Too Charming (4 page)

‘Will Mum know where we are?’

He nodded. ‘Yes, she told me she’d come here when she was finished.’

‘I want to stay and draw then.’ She pushed out her bottom lip. ‘I’m not very good though.’

‘Well, that’s okay, I can teach you.’

‘Really?’

The wide-eyed, interested look was back in her eyes, which was a blessed relief. ‘Yes, really. I’m pretty good at drawing.’

‘Mum says it’s bad manners to tell people how good you are. To blow … something, I can’t remember.’

Laughing he called the waitress over. ‘To blow your own trumpet.’ He quickly ordered two soft drinks and some paper and pencils. ‘Yes, that’s true, but you tell your mum that when you’re as good as I am, it’s hard not to.’

Chapter Four

Megan hurried out of court as quickly as she could. Today the trial had run behind schedule. Of course it had. Why hurry things up, just because Sally was being looked after by a man her mother didn’t like enough to go out with, but whom she’d just left in sole charge of her daughter? God knows what she’d been thinking. No doubt poor Sally would be bored out of her mind by now. That was the best-case scenario. Worst-case: she was having a tantrum and causing chaos. She even felt a smidgen of sympathy for Scott. Three hours was a long time to look after somebody else’s child. Especially when you had no experience with the little treasures.

The straight skirt and high shoes she was wearing – an outfit she only ever suffered for court appearances – weren’t exactly helping her progress towards the café where Scott had promised he’d be waiting. Visions of Sally with tears down her cheeks, and an exasperated Scott telling her to pull herself together, shot through her mind as Megan pushed open the door. That was supposing he was still with her, of course, and hadn’t decided to dump her in favour of a woman more his own age. No, he might be a womaniser, but even he wouldn’t have done that, she told herself firmly. Or would he? Beginning to feel the first clutches of anxiety, she scanned the busy caf
é
, looking for a tall, dark-haired man and his small companion. She picked out a young girl, her face looking down at the tabletop with rapt concentration, and almost skipped past her. Narrowing her gaze, she took a harder look. Could that really be Sally? And sitting opposite her, his face a mixture of pleasure and pride, was that actually Scott?

For a moment she stood, stunned. Then, breathing a huge sigh of relief, she meandered as casually as she could down to their table. ‘Well, what have you two been up to?’

‘Mum, look what I’ve drawn!’ Sally was scrambling down from the table and thrusting several pieces of paper under her nose.

Taking hold of the precious works of art, Megan dutifully studied them. For once she was actually able to make out what her daughter had drawn. ‘Hey, these are really good. Is that Dizzy?’

Smiling proudly, Megan nodded her head. ‘Scott showed me how to draw a dog. You have to start with circles to get the right portions.’

‘Proportions,’ Scott interjected, leaning back against his chair and clasping his hands nonchalantly behind his head.

Megan glanced over at him, meeting his smug gaze. He had the look of a man who knew he’d been underestimated but had come out on top.

‘That’s right, pro-
por-tions. Scott’s a really good drawer, Mum. He says he’s so good he’s allowed to …’ She sucked in a breath and recited slowly, ‘blow his own trumpet.’

‘Did he now?’ Once again Megan met Scott’s eyes. The smugness slid away, replaced by a sizeable dose of embarrassment. He was trying to hide it, but he was definitely squirming.

‘I might have exaggerated a little for comic effect,’ he murmured. ‘Then again, if you look at what we’ve drawn …’

He gave her a crooked grin
–
one that didn’t just light up his face, it reached his eyes and made them glitter. Chewing on her lip, she dragged her gaze away and back to Sally’s drawings. She was not going to be charmed by the likes of Scott Armstrong, she reminded herself. She knew better than that. Still, she probably could afford to warm to him slightly. After all, he had just looked after her daughter all afternoon. In fact he’d done more than that. He’d entertained her.

Sifting through all the drawings spread across the table, Megan caught herself grinning at the cartoon animals he’d captured so brilliantly. He had a real and very unexpected talent there. ‘They’re very good.’

He quirked an eyebrow at Sally and grinned. ‘See, I told you.’

Finding his grin was making her want to smile back, Megan deliberately turned to her daughter. ‘What else have you been up to?’

‘We went to the park. Scott was too big for the swing, but he had a go on the balancing ropes.’

Again, Megan cast a quick look of surprise at Scott. The funny thing was, she could actually picture him, starched white shirt open at the collar, dark-grey suit crumpled, playing in a kid’s park. Although every inch a man, there was still the hint of a boy about him when he smiled.

As she continued to quiz Sally about her afternoon, she became aware that Scott was quietly settling the bill. ‘Hey, I’ll get that.’

He placed a hand on her arm, stopping her from delving into her handbag. ‘I’ve got it.’

She shook her head. ‘No, don’t be silly. You’ve been looking after Sally all afternoon. The least I can do is settle this.’

Scott sighed. ‘Megan, it’s a couple of ice creams and some drinks. Leave it.’

‘But I …’

‘You don’t want to feel indebted to me, I get it.’ He reached for the jacket that was on the back of his chair. ‘You’re not. I told you before. The slate is clean. Let me settle this.’

Before she had the chance to say anything further he moved towards the door, holding it open for them. Even offended, as he clearly was now, he didn’t forget his manners. All part of the charm offensive, she guessed. Thanking him politely, she took hold of Sally’s hand and walked with her towards her car. Scott’s tall, broad figure strode out ahead of them, the stiff set of his shoulders telegraphing his displeasure. Well, if he wanted to be shirty with her, it was up to him. All she’d done was try and do the decent thing and pay. Clearly Scott was old school. A man who thought a woman’s place was at home, ready to greet him after his hard day at work. No doubt she’d be wearing a silk négligée, even in the middle of winter. In Scott’s world, allowing a woman to pay the bill probably diminished his manhood.

Scott thrust his hands into his pockets and kept walking. He didn’t know why her insistence that she pay for the drinks had thrown him off so much. After all, he was used to her giving him the cold shoulder. But from the moment she’d believed he was going to use her gratitude as a way of getting her into bed, he’d taken offence. It was one thing pursuing someone who he believed was attracted to him but didn’t want to acknowledge it, and quite another going after a woman who clearly didn’t rate him much.

When he reached the car park he turned around, more than ready to say goodbye and get back to the comfort of his normal routine. Children and their prickly mothers were far too complicated for him.

‘Mum, can Scott come back to ours for tea?’

Sally was looking up at her mum with pleading eyes and Scott shook off his irritation for long enough to grin to himself. Well now detective sergeant. Let’s see how you get out of that one.

‘I, umm …’

Megan was flushing now, clearly embarrassed. Mean-spirited git that he was, he enjoyed watching her discomfort. Not that it made her look unattractive. Far from it. The blush of red across her cheeks was achingly … well, if he wasn’t a testosterone-fuelled man, he’d go as far as to say it was sweet. Endearing. As were the blue eyes that, at that very moment, implored him to help her out.

Relieved to be in the driving seat once more, he sh
rugged. ‘What? Can I help it if the girls love me? Young and old alike?’

‘For Pete’s sake.’ Megan gave an exasperated snort. ‘Sally, of course Scott is very welcome to come round for tea, but I’m afraid today isn’t a good time. We need to go and visit Grandma in hospital.’ She glanced quickly over at Scott. ‘Perhaps we can do it another time.’

‘Sure,’ he agreed lazily. ‘Though I won’t hold my breath.’

Megan glared at him briefly and then turned her attention to her daughter. ‘Sally, why don’t you get in the car? I need to talk to Scott for a minute.’

Megan waited until her daughter waved Scott goodbye and moved out of earshot before turning to look at him. He might be so maddening that he made her want to slap the smirk right off his face, but today he had also been very kind. ‘Look, I really am very grateful for what you did this afternoon,’ she began, feeling an uncomfortable rush of awareness as she looked into those calm grey eyes. ‘You have no idea what it meant to me, knowing Sally was out with you rather than stuck in an office somewhere.’

‘And you weren’t worried about her welfare, with me?’

Once more he was giving her that lazy, amused look. The one that said quite clearly he knew exactly how worried she’d been. ‘Well, okay, yes, maybe I was a bit, but …’ She shook her head. ‘Look, Scott, for once can’t you just take what I’m saying in the spirit it’s intended?’

He nodded. ‘I can do that.’ He started to walk to his car, but then stopped and turned back. ‘And there’s no need to be grateful. Your daughter was a joy. It’s me who should be thanking you.’

She was still staring long after he’d walked away. Scott the arrogant charmer was easy to resist because frankly, for all his good looks, she didn’t like him. This other Scott  – the one who had helped her out today, the one who hadn’t just watched her daughter, but had bothered to spend time engaging with her – he wasn’t quite so easy to ignore.

When Megan caught sight of her mother sat up in the hospital bed later that day, her heart lurched in her chest. She looked so fragile, her face pale against the white sheets. Since when had her mum grown old? It just wasn’t possible. But then the elderly lady in the bed caught sight of Sally. As her mouth turned up in a huge beam that lit up her face, Megan felt a surge of pure relief. Her mother’s smile was still as strong as ever.

‘What a lovely surprise,’ she exclaimed, stretching out her hand, ready to give her granddaughter a hug. ‘Two of my
favourite people.’

Sally looked around. ‘What about Granddad?’

The lady in the bed laughed. ‘Don’t worry, he’s also one of my favourites. He’s just gone to get himself a drink.’

Megan bent over and kissed her mother on her cheek. ‘How are you, Mum?’ she asked softly.

‘I’ll be a lot better tomorrow when they let me go home.’ She glanced at her daughter and patted her hand. ‘I’m fine, darling, really. Silly old fool that I am, I managed to twist my ankle when I fell. They’re keeping me in as a precaution, that’s all.’ She looked over to her granddaughter. ‘So who looked after you this afternoon, Sally?’

‘Scott did,’ Sally replied proudly, snuggling up to her grandmother on the bed. ‘He took me to the park, bought me ice cream and taught me how to draw a dog like Dizzy.’

Megan didn’t miss the quick, all-too-knowing look that her mother darted at her. ‘Scott is just someone I know from work, Mum,’ she replied quickly. ‘Don’t start to read anything more into it than that.’

‘He’s a lawyer,’ Sally announced. ‘I told him I might want to be one when I grow up, but he said my mum wouldn’t be very happy about that.’ She looked over at Megan. ‘Why not?’

Sitting on the end of the bed, with two pairs of eyes fixed firmly on hers, Megan silently cursed Scott. It seemed that even from a distance he was capable of making her life difficult. ‘Scott is a defence lawyer,’ she tried to explain, knowing full well that her mother was taking in her every word and gesture. ‘There are some lawyers who work with the police to try and help put away the bad guys. Some, like Scott, are there to defend the person the police charge, making sure they aren’t put in jail unless there is proof they took part in the crime.’

‘So you and Scott aren’t on the same side?’

Exactly, she wanted to reply, but stopped herself because, while it was how she felt, it wasn’t entirely fair, or true, for that matter. ‘Well, we don’t work together, but we do both want to make sure that justice is done and that the only people who are put in jail are the ones who deserve to be there. So I guess you could say we both have the same aim.’ She could almost see Scott grinning at that carefully worded reply.

‘Sally, sweetie, can you see Granddad?’ Her mother was pointing towards the entrance of the ward. ‘Why don’t you go and say hello?’

Megan watched her daughter skip towards her father and turned to the lady sitting up in bed. ‘Clever move, Mum. You think I don’t know you’re about to interrogate me?’

Her mother chuckled. ‘You leave your precious daughter in the hands of a man we’ve never heard of and you think you
won’t
get an interrogation?’

Sighing, Megan stood up. ‘Really, there isn’t anything going on between Scott and me.’

‘Would you like there to be?’

‘No.’ Her reply was firm and quick, but it gave her a little jolt to
realise it wasn’t entirely true. The man she’d had a glimpse of today – the one that could be lurking behind the glib lawyer with the self-assured good looks – had intrigued her. She’d never have believed Scott capable of patiently teaching a young girl how to draw, not if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. Was it all just part of his charm offensive? First he’d demonstrate his soft side, then he’d start reeling her in? She wished she knew, wished that she didn’t feel like a fish on the end of his bait, flapping around trying not to get caught, but sensing that ultimately it was futile.

Her mother was looking at her knowingly. ‘It’s about time you started living a bit, Meg. Your father and I worry about you. A young, attractive woman like you shouldn’t be coming home to her parents every night.’

‘I don’t. I come home to my daughter. And you know perfectly well I can’t just go out on the town whenever the whim takes me, dating any man who takes my fancy. I’ve got Sally to consider.’