Merry & Seduced (13 page)

“Amme?” The bark of her name was an order.

“I won’t get pregnant.” The weird ache commenced behind her eyes and she blinked slowly, then faster. Neither speed helped.

“Are you on birth control?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know.”

Amme’s heart-pump stuttered, taking an extra long pause before the next push of mechanics. She climbed off the bed, the atmosphere in the room prickling across her skin in an icy chill. She scooped up her T-shirt and pulled it over her head, the barrier of clothing steadying her again.

“Amme.”

“Don’t worry, Marcus. I am unable to have children.” She bent to collect the rest of her clothes and left his bedroom without looking back.

F
uck.
Marcus dragged a hand through his hair and dropped onto his bed. That had gone well. While he’d panicked, she’d become increasingly colder, her whiskey eyes filling with an expression that skirted—no—it was bloody contempt.

He bent at the waist and covered his face with his hands. He’d screwed up. Amme hadn’t deserved his icy behavior. Time for an apology.

Marcus stood and padded from the room. Damn, he needed clothes. He retraced his steps and pulled on a pair of jeans. Dressed enough.

He tapped softly on Amme’s door and when she didn’t answer, he opened it and peered inside the room. The bed was empty, the room vacant.

Panic struck him then. She couldn’t leave. He…he… He raced for the stairs, then came to an abrupt halt. She wouldn’t leave Autumn. He knew this bone deep.

On leaving his room, she would’ve gone to Autumn to check she was all right. He paused at the door and heard low voices. His daughter was awake at…he frowned at his watch…2:00 a.m.

“The monster was making noises. I h-heard it run under the bed.” Autumn made a hiccupping sound. “You need to l-look.”

“All right, sweetie,” Amme said in a reassuring voice. “Don’t worry. I’ll get the anti-monster spray. The biggest, baddest monster can’t withstand my spray gun.”

“You need to do your dance.”

“I’ll do that too,” Amme said. “Let me look first. You might have already scared the beast away.”

Marcus listened to the two discuss monsters and thought back to his own childhood. His nanny had comforted him after bad dreams. Not his mother or father. They’d never spent much time at home. Heck, they were mostly out of the country these days. Jocelyn and Mark Polo shouldn’t have had children, hadn’t wanted them.

With their parents as examples, it was no wonder he and Olivia had ended up with commitment issues. Well, in his case at least. His much younger sister acted out with outrageous antics in a cry for attention.

“I was right,” Amme said. “You have chased the monster away. It’s not hiding under the bed. You’re a monster slayer!”

“It’s gone?”

“Yes. Excellent job. I’ll spray now, so it won’t come back.”

Marcus heard the
swish-swish
of a spray bottle. Then Amme stood and jumped around singing nonsensical words. Something clenched in the region of his heart. Amme would make a brilliant mother. Autumn adored her, and Amme’s presence had helped his daughter at a time when her mother’s death could have paralyzed her. For a person who so obviously adored children, not being able to have her own must be a constant ache in her gut.

“Damn,” he mumbled.

Amme’s head shot up and their gazes met. She was the first to break their connection.

“Now that the monster is gone you should go back to sleep because we have an exciting day tomorrow. I’ll tuck you in.”

“I can’t find Teddy.”

“Here he is. He’d fallen out of bed.” Amme tucked the stuffed animal next to Autumn and kissed his daughter on the forehead. “Sweet dreams.”

Amme brushed past him, her destination the bedroom he’d allocated her when she’d first arrived—the one she’d seldom used.

“Amme.” His arm shot out to halt her retreat. “Please, can we talk?”

“I thought we’d said everything that needed saying.”

“I’m sorry for the way I behaved. You didn’t deserve my attitude.”

“Or the way you implied I’d try to trap you. I’m leaving with my friends, remember?”

Damn, it wasn’t as if he could forget her looming departure. He gritted his teeth, strove for the right words. Trust was—the more he thought about her leaving, the more he loathed the idea. He liked the way he was with her. She’d helped him find his feet with Autumn. And most of all, she didn’t care about his money. He’d scanned the items she’d purchased for Autumn, and she hadn’t gone to exclusive boutiques. Most of his past women would have hotfooted it to the designer stores and sneaked in several outfits for their own pleasure. Camryn had suggested
The Warehouse
, a large chain store with reasonable prices, and that was where Amme and her friends had gone. And from the sounds of it, they’d had a blast during their shopping excursion.

“I know,” he said in a low voice. “I apologize for letting my past color my reaction. You didn’t deserve that.”

“I would never try to trap a man into marriage,” Amme said with dignity. “Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

And before he could offer a protest, Amme opened the door to her allocated bedroom and disappeared inside. The loud click of the door closing was her rejection.

“That went well.” Marcus dragged a hand through his hair. He wouldn’t sleep. Not now. Maybe he’d check his email and do a little work. That way he’d have plenty of time to think about a grovel speech and his next apology.

Down in the kitchen, he shifted his unopened mail to get to his whiskey bottle and poured himself a shot. Immediately, he thought of Amme and her beautiful eyes. If he weren’t such an idiot, he’d be in bed with her instead of standing in the kitchen alone.

A heavy sigh rumbled up his throat. He sipped his drink, scooped up his pile of mail then wandered along to his office and settled in to do some work.

He opened a couple of farm bills. Feed for the alpacas and a vet bill. A small padded parcel snagged his attention. He yanked off the tape and slid out the contents—a pair of silky underwear. Aw, hell. Sophie Robinson strikes again. He’d thought his warnings and his abrupt statement of disinterest would finally get through to the determined female. Apparently not. He dropped the panties in his bin along with the rest of the parcel’s contents.

He grunted, the sound full of displeasure. At least she’d sent a parcel rather than trying to sneak into his house and bed. Been there. Done that, and he didn’t care for a repeat.

Hell, he was an idiot.

Amme was a hundred miles from Sophie and the women who’d tried to insert themselves into his life because of his money. And Amme was nothing like his child-neglecting parents.

A click came from the direction of the kitchen.

Amme.

Relief surged inside him and he tossed aside the rest of his mail. He hurried into the kitchen, his bare feet soundless on the tile floor. Someone—not Amme—was busy raiding his fridge.

“Stop right there,” he snarled.

The person let out a very feminine squeak and dropped a bottle of milk. Marcus reached for the light and blinked at the sudden brightness.

The woman pivoted, her rainbow-colored hair unfamiliar. Her defiant blue eyes, outlined in heavy black eyeliner and the dark lashes, long and thick and partly man-made had him relaxing.

“Olivia,” he said in exasperation. “What are you doing here?”

A flash of movement came from the other side of the kitchen. Amme dressed in a sexy bronze-colored gown that came to mid-thigh. Her arm lifted and a shocked croak crawled up his throat, boasted by a slice of panic.

“It’s all right,” he said hastily. Hell, where had she found the club?

Amme scowled at the woman and the weapon didn’t move.

Crap.

“Amme, this is my sister, Olivia.”

“She couldn’t enter in the normal fashion?” Amme’s arm finally dropped to her side. “At a reasonable hour?”

“What did she say?” Olivia asked, turning to Amme. “What language—
Whoa!
Don’t hit me with that. Marcus, tell her I’m your sister.”

“It’s true,” Marcus said. “Olivia is my sister.”

Amme’s cool gaze slid from him to Olivia and back. “I’ll leave you two to catch up. I’m going back to bed.”

“No, you don’t have to leave.”

Amme lifted her nose a fraction before she glided away. Both he and Olivia stared after her until she disappeared from sight.

“Well,” Olivia said. “Things have changed if you have a live-in girlfriend.”

“What are you doing here?” Amme had spoken plain English. Had Olivia been drinking?

Olivia stiffened, a flash of hurt showing before her expression blanked. “Where else is there to go?”

“Sorry, let me rephrase that. Mum and Dad said you were spending Christmas with a friend in France.” He scanned her features. No, his sister appeared perfectly sober.

Olivia ducked her gaze before lifting it again. This time she radiated clear challenge. “It didn’t work out.”

“Why?”

“Her brother made a pass at me. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, and when I kneed him in the balls, the blame got pushed to me. Janet’s parents kicked me out.”

“How did you get to New Zealand?”

“I flew to Heathrow and caught an Air New Zealand flight home. Please don’t send me back to the finishing school.” Her chin lifted in her usual belligerent manner, and sympathy rushed through him. He hadn’t been a good big brother so far, but that could change.

“You can stay here. We’ll talk about the future later.”

“Really?”

Marcus grinned. “Really. Let’s get this mess cleaned up and I’ll show you to the guest room.”

Olivia bent down and picked up the empty milk bottle. “Can’t I use the same one I used last time I was here?”

“Nope, my daughter Autumn has that room.”

Olivia gaped at him again. “You’re married?”

He grinned again, the curve of his lips feeling extra big and wide. “No. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you while you eat. I’ll get a mop. What?” he asked when his sister gaped at him.

“You’ve changed. You’re not so intense and aggressive. You look happy.”

“I am happy.” Nothing less than the truth, he realized. Autumn’s arrival in his life, and Amme’s, had shifted his attitude and made him take a hard look at his life. He didn’t need to work as hard as he did. Delegation was working just fine.

“Who’s the woman?”

“Amme. She’s looking after Autumn.”

“Pretty sexy lingerie for a babysitter.”

Busted. “So?”

Olivia grinned and appeared years younger, despite the black eyeliner and matching lipstick. “She isn’t your normal type.”

“She’s not,” he said. “I like her very much. She’s visiting with Max’s sister, Camryn. You remember my neighbor, Max. Did you meet him? I’m sure I told you about him—the one who trains racehorses.”

“The hottie.”

“The married hottie,” Marcus said. “His twin sister and her friends are here until the New Year. We’re having Christmas dinner here since Max and Ellen are off to Taupo.”

“That sounds lame,” Olivia said.

Little did she know. It was anything but lame, and Marcus decided he wouldn’t elaborate. He’d let Olivia discover Amme’s friends on her own. “I’ll get that mop.”

“You want a cup of tea?”

“Sure.” He disappeared into the utility room and found the mop and bucket.

When he returned Olivia had put on the kettle and cleaned up some of the mess she’d created on the counter. He started mopping up the milk.

“Are you going to tell Mum and Dad?”

“Only if they ring asking questions,” Marcus said.

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “That’s not very likely.”

“No,” he agreed. “Their loss.”

“Thank you, Marcus. I thought you might be angry.”

“Nah, Amme is the angry one tonight.”

“Why?”

“We had a situation,” he said finally. He was not telling his twenty-year-old sister that in the heat of the moment he’d forgotten to use birth control. He’d never hear the end of her laughing jeers.

“No details?”

“Not a one.”

Olivia poured the water into the teapot. “Is she a keeper?”

“It’s starting to look that way,” he confessed and the idea didn’t panic him as it had earlier.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” Olivia said. “I can’t wait to meet Amme properly. Autumn too. Are you sure she’s yours?”

“She’s got the same Polo-colored hair and my eyes.” He shot a look at the rainbow of Olivia’s spiky do. “Same color as me anyway. I’ll get a DNA test done in the new year, but I’m not expecting any surprises.”

“What about her mother?”

“She’s dead. Cancer.”

“Rough,” Olivia said. “Do Mum and Dad know?”

“Not yet. I haven’t spoken to them since they left for New York.”

“Me neither,” Olivia said. “Sure makes you feel the love, huh? The decorations are gorgeous. Both the homemade and the store bought ones. I saw the tree when I came in. The red and silver looks great in your lounge.”

“Amme’s friends wanted a tree, and I didn’t have the heart to say no. I’m glad I didn’t. It’s been fun. They’re staying in the cottage. You’ll meet them in the morning.”

After they finished cleaning up, they drank their tea in companionable silence. He watched his sister, witnessed her inner battle.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I don’t want to go back to school. Learning to walk with a book balanced on my head is boring.”

The last time he’d seen his sister she’d worn her autumn-colored hair long. This bright explosion of color and the shaggy style wasn’t in the least bit boring. “Did the school approve of your new hairstyle?”

“No. I ended up with detention for a week.”

“What do you want to do?”

Olivia shrugged. “I don’t know. The only thing I’ve learned at the school is that I don’t want to marry a wealthy man and fill the position of society wife.”

Marcus spluttered out a laugh as he eyed his sister. In her short T-shirt, black leather jacket and jeans with strategic rips she looked nothing like a debutant. When he factored in the hair and the makeup, he thought she’d work as an MC princess. Not that he intended to inform her of this opinion.