When he ushered Bella into the kitchen, his brothers and their partners were all sitting there, along with Sophia in her high chair; his mother was bustling around and his father was deep in the Sunday newspapers. He narrowed his eyes at them all in warning that they were absolutely not to say a single word, and to his relief they actually went along with him, saying nothing more awkward to her than a cheerful, ‘Good morning.’
Without another word, he pulled out a chair at the table for Bella, then sat down next to her.
‘Would you like tea or coffee?’ Libby asked, coming over to them.
‘Coffee, please,’ Bella said. ‘Can I do anything to help?’
‘No, sweetie, it’s fine. Bacon sandwich? I’m just about to do another batch.’
‘Yes, please.’ Bella smiled. ‘Bacon and sandwich have to be the two most perfect words for a Sunday morning.’
‘And coffee,’ Nigel added with a smile. ‘Don’t forget coffee. Especially where Hugh’s concerned.’
‘I reckon it’ll be another twenty minutes before we get a civil word out of our Hugh,’ Julian teased.
‘And the rest! He only ever grunts before midday,’ Alastair added. ‘Even with coffee.’
‘Now, now, children,’ Libby said, mock-warning.
Bella was really enjoying the byplay between Hugh and his brothers. She missed chatting in the kitchen with her mum and her sister on Sunday morning, when her dad would be deep in the Sunday papers in the living room and they would talk about anything and everything—from films to books to seriously girly stuff that would make her dad squirm.
Then her smile faded. If any of her family knew what had happened last night... Well. Nobody would be surprised. If there was a way to mess things up, Bella would be the one to find it. But she and Hugh had agreed that they’d act as if last night hadn’t happened.
She just hoped that he meant it.
The kitchen was amazing, a huge room with cream cupboards and tiled floors, with an Aga and an island workstation as well as the breakfast area with the massive table looking out onto the garden. There were comfortable-looking dog beds next to the Aga, but Bella had already worked out that the Labrador, the Westie and the spaniel were all sitting under the table, waiting patiently for treats to be sneaked down to them. ‘Your kitchen’s really lovely, Libby,’ she said.
‘Thank you,’ Libby replied, putting a plate of bacon sandwiches onto the table. ‘Has Hugh shown you the rest of the house yet?’
Only the orangery. And Bella had to fight to prevent the blush that threatened to betray her. ‘Not yet,’ she said.
‘I promised I’d do that before we go out for our walk,’ Hugh drawled.
‘Make sure you do,’ Libby said.
Bella noticed that little Sophia was fussing in her high chair; both Poppy and Julian looked exhausted, and she guessed that Sophia had slept badly during the night, meaning that so had her parents. ‘Can I give her a cuddle?’ Bella asked.
Poppy looked torn between wariness and gratitude.
‘One of my friends does music classes for babies and toddlers,’ Bella said. ‘So I know a few things that might help distract her—then you might be able to have your breakfast in peace.’
‘You haven’t had your own breakfast yet,’ Poppy said.
‘I’ll be fine.’ Bella shrugged and smiled. ‘So can I?’
Poppy smiled back at her. ‘Thank you.’
Bella didn’t quite dare look at Hugh as she scooped Sophia out of the high chair and then settled the baby on her lap. But Sophia clearly enjoyed being bounced to ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ and the other nursery songs Bella could remember, and she was gurgling with delight when Julian picked her up from Bella’s lap again.
‘Eat your bacon sandwich before it gets cold,’ he said, patting her shoulder. ‘And thank you for cheering up Miss Grumpy here.’
‘Any time,’ Bella said with a smile.
‘Can I help with the washing up?’ Bella asked when she’d finished her sandwich.
Libby shook her head. ‘No, sweetie. Thank you for the offer, but it’s fine.’
‘The kitchen is Ma’s domain,’ Nigel explained.
‘My mum’s the same, except we all pitch in and help when we have family over for lunch, because it’s really not fair to make someone peel all the veg on their own,’ Bella said.
‘Well, if you really want to, you can help me with the veg,’ Libby conceded. ‘But let Hugh show you round first.’
‘Hint taken,’ Hugh said and stood up. ‘Come on, Bella.’
She took his hand and let him lead her out of the kitchen.
He dropped her hand again, the minute they were out of sight. ‘Guided tour,’ he said, and proceeded to whisk her through the house. The house was glorious, with mullioned windows upstairs and floor-to-ceiling windows downstairs.
‘Hugh,’ she said when he’d taken her swiftly through the library, not even letting her browse a single shelf in the acres of shelving.
‘What?’
‘What did I do wrong?’ she asked.
‘Nothing.’ But his voice was clipped.
She sighed. ‘Was it because I cuddled the baby? I like babies, Hugh. And I like your family.’
‘You’re meant to be unsuitable,’ he reminded her.
‘Even unsuitable girlfriends can like babies.’
‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘Drawing room.’ There were comfortable chairs and amazing artwork on the walls, and a den with a state of the art television and music system.
‘Dining room.’
She’d already seen this the previous day, and the ballroom—though it was much less intimidating now it was empty. She was almost tempted to ask him to play something for her on the piano, something soft and gentle for a Sunday morning, but there was an odd expression on his face and she didn’t quite dare.
So much for the Vegas principle. He was clearly finding it hard to ignore what had happened between them.
And that was probably why he didn’t show her the orangery in daylight. It would’ve been too much of a reminder of how reckless they’d been.
‘Do you want your family to think we’ve had a fight?’ she asked when he’d finished the tour and was leading her back to the kitchen.
‘Fight? Oh.’ The penny clearly dropped, and he took her hand again.
Except it felt grudging.
Considering that he’d been the one to come up with the idea of the unsuitable girlfriend in the first place, Bella wanted to shake him by the scruff of his neck. ‘You have to be the most difficult man in the universe,’ she muttered.
He didn’t disagree with her. And she had the nasty feeling that she was going to be looking for another job, pretty soon. She just hoped that Tarquin would give her a decent reference—she certainly wasn’t going to ask Hugh. And she wasn’t telling Grace about any of this. So much for standing on her own two feet and getting her life in shape. She’d just messed up again. Big time.
In the kitchen, everyone was still drinking coffee.
Libby looked at her shoes. ‘You need to borrow some wellingtons, Bella, or you’ll