Page 85 of Merrily Ever After
He really was a beautiful guy, those gorgeous blue eyes, that hair which was just on the sexy side of scruffy. And there was an irresistible vitality about him, almost as if his body was struggling to contain all his energy.
‘Understood,’ he said with mock severity.
‘One minute left,’ she warned. But, in truth, the anger had left her and more than anything she wanted him to open his arms and pull her in for a hug, preferably inside in the warm.
‘OK. When you first found out about having a sister, how did you feel?’
‘Um, well I found out in stages, like little pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and slowly put them together,’ she said. ‘So I guess it dawned on me gradually.’
He nodded. ‘Now imagine if you’d found out all in one go and someone had presented the unequivocal facts to you.’
‘I’d have been shocked,’ she said. ‘And I probably wouldn’t have believed it.’
‘And who’d have blamed you,’ said Will softly.
Emily met his gaze and slowly she nodded, realising what he was telling her. ‘And that was precisely what I was about to do to her, wasn’t I? I was so wrapped up in telling Merry our story that I wasn’t thinking about her reaction. How she’d feel finding out something so life-changing in a public place.’
‘And Ray is here too,’ Will reminded her. ‘We don’t know how he’ll respond.’
Emily groaned. ‘That could have been a disaster.’
‘Could have been,’ he repeated. ‘But crisis averted.’
‘Thanks to you. I owe you an apology.’
He grinned and lifted his hand to the back of his head, ruffling his hair. He was only wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt. It was tight-fitting, and she could see every detail of his muscular frame. She felt a dart of desire shoot through her and forced herself to meet his eyes.
‘Tell you what.’ He took another step towards her until their bodies were almost touching and slid his hands up her arms. ‘Let’s call it quits for telling fibs about deer in the bushes.’
‘Deal.’ She held out her hand and he shook it, amused. ‘And maybe giving it a bit more time isn’t a bad thing. She already has a family; she might decide that she doesn’t want any more complications in her life. I need to prepare myself for the fact that she might not be as pleased to find me as I am to find her.’
He gave her a lopsided smile. ‘I can’t imagine she wouldn’t. You’re both lovely.’
‘Oh yes, I’d forgotten that; you helped her when she arrived,’ Emily said pointedly. ‘Thanks for warning me that she was here.’
He pulled a face. ‘Sorry, I did intend to. I offered to go and sit with Bernard for a while because he’s ill. But while I was there, he had a seizure, and I couldn’t leave him. Assoon as the doctor arrived, I came down and found you already talking to Merry.’
‘Oh poor Bernard. Of course you couldn’t leave him.’ Emily shivered and threaded her arm through his. He really was a good guy and he had been looking out for her. They turned back the way they had come. ‘It’s bloody freezing, remind me whose bright idea it was to come outside?’
Will laughed. ‘In my defence, you looked so angry that I thought you might actually punch me. I didn’t want any witnesses to my humiliation. But if you’re cold, I know a great way to warm up, but it involves skin-to-skin contact. A little trick I learned surfing.’
A dart of desire pinged through her and she raised her eyebrows. ‘If you think you’re getting your cold hands on my warm skin, you can think again, mister.’
‘Maybe save that for another time.’ He slipped an arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close, and she leaned into him, revelling in the feel of him, the delicious smell of his cologne.
‘Maybe,’ she said coyly. ‘But now can we please go inside in the warm and decide the best way to approach Merry, so she gets chance to process all this in private.’
‘How about a letter?’ Will suggested.
‘A letter! That’s brilliant, Will. I can tell her everything, I can enclose the photo of her with Dad as a baby and she can take her time to absorb it all. It’s perfect!’
She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips.
‘Hey, I thought we were just friends,’ he teased.
‘When did I say that?
‘Er …’ He narrowed his eyes, pretending to think about it. ‘Literally five minutes ago in front of Merry.’
