into the house and calling out for ‘Stanley’ to take their bags up.
Alexa had no time to say any of the usual polite things about the house or about their trip or about anything at all.
‘Like it or not, you’re gonna tell all! Bob! Bob’s in the middle of one those darned conference calls!’
This to Alexa, with a woman-to-woman wink.
‘You make sure when you’ve got a ring on this guy’s finger that you ban all conference calls! And make sure he doesn’t take up golf! I’ve had to start taking lessons or else lose that lug of a husband of mine to fairways and putting greens!’
No concessions were made to the fact that they had been travelling for several hours. Felicity dragged them through the house at breakneck speed, towards a massive kitchen which was the last word in high-tech. Glossy white built-in cupboards concealed everything, and the gleaming marble countertops were bare of all but the essentials. She led them on towards some comfortable seating in a conservatory that overlooked the manicured lawns, and once they were seated offered tall glasses of homemade lemonade whilst promising them that they could ‘go freshen up’ just as soon as they’d spilled the beans.
‘I’ve got to grab you two kids before the house becomes a hotbed for dull businessmen!’ She settled comfortably into one of the chairs and peered at them with lively curiosity.
Alexa could see fine laughter lines around her eyes and mouth. This was a warm, giving woman who loved to laugh and have fun. That was apparent in the way she spoke and the way she punctuated everything she said with a little breathless laugh.
‘So, what does it feel like to be in love?’ She directed the question to Theo, but her twinkling eyes darted between both of them. She was obviously delighted at their engagement.
Next to her, Theo still had his arm around her shoulders and it took a lot of effort not to shuffle a few inches away. Now that she had faced up to her inconvenient attraction Alexa was finding it impossible to keep her body’s responses under control.
‘A refreshing change,’ he said.
Alexa kept her smile pinned to her face and tried to wax lyrical when Felicity looked at her for more of a gushy explanation. ‘Wonderful!’ she chirped. ‘We never thought in a million years that...er...when we met we would end up...well...’
‘In the throes of heady love? Is that what you were going to say, my darling?’
Felicity needed no more encouragement to launch into an impassioned speech about the wonders of love, after which she quizzed Alexa about her family, about what she did, expressing earnest approval of her volunteer work. Everything was interspersed with smug, smiling nods that said Theo had indeed found the perfect woman.
At that point Bob appeared, and there were more introductions and an excited synopsis of everything that had been said in his absence.
These were Theo’s good friends and, looking at their interaction, Alexa could see a side of him that had not been in evidence before. He was warm, thoughtful, interested...and utterly, utterly charming. He had ensured that their daughter in Australia was introduced to a social network, thanks to his brother. He had personally chaperoned their youngest daughter when she had travelled to Europe as a sixteen-year-old, making sure that the family to whom she had been sent on an exchange visit was vetted and ticked all the boxes.
She had a new picture of him, and it wasn’t the sarcastic, ruthless guy who provoked her and rubbed her up the wrong way.
‘I feel like I’ve been tossed into a cyclone,’ she said, when they finally left their hosts to prepare a barbecue for later.
Theo grinned. ‘They like you. And you’ll get used to their high-octane energy.’
Ahead of them Stanley, one of the staff, had disappeared along the corridor. The house seemed bigger on the inside than it did on the outside, and it was furnished in a beautifully airy, plantation style. The paintings on the walls were bright and eclectic, and the marble flooring on the ground floor gave way to rich, deep wood on the first floor.
She was so preoccupied with admiring the rooms they passed that she only realised that they had arrived at a bedroom when she noticed Stanley disappearing back towards the stairs, and then, as she entered, she looked around her with mounting panic.
‘It’s a bedroom,’ she said in a high voice.
Theo had strolled towards the window, and now he turned to look at her for a few seconds, before moving to quietly close the door behind them. ‘Well observed.’
‘I’m not sharing a bedroom with you.’
Had it crossed her mind that they would be put in the same room? If it had, then the thought hadn’t registered long enough to take root. She had glibly assumed that they would be housed in separate rooms... The place must have dozens of rooms, for heaven’s sake!
‘That is exactly what you’ll be doing,’ Theo told her, his voice hard.
He stood in front of her, an implacable rock, until she had no choice but to look up at him.
‘Furthermore, you’re going to compliment Felicity on the room and tell her how fantastic it is being here instead of in a boring, impersonal hotel in Manhattan. Bob and Felicity have bent over backwards to have us here and you’re going to be suitably grateful.’
‘I’m not sharing a bed with you,’ Alexa said, stubbornly holding her ground.
Just thinking about that made the hairs on her hand stand on end. She could imagine his big, muscular body rolling accidentally against hers in the middle of the night and she cringed. She didn’t care whether he fancied her or not. She didn’t care that she wasn’t his type. She cared about the fact that she would combust if they were in the same bed together.
And furthermore... Did he even sleep with anything on? He didn’t strike her as the flannel pyjamas type...
Theo eyed the chaise longue by the window. ‘Fine. In that case the chaise longue is all yours... I’m way too big for that thing.’
‘A gentleman would offer to sleep on the floor,’ Alexa gritted through pearly white teeth.
‘Considering you’ve already written me off as not being one of those, it’s fair to say that I won’t be sleeping on the floor. However, you’re more than welcome to make your bed down there if you like. Now, I’m going to have a shower.’
For a few seconds Alexa remained staring at him in sheer, angry frustration—until it dawned on her that he was beginning to take his clothes off, at which point every nerve in her body was galvanised into horrified action and she spun round to speak with her back to him.
‘Do you mind getting undressed in the bathroom?’ she hissed, and she heard his throaty chuckle in response.
‘Why? Don’t tell me that you’ve never seen a man’s naked body before?’
Alexa seethed. ‘I won’t even bother to answer that!’
Not only did he continue chuckling, he actually whistled as he disappeared into the bathroom, thankfully closing the door behind him and giving her time to unpack her clothes at the speed of light.
He
