Runaway Groom (8 page)

She was tugging the floor-length curtains closed as the doorbell rang.

Both her friends stood on the doorstep clutching a variety of goodies.

“We brought margaritas.” Marie clutched a couple of silver bottles of premade cocktails.

“And tortilla chips.” Eliza hoisted a plastic bag high. She peered behind April. “Where’s hunky Matthew?” Her eyes were wild and her eyebrows waggled up and down.

April laughed. “I told you, he’s out for the evening.”

Eliza’s painted lips turned down. “Aw, I thought maybe he’d have come back early.”

“Sorry. Girls only. Come on, we’ll get glasses.” She strode into the kitchen with her two friends trailing after her. They stopped again and again on the route, admiring the pictures, the carpets, the furniture.

“Jeez, you’d think you guys hadn’t ever seen a house before,” she teased.

“This is no ordinary house.” Marie picked a large bowl from the shelf in the kitchen and unleashing a tortilla wave into it. “Matthew must be loaded. Look at all this stuff.”

She’d never had Matthew down as a nester, but he obviously was. His house was beautifully put together, and she would bet her lunch money he hadn’t had any help from a decorator. “Let’s get cozy.”

Eliza sighed. “Wow, this is gorgeous.” She set down the drinks on the coffee table, then sank on one of the sofas. “So, tell me. How are you getting along?”

Where to begin? She’d told them both the news on the phone. That she’d moved in for a month, that he’d given her a job. She hadn’t told anyone about the kiss, somehow it was too personal to share. Especially when her thoughts were so conflicted about it. “He’s nice.”

“He’s nice?” Eliza’s gaze sharpened.

“Nice?” Marie echoed.

“He’s a nice guy.” Sure, she sounded defensive. After all it wasn’t every day she backed right down from calling a man a complete heel and in fact did a complete about face. “He’s kind, and generous. He came to my rescue immediately, he…”

“He’s a knight in shining armor?” Marie leered. “Does he kiss well too?”

A flush heated April’s face instantly.
Oh great, facial semaphore.

Marie’s eyes widened. “OMG, he
has
kissed you!”

There was no point in denying it. Not for the first time, she wished she was a better liar.

“Has he?” Eliza asked.

They perched on the sofas awaiting her answer, like buzzards watching the last dying breaths of a wounded gazelle.

“Oh, fine. We kissed.”

“When?”

“Where?”

“The first night.” Before she had a chance to say more, Eliza was in interrogation mode.

“At the restaurant? When you were wearing that knockout dress?” She sighed, drowning in a sea of romance.

“Right here, after the fire. I was wearing a onesie with ducks on it.” She giggled, remembering the ridiculousness of it. “And we were drinking cocoa.”

“You’ve got to admire a man who kisses a woman over cocoa,” Marie sipped her drink. “Especially if she’s wearing a onesie.”

“I can’t see it.” Eliza’s forehead pleated. “I thought it was black for winter, white for summer. I’ve never seen you in anything with yellow on it, especially not ducks. Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve nothing against ducky onesies.”

“It wasn’t mine, you idiot.”

“If you tell me it was his, you’ll totally ruin the moment. You know that, right?” Marie said.

“It’s his sister’s. All my stuff was in the washing machine, I borrowed it.” She tucked her legs under her and refilled her glass. “It was just one of those things, you know, the fire—I was upset…”

“So it was a chaste comforting kiss, was it?” Eliza leaned forward.

Red flags signaled nope on April’s face again. “Um…”

“Just stop beating about the bush and out with it. Every single detail,” Marie demanded. “You know you want to.”

The feelings dammed up within needed an outlet. April breathed in deep, and recounted the story of the kiss. “And then today he came home early and I caught him in the shower.”

The sound emanating from Marie could only be described as a squeal.

“Behind an opaque shower-curtain catch?”

“More like behind a totally transparent shower screen catch.” Heat flared though her entire body at the memory. Matthew was gorgeous fully dressed, but naked… She pulled the neckline of her tee-shirt away from her neck. She hadn’t been able to tear her gaze away from his spectacular body, had just stood there ogling him and stuttering like an idiot. And when he’d called her back into his room it hadn’t been much better. The wanton urge to walk over and run her hands up his broad, damp chest had been so powerful her legs had gone all trembly. It had taken all her composure to act unaffected.

“The thing is, he’s
Matthew
.” Words were inadequate but she soldiered on. “I mean, he’s
the
Matthew, June’s Matthew.”

“He hasn’t been June’s Matthew for years,” Eliza said.

Marie nodded. “The past is past. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

Eliza held her glass up. Clinked it against April’s. “Here’s to second chances.”

Chapter Seven

He’d rapped on her door on the way downstairs, and called, “Breakfast in ten!”

A sound easily mistaken for the growl of an angry bear had sounded from behind the closed door.

Ten minutes had come and gone. The bacon and sausages were keeping warm under the grill, and the fried eggs were in danger of becoming rubber Frisbees. Matthew took the two plates he had warming out of the oven and placed the dish of sausages and bacon on the table. He was sliding an egg onto each plate as the door to the kitchen opened.

April’s usual smooth hair stuck up all over the place. She was wearing a short nightgown, and to his eternal relief, sweatpants under it.

“Sunglasses are an unusual look for breakfast time.”

She mumbled something, made it as far as the table, and reached for the glass of orange juice.

“Tough night?”

“I went sort of overboard.” She swallowed a mouthful of orange juice. Tipped the sunglasses down to reveal tired eyes. “Margaritas are actually very strong.”

He grinned. “There should be a health warning.” He placed the jug of coffee in the center of the table on the tile with an elephant on it Amy had given him for Christmas. “Cheer up. Breakfast will see you right.”

She ate in silence. Then after a few minutes, slipped the glasses off.

He didn’t think he’d seen anyone look so wretched in his life.

“How did your meeting go last night?”

“Well, it obviously wasn’t as fun as yours.” He buttered a piece of toast and handed it over. “But I think it went well.” The all-female group from the Albios women’s department had a feminine dynamic that had been difficult to deal with. They flirted constantly with him, but frowned at any hint of flirt back. “The clients have agreed to come out today to see us in action.”

April frowned. One side of her mouth lifted in a move not seen since Elvis.

“Once they see the ads working, I reckon it’s in the bag.”

“That’s today?” Her voice was just above a whisper.

“We have to go in about…” he consulted his watch, “twenty minutes. You didn’t forget, did you?”

“No…no, of course not, I’m just half asleep. I better get a move on.” With a teeth-baring smile, she drank her coffee, and picked up the half-eaten piece of toast from her plate. “I’ll get dressed.”

He’d told her twenty minutes, but in fact, they didn’t have to leave for forty-five. So when April walked down the stairs thirty minutes later, they were right on schedule. She’d tied her hair up in a neat ponytail, and was dressed in a tracksuit and sneakers.

“Is everything you own black?”

She shot him a glare, even though his tone hadn’t been remotely sarcastic. “No, I also have white clothes.”

“I haven’t seen any of those.”

“That’s because it’s not summer,” she said as though explaining to a troublesome small child. “I wear white in the summer.”

“You used to wear all sorts of colors.” A memory of April in a green sweater and jeans popped into his head from nowhere. “I remember a green jumper…”

“Yeah, well.” She took her coat from the hook and slipped one arm into it. “That was then.”

He moved close, and held up the back of her coat so she could slip her other arm in. Her hair smelled of lemon shampoo. The same shampoo he used, so the scent really shouldn’t be so enticing. The curve of her ear, the way her hair curled against the back of her neck… “I think you’d look great in red.”

Her head jerked as her face turned to his. A trace of pink flushed her cheekbones. “I thought we were late.” She stepped away.

Just in time.

*****

There were a lot of cars parked at the airfield, and about thirty people waiting as they arrived.

Like her, they didn’t look like runners, the majority dressed in casual clothes rather than custom running kit. So these were the people Matthew worked with. April watched as they approached with smiles on their faces.

“Hi boss.” The stranger was very good looking, and obviously single, if the gang of women surrounding him was any indication. He eyed her with interest.

Picking up on the unspoken question, Matthew made introductions. “Jason, this is April.” He introduced the rest as they approached, but there were too many names for April to remember them all.

“Come on over, and Janice will set you up.”

Nerves fluttered in April’s stomach.

After attaching a tag to her shoelaces, April listened carefully as Janice explained how the system worked. From the corner of her eye, April could see Matthew talking to three women. They were obviously the clients, dressed in business clothes with high heels, rather than casual running gear. “Susan, Matthew’s secretary, will be cheering you on.” Janice waved across the runway to a blonde woman standing alone in front of a camera. “It all gets rather competitive, I’m afraid.”

April swallowed. “I’m not a very good runner,” she confessed.

“Don’t worry about it. No pressure.” Janice grinned. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to record things rather than running though. Of course, Matthew leads the field, but doesn’t he always?” She looked curious. “So, you’re a friend of his?”

“I’m staying with him at the moment.” She didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea, and was on the point of explaining in more detail just why she was living with him when Matthew waved her over. “Ah—”

“Better not keep him waiting.” Janice patted her arm, and turned back to the computer set up on the trestle table. “I’ll see you later, have fun.”

Fun? Hardly
. She’d be happy if she managed to manage the run without embarrassing herself by collapsing. The looping track looked considerably more daunting than she’d expected. It seemed to go on forever. April breathed in deep and walked over to Matthew and the clients.

“April, I’d like to introduce Angela, Mel and Belinda.”

She shook hands.

“I’m so glad to meet you, April.” Angela was obviously the boss; the others stood silently smiling as she spoke. “Matthew should have brought you to dinner with us.”

They obviously had got the wrong idea about her and Matthew’s relationship too. April wasn’t sure what to say. He’s not my boyfriend, would sound gauche.

“April had some friends over last night.” Matthew’s words did nothing to explain things.

She cast a glance his direction.

“Well I hope you will join us tonight. It’s our last night in town, and we’ve persuaded Matthew to have dinner with us again.” The way Angela asked, it was difficult to say no.

“Oh, well, yes.”

Matthew looked over to where the rest of his employees were lining up on the starting line. “I think they’re ready to go. Angela, why don’t you all join Janice? She’ll show you how the system works, and you can watch the campaign over the monitors.”

“Wonderful.” The clients were obviously impressed.

April was too. The whole office had turned out on a Saturday to demonstrate the system revealing that Matthew’s employees were really engaged with the whole process. The smiles and easy way everyone talked around him couldn’t be faked. He must be good to work for.

A hand grasped her elbow. “Let’s go.” His wide smile took her breath away. “I’m going to run fast. Don’t try to keep up.”

April snorted. “Don’t worry.”

“Jason’s very competitive.”

Jason’s not the only one.

“Just run at your own pace. Did Janice tell you Susan is acting as our cheerleader?”

They lined up with the others at the starting line. She nodded. “Matthew, I think we should tell the client we’re not...”

Someone blew a whistle, and before she had a chance to finish the sentence, they were off. Matthew’s long legs propelled him away from her as though he had a rocket strapped to his back. For a moment, she almost stopped dead just to watch the beauty of a man built to run, doing what he did best, but standing staring at him as he did his best impression of poetry in motion would have been a dead giveaway, so she jogged after him.

One by one, the rest of the staff passed her. This was going to be embarrassing.

A slightly overweight redhead jogged along with her. “Oh, this is awful,” the redhead groaned.

“Yes, it sure is.” April couldn’t hold back a smile. “I’m April.”

“I know. I’m Margie.” The redhead held out a hand. “Accounts.”

April shook it. “I don’t suppose you know a shortcut,” she said in a stage whisper.

“There’s no shortcut.” Margie smiled. “Just do me a favor, will you? Let me know if my make-up slides off my face or I start getting sweaty.” Her gaze was glued to a tall figure in front. “If Jason hadn’t suggested drinks after, I’d still be at home in bed.”

“Oh, you and Jason?” April waggled her eyebrows.

“Me, Jason, and the rest of the single females from the office,” Margie confessed. “But if you’re not in, you can’t win, right?”

“Right.”

“My aim is just to get around this course without falling flat on my face or having a heart attack. I have my sleeves stuffed with tissues, and emergency mascara in my car.”

Margie was fun. Talking to her was so distracting April was almost able to block out the ache in her calves as she pounded the asphalt. “I’ll let you know if you suffer a make-up malfunction.”