Reluctantly Royal (20 page)

“There’s probably some still water in there if you’d prefer.”

“Nah. I like this.” Marty took another swig. “Even if it tickles.”

“You’re kinda crazy.” I chuckled. “A good crazy.”

“Well, that’s better than being a bad crazy.” He took another swallow and made a face.

“Very true.”

I looked back toward Meredith, and she had turned so that she was looking at where we were standing. I pointed at the open door of the car and she nodded her head in understanding. She had wanted to know where her son had gotten to.

There were a few more people left to speak to, but I could tell by her stance that she was tired. When the last person approached her, I watched as her father turned in her direction and began speaking. I started to go up the hill, but Alex beat me to it. Knowing my brother, he had left Samantha on the other side of Meredith on purpose when he went to talk to Arthur. Casually he placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and joined in the conversation.

It was all friendly, but I also knew that it was business. He was reminding the old man to stay on good behavior. It seemed to be working, because Arthur had taken to merely answering questions that were directed at him.

Once they were finished, they all started down the hill toward the cars together. Sam had looped her arm through Meredith’s and was talking animatedly about something that had them both smiling. By the time they got to where I was standing I caught the tail end of the conversation.

“Tabitha could make the pope want to curse.” Sam shook her head.

“I don’t even know why she was here. Granddad thoroughly disliked her.” Meredith shook her head, sending her red hair swirling around her shoulders. She brushed at the black dress she was wearing and looked back at Sam with a small smile. “Though it was fun to watch you put her in her place.”

“It’s a talent.” Sam pretended to breathe on her fingernails before wiping them on her dress. “She’s one annoying bitch with the memory of a goldfish.”

Meredith laughed and her face lit up. Now that the funeral was over, I could appreciate how stunning she looked today.

Everything about her was understated elegance. She was the woman who walked down the street and caught everyone’s eye. Though I had seen her dressed to kill at Sam and Alex’s wedding, I was pretty sure I liked her naked best of all. My eyes ran over her body slowly, taking in every inch. Was it wrong that I wanted to whisk her away somewhere private? Probably, but I wasn’t sure I cared. She needed to spend time with Marty; needed to relax and let some of her stress melt away. She needed more than what I could offer right now. I seemed to make her nervous when we were alone.

“So what do we do now?” Her eyes met mine. Her father was standing behind her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants.

I kept my mouth shut. It was the only way I could make sure I didn’t say what I was thinking out loud.

“If you have time, Arthur, I’d like to go back with you and set up a few things for tomorrow.” Rachel looked at the man with a serious expression. “I’d be honored to help with some of the paperwork.”

“All right,” he grunted.

“Then we’ll leave you now and get to business.” Rachel bobbed her head at everyone.

“Thank you for coming.” Arthur mumbled the words, his face a frustrated mask as he nodded his head at Alex.

“It was my honor, sir.” Alex reached out to shake his hand. With no way to escape without being rude, Arthur accepted his handshake before turning and swiftly heading toward the other limo.

I looked at Meredith as she watched her father walk away and I could see the worry etched in the planes of her face. There was also a good amount of guilt there that made me want to punch the old man again. She shouldn’t feel guilty that he was going back to an empty house. He’d brought it on himself.

“Don’t worry, dear, I’ll take care of him.” Rachel touched Meredith’s arm and gave her a warm smile.

“Thank you.”

“I think that after a day like today, we deserve to have fun and relax.” Alex rubbed his hands together. “Marty, would you like to help me feed the birds today?”

“What do they eat?” Marty stuck his head out of the limo.

“Mice.” Alex put his hand on the small of Sam’s back.

“For real?” Marty’s eyes got huge. “Can I, Mom?”

“Um, what will that involve?” Meredith looked at Alex with worried eyes.

“He’ll wear a full glove and I’ll be with him the whole time,” Alex assured her.

“Okay,” Meredith said. Her face still looked a little hesitant.

“I’ll go with them,” Sam said. “After I eat something.”

“Food does sound like a good idea.” Meredith rolled her head from side to side. “I didn’t eat much this morning.”

“Then let’s head home.” I opened the door for her and helped her climb in. It wasn’t until I noticed Alex raise an eyebrow in my direction that I realized I had called D’Lynsal home. For all of us.

I helped Sam slide into her seat and looked up at Alex and Cathy. They were both smiling at me.

“What?”

“You’re in trouble, brother.” Alex smacked my shoulder before climbing into the car.

“You guys are really obnoxious, you know that?” I glared at my sister.

“Only because you know we’re right.” She laughed as she slid in the car.

Shaking my head, I climbed in after her and took the last seat available. The car ride was a jumble of talking, laughter, and good-natured ribbing. It was like we’d all decided to cut loose after a very intense morning.

Marty was draped over his seat so that his feet were in the air and his head hanging down by his mother’s feet. He popped a grape in his mouth and Meredith rolled her eyes.

“Sit up before you choke.”

“I was being a bat. Do you have any bats?” He looked at Alex.

“No bats.” Alex laughed. “We have horses though.”

“Oh cool!”

“When are you going to tell us if the baby is a boy or a girl?” Cathy was looking at Sam with an intense expression.

“What does it matter?” Alex asked. “You’ll be an aunt either way.”

“I want to know if I should buy pink stuff or blue stuff.”

“Oh God. Do not swamp us with pink stuff. I hate pink.” Sam shook her head.

Alex turned to look at her and smiled. “Purple wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Yes!” Cathy sat forward. “It is a girl! I knew it.”

“I didn’t say that.” Sam frowned. “I just said I didn’t want lots of pink stuff . . . if it is a girl.”

“Come on.” Cathy laughed. “It’s a girl!”

Sam looked at Alex and he shrugged.

“Don’t tell anyone else.” Sam looked around the interior of the limo. “Yes, it’s a girl.”

“Ahh!” Cathy jumped across the cab and hugged Sam.

“Don’t squish me!” Sam fended off my sister with a laugh.

“Names?” I leaned forward and looked at my brother.

“Not yet.” He shook his head. “We’re not going to decide for certain until we have the baby.”

“I didn’t pick Marty’s name until after I had him,” Meredith offered.

“Really?” Cathy asked. “I think I wouldn’t be able to help myself from picking.”

“I couldn’t decide.” Meredith shrugged. “Then when I saw him, the name Marty popped into my head and nothing else seemed to fit.”

“Is it a family name?” I watched her face.

“No.” She smiled. “I have no idea where it came from.”

“It fits him.” Alex nodded his head. “That’s what we’re hoping for.”

“I would have thought you’d go with a family name.” I looked at my brother. Knowing that Sam had lost her mother a few years before she lost her stepfather, I thought it would be a natural choice.

“We’ve talked about it, but we want it to be the baby’s name. If it doesn’t fit, then it doesn’t fit.” He shrugged.

“Cathy, I bet you twenty that they can’t agree on a name in the first three days.” I looked at my sister.

“Pfft. I’ll see your twenty.” Cathy narrowed her eyes and looked at Sam and then Alex. “I say five days.”

“I want in.” Meredith sat forward. “Two days tops. And I’ll raise the bet to fifty.”

“Accepted.” I narrowed my eyes.

“You guys are going down.” She lifted one eyebrow and smirked at me.

“Are you guys so sure that we’re going to argue over our baby’s name?” Alex looked around the car. “We have talked about it, you know.”

“After I squeeze a watermelon out of my hoo-ha, I have final say on the baby name.” Samantha sat back in her seat. “His Royal Stubbornness can suck it if he doesn’t like what I pick.”

“That’s not fair.” Alex frowned and looked at his wife. “I helped make the baby too.”

“You got the fun part.” Sam huffed. “I get the final say.”

“You two are so going to lose.” Cathy cackled.

Meredith sat back in her seat and smiled. Either she had a great poker face—which I already suspected—or she knew something we didn’t. Either way, I enjoyed watching her interact with my family.

By the time we’d gotten back to the house, Marty had fallen asleep on his mother’s lap and Samantha was leaning against Alex. I waited outside of the car and when Meredith slid to the door I reached in and took Marty out of her arms, letting his head rest on my shoulder.

With my free hand I reached to Meredith to help her out of the car. Her face filled with an expression that I didn’t completely understand. Her fingers wrapped around mine, and when she was standing next to me she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me softly.

The feel of her lips on mine sent a chorus of emotions rustling through my body. It wasn’t excitement, but akin to satisfaction. She kept her fingers in mine as we walked back to the house while Marty snored softly on my shoulder. One of the butlers opened the door for us, and I walked straight to the room Marty was using.

Once I laid him on the bed, Meredith pulled his shoes off and tucked him under the blanket. He had taken his jacket and tie off in the limo. She motioned for me to be quiet as we backed out of the room. With gentle hands she pulled his door shut and looked up at me.

“Thank you.” She licked her lips. “I don’t know how I’ll repay you for all that you have done for my family.”

Half a thought blossomed in my brain and I almost blurted out that she was family. She and Marty had inexplicably found a spot in what I considered mine. It was a tiny crowd, and the fact that they had slid into the select group so quickly was a bit scary.

“I was glad to do it.” I tugged on a strand of hair that had slid out from behind her ear.

“It means a lot.” She yawned and I chuckled.

“I think you need a nap too.” I let go of her hair. “It’s been a long morning.”

“Even longer for you.”

I shrugged. I hadn’t wanted her to deal with a difficult father on the day she laid her grandfather to rest.

Reaching out, she grabbed my hand and tugged me toward her. I cupped her cheek and looked down into her bright eyes.

“Come with me.” She chewed on her lip. “You’re tired too. I can see it in your eyes.”

She wasn’t suggesting sex. She was asking for something just as personal; to sleep with me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had slept with someone. Sex, I’d had plenty of sex. But I never stayed long afterward. And I certainly didn’t have girls staying at my house. This was blowing my comfort zones out of the water. Then again, the entire week had pushed me past all of my set boundaries.

I studied her face and noted the nerves that made her eyebrows pull together, the way her teeth worked her bottom lip. This wasn’t something that had been easy for her to suggest.

Taking her hand, I headed for my room.

I opened the door and let her walk in ahead of me. Her eyes traveled around before she walked to my desk and picked up the drawing on top. It was the one I’d done of her the morning after my nightmare.

I swallowed hard as her eyes traced the lines I’d drawn. For some reason it made me feel exposed. Could she see what I had felt while drawing her? After a minute she set the paper back down and walked toward the bed.

She stepped out of one shoe before using her toe to help pry the other off. Reaching up, she undid her earrings and put them on the bedside table. There was something in the little things she did that kept me spellbound. Such simple things like taking off her shoes shouldn’t be exciting. But with her, everything was sexy. Even when she wasn’t intending to be.

Clearing my throat, I slid my jacket off and hung it on the back of my desk chair. Kicking my shoes off, I undid the cuffs of my shirt before taking off my watch and setting it next to her earrings. I looked at the earrings for a minute, surprised by the amount of emotion that came from seeing her things sitting with mine.

Like that was the way it had always been.

“Could I borrow a shirt?” She looked at me from under heavy eyelashes.

I opened one of the drawers of my dresser and fished out a shirt. She undid the zipper of her dress before sliding it off and hanging it over my jacket. As she walked toward me in nothing but a bra, barely-there panties, and garter belt, I had to mentally remind myself that we were napping. Feebly I held out the shirt I had taken from my dresser.

With an amused smile, she took the shirt from me and slipped it over her head. Had my mouth been hanging open? Seeing her in
that
had been enough to make me forget my name.

She sat down on the bed and undid her stockings before rolling them down her legs. Turning around, she crawled across the bed toward the pillows, providing me with a great view of her perfect ass. She pulled the blanket out and lay down, tucking her hands under her cheek while looking at me.

I guess that meant it was my turn. Undoing the buttons of my shirt, I pulled it off and dropped it on the foot of the bed. I only hesitated for a moment before sliding my belt off and stepping out of my pants. I shifted so my body wouldn’t give away my reaction to her climb over the bed. I slipped under the blanket and she immediately closed the distance between us.

Raising my arm, I let her tuck her lithe body close to mine and rest her head on my shoulder. Her delicate hand rested on my chest and I touched the tiny pearl ring on her middle finger.

“That’s different.”

“My granddad gave it to me when I had Marty.” Sleep laced her voice. “He stayed at the hospital the entire time.”