiped her hands on her apron before pulling it over her head. I drew in a breath to see how stunning she was. She had the brightest blue eyes and darkest lashes, which probably had no need for any mascara unlike mine. I could see Lucas’s features immediately, the straight nose, chiselled cheekbones, the cheekily curved arches of their brows.
‘Summer, I’m so pleased to meet you.’ She strode across and before I had a chance to offer my hand, she’d thrown her arms around me, hugging me tightly. ‘It’s ridiculous but I feel like I know you already, what with your photo being on magazines, reading interviews with you and watching your television appearances. I honestly never thought my son would settle down and you seem so lovely, I can’t wait to get to know you for real.’
‘Mum,’ sighed Lucas next to me.
‘Well you’re thirty now, you’re not getting any younger.’ She pulled back and held my shoulders as she ran her eyes over me. ‘Gorgeous dress, darling. You must tell me who the designer is, I’d love to look at their collection. O Lucas, for your first girlfriend, you’ve picked a very classy and beautiful one.’
‘You’re embarrassing her, and me. At least let her get a word in edgeways,’ he groaned.
‘I’m sorry, Summer. I’m just so excited to meet you.’
‘You too, Sarah, I can’t tell you how honoured I feel for you to let me be a part of your special day at such short notice.’
‘Nonsense,’ she smiled, flashing the most perfect set of teeth I’d ever seen. ‘He hasn’t stopped talking about you for over two years. I was furious he didn’t bring you home last Christmas, I was prepared to twist his arm this year. Greg, why don’t you open the Champagne and seat everyone, I’m ready to serve up.’
‘What can I do to help?’ I asked.
‘Nothing at all, it’s all done.’
‘Dad, did you remember the Cassis for Summer’s Champagne? If not, I brought a bottle with me.’
‘I remembered,’ he smiled. ‘Let’s go and eat, I’m starving, then we can open presents.’
I blushed as Lucas put his arm around me when we retired to the family room, the two of us on the sofa and his parents in the armchairs, as they reached for the presents under the smaller tree. They’d shown me the formal lounge and had said Lucas had insisted I’d feel more at home in here, he was right. After seeing their dining room, which was my idea of a banqueting hall, I was already over awed at the sheer scale and grandeur of the place. I wasn’t used to all this, but after an amazing lunch, when we’d all chatted and got to know each other better, I was feeling more relaxed. Greg had helped get our cases out of the car, and I’d extracted the Christmas gifts, leaving one in there to give to Lucas later, in private. I was thankful I had enough money now to buy decent presents, or I’d have felt very embarrassed. I’d got his dad an expensive bottle of brandy, based on Lucas’s recommendation, the very same one that Sarah had put in the delicious gravy. For her I’d purchased a pure raw silk scarf that Lucas had said was on her wish list.
I’d found it hard to buy for him, he said he didn’t want anything, that he had everything that he needed now that he had me. He already owned a ridiculously expensive watch collection and had all of the designer clothes and gadgets he needed, so I’d really had to rack my brains to come up with something he may like. James, his chauffeur when he needed one, had picked me up first one night, when Lucas and I were going out for dinner, so I’d questioned him. I had no idea Lucas had a motorbike, so James suggested I book him tickets to a race event, which I did and I also booked him a day on a racing track too. He was thrilled, though looked more touched when I gave him a wrapped key card to my front door, and a picture of the empty drawer and space I’d made for him in my wardrobe. He also loved a pair of silver cufflinks engraved with L on one and S on the other.
‘I thought they could be multi-purpose, for Lucas Steel or for Lucas and Summer,’ I shrugged as I blushed. He grasped my face and gave me a chaste kiss.
‘I vote Lucas and Summer,’ he whispered against my lips, making my heart beat a little faster. ‘Open yours.’
‘It’s beautiful,’ I gasped, as I pulled out a white gold lariat necklace, with tiny diamonds interspersed through the chain and a solid puffed heart at each end. ‘Lucas, I love it!’ He beamed as I immediately put it on. My jewellery box was severely lacking. I’d never had enough money to buy any and with the money I’d earned recently, setting up my parents with their new home was my priority, then buying my apartment. He’d also purchased me some white gold diamond stud earrings and tickets to go to see the show Dirty Dancing in the West End with my best friends Mandy and Jayne, which included dinner and champagne at a top hotel too. My absolute favourite present though, without a doubt, was a framed picture of the two of us on the red carpet together, the night he’d come to claim me. I forgot all about his parents as I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him, making him laugh.
‘I have another private present for you for later,’ he said quietly in my ear, in a tone that dripped sex and sent a pleasurable shiver down my spine.
‘Me too,’ I whispered back with a giggle. My fears of having sex in his parents’ house had vanished the moment we got here and I saw the size of the place. I’d been shown to Lucas’s old bedroom, which had been turned into another guest room, so I could freshen up after dinner. We were so far away from his parents, we virtually needed a Segway. I could scream all I liked and I doubted they’d hear me.
‘I vote an early night,’ he added, with a familiar twinkle in his eyes, as his parents were distracted unwrapping their gifts from him. I just smiled back and squeezed his hand. I was having withdrawals, we were constantly aroused around each other, insatiable, and we hadn’t been this long without sex since we got together last month. We were virtually living between the two apartments and had only had a couple of nights apart, even then he’d insisted on nooners in my new trailer at the Studios, to keep us both going
.
His parents had got me a crate of French Cassis, knowing I loved it with my champagne, or white wine, and a couple of crates of genuine Champagne for Lucas. We stayed by the fire exchanging stories until it was time for some cold cuts, cheese and biscuits and a glass of belly warming port. I went to get changed into something more comfortable to snuggle in, to watch a film. Thank God it wasn’t one of mine, I hadn’t dared ask if they’d seen it. Watching his parents seeing me having sex on screen definitely wasn’t the sort of impression I wanted to leave them with. When it was over I went to help Sarah clean up, as Greg and Lucas argued about the football league.
‘Thank you so much for agreeing to see him, Summer,’ she smiled, as she put her arm around me and gave me a gentle squeeze.
‘Why wouldn’t I?’ I smiled back. ‘He’s an amazing man.’
‘I know what he used to do,’ she said quietly and I whipped my head up to look at her in shock. Was she fishing, or did she really know? ‘Well from the look of horror on your face he’s at least been honest with you. I really hoped he would have been.’
‘I’m not sure I know what you mean,’ I replied, trying to stall in case.
‘I think you do, I saw the panic flicker on your face then. His history doesn’t bother you?’
‘I’m more bothered about his present and our future. Why should his past bother me?’ I asked, still not convinced.
‘A friend of mine sent him a booking request,’ she said, as she held eye contact with me and despite trying not to let that affect me, I couldn’t help the mortification showing on my face. Lucas had slept with one of his mother’s friends? And Sarah knew! I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole. ‘Don’t worry, as soon as she saw his photograph and realised who he was she backed off. She’s known him since he was a baby. I knew he’d have been honest with you the minute he asked to bring you here. He’s always been so honest, there’s no way he’d have wanted a serious relationship with someone, when the risk of his past could jeopardise that if it came out.’
‘How long have you known?’ I asked, as I relaxed a little, though I did wonder if I hadn’t been aware of his history whether Sarah would have told me.
‘A little over three years. It’s good of you to have covered for him, trying to protect him. He doesn’t know that I know, I didn’t want to embarrass him. His father knows too, I swore him to secrecy. We’re not exactly thrilled that’s how he chose to earn his money, I was convinced he’d never quit and settle down, but then you breezed into his world and turned it upside down. There’s not many women who’d take him on with that past. I had the shock of my life when Lucinda told me. He’s so intelligent, he could have done anything he set his mind to, why he chose this I just …’ She shook her head and her eyes filled with tears.
‘Please don’t judge him. He was having a really hard time when he lost his construction management job and was too proud to ask you for help.’
‘So he turned to sex?’ She took a choked breath, then reached for a glass of water.
‘It’s not how you imagine, I’m sure. There was nothing seedy about it. He created magical evenings making sure women got exactly the fantasy they’d dreamed of, catering for their every need from the moment the night started, to when he left in the morning. He’s so respectful of women and their wants and desires. If you judge him then you must judge me as well, because that’s how we met,’ I added, hating that his mother thought ill of him. She snapped her head up, the surprise written all over her face. ‘I was nearly raped as a teenager and it terrified me to let anyone touch me after that. I’d heard horror stories from my girlfriends of their first experiences with naïve or boisterous men, so at the age of twenty-two I booked Lucas to take my virginity. He made me feel so safe and secure, he taught me that it wasn’t something to be feared, that it could be beautiful. It was a night I’ll never forget, Sarah. He helped heal me, and not just me. He’s done it with so many of his clients. Helping them move on from breakups and bad relationships, tracking down friends of theirs for them, reuniting old lovers that had never truly moved on.’ I felt a tear roll down my face at the thought that his mother thought less of him.
‘I’m so sorry to hear what happened to you, Summer,’ she sighed, as she reached out and squeezed my shoulder gently. I smiled and wiped my face. ‘He was really like that with you? With them?’ She asked quietly. I nodded and she covered her face as she blew out a sigh of relief. ‘I had visions of seedy sex in back alleys and toilets, taking advantage of vulnerable women and I hated that he’d been doing that.’
‘That’s so far from the truth. I think he was unhappy and lonely and sex was a way for him to connect. His fees were very high and he got given expensive gifts too, flown around the world, staying in top class hotels. What young man wouldn’t be swayed by all that attention? He only gave it up after we met up again, not via a booking, he came after me to ask me out. He told me that meeting me, having feelings for me, made him realise how unhappy he was. He said he just knew that he longed to be in a relationship, to be as happy as you and his father are.’
‘O, Summer. You’ve no idea how happy I am to hear that and you have to know that you do make him happy. I’ve not seen him look this alive in years. You’re a very special woman to be so forgiving of his past.’
‘It was just what he did for a short time, it doesn’t define who he is as a person and it was so much more than just sex. I think it would be good if you were honest with him and told him that you both know. He’s always so worried you’ll find out and turn your backs on him. I also think telling him today would really help. We’ve had some messages sent to us, threatening to out him to me. The person sending them is obviously unaware that I know, but it’s got him on edge. If he knew that the only people he’s worried about hurting already know, and still accept him, it would really take a weight off his shoulders.’
‘You, my darling girl, are a treasure,’ she sighed, as she clasped my face and kissed my forehead. ‘If he gives you any trouble, you tell me and I’ll kick his backside. I don’t care how old he is, he’d be a fool to let a woman as sweet and understanding as you go.’
‘And I’d be a fool to let him go too. He really is an amazing man,’ I smiled, as I looked over at him, catching him watching us with a puzzled look on his face.
I made my excuses to head up to bed, Lucas frowning as he tried to follow, but his mum asked him to stay back. I really hoped it would go ok, it would mean the world to him to find out they’d known all this time and hadn’t disowned him. I brushed my teeth and got dressed in the sexy electric blue lingerie I’d bought to surprise him with, then wrapped a wide blue ribbon around my waist, tying it into a bow and lay back on the enormous wooden four poster bed, fanning my hair out as I waited for him to arrive.
Lucas
I sat there stunned as my mother, my damn mother, told me that they knew I’d been an escort. I was so shocked I had to go and pour myself a large whiskey. All these years I’d worried about their reactions if they found out and they’d just treated me the same. They both confirmed that they were disappointed that I hadn’t felt I could turn to them when I was out of work, but I told them that it wasn’t just for the money, though I’d soon come to rely on it. I’d got off on the rush, the planning, the way I was revered like some sort of God. I told them that meeting Summer had shifted something inside me, made me realise that I wanted more out of life. My mother made me laugh by begging me never to return to that profession and to make sure I never let Summer down, as she was the best thing to ever happen to me. I’d known that she’d fall in love with her. Mum hugged me tightly and headed up to bed, with Dad wanting some of the saucier details of my exploits. I refused to divulge names, or the actual ins and outs, so to speak, but gave him some of the scenarios I’d fulfilled, which had him knock back his brandy and race upstairs. I chuckled, it seemed Summer and I may have to worry about them keeping us awake, not the other way around.
I sat by the dying fire for a
while as I slowly finished my whiskey, trying to process what had just happened, then smiled. Everyone I cared about knew now and it didn’t bother them. I was so damn lucky. Even luckier to have a woman like Summer waiting upstairs in my old bedroom for me. I set down my glass with a thud and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time in my haste to see her. I hesitated for a second outside the door, as the realisation that this was a momentous occasion hit me. I lost my virginity at a young age, I’d been with lots of girls back when I lived here, but I’d never brought one of them home to fuck. Dad owned one of the largest Investment Management firms in the UK, looking after countless hedge funds, none of my friends came from the sort of wealth I was used to when I was younger. I was embarrassed to have them gawping or asking questions, or trying to befriend me for what they thought they may gain. Dad had been disappointed that I didn’t want to join the firm and that I declined a large trust fund. He was self-made, so I’d wanted to prove I had what it took as well, maybe not quite in the way I’d planned, but here we were. So, to think a woman was lying in there waiting for me, for the first time ever and not just any woman, but Summer Beresford, my gorgeous girlfriend and international movie star, had my cock unfurl and stiffen rapidly. I opened the door and groaned at the sight in front of me. She was lying on the bed, wearing some sexy blue lingerie, the bra of which barely contained her full ripe breasts and she’d wrapped a blue bow around herself, so I could unwrap her. Now that was the best Christmas present ever. I closed the door behind me and started to strip in haste and desperation as I approached her, frowning when she didn’t seem to even register my presence.
‘Summer?’ I stood next to the bed, looking down at her and sighed. She’d fallen asleep waiting for me. I debated waking her, I was desperate to sink into her, to taste her and feel her body under mine, but she looked so content, I didn’t dare. I could have sex with her anytime I wanted, her having a good night’s sleep was a rarity, particularly after a stressful day for her. I undid the ribbon around her waist with a smile. We’d play this out another night, just having her in my bed was good enough for a man like me. I carefully lifted her and settled her back down, tucking the duvet around her as she let out an adorable little sigh and smacked her full lips together. I kissed her forehead and went to relieve myself in the bathroom to the thought of those lips squeezing my cock tightly as she swallowed me, then brushed my teeth and climbed in beside her, gently pulling her into my arms.
For the Night - Complete Box Set Page 52
