whistled softly at his side. ‘She’s absolutely beautiful, Fergus,’ he opined appreciatively.
She was gorgeous, Fergus mentally agreed. She—
She had just driven out of his life, he realised with a sickening jolt!
He, Fergus McCloud, a man who always ended relationships before they could possibly become serious, had just been given the brush-off. Big time!
Because Chloe Fox wasn’t going to call him—she didn’t have his telephone number!
Chloe managed to keep up her charade of cheerfulness until she had turned the corner away from Fergus McCloud’s home. And then her knees began to shake, quickly followed by her hands, the latter so badly she was having trouble steering the car. So much so that she knew she had to pull the car into the side of the road, or end up crashing into something.
Leaning her head back against the leather upholstery, she closed her eyes as her whole body seemed to be shaking now.
She had forced her company on Fergus McCloud last night with the sole intention of talking to him, had driven him home for the same reason. Having him collapse unconscious on the bed as soon as she’d got him up the stairs had not been part of her plan!
She had stared down at him frustratedly for several long minutes as he’d lain on the bed gently snoring, knowing that if she’d left then, as he had already predicted, along with nearly everything else about last night, he wouldn’t remember meeting her, either!
Having got that far, she hadn’t been able to allow that to happen. And so she had stayed, curled up uncomfortably in the bedroom chair, while Fergus McCloud had slept the sleep of the untroubled in the huge four-poster bed!
It had seemed like a good idea at the time; now she wasn’t so sure… She had aroused his curiosity, of that she was certain—he had obviously been stunned to wake up and see her in his bedroom this morning! But it was his compassion she really wanted. The problem was, she still wasn’t sure he was capable of it…
And then his cousin had arrived so precipitously this morning, putting an end to any chance she might have had of talking to Fergus!
She drew in a ragged breath, having finally stopped shaking enough to turn on the ignition and continue the rest of the drive to her home. A home she shared with her parents.
What would Fergus McCloud make of that if he knew? No doubt, on the evidence he had from last night, he thought her a completely free agent, able to come and go as she pleased. She hadn’t missed that quick glance he had given the ring finger on her left hand, had easily seen him relax when he’d discovered no wedding band there. But to assume she was answerable to no one just wasn’t true.
Although she should be in luck this morning; her parents should have gone to church by now, leaving her free to enter the house undetected.
She parked her car in the driveway beside her mother’s car, her father obviously having ferried them to church in his four-wheel drive.
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that if her parents saw that she was still wearing the dress she had worn to go out in the previous evening, they would guess immediately that she hadn’t been home all night. And the last thing she wanted were any questions concerning her whereabouts previously!
She had reached the bottom of the wide stairway to go up to her bedroom, completely undetected by any of the household staff, when a door suddenly opened behind her.
‘Chloe…?’
David. Her brother-in-law, and also her father’s assistant. It could have been worse!
She turned to smile at him. ‘Don’t you have a home to go to?’ she joked, knowing that her sister, Penny, and their three children would be waiting for him there. And this was Sunday, after all…
Tall, and sparely built, his blond hair thinning slightly on top, David Latham had been her father’s personal assistant for the last fifteen years.
His presence in the house had brought him into close contact with all the family, and twelve years ago he had married Chloe’s older sister Penny. Their parents had been thrilled at the match, and absolutely doted on their three grandchildren: Paul, aged ten, named after his grandfather, Diana, aged seven, and five-year-old Josh.
‘I just had to stop by and drop off some papers your father needed as soon as he gets back from church.’ He held up the papers. ‘And shouldn’t I be the one asking if you forgot last night that you have a home to go to?’ he drawled, eyeing her clothes pointedly. ‘I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to join your parents at church dressed like that!’ he added forthrightly.
‘You would be right,’ she grimaced.
‘Don’t look so worried, Chloe.’ He laughed softly. ‘I was young once, too, you know.’
David obviously assumed she had been on a raucous night out. And it would be better for everyone if he continued to think that.
‘I won’t tell my father about you if you don’t tell him about me,’ she returned lightly, knowing that, right now, given her father’s precarious political position, appearances were everything, including those of his son-in-law and assistant, as well as his youngest daughter. ‘Now I think I had better go upstairs and shower and change—before anyone else sees me!’
David grinned. ‘You look as if a little sleep mightn’t come amiss, either.’
He was right, Chloe discovered a few minutes later on looking in the dressing-table mirror in her bedroom. There were dark shadows beneath her eyes, and her cheeks were very pale too.
But it had been a long night. Most of it, she remembered, spent sleeplessly as she’d sat in that chair in Fergus McCloud’s bedroom, wondering what sort of man he really was.
Oh, she knew his background. Knew Fergus and his mother had gone to live in his Scottish grandfather’s castle after his parents had divorced, that he had gone on to become a lawyer after university, that his career had been put on a back-burner since his rise to stardom as a writer six years ago. But those weren’t the things she needed to know about him…
Was he a kind man? A compassionate man? A man who believed in fairness, even at a cost to himself?
Those were the things she needed to know about Fergus McCloud—before she could even begin to ask him for what she really wanted from him.
Contrary to David’s advice, she didn’t go to bed, lunching at home with her parents, and David, Penny, and the children would join them, as they usually did on a Sunday.
Chloe spent the afternoon with her mother answering letters, and accepting or refusing the numerous social invitations they had received during the week. Where possible they were accepted; her father was about to make a political comeback, and being seen socially was necessary to that campaign.
But thankfully there were only the three of them at home for dinner this evening, meaning they could eat more intimately in their family dining-room, rather than the much larger room they used when they had the numerous guests that were invited to dine here at least once a week.
The meal was superb, as usual, but by the time they had been served and eaten dinner Chloe was definitely feeling the effects of her lack of sleep from
