Page 8 of One Night in My Rival's Bed

GRAYSONWASSTILLfrowning as he asked his mother, ‘Do you have any idea where Ethan and Niamh are now? We left them for a few minutes at the restaurant, where they’d asked us to meet them, but when we got back they’d disappeared.’

‘We?’his mother asked, like she was a detective homing in on a suspect’s conflicting evidence.

Grayson glanced at me and then rolled his eyes. ‘Niamh’s older sister Ashleigh.’

‘Ash,’ I interjected quickly. No one ever calls me by my full name. Only my father called me Ashleigh and since he’s been gone I can’t bear hearing it on anyone else’s lips.

‘Is she against their relationship too?’ his mother asked in an affronted tone.

‘We both have some serious concerns, yes,’ Grayson said.

‘Well, I’m not sure I should tell you in case you try and ruin things for them,’ his mother said.

‘We don’t want to ruin anything,’ Grayson said with a note of frustration in his voice. ‘We just want them to slow down a bit.’

‘So says the man who changes lovers by the week, or even less,’ his mother said with a generous dollop of disapproval.

‘We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about Ethan,’ Grayson said, pinching the bridge of his nose again until his tanned skin turned white under the pressure.

‘Ethan is an adult. He might have a disability but he can decide how to live his life and if he wants to spend it with Niamh, who are you and her sister to oppose it? I don’t want to see him end up alone and lonely...or give up...’ The quality of his mother’s voice changed over those three little revealing words, ‘or give up.’ Had Ethan tried to end his life after his last relationship ended? Grayson had said his brother was shattered by the previous breakup. That was understandable, given he had been set up and exploited by his carer. But shattered to what extent? To the point of wanting to end it all?

Niamh had dipped in and out of depression a couple of times over the years, wondering if anyone would ever love her the way she was. I had always supported her through those dips in mood and was always watching out for another one. Believe me, after losing our father to suicide, I have become extremely hypervigilant about subtle shifts in mood. But over the last six weeks I’d become a little more relaxed about her. She had been happier and more positive in her outlook than I had seen her in years. I’d put it down to the very expensive psychologist I had organised for her. But clearly it had more to do with Ethan Barlowe. Maybe I needed to be a little more positive about their relationship. It wasn’t just money and security Ethan could give my sister—he could provide emotional support. Love. Commitment.

Grayson ended the call with his mother a short time later. He slipped the phone back in his jacket pocket and looked at me in a world-weary fashion. ‘I’m sorry you had to listen to that.’

‘I wasn’t listening,’ I said. I’m actually quite a good liar. I can control all the so-called tells people watch out for—the micro expressions that give most people away. But I got the feeling I wasn’t fooling Grayson Barlowe. He held my gaze for a long moment, the silence stretching, stretching, stretching...

Then he looked at my mouth and I had the sudden urge to moisten my lips. I rolled my lips together instead and he continued to stare at my mouth as if it was something of unique and profound interest to him.

His gaze came back to mine and my heart skipped a beat at the bright gleam in his eyes. ‘What if they didn’t go far when we left them?’

I was having trouble keeping up. I was so focused on that gleam in his eyes and wondering if he was going to kiss me.

‘Erm...’ I chewed at my lower lip, not sure of what to say, which, let me tell you, is way out of character for me. I am never lost for words.

‘What if they stayed where they were?’

I frowned in confusion. ‘But they weren’t in the restaurant. I looked at every table. Besides, the wait staff told us they’d left the restaurant.’

‘Not in the restaurant but in the hotel?’

Now I understood the gleam in his eyes—he thought he had solved a mystery. I was a little annoyed I hadn’t thought of the possibility of Ethan and Niamh booking a room myself. It made sense they couldn’t have gone far with Ethan’s mobility issues.

‘But how will we find out for sure? The hotel reception staff won’t release private information about their guests,’ I pointed out.

‘I’m Ethan’s legal guardian. They will have to tell me.’

‘How come you’re his guardian and not your mother or father?’

‘My father wasn’t interested, and my mother didn’t want to do it on her own, so she signed it over to me.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I insisted.’

I raised my eyebrows. ‘And no one ever says no to you?’

His eyes locked on mine with a searing heat that sent liquid fire through my blood. ‘Occasionally.’

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