Taking Him, page 11
Once or twice, he’d wondered if they still could?
His lessons in gentleman-like behaviour were progressing. Merryweather managed to find time to teach him about the way rich people ate, when you used the funny looking knives and forks, why there were three different glasses on the table, and how to eat a snail—which James had found hilarious until it came his turn to try! The butler had even taken to teaching him about wine. Who knew there was more to it than just red and white? Apparently, everyone but him, Geri had replied to the message he’d sent her after his first tasting.
But he’d still been damn proud of himself last night for recalling everything Merryweather had told him last week. He’d even been able to tell a Sauvignon Blanc from a Pinot Grigio! That might have been because he remembered the sauvignon smelling more—a stronger aroma, sir—but he took that as a win.
And he had to admit, he’d enjoyed spoiling James to new clothes, watching him running around a store and picking out things he liked. He’d been surprised to find that James had far more sophisticated tastes than he’d ever imagined! Cormac had always picked out jeans and trainers for him but given the choice, James went for the cutest chinos and “grown-up shoes” as he’d called them, preferring jumpers and polo shirts to t-shirts with superheroes on them.
Cormac would never tell another living soul, but he’d discovered he liked shopping for himself too. It was much more fun searching for clothes when you had the money to do so. And who knew he’d look so damn good in a shirt and blazer?
Everyone, according to Victoria.
He made to deepen the kiss when there was a tap at the door of where they were waiting.
‘Excuse me, ma’am, sir,’ Merryweather said as he opened the door. ‘But Ms Adams is waiting.’
‘Of course, Merryweather, thank you,’ Victoria said, but her eyes were gazing up longingly at Cormac and he knew that tonight would be another spectacular night in their bed. He couldn’t wait.
The older man nodded before turning and leaving the two of them to fix themselves.
‘Ready?’ she asked.
‘Lead the way!’ He motioned for her to go first and followed in her wake.
When they entered the room, the woman, Ms Adams, stood and dipped her head to both.
‘My lady,’ the tall blonde woman said with a voice so soft, Cormac almost didn’t hear her. He wondered how the hell she was a journalist if she spoke so quietly. Didn’t they all yell at people to get their attention and be the one to ask a question?
‘Thank you for joining us, Ms Adams, and please, take a seat.’ Victoria gestured to the chair the woman had risen from as she took her own seat on the couch where Cormac would sit next to her, holding her hand throughout the interview. The whole meeting had been entirely scripted by Victoria’s secretary, Kirstie, and not just the questions they’d be asked and the replies they’d give. Oh no, she’d told them what to wear, where to sit—and how—and the exact time it would take.
‘Please, call me Maxine, and I love your dress,’ the reporter said to Victoria, who acted a little coyly.
‘Thank you,’ she said, dipping her head. ‘Cormac bought it for me.’ Her fingers entwined with his on his knee and he brought her hand further into his lap to be embraced in both his hands as he smiled back at her. He should have been an actor instead of a stripper, he decided. He’d have made a fortune!
You already have, his mind taunted him.
‘Now, I’m sure you’re busy,’ the reporter began. ‘So how about we get straight to it?’ She took out a notebook and pen and Cormac raised his brows in surprise. He imagined a recording device; a dictation machine or phone app, something that would ensure that a single word didn’t get missed.
‘We don’t use recording devices for royal interviews; even press conferences at the palace are pen and paper only,’ Maxine told him, seeing his surprise. ‘Order of his Majesty, the King.’ Cormac ensured he kept his face neutral at the mention of King Richard.
‘So,’ Maxine began again. ‘A very whirlwind romance; how did you meet? When did you meet? Lady Snape, you were dating very recently, how does that fit into the story?’
Victoria chuckled softly and dipped her head in a show of bashfulness. ‘It gets us to our engagement,’ she admitted. ‘But we met well before that. Cormac and I had met one afternoon while I was shopping. I dropped a bottle of water and he stopped it from rolling away.’ A stupidly simple meet-cute, Kirstie had described it. Could have happened to anyone and so the public would love it.
‘I picked it up and handed it to her and got caught in those beautiful golden eyes,’ Cormac finished.
‘I have to say, I saw him and forgot my words. I don’t think I ever thanked him for fetching it for me.’
‘Nope, still waiting,’ Cormac said with an exaggerated slow shake of his head. ‘But she took the bottle, and I asked if maybe she fancied getting a coffee instead.’
‘How forward!’ the reporter said, scribbling something down on her paper.
‘I thought so,’ Victoria laughed. ‘But apparently it’s what everyone does! Probably explains why I was single for so long!’
‘I, for one, am glad of that!’ Cormac brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it as he stared at Victoria. She gave him that heart-softening smile again and he found his lips lingering, as he fought off the urge to kiss her properly. He cleared his throat as he looked away and noticed that the reporter had been following their every move.
‘So, was it love at first sight?’ Maxine asked, glancing at her pad. Both Victoria and Cormac shook their heads.
‘Definitely instant attraction though,’ Victoria said, and Cormac enthusiastically nodded in agreement.
‘She wouldn’t give me her number,’ he laughed. ‘Said it wasn’t protocol or something, but promised she’d be in touch.’
‘Ah, so that’s how it started?’
Victoria bit her lip and peered coyly at Cormac from the corner of her eye.
‘I may not have called him. I chickened out; what if he didn’t answer? What if he said no? So, I…’ She trailed off and looked up at her betrothed who feigned exasperation with a roll of his eyes.
‘She “accidentally”’—he dropped her hand for a moment to do the air quotes—‘bumped into me again a fortnight later. Said she’d lost my number and immediately invited me out to lunch. After that, she gave me her number.’
‘And he called that evening, thanked me for lunch, and we ended up chatting for what felt like hours.’
‘It was,’ he confirmed. ‘I ran out of minutes—which she didn’t understand.’
‘Yes,’ Victoria said with a slow nod. ‘We got on so well, we were deeply attracted to one another, but we were from vastly different worlds. It was… difficult.’
Cormac snorted a laugh at her words. ‘Difficult is an understatement. Victoria was frightened of being seen with me in case her father didn’t approve, or King Richard thought me beneath her. I didn’t want the palaver that came with her lifestyle, the constant media attention and being paraded in front of the public. And I certainly didn’t want James being dragged through it.’
He gritted his teeth together for the next bit. He hated—absolutely hated—the idea of James being shown to the world, but Victoria had advised him a glimpse of his brother would satisfy their curiosity and stop them clamouring for something—anything—on him. In the long run, it would give them fewer problems. He bit back the sigh as Maxine’s eyes lit up.
‘He’s your son, yes?’
That made Cormac blink. He’d never, ever referred to James as his son.
‘No,’ he said, his voice turning quite serious. ‘James is my brother. I became his legal guardian when our parents died not long after he was born.’
‘Oh.’ The reporter quickly scribbled something down. ‘I see, and is he… Does he know this or does he refer to you as Dad?’
‘What? No!’
Victoria’s fingers tightened on his minutely; he had to be cool, he had to be calm. Keep your tone light and conversational, had been her earlier instructions.
‘James is aware that I’m his brother. I wouldn’t lie to him about where he came from. Our parents loved both of us too much to deny them the acknowledgement of who they are to James.’
Maxine looked down at her notes again, her brow lined with confusion. ‘But isn’t he only six?’
Cormac opened his mouth to reply, but Victoria jumped in. ‘Yes, and so very clever. He’s so far ahead of his peers that his teachers are struggling to keep him engaged. It’s why he’ll be going to Highbourne Academy next year.’
‘Oh, your old school!’ The reporter made another scribble.
‘Yes,’ Victoria agreed. ‘But he’ll be joining the likes of my sisters as an alumnus of their accelerated programme over their regular curricula.’
‘I see’—another note—‘fascinating.’ Cormac didn’t think she thought it so and wondered if Victoria had been right all along. Perhaps it had been the speculation of him having a child that had caught the attention of the media, that maybe there was an ex-girlfriend out there, waiting in the wings to spring out at the wedding and object, or maybe file for rights over James or something equally soap opera dramatic.
‘So, if you two started dating before the death of your father,’ Maxine moved back to the real reason she was here. ‘Why the very public dates after you exited your mourning period?’
‘Well,’ Victoria began with a deep breath. ‘Cormac and I disagreed on certain things.’
Cormac snorted. ‘Understatement.’
‘I decided that I was approaching my mid-thirties, if I loved someone, I should be with them and not worrying what my father or my grandfather thought. I was also fed up of hiding away; never going anywhere or never being able to go out with Cormac and his friends because he didn’t think the public would understand. Cormac thought they’d see him as a plaything for me because of his age, or as a gold digger, when really that’s so far from the truth.’
‘I also wanted to protect James from media scrutiny, and we hope that the press and the public respect that wish,’ he added. Maxine nodded her head in a sympathetic way.
‘We broke up shortly before my father died and I didn’t cope very well.’ Victoria lowered her voice as she spoke, making the other woman lean forward to hear her words. ‘When Cormac heard the news of my father’s passing, he called and checked up on me; we spoke for a bit and I so longed to be with him again. I wanted to reconcile, but he still couldn’t cope with the idea of the publicity.’
‘I thought it would eventually cause a rift between us,’ Cormac added. ‘And that we’d end up hating one another, when at least we had parted as friends.’
‘And I felt so worthless,’ Victoria admitted, shrinking in on herself. Cormac dropped her hand and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her head as he heard the woman across from him quickly writing her notes. ‘I rushed the mourning period for Daddy just to get back at you,’ she whispered.
Cormac felt his heart ache at her forlorn confession. It was partly true; she’d told him when they’d been discussing what to say; she’d rushed it so she could find a husband. He just happened to be the one she’d found.
‘But it worked out in the end,’ he reminded her, talking quietly into her ear, but loud enough for the woman across from them to overhear. ‘You got me and I’m sure that your father would be incredibly happy that you’re finally happy.’
He felt her head nod against his chest.
‘As you can see,’ Cormac said, raising his head just enough to look at the reporter. ‘Things are still a little tender for her.’
The woman tried to disguise glee at their little moment with a frown to make her more sombre, but the constant twitching of her mouth gave her away. ‘I understand.’
‘Victoria threw herself into dating and made sure it was all over the media, knowing it would drive me mad. Finally, when one date went a little wrong, and she sought shelter at a club before a Guard could come and take her to hospital, I broke. Seeing her in such a situation made me realise that I wanted to protect her and that I loved her so much more than I cared about being snapped a time or two. I called her as soon as I could and begged her to come back, that I was ready to step into her world.’
He saw the woman before him melt at his romantic words and he knew she was going to write the piece that really did make him out to be a rough-around-the-edges Prince Charming. Women were going to be desperate to catch a glimpse of him. He wanted to smirk at the idea of telling Victoria such a thing later and seeing her response.
‘I couldn’t let him do that though,’ Victoria said softly as she sat back up and partly extracted herself from his embrace. ‘So, I met him in the middle. I’ve agreed to retire from royal life once we’re married.’
‘Wait,’ the reporter said, her pen stopping as she processed Victoria’s words. ‘When did you propose?’
Cormac threw his head back and laughed. ‘I didn’t! Victoria proposed to me!’ Maxine’s eyes grew to the size of saucers as she stared between the two of them.
‘I told you, I had to meet him in the middle. If he didn’t want protocols in his life, then I’d throw them out of the window! Well, some of them,’ she added with a smile. ‘I’d just asked him to marry me the morning we got snapped for the first time at lunch.’
And that explained everything to the public—or at least the story they were telling. Cormac relaxed fractionally now that the lies were out there and let the discussion turn to their upcoming nuptials. There was little to say; after all, they didn’t want to spoil the surprise of what her dress would look like or what flowers they’d have, for both their friends, family, and the general public who would be watching both across the nation and the world.
‘Well, I have to say,’ Maxine said, standing up and gathering her things as their time came to an end. ‘I know we have some quick weddings in this country, but I am amazed a royal wedding was arranged so quickly.’
Victoria laughed. ‘Not as fast as my uncle Harold’s!’
The reporter considered her words with a tilt of her head and Cormac knew the woman was going to start looking up previous royal engagements and comparing them to theirs.
‘It was lovely to meet you both,’ the reporter said, stepping forward to offer her hand to each of them. She shook Victoria’s first, who gave the woman a kiss on each cheek as a thank you, before she turned to Cormac. He shook her hand too and was slightly surprised when she held her cheek to him. He pressed a quick kiss to one cheek but hesitated as he pecked the second when she whispered, ‘O’Malley isn’t happy,’ before stepping back with a bright smile.
As she left the room, Victoria escorting her to the sitting room door where Merryweather stood waiting, Cormac glanced down at the piece of paper she’d slipped into his palm.
With trembling fingers and a racing heart, he slowly unfolded the note and saw it was a telephone number.
‘Well, I think that went well!’ Victoria said turning to him with a wide smile.
‘Yes,’ he agreed, screwing up the paper before shoving it deep in his pocket. ‘Very.’
She hurried to him with a spring in her step, and threw her arms around his waist, burying her head against his chest. He wrapped her in his embrace, glad she couldn’t see his face as he tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do.
CHAPTER SIX
Victoria had never been one for crowds. Even knowing today’s hordes were going to be there to support her—or to just catch a glimpse of the dress—on her big day, Victoria’s anxiety tightened her chest and churned her stomach.
While Chic magazine had been kind and favourable to them in the only interview she and Cormac had given, publishing their cover story just as they told it, it hadn’t stopped the rest of the media—or people desperate for likes on social media—taking snaps of them and reporting their every move. The few times they’d tried to go out and do normal things as a ‘family’ had ended in arguments and annoyance, Cormac feeling his life was being invaded and Victoria finally understanding what her cousins—especially Alistair—endured. Alexi, of course, had had no sympathy for them.
Luckily, they had spoken about the situations early, and towards the end of their engagement, while the days were still frustrating, they ended cuddled up together in bed rather than on opposite sides of the enormous mattress.
Victoria smiled at the memories of their nights. While not unskilled in the bedroom, she’d never experienced love-making the way Cormac made love to her. He made her body respond in ways no other man had ever been able to. She found herself completely desperate for him and aching in ways she hadn’t realised existed, and he always left her completely satisfied.
But no matter how breathless he left her, no matter how much her toes curled, no matter how many times she literally touched heaven, she continued to crave him moments after they were finished. He was like a drug, and at twenty-five, perfectly able to keep supplying her however much she needed.
‘Look at her,’ Alexi sighed. Victoria watched her youngest sister in the mirror as she came up behind her, veil in hand. Hattie and Pippa were not far behind, each holding their own part of the insanely long lace. ‘She’s positively glowing.’
‘She’s radiant,’ Pippa said with her own happy sigh.
‘You do look happy, Victoria,’ Hattie begrudgingly admitted. Victoria knew things would never be perfect between the two of them, but when it came to moments like this, she knew her sister would stand beside her.
‘Thank you, Hattie, girls. I am. I really am,’ she told them as the three began to affix the veil into her perfectly styled hair. ‘I know you don’t approve of how I’ve done this, but Cormac—he’s everything I ever wanted and a few things I didn’t realise I could have.’
