Page 9 of Robin and Marian
“Marian?”
Stabbing her heels into the ground, she trained her face into a pleasant expression and circled to him with an overly bright smile. “Guy?”
He caught her in a practiced hug. His strong arms crushed her to him, and she fit into the mold of his strong chest like she belonged there. Guy gave a low grumble of pleasure at seeing her and rubbed her back before releasing her. “How have you been?”
Marian wasn’t sure if she could answer that question and be truthful. “Well, you know, busy. You?”
“Yes, insanely busy, kind of a headache to be honest.” As he talked, she remembered how much she’d loved his British accent as he went on about his crammed schedule. “All these photoshoots and interviews. It seems a bit frivolous—but,” he chuckled, “Everyone wants a piece of me.”
“You can always tell them to get lost,” she said flatly. “You own most of the Chronicle. It wouldn’t be too hard.”
He colored in embarrassment. “If it’s not that, it would be meeting with angry board members, so I guess I’ll choose bumping into lovely female acquaintances instead. It’s all about marketing, marketing, marketing.” Then he hesitated, sliding his hand over hers cheekily. “That line doesn’t work on you, does it?”
That forced a more genuine smile to Marian’s lips, and she immediately felt bad for taking her anger for Robin out on his cousin. They’d always been such good childhood friends. “No, no, you’re doing great, and I’m very proud of my…handsome male acquaintance.” She laughed nervously at her own line, noticing that he still didn’t let go of her hand.
He squeezed it. “Enough about me,” he said. “I want to hear everything that you’ve been doing. We should talk. What do you say to dinner?”
Too late, Marian met Elly’s eyes over her cubicle and felt like she’d walked into her trap. Guy was very handsome and charming, but she’d learned from Robin. A famous, rich man brought trouble. She’d rather keep both feet on the ground, thank you. “I wouldn’t dream of getting in the way of your busy schedule,” she began.
“It isn’t a bother,” he said. “I mean, it’s the least I could do, seeing as our parents have already arranged our marriage.”
Elly made a little gasp behind him and stood up to lean over her cubicle in full view as Marian blushed. “My parents teased us horribly,” Marian said, partly for Elly’s benefit. “I am so sorry for that.”
He beamed. “I was only sorry that they dropped it. I believe it was when my parents lost their fortune on the Ziannd deal.”
That made Marian’s cheeks burn more. He’d noticed that? She struggled to find a way to make things right, but he didn’t let her speak. He dug his elbow into the wall of the cubicle, leaning closer to her. “You’ll find I’m nothing like my parents, Marian. And I know you’re nothing like yours.”
It was a relief that he felt that way. Marian tried to smooth the moment over with a joke. “I believe that’s a good thing.” She laughed nervously. “At least in my case.”
His eyes were soft on hers. “The time we spent together during those summers meant a lot to me.” They had to Marian too—he was that sweet boy in the bow tie who’d always brushed off Marian’s scraped knees after she’d tripped all over Robin trying to keep up with him, and he’d been the first to recognize her after all that time they’d lived apart. “I bought my grandfather’s estate in Nottingham, you know,” he said.
“You did?” Robin and Scarlett’s childhood home now belonged to him? She was surprised.
“Yes, I’ve bought up most of the properties around the area. I’ve plans to bring it back to snuff, as a tribute to our childhood.” Marian was glad to hear it, even as he backed her into her cubicle, the sincerity of his looks holding her in place. “I think your parents would approve of me now, don’t you think?”
She felt terrible. Did he actually feel like he had to prove that he was worthy of taking her out to dinner? Her resolve weakened. “Have you really turned things around for Nottingham then?”
He smiled. “I’m not a complete miracle worker. There’s been some resistance from some of the locals. My grandfather still owns Sherwood Forest, not that it does anyone much good since the sawmill closed.”
Marian was sorry to hear that. She’d hoped Little John’s mill would’ve survived the onslaught. All she could see in her mind’s eye was the man’s stricken look when the sheriff had made his fateful announcement. “No,” she breathed. “All those jobs lost!”
The sorrow in Guy’s expression mirrored hers. “It’s a shame. Nottingham will be a ghost town if I don’t do something about it.” His eyes darkened. “Robin caused a lot of damage to everything I’ve loved.”
“Yes,” she said, and felt her anger building.
“He’s still up to no good. Even in prison. I guess he broke some bones in a prison fight. Can you imagine?”
Her chin lifted at that. He’d meant it as an offhand comment, but the horror of imagining Robin in a deadly situation like that made her stomach clench. Despite what Robin had done to the people she loved, she’d hoped he’d be spared. “Where’d you hear that?”
A cautious look spread across his features. The news brought out the reporter in her, though she tried to school her face into a more casual expression to get him to talk. “I’m surprised that you’re the contact person for Robin,” she said with a touch of distaste.
He immediately relaxed at that. “I get calls every once in a while. It’s irritating, but my grandfather doesn’t want anything to do with him. Scarlett only bursts into tears whenever we mention him, and so it falls to me.”
“What happened this time?”
Guy grew guarded again. “Oh, only something he could’ve avoided if he hadn’t gotten himself thrown into prison.” When she waited for the details, he said, “It had something to do with a literacy teacher. Robin made the wrong people angry. Typical Robin—probably mouthing off—but I guess he’s a regular MMA fighter now. Who would’ve thought?” He laughed. Marian didn’t think that was funny. She felt sick. “So, dinner?” he asked.
Marian gulped and shook her worried thoughts from her mind. “I’m sorry, not tonight.” Seeing his tender face fall, she quickly amended her decision. “Soon. We’ll do it soon. I’m looking forward to it.”
