‘Um...yeah.’ Caitlin picked up on the prickle in the atmosphere and sent him a beseeching look. An apology? Uh huh. Too late she’d remembered he hadn’t wanted to come home. That he’d told his family he was busy. She didn’t yet know why he was so reluctant to be here, yet she was still sorry she’d dropped him in it.
He forced a grin, wanting to let her know it didn’t matter. He didn’t want her to feel awkward. ‘I couldn’t leave her alone to face the streets of New York,’ he explained with a lazy shrug. ‘Had to lead her through it. Wolves make the best guides, right?’
‘That they do.’ George chuckled.
‘How nice.’
With a sinking heart James saw the interest and amazement in his mother’s widened eyes. Oh, hell—what was she thinking now? That he was about to settle?
Never gonna happen, Mum. Sorry.
Damn. He listened as his mother pumped Caitlin for details on where he’d taken her in Manhattan. He knew he shouldn’t have come back for this visit. And he should never have brought Caitlin. He was only ever going to disappoint them.
All of them.
He glanced over the table, willing the meal to be over so he could escape. Part of him just wanted to haul Caitlin off to his room. He ached to be near to her again. Touch her. Hear her laughter. It made him feel good when he made her laugh.
But it wasn’t fair of him to use her as his distraction. It wasn’t fair of him to avoid talking about anything other than work or safe travel topics with his family.
He knew he needed to try harder, but all he really wanted to do was run. He didn’t know that he was ever going to be able to stare down the ghosts and memories that haunted him here, when he was with his family. When he was at work, it was easy. He loved to work.
Caitlin smiled her way through the amazing food and wine in the relaxed, stunning setting. His parents kept conversation flowing and were polite enough to explain and include her in on the little family jokes that peppered the conversation. The topic turned to adventures further abroad. She figured it was inevitable given they published travel guides. Jack was the current head of the family company—and a serious globetrotter. George, a venture capitalist, travelled widely looking at different projects to pump his money into. And then James travelled a different kind of route—to disaster-hit cities and remote villages. Two out of the three brothers, and their parents, entertained her by regaling her with their worst travel exploits.
She was conscious of James’ silence, of him watching her too closely. His gaze wandered a little too far south of her face every so often. He really shouldn’t send her those smouldering looks when she was talking to his parents. She glared pointedly back at him but only got a wicked smile in return.
And she couldn’t help feeling that they were all playing it ‘safe’ somehow. Especially James. She had the feeling she was his shield. That her presence kept the conversation perfectly light. More than ever she wondered what the leashed undercurrent within him was all about.
‘I can’t wait to get you alone,’ he muttered as she helped him carry dishes inside after the meal. ‘You owe me, you know.’
Yeah but she had to be polite first. And so did he.
Back on the deck, as the setting sun splashed the sky in red and gold, she studied him and his brothers. Jack was wholly different from the twins—not quite as tall, but more solidly built and with blue eyes that pierced in a slightly unnerving way. She wasn’t sorry he was apparently welded to his mobile phone. Now she knew James so well she saw the scar was nothing on the real differences between him and George. James’ lips curved as he saw her looking from him to George and back again. His eyebrow flickered.
‘Did you use to trick people when you were younger?’ she asked.
‘The people closest to us always knew. But we liked to try it on with new teachers.’
‘Girls?’
‘Never. We’ve always had different tastes when it comes to women. Well,’ he corrected as George wandered closer, ‘George just has gluttonous tastes, while I’m more discerning.’
George lifted his shoulders negligently. ‘I see no reason to put limitations on myself. I love to love women. Lots of women.’
Caitlin chuckled.
‘Don’t encourage him,’ James said drily. ‘He’ll only start to flirt.’
‘What do you mean start?’ George asked. ‘I’ve been working on it all evening.’
‘Flirt away,’ Caitlin laughed. ‘You’ll get nowhere.’
‘You’ve not decided to become a nun?’ George asked, appalled.
‘Hard as this may be to believe, I’m simply not interested.’
George blinked. ‘Impossible.’
‘Give it up, brother,’ James roasted him. ‘You have to face the fact that your usual technique has failed.’
‘What’s his usual technique?’ Caitlin asked.
‘Superficial.’ James smiled, basically baring his teeth.
‘Cruel, James,’ George jibed.
‘But accurate.’
‘Come out with me, Caitlin,’ Jack interrupted. ‘There’s no contest as to who’s the most fun...’
‘You guys have always been this competitive?’ Caitlin asked.
‘Ignore them, Caitlin,’ Irene said calmly. ‘They’re fools. And no, Jack, you’re not going out. This is the first night you’ve both been home in ages. You’re to stay right where I can see you.’
‘All right.’ George winked at his mother, then turned back to eye Caitlin. ‘I’ll have to prove my superiority with the Scrabble board.’
‘Scrabble?’ Caitlin choked. Wow, they really were into the happy family scene here.
‘Hell no,’ James groaned. ‘Not Scrabble.’
‘You don’t think you can handle it?’ George teased.
‘I’m actually quite good at Scrabble,’ Caitlin said smugly. ‘I’m pretty tough to beat.’
‘You’re up for Scrabble?’ James stared at her.
‘Absolutely.’ She could see what he wanted but she was not diving away for an early night. It would be obvious to everyone what was going on.
She caught the glint in his eye as he replied, ‘All right then, Scrabble it is. Jack, you in?’
‘No.’ Jack shook his head. ‘I’m in the pool.’
Caitlin glanced at Jack for a moment as he cast off his shirt, dived into the pool in his boardshorts and proceeded to swim length after length. Yeah, they were a bunch of competitive sports types. Well, she couldn’t compete with either the tennis or the swimming, but with Scrabble? She had half a chance. She pulled her chair closer to the table as James and George set out the board and pieces.
She’d endured hours of Scrabble as a young teen, it had been the on-set tutor’s way of trying to beat the boredom of waiting for scenes. Caitlin hadn’t exactly loved it, but now she took the game on fiercely. She planned on beating these boys. And twenty minutes later she was doing exactly that—just. She and James had leapt ahead of George who, it was fair to say, didn’t seem to have his heart in it.
‘There was me thinking you were all about sequins.’ James frowned as she put down an eighty-seven point word by using a triple points square.
‘I’m all about designing patterns,’ she said primly. ‘Oh, look at that,’ Caitlin murmured, putting down another set of winning point letters.
George