Page 68 of Gold Digger
“W-what?”
“Our deal. The temporary engagement.”
“Er… what, you want to cut it shorter or something?” Pain lanced through me as I said the words, but if Ollie wanted us gone, then I guessed it was better sooner rather than later. Hayley was already way too attached. And he’d promised tohonour the school fees and I believed him. My salary now was significantly higher. We would be fine. We would be better than fine. Why, then, did it feel like my heart had been ripped out of my chest and lay bleeding on the floor in front of me?
“No, Lottie,” he said, his voice edged with real irritation now as he stalked forward towards me. “I donotwant to cut anything short.”
A bolt of relief flashed through me so strong my whole body sagged with it and I blew out a breath I hadn’t even realised I’d been holding.
“What I want to know,” he said as he crowded me back against the door of the pool house, “is why the fuck you immediately jump to me cutting things short and why you think I don’t care about Hayley speaking to Florrie which is amassivefucking deal.”
“You’re using the f-word a lot again,” I whispered as his arms caged me in, and he leaned his body into mine.
“Fuck right I am,” he snapped just before he kissed me. His lips were warm and firm against mine; his warmth and strength surrounded me. I could feel his muscles moving under the warm skin of his chest as I slid my hands up into his hair and opened my mouth under his. Once he’d thoroughly scrambled my brain with that kiss, he pulled back slightly to look down at me, his forehead resting against mine; one of his large hands was holding me to him at my lower back, and the other was in my hair.
Everything about the way he held me was ultra-possessive, almost caveman-like, and so the opposite of the sophisticated, urbane aristocrat that the rest of the world got to see. A wave of absolute desire and need left me feeling almost weak in his hold. My breaths were coming fast as my lips parted. It was the most turned-on I think I’d ever been in my life.
“Did it feel temporary when I fucked you in the shower this morning?” he growled. “Did it feel temporary when I told you I loved you?”
I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.
“Good. I’ll tell Mum to start planning a wedding.”
My eyes went wide.
“B-but you don’t… I mean… you want me to marry you? For real? Now? Th-th-that’s mad.”
“You’regoingto marry me, and it’s perfectly sane.” He was growling again.
“Ollie, are you proposing to me?” my voice pitched high. “If so, I wouldn’t say this is the most conventional way to do it.”
There was a pause, and then his face relaxed from his fiercely possessive expression to a wide smile, and his hand on my neck relaxed. “We’ll see.”
He brushed his lips against mine then stared down at me again. “For the moment, I’ll settle for no more talk about this being temporary – apparently, it makes me a little ragey.”
“Okay,” I said hesitantly. “If you really mean it then maybe we could ease back on the temporary chat.”
“I know I lost your trust, Lottie,” he said carefully. “But I care about you and Hayley. I don’t know why you didn’t tell me that Hayley talks to her peers. But please don’t keep things from me, okay?”
I looked up at him and could hear the sincerity in his voice. My eyes slid from his to go down and to the left. You didn’t have to be as good as me at reading body language to know I was hiding something.
“Lottie?” He was frowning at me now. “Is there something else you’re not telling me?”
I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Your brother-in-law is an alcoholic.”
He blinked, and I held my breath. His hand at my back and the one that was now in my hair flexed as he opened his mouth and snapped it shut.
“Lottie, I… er, listen Blake drinks, but I don’t think he’s an alcoholic.” I closed my eyes slowly. Ollie didn’t realise he was doing it, but he’d withdrawn from me. Walls had gone up. He’d even shifted back slightly, putting physical space between us. His hands loosened on my back, falling to his side and the other hand went from my neck to his. I watched the muscles of his arm tighten as he squeezed. And I immediately regretted saying anything. But then I remembered Blake’s grip on Claire’s arm and her wince of pain. Ollie said I could trust him – I had to learn to trustsomebody. And he’dpromised. So I leaned into him, trying to close the distance he’d put between us, and I wrapped my hand around his arm.
“Iknowhe’s an alcoholic, Ollie,” I said firmly. “And I… I just have a bad feeling about him and your sister.”
Ollie’s eyebrows went up. “A bad feeling? Lottie, you’re not giving me much to go on here.”
I sighed. “Look, ifIget a bad feeling, then something is wrong. And Florrie’s in the mix. I just?—”
But Ollie was already shaking his head. He wasn’t going to believe me. “Sorry, darling, I know you have crazy good intuition, but I’ve known Blake since we were kids. Maybe his drinking is a bit out of hand – I’ll have another chat with him about it. But if you’re suggesting he’d ever hurt his family, you’re way off base. He’s been good for Claire. Her divorce was messy, and she was depressed for a long time. Blake really stepped up for her.”
“He wasn’t drinking alcohol when you were kids, Ollie,” I said, desperate to make him understand. “It changes people. Good people. I know you don’t think that?—”
