CHASING TROUBLE

Caroline drew in a sharp breath at what she was sure was Nicholas’ deliberate attempt to humiliate her. What other reason could he have for reminding her so forcibly, so tauntingly, of what had happened between them the previous evening?

A memory she had been trying so hard to forget but couldn’t… How could she possibly forget that he had kissed her, touched her, aroused her? Well maybe she would never be able to forget any of those things, but she certainly didn’t have to let Nicholas know about them.

“There’s no perhaps about it,” she came back coldly.

He shot her a scathing glance. “You didn’t seem so sure of that last night!”

This time Caroline’s gasp was audible, and the colour once again faded from her cheeks.

He sighed heavily. “I didn’t get much sleep last night, okay?”

Caroline accepted this probably wasn’t the best time in the world for them to discuss the events of last night-she doubted there would ever be a good time. Although she was curious as to why he hadn’t slept well either… Now that she looked at him, she could see that lack of sleep in the heaviness of his eyes, with their dark shadows beneath, and in the grim set of his mouth and jaw.

Could it be that he had been as affected by their passionate clinch as she had? Oh, she knew Nicholas had been aroused-the physical evidence of that had been all too obvious as he’d molded her body against his-but had it been more than that for both of them?

No, of course it hadn’t, Caroline answered herself harshly. Nicholas was a ‘bed ’em and leave ’em’ man, and If he hadn’t slept well last night it had to be because he had found the chair uncomfortable, not because he had been thinking about her.

“Perhaps it would be better if we didn’t talk,” he suggested practically.

Easier said than done, he realized unhappily as they continued the rest of the drive to his Aunt Mae’s in silence. A silence far removed from the easy companionship that had existed between them before last night.

But how could it be any different when he was completely aware of everything about Caroline this morning? Of the soft sweep of her hair as it flowed loosely about her shoulders; the pale oval of her face; those blue eyes, dark and unfathomable. The way the brown sweater and denims fitted over the soft curves of her body. The delicate perfume she always wore: light, slightly floral, almost elusive. Like Caroline herself.

Whether he liked it or not, something was happening between them. Something tangible. But what it was, Nicholas had no idea…

“My Aunt Mae doesn’t bite,” Nicholas assured her mockingly when Caroline joined him at the back of the Range Rover as he took their luggage out of the boot.

Caroline shot him an irritated look. She doubted whether the older woman could fail to pick up on the tension that undoubtedly existed between Nicholas and her. A tension that surely shouldn’t exist between her nephew and the woman who worked for him.

“Very funny,” she muttered as she picked up her overnight bag, before turning away.

Just in time to see a small, wiry lady with iron-grey hair pulled back in a no-nonsense bun, and wearing a floral pinafore over her woolen dress. She came out of the small cottage, eyes the same brown as Nicholas’ fixed affectionately on her nephew as she hurried down the pathway to join them.

Caroline stood politely to one side as Nicholas turned to swing his Aunt Mae up in his arms in a hug that would have crushed a less robust woman.

“Put me down, ye wee heathen, and introduce me to my guest!” his aunt finally instructed, the sternness of her expression belied by the tears of pleasure that glistened in her eyes as she looked proudly at him.

Nicholas’ grin was mischievous as he slowly lowered the elderly lady back onto her slippered feet.” Aunt Mae, this is Caroline Anderson. Care, my aunt, Mae Harrison.”

“Call me Mae,” the elderly lady invited warmly as she took Caroline’s hand in a surprisingly strong grip, at the same time as that dark gaze swept over Caroline with the astuteness she had suspected, and dreaded, would be there.

“Caroline,” she returned lightly as she kept her expression deliberately neutral under that piercing gaze. “Come inside and have some tea and cake,” the older woman invited with brisk warmth as she turned and led the way back into the cottage.

“I’ll just bring the bags in, shall I?” Nicholas muttered.

“It’s one of the few things men are good for,” his aunt returned without so much as a turn of her head.

“Don’t put ideas in Caroline’s head!” he called after them dryly.

Once inside, Caroline sat, slightly dazed. Mae Harrison was every bit as astute as she had thought she might be. But she was also much more-warm. Kind. Obviously incredibly proud of her nephew, the fierce love she felt for him shining in those wonderful eyes so like Nicholas’ own.

“So, what do you think?”

Caroline gave a start before she turned sharply to look at Nicholas, as he stood in the doorway grinning across at her. “What do I think about what?” she came back guardedly.

“Aunt Mae.” His grin widened as he came further into the room; his earlier look of strain seemed to have completely dissipated, and he stood in front of the blazing fire to warm himself.

He looked different in these surroundings, Caroline realized. Less the arrogant Nicholas Connelly, and more boyish Nicholas Connelly, Mae Harrison’s nephew.

Caroline suddenly felt her cheeks warm, and not from the heat of the fire. Not because she was shocked by the sentiment but because of how close she and Nicholas had come to crossing the boundary of their relationship the evening before.

“Here we are,” his aunt announced briskly as she came in carrying the laden tea-tray.

Nicholas crossed the room to take the tray from his aunt’s unresisting fingers, before he placed it on the small cloth-covered table at the back of the room that served as dining room as well as sitting room. This cottage had seemed very small to Nicholas the last time he was here as a teenager, the low ceilings completely unsuitable for his height even then. But he had come to love this cottage and the rugged beauty of its surrounding countryside almost as much as he loved his Aunt Mae.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.