LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter 3

      ‘She’s asleep,’ Tyler said, reaching through the seats to prod his girlfriend’s arm. ‘Trust me, once she’s out like that she’s dead to the world for the next hour. You can turn off the music from hell.’

      ‘I like it,’ Lucas lied. ‘It’s festive.’ They’d had a tour of traditional British Christmas pop music over the last quarter of an hour, some Lucas recognised, some he didn’t. He supposed maybe you needed to have grown up with the songs to appreciate them properly. He liked the one about being lonely this Christmas, though, even if it made him wish he would be. Just him and his farm and his dog. TV, whisky and something simple for dinner.

      Okay, he’d probably miss the food at Midfield House, if he was honest. But great food he could get at his own restaurant, and the company he could definitely live without.

      ‘You’re punishing me for something,’ Tyler said. ‘What?’

      Lucas frowned at the dark road through the windscreen. ‘Why would I be punishing you?’ They hadn’t spoken in months. The closest they’d got was when he phoned to warn him about the photos and spoken to Dory. He glanced over at her, asleep beside him. She looked surprisingly peaceful and relaxed, given what was waiting for them at the end of their drive.

      ‘For the photos, maybe?’ Tyler said. He sounded guilty. ‘Or dating my assistant?’

      ‘Since when have I cared who you date, Tyler?’ Even if Dory could be something of a scandal. The press loved a good seducing-the-help story when it came to their financial or moral leaders. And between the restaurant business and the charitable arm, the Alexander Corporation was both. But Lucas was less bothered about the family and company reputations than he was about spending the next three days listening to his father and Tyler trying to find a way to spin it, while his mother tried to convince him to come back and run the company again.

      ‘Never.’ Tyler flopped back against the seat. His relief made Lucas nervous. Was there more to this story? What wasn’t Tyler telling him? ‘That’s true.’

      ‘So why would I be punishing you? Mother, on the other hand…’

      ‘God, don’t.’ Tyler groaned. ‘This is going to be a disaster, isn’t it?’

      ‘Probably.’ But then Lucas remembered Dory insisting that Tyler leave work behind to spend time with his family. ‘Maybe not for you, though. She might actually be good for you, this one.’

      ‘Mum’s going to hate her.’

      ‘Our mother would hate anyone you brought home,’ Lucas pointed out. Tyler was the beloved angel son. No woman stood a chance.

      ‘She liked Cheryl,’ Tyler said, and Lucas winced involuntarily at the mention of his ex-wife. Tyler was right. Lucas secretly believed that, if she’d been given a choice, Felicia would have kept Cheryl over him in the divorce.

      ‘Cheryl was different,’ he said, even though the fact she’d been so exactly the same as the rest of his family was the reason he’d had to divorce her in the end. ‘Mum practically hand-picked her. She’s the daughter of her best friend. She was planning the wedding before our third date. Besides, she was marrying me, not you. That makes a difference.’

      ‘So you think if I married Cheryl, Mum would suddenly hate her?’ Tyler asked.

      Lucas met his brother’s eye in the rear-view mirror, until Tyler glanced away. ‘Are you likely to?’

      ‘God no!’ Tyler laughed. ‘I mean, I’m with Dory.’

      ‘Then can we stop talking about my ex-wife?’

      ‘Absolutely.’

      In the silence that followed, Dory’s playlist clicked on to Elvis singing about his Blue Christmas. Lucas was willing to place money that the collective Alexander Christmas would be worse. Elvis should be grateful to be alone.

      ***

      Chris Rea was singing about driving home for Christmas. Hadn’t they already had that one? Dory blinked the sleep out of her eyes and winced as she straightened up in her seat.

      ‘Where are we?’ she asked, clearing her throat when the words came out croaky.

      ‘About five minutes from Midfield House,’ Lucas replied. ‘You have good timing. Unlike your boyfriend.’

      Nearly there. Nearly time. Her heart kicked up to double speed. They were really going to do this.

      Dory peeked between the seats. Tyler obviously wasn’t too nervous about the whole affair. Slumped across the length of the back seat, he was fast asleep, one arm across his face. ‘He’s not wearing his seatbelt.’

      ‘I’m not going to crash. I wouldn’t worry.’

      But she did. Even though she wasn’t actually his girlfriend, only an employee, and even though he wasn’t actually breaking any law in the state of New York… he should still be wearing his damn seatbelt. If they were in Britain, he would be.

      Lucas was wearing his, though. At least one of them had a brain.

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