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  There’s nothing like kids for stating the obvious.

  “Will Holly have to sit on the naughty step, Daddy, for not wearing her coat?” Katie says.

  Oh god, I’d like to punish Holly for making me so worried, but not by giving her a timeout on the bottom stair, like the kids get if one of them is mean to the other. A very different kind of punishment.

  “No naughty step this time,” I say. “Holly was just upset and forgot to put a coat on.”

  “You’ll catch your death of cold, Holly. And if you do, I’ll tuck you up in bed and give you medicine,” Katie says.

  Holly turns around to look into the back seat. “Thank you, Katie. That’s nice of you.”

  “I’ll give you medicine, too, or maybe chicken soup if Daddy says it’s okay,” Jack says.

  “Let’s just hope Holly doesn’t catch cold, but if she does, we’ll see.” If she doesn’t believe me, she won’t stick around.

  Mercifully, we’re back at the beach house in a few minutes. I open the front door and let the kids out of the car. They run through the rain into the house.

  Holly is still sitting in the car, as if unsure what to do next, maybe regretting getting into the car at all. I open her door. “Do you want to warm up with a hot shower? I’ll bring in your bag. We can’t talk very easily with the kids around, but I’ll give them a snack and see if I can find something to keep them busy.”

  She nods and gets out. It’s as if all the stuffing has been knocked out of her. She flinches when I try to touch her arm as we go inside. That hurts more than anything. I want to pick her up and carry her inside and warm her up in all the ways I know how, not just with a hot shower.

  And then she’s gone, and I have to cut up fruit and cubes of cheese and put out bread and ham and juice to keep Jack and Katie from complaining they are hungry when I’m trying to get through to Holly how much I love her.

  How much I love her?

  Fuck, yes. I think I’ve loved her for years. Not just wanting to see her so that I know how she’s getting on. I’ve been kidding myself about that. What I feel for her is plain, honest to god love.

  And I don’t know if she will ever love me back. If she will even believe me.

  CHAPTER 25

  Holly

  It’s time to wean myself off my stupid crush from long ago and act like an adult. It hurts too much to mess with any of this when Mercia is still on the scene. And it’s worse because I thought he cared. I thought he was my first and only, and now I know I was just a warm body to him, nothing special at all. I look down at me in the shower, thinking about Mercia’s parting shot. I’m just an ordinary girl, no movie star. Why would a man like Reid, with all his wealth, look at me as anything more than an amusing diversion?

  Despite my gloomy thoughts, the hot water makes me feel better than I did when he found me. I’m not only warmer, but also stronger and more able to face him.

  I’ll just have to grow a pair and deal with the whole crappy mess.

  I get dressed in the least sexy clothes I brought—jeans and a T-shirt for messing about with the kids—and throw on a cardigan. I try to repair the signs of ugly crying with a bit of makeup without much success, but it will have to do. I take a deep breath and go out to face whatever I have to face.

  Reid is watching a DVD with the kids. It’s Frozen again.

  “I need to talk to Holly in the kitchen,” he says. “Be good for a little while, and then you can have as much ice cream as you want like I promised you.”

  I follow him into the kitchen.

  “Thanks for coming back. I was really worried about you. Mercia’s dad is only in the hospital for a minor operation. The bitch must have wanted me and the kids out of the way so she could get at you.”

  “She’s not the problem, you are. It wasn’t that she came to see me. It was what she said.”

  “What did she say, exactly?”

  “That you got together with her in L.A., that you were only using me as a, what did she call it? Oh yes, as a ‘random fuck’ because I was there, and how handy it was that I was around to babysit so you could meet up with her for two nights. That she could click her fingers and have you come running to her just like you did today.”

  “None of that is true. She was in L.A., yes, but I didn’t know she’d be there. And I thought her father was in danger today, so of course I went to the hospital.”

  “So it’s true you saw her in L.A.” Part of me was hoping that it was all lies.

  “There was nothing in it. She just turned up at a business dinner I was hosting.”

  “Why didn’t you mention it, then?”

  “It was just work, and I wanted to forget the whole thing. I didn’t know Mercia was involved with the head of the company we were dealing with. He brought her to dinner. She seemed to use the whole thing to seek attention. I felt sorry for the guy as it became more and more obvious she was trying to make me jealous. It always rankled, I guess, how easily I let her go, that I didn’t fight for her. That I didn’t go running after her when she left.”

  Is he saying it’s different with me because he came looking for me? Who knows what’s true here? “I thought you were cut up about your divorce.”

  “Of course I was. No one wants to be divorced, even if the person they married was a huge mistake. I was upset for the kids too. They ended up with a broken home.”

  But there’s something else she said that he can’t wriggle out of. “If you didn’t spend the night together, how come Mercia knew where you were staying, down to the room you were in? Did she have to tuck you into bed or something? I might be younger than you, but I wasn’t born yesterday.”

  “Oh, I wish I’d told you. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to give you more to hate Mercia for. We have to keep in contact for the kids’ sake and… anyway, I guess I have to tell you now.”

  He pauses. Is he working out what to say?

  “Just tell me the truth, Reid.”

  “This is the truth. I won’t lie to you, Holly. We hosted the dinner in the restaurant at the hotel we were using. I don’t know how Mercia knew which room I was in. Maybe she saw me sign the check. Maybe she overheard the desk clerk when she returned an hour or so after the dinner; he called up to tell me she was waiting to see me.”

  “So you saw her again?”

  “Yes, I came right down and told her to go back to her CEO. She didn’t like being rejected. She never has. When we were married, she was forever testing me, wanting me to put up with her crap to prove how much I loved her. Which backfired. Turned out I didn’t love her and I’m not the guy to put up with any kind of crap. So she was wrong on both counts.”

  “She said the two of you always laughed together about me because I made it so obvious I liked you.”

  “I didn’t even know you liked me, and believe me, I wouldn’t have been laughing. I wasn’t laughing about anything when I was married to Mercia.”

  Maybe I shouldn’t believe his explanation. Maybe I shouldn’t accept it so readily, but I do. I can believe Mercia is manipulative much more than I believe Reid is. She engineered the whole meeting with me, and it sounds like she did the same to him. He didn’t run after her when they split, but he came looking for me. He wants me!

  Then a stupid random thought comes to mind. “You’re letting the kids have unlimited ice cream? You must have been worried.”

  “I was. I didn’t know why you weren’t here when we got back from the hospital. Anything could have happened to you.”

  “I’m sorry.” I smile at him. “You should have known. I have a habit of running away.”

  “Yes. Terrible habit. I’m going to have to cure you of that.”

  *

  It’s late after the eating of the ice cream, and the kids show signs of falling asleep soon after we wipe their sticky faces.

  “We could stay another night instead of driving back,” Reid says. “Would you like that?”

  “Don’t you have to be at the office first thing?�
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  “I don’t have any meetings that can’t be postponed.”

  “In that case, let’s put the kids to bed.”

  Reid’s lovemaking feels different this time. It’s fierce and hot as ever, but there’s an intensity to it that wasn’t there before, as if having nearly lost me, he wants to be sure I am his, that I won’t run away again.

  He fucks me like a man with demons after him, yet after we both come in a tangle of sheets and limbs, there’s a tenderness to him that I’ve never really seen. I lie in his arms, completely drained, his cock still inside me, his kisses and caresses softer, gentler, more loving than ever.

  He can’t stop kissing me, and I don’t want him to ever stop.

  “I forgot with all this going on,” Reid says. “There’s another thing that happened when I was in L.A. I didn’t want to tell you until it was certain, but I got a call about it today just before we went into the hospital.”

  CHAPTER 26

  Reid

  I hope what I have to tell Holly will help make up for the awful encounter with Mercia. “When I was in L.A., I bumped into a friend, Pablo; you know, the guy who owns the AltoMirano clothing line.”

  “You know Pablo? Wow!”

  “I served with him on a charity committee. Anyway, I had ten minutes between meetings and we had a quick drink. I asked him if he would do me a favor and look over your portfolio. No promises, but if he thinks you have potential, there might be the chance of an internship with him so you can learn the ropes.”

  “Reid, that’s amazing!” She hugs me tighter. “But would it mean going to L.A. to work if he takes me on?”

  “Yes, I guess so. I hate the idea of you going. But I want you to be happy, and it doesn’t have to be forever. If I hold you back, you’ll regret being with me at all.”

  “I’ll never regret that. But this is always what I wanted to do.”

  “So you’ll meet with Pablo?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Good, because I already arranged a meeting with him and I thought we’d make a long weekend of it. The kids will be with their grandparents.”

  “Will Mercia’s dad be up to it?”

  “He said I wasn’t to think about canceling, because his wife would kill him if the operation didn’t, and it was so minor anyway he thought it would be no problem. In fact, he offered to take them for longer if I wanted, and he was so adamant it would be fine, I took him up on it.”

  *

  Next day, my PA books tickets and I hand them to Holly when I get home, as the kids jump up and down around me, creating a din.

  “Milan!” she says. “I thought you meant a weekend in L.A. I wasn’t expecting Italy.”

  “Good surprise or bad surprise?”

  “Good surprise. And we get to stay for four days?”

  “Yes, four whole days to get to know you better.”

  “You already know me.”

  “Not as well as I want to know you,” I say in her ear. “I intend to get to know every inch, every millimeter—intimately.”

  She melts against me. “Why Milan, anyway?”

  “That’s where Pablo is going to be, visiting his Italian operation. And there’s a big textile exhibition that a lot of designers go to that he thought you might like. He’ll take you around. He said it would be good to experience it, even if you don’t end up working together.”

  The excitement on her face makes me laugh.

  “You’ll go with us?”

  “Er…no. I’ll work while you do that, and then you can tell me all about the latest tweeds or whatever. Did you have a good day anyway?” I ask. “It seems like these two did.” I ruffle the kids’ hair and they go running off into the living room.

  “Yes, we went to the Natural History museum and then we baked you a cake when we got home, so you have to pretend it’s lovely even if it’s not.”

  “The best kind of cake.” And I really think it is, no matter how many fancy pastries I’ve been served in award-winning restaurants.

  CHAPTER 27

  Holly

  I’m nervous about meeting Pablo, but a meeting with him is like gold, and seeing how he views fabrics at a huge trade exhibition will be like a dream come true. I ask Reid if it’s okay to go home to get some of my own creations, which are more crazy fashion than practical for looking after kids. I need to look the part in Milan. I have my portfolio with me in New York, but I need to pick up my passport anyway.

  “I’ll take you,” he says. “I need to talk to your dad before this goes any further.”

  This thing with Reid has all happened so fast, it hasn’t crossed my mind what Dad might say. He likes Reid, I know he does, but does he like him enough to overlook the age difference between us? The jury is out on that one.

  I’m nervous as a colt when we drive home after dropping off the kids at their grandparents’ house.

  Reid stops the car at the door. “I’ll take the car around to the side of the house. Say hello to your Dad first, so at least you get to see him without him reading the riot act right away. I’ll be with you in a minute to break the news.”

  I let myself in the front door. Dad gives me a hug. “Hey, Holly, babysitting seems to be suiting you. You’ve gotten color in your cheeks again.”

  “Yes. I’m having fun with the kids.”

  “You always got on well with the little rascals.”

  “I’ve got some great news, too. Reid got me a meeting with Pablo in Milan. We’re going there this weekend to see if he’s interested in me for an internship. I came to pick up some things I need to take over there.”

  “Fantastic! That’s great, but is that all you’re excited about?”

  “Yes…”

  He’s watching my reaction too closely. Does he know already? How?

  “I watched Reid help you out of the car, and if he’s going with you to Milan… you’ve always liked him, haven’t you?”

  There’s no point avoiding the subject until Reid gets here. “Yes, I have. I didn’t expect him to even look at me, but there’s never been anyone else for me.”

  “Of course he’d look at you. I’m your dad, and I might be biased, but no one who knows you could fail to see how lovely you are, and I’m not just talking about looks.”

  “Oh, Dad.” I give him a hug and kiss his cheek. “You’re not mad? I really think this is right for me.”

  “Well, I can’t say I’m over the moon about it. Do you know how old he is? He’s only ten years younger than me.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me. I love him, Dad. I think I always did.”

  Reid comes through the door just at that moment. Did he hear that? How embarrassing. It’s much too soon to talk about the L word.

  “You know then,” he says to Dad. “We came to tell you. We’re not trying to sneak around behind your back.”

  “So it seems,” Dad says. “I think you and I should have a few words alone, Reid. Holly, you wanted to pick up some things?”

  I look from one guy I love to the other, not knowing what they will say to each other. I’m not sure if I want to be a fly on the wall with that conversation or not. But anyway, I leave them to it.

  *

  There are no raised voices or signs that they’ve had a fight by the time I come downstairs fifteen minutes later. They’re talking about football scores, of all things.

  “Ready, Holly?” Reid says. “I guess we’d better get going. We’ve a lot to do before our flight.”

  “Well, have a good trip. Your designs will be a smash hit with old Pedro, Holly.”

  “It’s Pablo, Dad, but yes, I hope so.”

  “And Reid, I meant every word.”

  Reid nods and helps me into the car, then he puts my bag in the trunk.

  “What did Dad say?” I ask him as soon as we drive away.

  “A lot, but the gist of it was that he’s okay with us going away to Milan, but if I ever mess with you and make you unhappy, I’ll wish I never had anything to do with your family
.”

  “Oh my god, he said that? I’m sorry. That’s not like Dad. You know he’s not like that.”

  “It’s okay. He really cares about you. I have no intention of making him mad. I’m just pleased he didn’t come out with a shotgun. Did you find everything you wanted to bring? You weren’t gone long.”

  “I was anxious to get back to see what Dad was saying to you. But I knew where everything was. Maybe I should model everything for you tonight, so you can help me decide what to take.”

  “I would love to see it all, but save the modeling for after you wear your clothes in Milan.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to stop myself ripping it all right off.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Reid

  She colors again when I talk about ripping off her clothes, but I can’t wait to get her back home. We have all night before we leave and no kids.

  “You know what happens now we’re alone?” I ask her once we hit the highway.

  She laughs. “I have a good idea. Tell me anyway.”

  I run my finger up her leg over her jeans. “These will have to come off.” And then over her blouse. “And this. Because what we’re going to do involves getting naked.”

  “You don’t say.”

  “But first, I promised you a spanking as soon as we were alone.”

  “Oh!”

  “Yes, I’m going to have to punish you for running away. Do you want that?”

  “I don’t know. Yes. Maybe.”

  “Okay then. We’ll see how much you like it. You’re going to take off all your clothes one by one and put them in a nice neat pile and then you’re going to bend naked over my lap.”

  I glance over at her in the passenger seat. Her breath is shallow, her eyes wide, so I continue. “I’m going to pepper your ass with my bare hand.”

  “Is it going to hurt?”

  “It will momentarily, yes. It might take your breath away. But if you like it, you’ll be wet and squirming on my lap by the end, your ass on fire, and so aroused you’re begging to be fucked.”