LITMIR.BIZ

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Interesting mix you have there.’

      ‘It’s what we’d be listening to if I was at home right now,’ Dory said, homesickness pulling at her stomach again. ‘You could have turned it off.’

      Lucas shrugged, and Dory couldn’t help but admire the way his shoulders moved under his sweater, and how he steered the car with the barest touch from the one hand holding it. ‘I figured that with you asleep, your music was the closest I was going to get to finding out about you.’

      ‘You wanted to find out about me?’ Dory twisted in her seat to get a better look at him. ‘Why?’

      He gave her a look that suggested he was re-evaluating her intelligence. ‘Because you’re dating my brother.’

      ‘And do you always show such interest in your brother’s girlfriends? Because I would imagine that would involve actually calling or staying in touch, something that, as far as I’m aware, you haven’t done much of over the last six months.’ Ha. That showed him.

      But Lucas didn’t even have the good grace to look a little guilty at the accusation. ‘He’s not usually dating his assistant.’

      Oh yeah. That. Not for the first time, Dory found herself wondering how truly inappropriate Tyler’s new girlfriend had to be for ‘I’m dating my assistant’ to be a better line to potentially have to feed to the family. And, oh God, maybe even the press. How long was he expecting this to drag on for? Who were they going to have to tell?

      She really must get better at asking more questions before agreeing to something. This was exactly how she ended up broke and alone in New York in the first place. Ewen said ‘It’ll be fun! An adventure. You’ve always wanted to be more adventurous,’ and she’d moved her whole life, lock, stock and barrel, all the way across the ocean with barely a backwards glance. Sometimes, she wondered if she’d only done it to live up to his expectation of her. Because, really, she hadn’t ever wanted to be more adventurous. She’d been exactly the right amount of adventurous already, thank you.

      And now she was here. Pretending to be the girlfriend of one of America’s most eligible bachelors.

      Even Ewen would have to admit this was an adventure and a half.

      ‘Are you…’ She paused, then started again. ‘Will it be a problem, do you think? The assistant thing? If… when people find out?’

      ‘Depends.’ Lucas, it seemed, was a man of few words. Another way he was utterly different to his brother.

      ‘On what?’ If she were going to be his pretend-sister-in-law-to-be for the next few days, he’d have to get used to answering questions.

      But Lucas just shrugged again. ‘Lots of things.’

      Refusing to get distracted by what were, even in the dark of the car, really quite spectacular shoulders, Dory pressed on. ‘Like?’

      He sighed. ‘You. Him. Our father. Mother. The press. Whether you get married.’

      Dory coughed violently at the last suggestion, suddenly sorry she’d asked. But the noise woke up Tyler, who lurched upright as Lucas took a right turn.

      ‘What?’ he asked, obviously only half awake.

      ‘Nothing,’ Lucas said. ‘Dory and I were just discussing your future wedding.’

      Of course now he wanted to chat. Dory glanced across. Was he smirking? Damn him. Well, if he thought one embarrassing moment would stop her asking questions this week, he was sadly mistaken.

      But Tyler wasn’t really listening, it seemed. He peered out of the window. ‘Are we there?’

      ‘Just turned on to the drive,’ Lucas confirmed.

      ‘Drive?’ Dory asked, confused. This was a drive? They’d already been on it for half a mile or more.

      ‘Mum doesn’t like to get too close to the ordinary people. And Dad likes to hunt in the woods around the house,’ Tyler explained.

      ‘Trust me, it’s better that they’re out here in the middle of nowhere,’ Lucas added. He stared straight out of the windscreen, but Dory got the impression he could drive this route with his eyes closed.

      They driveway grew smoother, and rustic iron street lamps appeared at regular intervals on either side of the road. In the flashes of light, Dory could see the tension in Lucas’s jaw, the way his hands gripped the steering wheel too tight. He really doesn’t want to be here.

      Why? She didn’t know much about Lucas beyond what she’d read in articles about the Alexander family after he called. She knew he’d run the company after his father retired until, two years ago, he handed over the reins to Tyler. Since then, no one really knew what he’d been doing, it seemed. Which was strange. Famous, rich, attractive and talented men usually found their way into the headlines one way or another.

      The only thing that had been reported about him was his divorce. Was that why he’d left the company? Heartbreak? Dory’s nose wrinkled. It didn’t seem likely. Lucas didn’t seem like the kind of guy to let anything affect his life that strongly unless he chose it himself.

      It was strange, though. Most of the photos that had run with the story had been the usual staged wedding shots. Man in tux, beautiful brunette in designer dress, lots of smiles. But the man in those photos was barely recognisable as the Lucas who’d showed up at the office to drive them to Midfield House, yet Dory couldn’t quite put her finger on just what was different.

      The car started to slow, and Dory stopped wondering about Lucas Alexander and focused instead on wondering what the hell she’d been thinking of agreeing to this.

      Pulling on the handbrake, Lucas jumped out to fetch the bags from the boot. Tyler, back in character as the perfect boyfriend, came round to open her door.

      ‘You ready for this?’ he asked.

      ‘Not remotely.’ Dory grabbed her iPod from the dock, then swung her legs out of the car, knees together, the way you were supposed to but she never did.

      Tyler gave her a quick grin then, unexpectedly, a brotherly kiss on the top of her head. ‘You’ll be awesome. That’s why I hired you, remember?’

      ‘I don’t remember this being in the job description,’ Dory grumbled.

      But it was too late to argue, because just then the front door to Midfield House opened, splashing light out on to the drive and revealing Felicia and Patrick Alexander waiting for them on the steps.

      Dory swallowed. Show time.

      ***

      Lucas stared up at his childhood home and wondered, not for the first time, how he’d ever survived growing up there.

      ‘You’re here!’ His mother came down the steps, arms open wide, welcoming and expectant as only the perfect hostess could be. Lucas hung back as she hugged Tyler, then turned to his new girlfriend. ‘And you must be Dory! Tyler has told us next to nothing about you, naughty boy. We’re looking forward to finding out everything. Now, come on inside before you catch a chill. Come on, Lucas!’ she called back, almost as an afterthought.

      ‘Son.’ His father gave him a nod as he walked past and Lucas returned it.

      ‘Dad.’

      There. That was all the family tenderness taken care of for one weekend, anyway.

      Patrick clapped Tyler on the back as they all lingered in the oversized hallway. Dropping the bags to the floor, Lucas had a sudden, irrational fear that all the holly and ivy decking the curving bannisters might start growing overnight, trapping them all inside this monstrosity of a house for a hundred years, like Sleeping Beauty. He shook the thought away.

      ‘So, where have you been hiding this beauty then, Tyler?’ Patrick asked. Lucas was pretty sure his dad was going for friendly and welcoming with his smile, but Dory looked uncomfortable under it. Lucas could sympathise. Studied attention

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