Taming Eric (33 page)

He couldn’t help it he smiled at her. Seeing her standing there naked before him, shooting him the death stare just didn’t quite work when she had no clothes on. “You look so adorable when you’re angry.” Ignoring her snort of frustration. “You look sexy when you’re angry too, especially when you’re about to tell me off while you’re naked.” He pointed out, grinning uncontrollably a
t her.

When her eyes dropped down and she saw she was in fact naked, she rolled her eyes before snapping. “Oh shut up Eric.” Before storming off, running up the stairs to go and get ready. He watched her until she disappeared from view, quietly chuckling to hi
mself.

While she was gone, he folded up the blanket and put it away, disposed of the cucumber and made sure all evidence of their time last night was gone. He put on the kettle to start boiling the water so it would be quicker to reheat once Maggie and Tom arrived and since there was still no sign of Natasha and he could hear the shower running upstairs, he went outside to the woodshed, loading up a wheelbarrow of split timber to bring over to the house so he could swap it into the fire bin by the front door. He decided to really load up the bin since it was over 6 foot long and just over 2 feet high, making more than one trip to the woodshed with the wheel barrow. He was just on his third trip back with another load when he spotted Natasha standing on the back deck watching him app
roach.

His eyes travelled down the length of her in her emerald green dress with big white spots and matching green shoes. The dress had a 1950’s style about it and of course she looked stunning with her auburn curls tumbling down around her shoulders. She looked slightly nervous and he guessed she was probably worried about how Maggie would react to her, but he knew the older woman would love her too. “So you did it then? You got ready in time. You look stunning
baby.”

He continued around to the front of the house to unload the wood into the large bin and put the wheel barrow away before heading back into the house. He still had about 20 minutes before Maggie and Tom were due to arrive so he started up his laptop to take care of some emails from clients who were waiting for answers fro
m him.

Natasha told him she was going out to have a wander around in the gardens and although he was tempted to join her, he needed to take care of business first. She came back inside about 15 minutes later with a handful of roses she’d picked from the gardens and she started going through all the cupboards searching for a vase. Once she found one, she arranged the roses in it, filled it with water and placed it in the centre of the table near where he was wo
rking.

He finished what he had to do and had just turned off his laptop when they heard a car coming up the driveway. Maggie and Tom had arrived and going by the way Natasha tensed up, she was starting to get herself worked up about meeting M
aggie.

He walked over to the front door, swinging it wide open a warm smile on his face when he saw the woman who had been more of a mother to him than his own one. Maggie was a little powerhouse of a woman. Small in stature, but don’t bloody well cross her or she’d verbally tear strips off a person. She wore her greying hair in a bun at the nape of her neck most of the time. In fact Eric couldn’t remember ever having seen her with her hair
down.

When she saw him, her face lit up, love shining in her eyes as she pulled him into her arms for a hug. She was so tiny he had to bend over at an awkward angle to hug her back and once she released him her eyes moved to where Natasha stood, looking nervous and a little shy as she watched their exc
hange.

“Introduce me to your bonnie lass Eric.” She said in her thick Scottish accent, beaming at Natasha who responded with a wide
smile.

“Maggie, this is Natasha, Natasha this is the famous Maggie.” He said and Maggie la
ughed.

“What’s with this famous rub
bish?”

Natasha put up her hand. “That was me. With all the food you got to stock this place and the mouth watering meals you prepared I said to Eric that I couldn’t wait to meet the famous Ma
ggie.”

Eric found himself relaxing when it was obvious from the huge smile on Maggie’s face that she approved of his girl. “Oh bless you lass. I’m glad you’re enjoying the meals although you’re not eating enough lassy, you’re too sk
inny.”

Natasha laughed and even Eric chuckled. Maggie wouldn’t be saying those words if he saw just how much his PA could eat. She was obviously one of those fortunate ones who could eat and not gain w
eight.

“Put the kettle on Eric, I brought something for us to have for morning tea. It’s out in the car. Thomas go and get it for me would you pl
ease?”

Eric glanced over at Natasha a hint of a smile on his face and he could see the humour in hers at how much Maggie had Tom under control when he mumbled. “Yes dear.” Before trotting back outside to thei
r car.

“So where did you two meet?” Maggie asked, looking from one to the
other.

“She’s my PA.” He expl
ained.

“Oh, how lovely. So you fell in love then, in the office?” Again she glanced from one to the
other.

Eric felt himself tensing as he did everything he could to avoid looking over at Natasha. He could feel himself blushing, something he wasn’t accustomed to doing but Maggie had gone and hit them with an awkward situation with one question. He loved Natasha but he didn’t want Maggie or Natasha to figure that one out. When he took a quick look over at his PA, he noticed she had blushed and was looking just as uncomfortable as he was. The reason for her discomfort wasn’t clear to him though. Did that mean she cared more than she was letting on or did she simply find the question awkward because she was trying to spare his feelings and not answer truthfully? Fortunately Maggie must have sensed the sudden tension in the room because her face fell. “Oh dear, I’m sorry. Jumped the gun a bit did I? That’s my biggest problem. I do love a happy en
ding.”

Fortunately Tom walked back inside and spared them both having to answer Maggie. He was carrying a large cake tin which she took off him, lifting the lid to reveal an assortment of homemade cup
cakes.

The sight of them provided a much needed distraction from the road the conversation had been heading down and he reached for a cake. “Wow Maggie. You’ve outdone your
self.”

Before he could pick one she slapped his hand away. “Oh be away with you. You’ll wait until the tea and coffee is made
lad.”

He scowled at her for immediately making him feel like a scolded child and when he looked over at Natasha, she was trying not to
laugh.

Grumbling, he headed into the kitchen to make a pot of tea for Maggie and Tom and poured coffee for Natasha and himself. She came over to help him and together they carried everything to the
table.

Once they were all seated everyone helped themselves to a cupcake and Eric had to endure the torture of watching Natasha moan when she bit into hers. Fuck but did she have to moan like that over all food she liked? He shifted in his seat when his cock chose that particular time to get hard, pushing against the fly of his jeans. Dammit but the timing couldn’t be worse. Not while Tom and the woman who was his mother figure sat across the table from him. He just prayed that she didn’t ask him to get up and grab her something otherwise she was going to find out the boy she’d raised like her son wasn’t a young boy an
ymore.

He couldn’t contain the amusement in his eyes all the same as he ate his cupcake while watching her eat hers. He knew he was torturing himself to do so, but he couldn’t look away. When he finally turned his head, his eyes caught Maggie’s who was watching him, a knowing look on her face. Somehow he suspected she knew his interest in his PA ran much deeper than he was letting on but he ignored her look and his attention returned to Natasha. “Good baby?” He grinned and she n
odded.

“Oh Maggie these are amazing.” She turned to Maggie as she licked some icing from her full botto
m lip.

“Glad you like them lassie. Have another you need some meat on those bones of yours.” She pushed the cake tin closer and Natasha hesitated briefly before selecting a chocolate cu
pcake.

When she bit into it, icing ended up on her bottom lip and before she could lick it off, Eric reached over and ran his thumb over it, picking up the icing and sticking it into his
mouth.

Maggie asked him how work was going and he started telling her about it all before the questions turned to Natasha as Maggie asked her about her family and working for him. She turned to grin at him. “He’s a good boss. I like my work.” She
said.

“Oh lassie, come help me clean up the kitchen and you can answer that question truthfully.” Maggie laughed and Eric watched as the two women stood and began clearing the dishes and taking them into the ki
tchen.

He was going to stay where he was and try and blatantly listen in on their conversation but Tom started talking and finally Eric realised he wanted him to come outside to the garage to see the ride on mower. Something was wrong with it apparently. He groaned to himself. He didn’t give a fuck about the ride on, if it had shit itself, then he’d give Tom money for a new one. He didn’t do mechanical work anymore. He didn’t need to but Tom was insistent, so reluctantly he got up and followed the older man ou
tside.

Tom spent some time going over the care of Eric’s home, when the calves would need to be sent off to the sales before lifting the cover on the ride on mower and started going on about what the problem was. Eric struggled to focus but his mind was on what the two women were doing inside. They had been gone for quite a while and he was worried that Maggie might reveal his true past to Natasha. A part of him didn’t think she would, but at the same time he could tell Maggie liked his PA and that might make her more likely to open up. He found it hard to concentrate on Tom’s words when he was worrying about what was going on inside his
house.

He personally didn’t give a shit about the mower, he just wanted to get back inside so he could reassure himself that Maggie wasn’t saying things he didn’t want said. His heart tightened in his chest as his anxiety rose and when finally he spotted Maggie and Natasha walking towards the garage, his eyes immediately shifted to Natasha’s face to try and read her expre
ssion.

When they stepped inside he grinned at her, still searching her face as he willed himself to act normally around her. She smiled back and although she looked slightly tense, she didn’t look like she was disgusted with him so Maggie must have kept his s
ecret.

“Oh what are you boys fiddling around with now?” Maggie
asked.

Tom snorted. “It’s not fiddling woman, we’re trying to locate the problem with the en
gine.”

Well Tom was Eric thought to himself. He personally didn’t give a damn about the ride on mower’s engine. He just wanted to stop having to pretend like he was interested when he wasn’t. He was ready for Tom and Maggie to go home so he didn’t lose any more of his time with Natasha and so he didn’t have to worry about anything from his past accidently comin
g out.

“Oh and what’s Eric supposed to know about engines Tom? Leave the lad alone. He shouldn’t be wasting his holiday time on a ride on mower.” At her words, he secretly cheered. Maggie got it, she knew he’d want to enjoy his holiday time and not spend it pouring over some old engine when he could simply replace the whole
mower.

“It’s ok Maggie. If the damned thing’s had it, I’ll get a new one. No point nursing a tired old piece of machinery, trying to keep it going. I’m good for the money for a new one.” He
joked.

“Listen to the lad Tom. Don’t bother him with this now. Let him enjoy the rest of his stay here with his
lass.”

At her assertive tone Eric struggled not to grin. She really did wear the pants in their relationship but then Tom seemed happy with that arrangement. They’d been married a long time afte
r all.

“Tom if you want to repair the mower, that’s up to you, but I’ll leave you with enough money to buy a new one. I don’t want you wasting your time trying to keep this old thing going if it’s ready for retire
ment.”

“So mechanics aren’t your thing?” Natasha teased him, humour gleaming in her eyes. “I thought you could do anything Mr Rothman. After all, you’re not just a pretty
face.”

He scowled at her, not entirely enjoying her teasing him in front of Tom and Maggie. “I used to keep the old bombs going that I drove years ago baby. I can work on an engine enough to keep it going for a while but those days are gone. I don’t have the time or interest to do it anymore. It’s just easier to replace it baby. Why spend hours tearing engines apart, getting dirty when I have the money to buy a new
one?”

Eric jumped slightly when Maggie suddenly clapped her hands together. “Ok Tom, come on. Let’s leave these two to enjoy their time without us old fogies getting in their
way.”

Immediately Tom stopped studying the engine on the mower and straightened. “Yes
dear.”

At his instant capitulation Eric struggled not to grin and from Natasha’s expression, he wasn’t alone. They all left the garage and headed back towards the house. “I’ll get your cake tin.” Natasha said, Maggie told her she’d come too and the two women walked i
nside.

When they came back out of the house Tom and Eric shook hands and he gave Maggie a hug. She whispered in his ear. “Don’t be afraid to open your heart to this one lad. She’s perfect for you.” She stepped back and he stared at her schooling his features to hide his shock at her words. Had she seen right through him and worked out that he loved Natasha? Fuck, would she have told Natasha that? He forced himself to calm down. No she couldn’t have, Natasha wasn’t acting any differently toward
s him.