Page 27

Astrid’s voice had gone up an octave or two. Her smile was too wide, her eyes too startled… could his brother not see it?

Maybe they were pushing their lives on her too much.

Hell, the woman probably knew more about them than they knew about themselves by now.

But he wasn’t about to draw attention to her discomfort by asking her outright.

Instead, he finished up his main meal in silence, letting Aiden, the king of schmoozing, do his thing.

And normally he’d tune it out. Not tonight though. Not when it was Astrid offering up more of her life…

Her career, her mother, her grandparents and their ancient family home in the English countryside with its freezing cold halls and hounds that she adored.

How much happier she’d been running around its grounds with them than playing the shivering lady indoors.

He found himself smiling as he imagined her doing just that…

‘I’d like a dog.’

Both Aiden and Astrid shot a surprised look his way. Had they forgotten he existed?

‘You would?’ his brother asked.

‘Not now, while we’re away so much of the time, but yeah, in the future.’

Astrid smiled, a teasing twinkle in her eye. ‘I can see you with a dog.’

‘If you’re thinking of a Chihuahua, you can stop it right now.’

She laughed. ‘How did you guess?’

‘You had that look in your eye.’

He loved that he could read her. Loved that it made her blush too.

‘Just think of all the extra ladies you could attract if you had a cute little handbag dog…’ she murmured.

Aiden chuckled. ‘It would soften your image quite nicely, bro.’

‘I thought my image was being softened quite nicely by Astrid’s article.’

‘Is it, Astrid?’

‘Well, yes, but an added dose of cuteness wouldn’t go amiss. Maybe we ought to get one for the photoshoot we have lined up.’

Aiden laughed harder. ‘Oh yes, that’s a great idea!’

‘You’ve booked it in?’ Blake said over him.

‘Oh yeah, sorry buddy, I forgot to say. Between the powers that be and Astrid, they’ve lined us up a photoshoot week after next.’

‘Great.’ Not . ‘Where?’

‘Good question. Where do you think would work best?’ Aiden asked her.

She caught her lip in her teeth, her eyes drifting to the living area…

‘Oh no you don’t,’ Blake said, reading her mind. ‘The rink makes more sense. We’re players, it’s who we are.’

‘Yes, but everyone sees that side of you all the time. This would give them an insight into another side of you.’

The side they were now showing her, but… a photographer? Pictures that would then be pushed to the world… lauding their riches… ‘I don’t like it.’

‘I think we take Astrid’s steer on this, bro.’

‘I wouldn’t want you to be uncomfortable, but for the purposes of this article, this is what the readers will want to see.’

‘I just hope you know what you’re doing.’

‘I do,’ she assured him with a smile. ‘And Fin, the photographer, is a friend of mine. You can trust him.’

‘We trust you,’ Aiden said and Astrid’s smile gave the smallest quiver. What was that about? ‘And if you trust him that’s good enough for us.’

Aiden’s phone started to ring, and Blake frowned at its unexpected presence on the table, the high volume ringtone too. ‘Expecting someone?’

His brother ignored him as he checked the screen. ‘Sorry, I just need to get this.’

He rose from the table and headed to the window, his voice too low to hear.

‘Well, that’s me done,’ Astrid said, easing back in her seat and pulling his focus back to her. ‘I can’t eat another bite.’

‘Don’t let Aiden hear that, he’s made his chocolate protein pudding for dessert.’

‘Dessert?’ Her eyes popped. ‘I’m so full!’

‘You’ll want to make room for this, it’s good. Seriously good.’

‘Okay so that’ll be a half marathon I’m running tomorrow then.’

And what he’d pay to see her do that, to do it with her too.

Aiden came back to the table. ‘Really sorry, but I’ve got to go.’

‘Now?’ both Blake and Astrid blurted.

‘Coach needs me to swing by his place.’

‘At this time?’ Blake said as Astrid shot to her feet.

‘I best get off too then.’

Woah woah woah , they were both bailing? Was this some cunning ruse to get off together?

‘Oh no, you stay,’ his brother said.

Not together then…

‘Dessert is in the fridge and Blake’s more than capable of serving it up.’

She looked at Blake like his brother had just suggested he serve her up.

‘Yeah, I can take care of that…’

Her throat bobbed.

‘How late will you be?’

‘No idea, but you guys have fun, yeah?’ And was that a wink? ‘It was lovely to see you, Astrid. Thank you for the whisky.’

He leaned in to give her a peck to the cheek, so chaste she almost fell over as he swept away and Blake watched him go, a perplexed smile glued to his face.

The moment the front door clicked shut, Astrid rounded on him, eyes burning. ‘Right, what did you do this time?’

‘I didn’t do anything.’

‘Don’t lie to me.’

‘I’m not,’ he insisted, a laugh choking out of him. How was he supposed to think straight, let alone speak straight when she was looming over him like some hip-popping vixen? The outfit gave her a dominatrix vibe that his body was all too willing to respond to.

‘You didn’t ask Coach to call him away? Just like you asked Harry…’

‘No! Regardless of what you might think’ – he shifted in his seat, wishing his jeans were more forgiving – ‘I don’t lie. Well, I kind of lied earlier, but that was different.’

Her brows arched, her golden eyes shooting sparks. That’s when it hit him – she wasn’t wearing glasses tonight. She must switch to contacts when she dressed to go out-out… or go looking to score.

‘When?’

‘When I said Titanic was my mom’s choice of movie. I chose it.’

If ever it was possible to watch a person melt, she just did. ‘You’re serious?’

‘As serious as mustard on my hotdog.’

‘That’s not a saying.’

‘It is now.’

He turned in his seat, lounging back in front of her and making the most of the view… a view he wanted to understand better.

‘But now he is gone…’ he murmured as her eyes hesitated over him, dipping low and staying low. ‘Are you going to be honest with me, Twinkle Toes?’

Her eyes shot back up, her cheeks warming. ‘What about?’

‘Who you’re wearing this for – him, or me?’

‘ What ?’

‘If I was a betting man, I’d say you were looking to score. So, him, or me? Or do you have a predilection for a threesome with twins?’

She choked on thin air. ‘Hell no!’

‘And now the lady does protest too much.’

‘Doth.’

‘Doth what?’

‘It’s “doth protest” not “does”.’

‘You say tomahto, I say tomayto.’

She shook her head, her hair shimmering all the way down to that deep alluring V…

‘Who’s to say I don’t dress like this for dinner normally?’

‘I do.’

Her eyes gleamed in the low light, her cheeks hollowing. Was she biting them?

‘Tell me I’m wrong.’

‘For someone who strikes me as open-minded about a lot of things, you seem to be very opinionated when it comes to how I dress. Why is that?’

‘I don’t know. You seem to spark a lot of opinions in me.’

She surprised him with a laugh. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Damned if I know. It’s a new one on me too.’

And it wasn’t something he wanted to ponder too deeply. It ran along the same lines of caring too deeply and he wasn’t about to go there. He pushed himself to standing and tore his gaze away. ‘I’ll get that pudding.’

‘I’ll help you clear up first.’

Not neanderthals remember, came his brother’s voice in his head.

‘No, you won’t, I’ll take care of it later. You take your drink into the living area, and I’ll bring them through.’

* * *

Astrid knew she was in trouble. The kind of trouble Delia would probably relish in the fictional world, but this wasn’t fiction. This was real.

Real feelings. Real desires. Real hurt.

Blake’s. Sissi’s. Hers. Even Aiden’s.

She should have insisted on leaving with the latter… shoulda, woulda, coulda!

Too late now, Beverley Knight!

And she was pretty convinced that Aiden wasn’t into her. Or maybe it was that Blake was so very obviously interested that it made his brother appear apathetic by comparison. Not to mention her body’s own preference on the matter.

She tried to ease back into the sofa, but it was too cosy. The fire flickering in the seamless opening that ran along one wall cast a warm, golden glow over the deeply masculine room. The soft ambient music filtering through the surround sound system, building on the intimate vibe.

‘Here we go, one Carter special.’

Awareness rippled through her as a chocolate-filled ramekin appeared over her shoulder.

‘Thank you,’ she murmured, taking it from him.

‘You’re welcome.’

He walked around to slide in beside her and her mouth watered, salivating over his proximity and not the rich-looking chocolate she was determined to stare at.

He gave a low chuckle. ‘You look ravenous again.’

‘Ha!’ It burst from her chest, the heat in her cheeks as serious as the burn in the rest of her body as she avoided his eye and his lips which were sure to taste even better than the pudding. ‘What can I say, I’m a chocolate addict.’

She scooped some up and shoved it in.

Her eyes slammed closed as her tastebuds exploded, her blissful murmur impossible to contain.

What kind of lethal combination was this?

‘That good, hey?’

‘ Seriously good!’ She scooped up another, eager to fill her mouth with more of the tasty goodness.

The safe tasty goodness. Though her eyes wouldn’t be told, they were drawn to him on repeat.

The way he was lounging back, his big strong thighs spread, biceps flexing as he spooned the pudding into his equally tasty mouth.

The glimpse of tongue as he opened up, the way his lips shifted around it, the way his throat bobbed as he… fuck.

‘What was that?’

Her eyes snapped to his. ‘What?’

‘Did you just squeak?’

‘No!’

‘You just made a noise like a mouse. You did it the other day too.’

‘I really did not.’

‘You really did.’ His mouth curved into that irresistibly sexy grin of his. ‘Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I squeaked the first time I tried Aiden’s pudding too.’