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The Rumours Collection
He thought of Kat coming day in and day out to help him. Sure, he’d playfully blackmailed her, but she could have easily told him where to go. But instead, she had adjusted her timetable to see to his and Cricket’s needs.
His needs...
His needs were not just physical. He could have those met in the way he used to—with a casual date for a week or two. His needs now were more cerebral. He looked forward to seeing Kat, talking to her, listening to her. Watching her. Loving her.
Loving her.
For once, Flynn didn’t push the thought aside. He didn’t shove it back behind the locked door in his brain. He didn’t fight it. He let it flow through his mind, sweeping away the doubts that had lingered for too long. Of course he loved her. Hadn’t he fallen in love with her that first day? Her feisty little stand-off had made him fall like a pebble kicked off a cliff. Kissing her had sealed the deal. Making love with her had cemented it. Now there was one last step he had to take to set it in stone.
To set it in stone for ever.
‘Till death do us part’ was a promise Flynn wanted to make. Ached to make. He had shied away from it all those years because he hadn’t met the right person. The person he felt he could live with for the rest of his life. Before now, the promises had seemed claustrophobic, strangling, suffocating.
Now they made sense.
With Kat everything made sense.
Flynn was home by the time Kat got back from her walk with the dog. He was in the sitting room but instead of sitting on the sofa with his foot up he was standing on his crutches looking out of the window. He turned when she came in but his expression was difficult to read. ‘Hi.’
‘Hi.’
Was he going to come over and kiss her like he usually did? Why was he standing all the way over there? He didn’t even seem aware of Cricket, who was dancing around his ankles in a frenzy of delight. But then, as if the little dog sensed the gravity of Flynn’s mood, he lowered himself to the floor in a submissive ‘stay’ position, his scruffy little head resting on his paws.
‘Is...is something wrong?’ Kat asked. ‘You seem a little tense. Not just today but for the last couple of weeks. Is it work? Your foot? Your family?’ Me?
He gave her a smile that only involved half his mouth. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’
Kat hung up her coat, pulled off her gloves and put them on the hallstand. ‘I told you I was going to be late. We had to do a dress rehearsal and then Elisabetta had an issue with the way her hair was done. Honestly, she can be such a pain in the butt.’
There was a weird little silence.
She looked at him again, her heart jerking as if it had been kicked. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
His expression lost its surface tension, as if something deep inside him had softened. Melted. ‘I never thought I’d do this again.’
‘Do what?’
‘Ask someone to marry me.’
Kat stared at him in a stunned silence. She blinked and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. Shock ran through her like a stupefying drug. She couldn’t get her thoughts to process properly. It was as though someone had scrambled her brain, shaken it up until none of her synapses were connecting. Why would he ask her to marry him? He wasn’t in love with her...was he? He had never said. Never hinted. Not one word.
Flynn came closer and, leaning on one crutch, cupped her cheek in his hand. ‘I’m sorry I can’t get down on bended knee but I love you, Kat. I want you to marry me. Please will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’
He’s only asking you because of the party.
No, he’s not. He said he loves me.
Yeah, right. The party is on Saturday. This is his insurance policy.
Kat felt like she was balanced over a canyon on a toothpick. How could she know for sure what his motives were? He had set his mind on getting her to that party. She would not be able to say no if she was officially engaged to him. It would look odd if she didn’t show. He was Richard’s legal advisor, a part of the family—a close friend to all the Ravensdales. ‘This seems rather...sudden...’
His mouth did that rueful half-twist again. ‘I know, but once I make my mind up about something I have to act. Let’s not waste any more time pretending we don’t care for each other. We belong together, darling. We both felt it the first time we met.’
Don’t do it.
But I want to say yes!
You need more time. What about your career? ‘Fools rush in’ and all that.
The tender look on Flynn’s face overrode her doubts. ‘You love me?’
His smile made her heart squeeze as tightly as a child’s hug. ‘How can you doubt it?’
Kat stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at his adoring expression. How could this be happening? It was so much more than she’d expected. She hadn’t dared expect anything. She had tried to keep her heart out of reach but it had been impossible. Resisting Flynn Carlyon had been impossible. Stopping herself from falling in love with him had been impossible. ‘But I thought you were against marriage?’
He cradled her face in one of his large hands. ‘Not when it involves you. I can’t think of anyone else I would want to spend the rest of my life bantering with. Can you?’
Kat smiled. ‘No.’
His black-coffee eyes twinkled. ‘So, is that a yes?’
She brought her mouth up to meet his descending one. ‘Yes. A thousand, million, squillion times yes.’
The kiss was getting a little more serious when Kat became aware of Flynn’s phone ringing. He had different tones for different people but she had never heard this ring tone before. She eased back to look up at him. ‘Are you going to answer it?’
‘It’s not important. It’s just Richard.’
A cold handprint touched the back of her neck. ‘Why’s he calling you now?’
‘He calls me most days.’
Kat searched his expression...for what, she wasn’t sure. Something didn’t feel right. She couldn’t explain it. It had been fine until that phone had started ringing. She couldn’t help feeling it was like the sounding of an alarm bell. She could see the rectangular outline of his phone inside his shirt pocket.
She heard it ping with a left message.
She reached for it at the same time Flynn did, his hand stilling hers. Warning hers.
‘I want to see that message,’ she said.
‘No.’
Kat raised her brow at his intractable tone. ‘Why not?’
‘It’s private.’
‘But I’m your fiancée. You get to share everything with me.’
Something hardened in his jaw. A muscle. A ligament. It travelled all the way to his mouth. ‘Not about my clients.’
‘He’s my father, so surely that’s different?’
‘It’s not.’
Kat knew he was right to insist on client confidentiality but she couldn’t get rid of the cloud of doubt blurring her vision of the future. Their future. ‘So does that mean you won’t allow me access to your phone once we’re married?’
The tension around his mouth tightened. ‘Trust is a huge part of being married.’
‘Does that mean I get to keep my phone and emails private too?’
She could see the battle played out on his face. It was like a tug of war between logic and emotion. Push. Pull. Push. Pull. ‘If you insist.’
‘I do.’
The phone rang again. Same tone. Same insistent clarion call. Flynn took it out of his pocket and, giving Kat an unreadable look, answered it. ‘Richard, I’m busy right now. I’ll call you ba—’
‘Did you get her to agree to come to the party?’ Richard’s voice carried like a foghorn.
Kat’s spine went rigid. Ice-block rigid. Don’t-mess-with-me-rigid. She held out her hand for the phone. ‘I want to speak to him.’
Flynn held the phone against his chest. ‘I don’t think that’s such a great idea.’
She kept her hand out, her eyes locked on his, her determination on fire. ‘Give me the damn phone.’
‘Is that Kat I can hear in the background?’ The fabric of Flynn’s shirt only faintly muffled Richard’s theatre-trained voice. ‘Let me talk to her.’
Flynn handed her the phone with a look that suggested he felt like he was handing over a live bomb.
‘This is Kat Winwood.’
‘Kat, my dear.’ Richard’s voice was all treacle, honey and sickly-sweet jam. ‘How lovely to hear your voice at last. Are you coming to the party? Did Flynn make it impossible for you to refuse, as I instructed him?’
Kat’s hand tightened on the phone. She wanted to throw it at the wall. To smash it on the floor. To stomp on it until the screen shattered, like her dream had been shattered. ‘No,’ she said, casting Flynn a look that said, This includes you. ‘I’ve decided not to come to the party and my decision is final.’
‘But my sweet child,’ Richard said, ‘it won’t be the same without you there.’
‘You’ll get over it,’ Kat said and handed the phone back to Flynn.
Flynn clicked off the call and put the phone back in his pocket without saying anything to Richard. ‘Come on, Kat. You surely don’t think I staged my proposal to get you to—?’
‘Why ask me today? Why not ask me after the weekend when the party is over?’
A muscle worked like a hammer in his jaw. Tap. Tap. Tap. ‘How can you possibly think that? Haven’t the last few weeks shown you how much I care about you? What does it matter when I ask you? The important thing is that I ask you. I love you. Why would I wait?’
Kat reached for her coat, shoving her arms through the sleeves so roughly the lining tore. How could she trust he was being genuine? She was torn; she wanted to believe he loved her but what if it was all a ruse to get her to meet her father in person? Flynn didn’t like losing. He had set himself a goal and he let nothing and no one get in his way of achieving it. There was a streak of ruthlessness in him. She had seen that from the first time she’d met him.
But would he really go so far as to propose to her to achieve his mission?
‘I’m not going to ask you again,’ Flynn said in a hard, tight voice. ‘Take it or leave it.’
Kat turned to look at him with an implacable set to her features. ‘You should know me well enough by now to know I don’t tolerate ultimatums.’
His frown turned his eyebrows into a single intimidating line. ‘I’ll make arrangements for someone else to walk Cricket. You’re relieved from your responsibilities here as of now.’
Kat kept her spine straight, her shoulders aligned, her resolve rimmed with steel. ‘You’re acting like a child who’s thrown its favourite toy out of the sandpit.’
He gave a rough laugh. ‘I’m acting like a child? What about you? You won’t admit to your feelings about me because you’re frightened of allowing someone close in case they let you down.’
‘I’m not in love with you.’ Kat used every ounce of acting ability she possessed. ‘I’m in love with my career. That’s all I want for now. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.’
His top lip curled, his dark eyes flashed. ‘I hope it keeps you warm at night because, after all the lights are down and the adoring fans have all gone home, you’ll be on your own.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
FLYNN COULDN’T WAIT for the party to be over. It was a slow, miserable torture watching the Ravensdale siblings with their partners. It was a painful reminder of what he had lost. No one was looking at him with love shining in their eyes. He had no one he could slip his arm around and draw close. No one to exchange a look with that spoke of love, hope, the future.
He was alone.
Miranda approached with a plate of nibbles. ‘Shame about Kat not coming.’
‘Yeah, well, can’t say I didn’t try.’
‘Maybe she just needs more time.’
‘How much time?’ Flynn couldn’t keep the frustration out of his tone. ‘When you know, you just know, right?’
Miranda’s eyes rounded. ‘You asked her to marry you?’
He swiped a hand down his face as if to swipe away the memory of his failure. How could he have got it so wrong? ‘Maybe I need proposal lessons or something.’
‘It’s probably not your proposal that’s the issue,’ Miranda said. ‘It’s your timing.’
Flynn looked down at her heart-shaped face with those big Bambi eyes brimming with concern. Had he mistimed it? Would he get a different answer if he asked again? ‘Maybe. Maybe not.’ Maybe I’m destined to be alone.
‘Dad’s party was always going to be an issue for her,’ Miranda said. ‘She saw it as your mission. She probably couldn’t separate it from her feelings for you.’
Hope flicked a match inside his chest, the warmth spreading as it took hold. ‘You reckon she has feelings for me?’
Miranda gave him a ‘get real’ look. ‘You men can be so blind at times. Of course she loves you. All the signs are there.’
‘She hasn’t said anything... I mean, she never actually said the words.’
‘In the best relationships you don’t need to.’
As if to confirm it, Leandro looked at Miranda from across the room where he was standing next to Richard. His look said it all: ‘I love you and I can’t wait for this evening to be over so we can be alone’.
Miranda’s cheeks blushed a dusky rose. ‘I’d better rescue him. That’s the third soliloquy he’s suffered tonight about Dad’s brilliance.’
Flynn’s chest cramped when he saw Leandro’s arm slip around Miranda’s waist and draw her close. Flynn shifted his gaze and saw Julius and Holly, and his heart squeezed again. Harder. Like a vice squashing an over-ripe peach. One of the waiters passed with a tray of drinks and Holly shook her head, one of her hands going protectively over her abdomen. The look Julius gave her was so proud, so full of love, it made Flynn feel all the more achingly alone.
Jaz appeared by his side with her usual impishness. ‘Why the long face?’
He sent her a look that told her to back off. ‘Where’s Jake? Chatting up one of the waitresses?’
She laughed a tinkling-bell laugh. ‘No, he’s still recovering from meeting me in the cloakroom. Here he comes now.’
Jake strutted into the room, straightening his tie, his eyes meeting Jaz’s with a satisfied gleam. He pulled Jaz to his side. ‘Find your own girl. This one’s mine.’
Flynn gave him a rictus smile. A been-dead-for-a-month rictus smile. ‘I’m working on it.’
Jake swept his gaze around the room. ‘No Kat?’
‘Nope.’
‘Pity.’
‘Yeah.’
The silence stretched.
‘You’re really serious about her.’ Jake didn’t say it as a question, more of a statement. An observation of truth.
‘Yes. I am.’
‘You going to ask the big question?’
‘I already have.’
Jake’s dark brows shot up. ‘You did?’
‘Yep. She said no.’
Jake’s chin went back against his neck in disgust. ‘You asked her before the party? Are you out of your freaking mind?’
He was out of his mind. Out of his mind with love. Out of his mind with impatience for this wretched party to be over so he could go to Kat and sort this out. ‘I know, I know, I know. Bad timing.’
‘You could skip the speeches and head back to London,’ Jack said.
‘I made a promise to your father.’
‘Yeah, well, does it look like he’s disappointed his love child didn’t show?’ Jake’s tone was cynicism on steroids. ‘At least Mum’s here.’
Flynn looked across to where Elisabetta was working the floor like the superstar she was. She was never happier than when she was centre-stage. Even though she’d threatened not to turn up, she couldn’t help herself. Any chance to take the spotlight off Richard and shine it on her instead was too tempting.
A thought took hold. What if Kat couldn’t stop herself from attending? What if she had changed her mind? What if her desire to meet her half-brothers had overridden her desire to distance herself from her father?
Flynn swept his gaze over the crowded room. There was no sign of her. But for the last few minutes the back of his neck had prickled, like radar picking up a faint signal.
But then he heard something... Cricket was barking outside on the terrace with the smokers, where he had ordered him to stay. Barking madly. Joyfully.
Flynn smiled. He knew what that bark was.
It was a bark of recognition.
Kat had decided to gatecrash the party but not as herself. She wanted to see her family without them seeing her. She wanted to see Flynn too. To see if he had moved on in the two days since she had rejected his proposal. Would he be flirting with one of the beautiful people at the party? Or would he be feeling like she did? Miserable and empty, as if someone had scraped out her heart and her belly?
But she hadn’t factored in Cricket.
Her disguise had fooled the paparazzi hanging around the entrance to Ravensdene. It had fooled the catering staff manager when she’d signed on for duty in the kitchen. She hadn’t tested it on Flynn because she had been assigned the back half of the house for the first half of her shift. But she was no match for Cricket. As soon as she came outside with a tray of drinks for the smokers on the terrace, he recognised her. He danced around her ankles, spinning and leaping and panting in excitement. She put the tray she was carrying on a table and bent down to him. ‘Hush. Don’t blow my cover. I’m not meant to be here.’
Then why are you?
Because I might have been a bit hasty in my judgment.
You’ve blown it. He said he was only going to ask you once.
I know, but I need to see him. Just the once. Just in case I’ve got it wrong.
Kat straightened once Cricket had settled down. Well, marginally, that was. He kept following her like a devoted slave, his tongue hanging out, his little beady eyes dancing as if he knew he was in on her secret.
Kat was about to go back inside when Flynn came out on the terrace. ‘Cricket, leave the waitress alone.’
The waitress?
Of course he won’t recognise me. I’m blonde tonight, with glasses. And heaps of make-up.
If he were truly in love with you, he’d recognise you anywhere in any disguise.
Flynn leaned against the balustrade on the terrace, resting his crutches beside him. ‘Could you bring me a drink?’
Kat approached him warily. ‘Orange juice is all I have left.’ She was quite proud of her English accent. Maybe she wouldn’t need a voice coach after all.
He took the glass and, without looking at her, knocked half of it back. ‘Thanks.’
Kat knew she should have moved on but it annoyed her that he hadn’t recognised her. Really annoyed her, which was ridiculously inconsistent of her. But still. ‘Will that be all?’
‘Yep.’ He knocked back the rest of his drink and handed her the glass, again without looking at her.
She waited a beat. ‘Would you like me to bring you some food? A plate of nibbles?’
‘No thanks.’
‘Another drink?’
‘Not in the mood for celebrating.’
‘Oh?’
He let out a long-drawn-out breath. ‘It’s a long story. I won’t bore you with it when you’ve got work to do.’
‘I’m not busy.’ Kat mentally kicked herself. ‘I mean... I’ve got a minute or two...’
He gave her a brief glance, the sort of glance you gave catering staff that you expect never to see again. ‘Ever been in love?’
Kat looked down at Cricket who was looking up at her with that black-button gaze. ‘I have, actually.’
‘It sucks.’
She glanced back at Flynn. He was studying his bandaged foot with a frown so deep it had joined his eyebrows. ‘Why do you think it sucks?’ she said.
‘If the person you love doesn’t love you back, then it sucks. Big-time.’
‘How do you know she doesn’t love you back?’
‘She never said the words.’
‘But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love you,’ Kat said. ‘It just means she was a little uncertain of the circumstances under which you proposed.’
He looked at her then in puzzlement. ‘How do you know I proposed?’
Kat gave a short, uncertain laugh. ‘Flynn...it’s me. It’s Kat. Don’t you recognise me?’
A smile began in his eyes well before it appeared on his mouth. ‘Of course I recognise you, you little goose. You love me? Really?’
Happiness burst inside Kat’s chest like a flower exploding. ‘I do.’
‘That’s twice you’ve said “I do” to me. Do you reckon you could say it one more time in front of a minister of religion so I can get a ring on your finger?’
Kat was torn between wanting to punch his arm for messing with her head and throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Kissing him won. She threw her arms around him, almost knocking him backwards off the terrace. ‘You want to get married in church?’
‘Anywhere that makes it official.’
She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. ‘I’m sorry for rejecting you the first time. I just had to make sure you really loved me.’
He brushed a strand of blonde wig back behind her ear. ‘I didn’t think it was possible to love someone as much as I love you. Life loses all its colour without you in it.’
Kat stroked his face. ‘These last couple of days have been torture. I’ve been so lonely and miserable. I couldn’t bear another minute without seeing you.’
‘How did you land the waitress job without alerting Richard’s security team?’
She gave him a sheepish look. ‘Well, I had to tell someone, otherwise I would never have got in. He said he would keep it a secret but I didn’t factor in Cricket.’
‘Yeah, well, I still haven’t figured out boarding arrangements for him,’ Flynn said. ‘I knew as soon as I heard him barking that you were here.’
‘Do you think you would’ve recognised me anyway?’
He touched her nose with his fingertip. ‘Sure of it. My body picks you up like radar.’
Kat grinned. ‘Mine too.’
Flynn took her hand and held it against his chest. ‘Time to meet the family...or would you like to stay incognito?’
Kat pulled at her lip with her teeth. ‘Do you think it would annoy Elisabetta? I don’t want to upset her. I have to get through a season with her, remember.’
‘You could stay disguised, but I’m going to have a heck of time explaining to your brothers why I’ve been kissing the blonde waitress.’ Flynn gave a rueful grimace. ‘Too late. Here they come now.’
Kat turned to see her twin half-brothers come out of the French doors. It was a surreal moment to meet them in the flesh. They were exactly alike, especially when they both smiled once they realised what was going on.
‘Welcome to the family,’ Julius said. ‘I hope you know what you’re letting yourself in for.’
‘I think I’ll cope,’ Kat said.
Jake gave her a brotherly hug. ‘Welcome to Mayhem Manor.’
Miranda and Jaz came out with Holly close behind. There were lots of hugs and words of welcome. The warmth of her family made Kat’s heart swell so much, she had difficulty drawing breath.
Her family.
But then another person walked out to the terrace.
Her father.
Kat took a deep breath as he came towards her. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to feel. She didn’t love him. She didn’t even like him. But for the sake of appearances and the rest of the family she held out her hand to him. ‘Hello.’
Richard ignored her hand and hugged her, just long enough for the cameras to document it. ‘Welcome to the family, my dear.’
Elisabetta sauntered out with a glass of champagne in one hand, her expression one of acute boredom, although Kat was sure she could detect a hint of secretive delight in that dark-brown gaze. ‘So, you’ve sorted it all out, Flynn?’
‘Not quite.’
Kat glanced at Flynn who had hopped on his crutches to where she was standing surrounded by her family. ‘What else needs to be sorted?’ she said.
‘You haven’t said you love me. I’m not going back inside the house until you do.’