London Falling (31 page)

He loved Aimee.

His heart stopped beating, flipped over, and started a slow drumbeat in his chest. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. After only a few days–barely a week–he’d fallen for her. It was too fast, yet every instinct he’d ever possessed told him it was the real thing. His mother had told him that was the way it happened with her and his father, after only one date. Maybe it was in his blood, this ability to know so quickly. And now she was about to be taken away from him.

A surge of adrenaline pumped into his system. He’d be damned if he’d let that happen. He’d fight tooth and nail to keep her safe. They couldn’t deport her without some sort of proof that she’d been working illegally. And he would make sure they never got that.

Simon stepped into the kitchen. Aimee stood at the sink, rubber gloves on her hands and a dish towel tied around her hair. She’d never looked more beautiful. She was laughing at something Lucy said, and she covered her mouth, as if she was embarrassed by her unadulterated show of emotion.

When she turned her head to see who walked in the door, her eyes were bright with mirth and her cheeks were flushed. He wanted to throw everyone out of the room, pull her into his alms, and hold her forever.

“Hey,” she said. “Is everyone gone?”

He nodded and then went to go stand by her. He wasn’t going to let this bloke intimidate her. They’d stand together. “This gentleman has something to say to you,” Simon said, motioning towards the officer. He tried to communicate with his eyes that everything would be okay, but Aimee simply looked at him with confusion.

Aimee pulled off her gloves as she turned towards the door. “Oh, hey Alistair. I didn’t see you walk in.”

“Aimee.”

Alistair? Aimee? They were on a first name basis? How could she be so calm when her life was about to be torn apart?

Aimee set the rubber gloves on the counter and walked to the counter on the other side of the kitchen. “I have the recipe right here. I found that Cadbury milk chocolate tastes the best, but you can always experiment, especially if you’re a dark chocolate fan.” She picked up a sheet of paper and walked it over to the bloke.

Alistair perused the sheet as if it contained the secrets to a terrorist plot to eliminate the royal family, folded it into squares and tucked it into his jacket pocket. “Thanks,” he said. “I can’t wait to try this out for myself.”

Simon closed his eyes. Opened them. Did he really just see that?

“Alistair wanted the recipe for my cupcakes,” Aimee said. She smiled at Alistair like they shared a secret joke. “He claims he’s a closet chef, but there’s no way to prove that, is there?”

Simon clenched his fists. Who did this bloke think he was? He was unprofessional. Did the royal family really trust this loser?

Alistair shrugged. “My mum was a terrible cook so I learned to fend for myself.” He nodded towards Lucy and then Aimee. “Thanks again for the brilliant fairy cakes. And the recipe. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.” And then he slipped out the door.

Simon stared at the empty spot near the door waiting for the bloke to reappear and say, “Oh, I forgot I was supposed to arrest you and have you deported,” but nothing happened.

“Why are you standing there with your mouth hanging open like that?”

Aimee asked.

Simon clamped his lips together and slowly unclenched his fists. “I thought he was going to arrest you and have you deported.”

“I don’t know what it is about you,” she said, “but no cop seems to want to get you in trouble. First you got off with that traffic ticket, and now this.”

“What ticket?” Lucy asked.

“It was nothing,” Simon said. Bollocks. He’d totally lost sight of the fact that he was the one who couldn’t get into legal trouble, not Aimee. She’d probably be thrilled to be deported, because then she’d get home faster. He, on the other hand, would be gutted.

“Simon got out of a traffic ticket the other night,” Aimee said. “And now Alistair didn’t even bother to look into me. Or he did, and our story was so believable that he didn’t bother.” She picked up her rubber gloves. “Did your dad talk to you?”

“About what?” he asked.

“You got out of a ticket?” Lucy asked. “They should have given you one.

Maybe then you’d slow down.”

“It wasn’t for speeding. It was for running a red light,” Simon said.

“Are you serious?” Lucy asked. “What has got into you?

Simon shrugged. “I did it for Aimee. We were chasing the bloke who stole her money, but we lost him.”

“You did it for Aimee?” Lucy shook her head. “In a million years, I’ll never understand you. I still don’t understand how we came out of the same womb.”

Aimee smiled at him, and he knew that she understood exactly what drove him. More than anything, he wanted to kick Lucy out and tell Aimee about his realization. But he couldn’t. It was too soon. She’d think he was crazy to have these feelings after only a week. He thought he was crazy.

“We’ll just finish cleaning up in here, and go round to my place,” Lucy said.

“You’re leaving?” Damn, he’d forgotten that he’d kicked Aimee out of his house. And now that meant, they’d be spending the New Year apart, when all he wanted to do was start the New Year off with Aimee by his side. Where she belonged. “Why don’t you stay here? We’ve got leftovers and plenty of fairy cakes for pudding. And I’m sure I can drum up a bottle or two of champagne.”

“But we had plans to watch chick-flicks tonight,” Lucy said. “Everything is all set up over at my place. And we have to feed the dog. Besides, don’t you have plans? A hot date or something?”

He hadn’t planned on anything beyond tonight’s charity event. “No plans,” he said, suddenly thankful he’d been so lax on his social life.

Otherwise, he’d be stuck playing the gallant date to someone he didn’t care about, when all he really wanted was to tuck Aimee into his shoulder and spend time with her, even if all they did was stare at the wall. “Why don’t you bring everything back here? I’ll help Aimee finish cleaning up.” It wouldn’t be ideal, but at least he’d be with Aimee, even if not alone.

Aimee glanced at him with a tiny little smile. Did she suspect how he felt about her?

“That makes no sense,” Lucy said. “All of our things are over there. We’d have to go back and forth twice, rather than go home once. And I, for one, am exhausted. I’m ready to put on my pajamas and kick my feet up. At home.”

“What do you want to do?” he asked Aimee.

“I don’t really care one way or another,” she said.As long as I ‘m with you. He could hear the unspoken words. Or had he imagined them?

Spending the evening here would be so much more private, but Lucy looked ready to fight him on this. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll do New Year’s at Lucy’s.”

Aimee looked pleased with the prospect of him joining them. The corners of her mouth turned up at the sides, but she didn’t say anything.

Lucy looked at him like he’d lost his mind. “I don’t think you heard me the first time,” she said. “We’re watching chick flicks.”

“I heard you,” he said.

“Simon,” she said, with a warning note in her tone.

“Would you make your favorite brother stay home by himself on New Year’s Eve?” He made as sad a face as he could.

Lucy stared at him for several seconds. She sighed. “Fine. But no nasty comments about the movies. No comments about how unrealistic the stories are, or how much you hate them. You will keep your mouth shut.

Understand?”

Simon grinned. Lucy didn’t understand. He didn’t care if they made him paint his toenails pink and put purple eye shadow on him, as long as Aimee was there with him. A romantic comedy was nothing. Actually, it fit his mood perfectly. “I understand. I shall endeavor to keep my nasty comments to myself.”

“Then you had better start cleaning so we can get out of here.” She handed him a bin liner. “Go pick up the trash. And bring back any glasses I missed.”

He took the plastic bag from her. The sooner he finished, the sooner they could leave. Within thirty minutes, they had the majority of the house picked up and the dishes done. They packed everything up, and he followed Lucy’s Audi to her flat.

While Lucy and Aimee changed, he organized their spread in front of Lucy’s TV. Aimee returned first, wearing her pajamas with the clouds on them and the same t-shirt she’d worn when he first met her. Cupcake trotted in right behind her. Aimee’s hair was pulled up on top of her head, but a few stray tendrils caressed her neck. He sat up.

“Hey,” she said. She came over and sat down next to him on the sofa.

Cupcake curled at her feet.

His good mood got even better. This night couldn’t get any better. Unless they were alone in his bedroom.

Lucy came into the room. “Okay. Do you want the BBC version of Persuasion or The Devil Wears Prada?” She turned to Simon with narrowed eyes. “You don’t get a vote.”

“Persuasion,” Aimee said. “I love Jane Austen and I’ve never seen that one.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. He was stuck watching Jane Austen movies on a major holiday. While everyone else was out drinking and carousing, he was stuck here.

Lucy glared at him. “You can leave any time you want.”

“Oh no. This is one of my favorites,” he lied with a grin.

Aimee leaned over the table to take a mini-sandwich, and her leg touched his. His entire body came to attention. He’d watch a six part mini-series on the history of dirt if he could spend it next to Aimee.

He was the luckiest bloke on earth. His event had gone off brilliantly, he’d had a chance to pitch Prince William in person, and he had a fighting chance at the business, which meant his father wasn’t going to sell the bank, and maybe he’d finally consent to turn operations over to Simon.

But the absolute topper to his New Year’s was that he had Aimee by his side. Beautiful, smart, caring Aimee. He slid over on the couch and put his arm around Aimee. She stiffened, but instead of shrugging him off, like he half expected her to, she curled up next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. Maybe she didn’t love him–not yet, and especially after he’d treated her so abominably–but she still had forgiven him enough to save him tonight and cuddle up as if she cared for him a little. Tough, independent Aimee was leaning into him like she trusted him.

Lucy hit play on the DVD player and glanced at them as she turned off the light. Her eyelids shot up to the top of her head, but she didn’t say anything.

They watched the rest of the movie like that. He couldn’t even remotely tell anyone what the movie was about. He just focused on the soft woman beside him and how lucky he was.

He stroked her arm and pulled her close. Her hair smelled like toasted cheese and his shampoo. Her body moved with each breath, and soon it seemed they were breathing together. He would have given anything to have been alone with her at that moment.

His sister was curled up under a blanket and fast asleep. It was almost one in the morning, but he was wide awake.

He touched his lips to Aimee’s forehead. She tilted her head up to look at him with those beautiful brown-green eyes open and trusting. He touched the tiny freckle on her right cheek.

“Come home with me,” he whispered.

Aimee glanced at Lucy and then back at him. “I thought you wanted me to stay here?” she whispered. “I could put your plans in danger.”

“I don’t care. Besides, if the Royal Protection Services didn’t catch anything, then no one will.”

She tilted her head in indecision. “Why?”

Because he loved her. As if that wouldn’t send her running for the hills.

Besides, she’d never believe it. Still, he couldn’t completely hide his feelings from her. He shifted on the sofa so they were face to face. “I fancy the pants off you, Aimee Kennedy.” He pulled her chin forward and kissed her lips, trying to tell her how he felt about her with a gentle kiss, even if he couldn’t be completely honest. Not yet.

When he pulled back, she licked her lips. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she bit her lower lip.

“What?” he asked.

She seemed to weigh her answer. Had he pushed too fast? She leaned forward, pulling his head to the side, so she could whisper directly in his ear “I fancy the pants off you, too.”

His chest expanded and he crushed her with his embrace. He never wanted to let go.

When she finally pulled back, her cheeks were red in embarrassment.

She was adorable. And if she was saying things like that, she was starting to trust him.

He stood up and held out his hand to her. “Let’s go,” he whispered. She looked directly in his eyes, as she placed her hand in his. He pulled her up and kissed her gently on the lips. “Ready?”

She nodded. “I just need to get Cupcake’s things.”

Cupcake heard his name and hopped to attention.

Simon grinned. His life just couldn’t get any better than this.

Chapter Fourteen

“You’re late,” Simon’s administrator said to him.

Simon grinned at her, before continuing down the hall to his office. He didn’t feel remotely guilty and it was the third time this week, but he was in too good a mood to care. He and Aimee had been spending every evening together, staying out late to sell fairy cakes, and then spending more time together in bed. He was exhausted, but a good exhausted.

Aimee took care of him, in a way he’d never appreciated before now. He wanted to go home after work and dine with her, rather than staying at the office until all hours of the night and ordering take-out. For the first time in his adult life, he understood the comforts of home and having someone there to greet him. Someone he cared about. Although he couldn’t tell her how he felt about her, he could spend every available moment showing her how he felt.

He wanted to give her something to show her how much he cared, but Aimee wouldn’t accept anything. She wouldn’t even take money for the tube!

She was so different than anyone he’d ever dated. How many times had he had to spend all afternoon at the shops with Nealy and then been coerced into buying some outrageously expensive outfit for her? There was always something, even with his most recent dates. Dinner at a five-star restaurant, an expensive birthday gift, a trip to Paris. Being with Aimee was so refreshing after all that.