Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
CIARA
Alex had brought me lunch. All the way out here. That hadn’t been part of what we’d discussed last night. I’d been so concerned with making it clear what I didn’t want him to do, I guess I hadn’t spent much time or effort on what I did. I’d expected a handful of public dates. Some PDA. I guess I hadn’t thought beyond that.
He had.
Somehow, it didn’t surprise me that he was thorough. It went along with that sense of incredible capability he projected. Royal Marines took care of business. If he was tackling this project with the same level of preparation, I’d be in excellent hands.
I had a flash of those broad palms and rough fingers in the dark.
Stop thinking about his hands!
Today hadn’t been about seduction. It had been establishing cover. Clever. Necessary. And maybe it had, to some extent, been about establishing a detente with me. He’d been nothing but respectful and courteous since he’d come back into my life. He’d been nothing but respectful and courteous when we’d met. It was only those lost years. That lack of contact and a why for it all.
He’d lost his father. I thought of what Isobel had said. She probably knew about his loss. Maybe that had been what she meant when she’d said he’d been through a lot.
I knew nothing of his relationship with his family. We hadn’t really spoken of those details when we met before. I knew how close I was to my own parents. Losing my da would devastate me. But I didn’t think that was why Alex hadn’t contacted me. There was no good reason not to tell me about the loss, even if only to say he needed to be home and our one night was one night. Either way, my heart broke for him.
I didn’t like this softening I felt toward him. It was dangerous. Softening led to excruciating things like hope. Better to shore up my defenses and get back to work.
I’d meant what I told Alex on his arrival. I really didn’t have the time to eat with him today. We were up to our eyeballs in planning because one of our upcoming brides had expanded the guestlist by twenty-five percent, and we were trying to figure out how we were going to accommodate all the extra people in only a few short weeks’ time. Even so, I dragged my feet going back to work because I knew there’d be questions. On some level, I’d been preparing for that. The whole point of this plan was for people to know that Alex and I were “dating.” But bracing for the theoretical was a whole lot different from knowing I was about to walk into an inquisition.
Everybody looked up when I stepped into the room.
“Sorry. Himself needed a walk.”
Havoc looked at me, and I’d swear he cocked a canine eyebrow. I ignored him. What good was having a dog around if I couldn’t use him as an excuse?
I could tell Angus had been by. There was a tray of sandwiches and biscuits, which would’ve been what I ate had Alex not shown up. Sophie was nibbling on a cookie and already eying more. Her sweet tooth had been on overdrive since she hit her second trimester. Kyla had half a sandwich in one hand, as she took notes on her tablet with the other. And poor Afton was pale as milk, a partly empty sleeve of crackers on her plate. Morning sickness was kicking her arse.
“Where were we?” I moved back to the board to pick up exactly where I’d left off.
“Hold it.”
Damn it. Kyla’s mom tone had really come in since Lily had turned two.
“What?”
“Dinna act all innocent. When exactly did that happen?” She waved the hand with the sandwich in the vague direction of the door, clearly encompassing everything that was Alex.
“And perhaps more to the point, does your brother know?” Sophie asked.
To buy myself some time, I moved over to the tea station we kept in this room and turned the electric kettle on. “First off, nothing has happened.”
Partly true. Nothing had happened in three years. Well, except for Kissageddon, which I wasn’t going to count right at this moment.
“A man driving all the way from the village to bring you lunch because he knows you’ll be busy is not nothing,” Afton declared. “That’s either boyfriend behavior or he’s courting you, either of which is very exciting.”
I spread an even look among them before turning back to pluck a tea bag from our stash. “Are your married lives so dull you have to worry about me?”
Sophie grabbed another biscuit. “Not dull. But if we want to see you as happy as we are, you can’t blame us for asking.”
I definitely couldn’t. And because of that, I decided to give them as much truth as I could. When the kettle beeped, I poured boiling water over the tea bag, watching the steam rise. Setting a timer on my smartwatch, I picked up the mug and simply held it. The warmth between my palms grounded me for what I was about to admit.
“I’ve been having some problems with Brodie, and Alex stepped in to help by pretending to be my boyfriend.” I left out the bit where I’d invoked that precise reaction, because the last thing I wanted was to admit to our past. I didn’t bring up the kiss either. If they hadn’t already heard about it, I wasn’t going to bring it up. “It worked in the moment, so he’s agreed to fake date me for a bit until Brodie gets the hint and goes away.”
Several beats of silence spun out. Clearly, that hadn’t been at all what they’d expected.
Kyla dropped her sandwich back onto the plate, dislodging a crisp that Havoc stealthily snatched from the floor. “Why didn’t you say you were having problems with your ex?”
“How long has this been going on?” Sophie demanded.
“If he’s been bothering you, that’s well outside the bounds of what’s okay. We can do something about it,” Afton insisted.
“That’s exactly why I haven’t said anything. I didn’t want you or Ewan or Connor or Raleigh going off half-cocked, trying to intimidate him or whatever. This is just simpler.”
The three of them exchanged a series of raised-brow looks that clearly questioned my logic.
“Okay, but why are you fake dating him as opposed to actually dating him?” Sophie asked. “Or is he simply that good an actor? Because that definitely didn’t look like he was faking interest.”
My brain chose that moment to helpfully play a highlight reel of every kiss, every touch that proved Alex wasn’t acting at all. No matter what had happened since Edinburgh, I believed he was sincerely still attracted to me. That was exactly why this would be believable. Thankfully, my timer went off, and I turned to remove the tea bag. “This from the woman who was fake engaged to Connor for how long?”
“Aye, it was ridiculous. But here we are, married and happy, with a baby on the way. The question stands.”
I didn’t have a good answer for it without admitting to things I didn’t want to talk about. I added a spoonful of sugar to my tea. “For one, I have no idea how my brother would react.” Truth. “For another, I’m not looking for anything with anybody right now. The whole situation with Brodie has rather soured me on relationships at the moment. I’d like some time just on my own where I don’t have to worry about someone else.”
I turned around in time to catch them having more silent conversations with their eyes. They all definitely had more to say but were holding back. Before they elected someone to tell me I was making a huge mistake, I leaned back against the tea station. “Look, I know this is an imposition, but I would appreciate it if you’d keep the secret that this relationship is fake until such a time as it is reasonable to reveal otherwise to the immediate family. I’m trying to minimize the drama around all of this.”
After a long, humming silence, Kyla sighed. “Okay. If that’s how you want to handle it.”
Afton carefully nibbled another cracker. “We just want what’s best for you.”
“Just… be careful,” Sophie warned. “It gets very hard keeping things fake in situations like this.” The warning hit that much harder because she would absolutely know.
“I appreciate your concern. Truly. But I know what I’m doing.”
At least, I hoped I did.
“Now, can we get back to work?”