CHASING TROUBLE

“Is pouring tea another use we men have?” he teased his deceptively brisk aunt; beneath her gruff exterior, Mae had a heart almost as big as she was.

“I trust you’ll excuse my nephew, Caroline,” His aunt frowned at him disapprovingly as she made herself comfortable in the armchair opposite Caroline’s. “I assure you, I never taught him to be so disrespectful

Neither did his father.”

Nicholas grinned, unconcerned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Caroline was very much enjoying the exchange between Nicholas and his aunt, and doubted very much that he ever got the better of the sharp-tongued Mae Harrison.

Although she was less sure about seeing a side of him that she had never realized existed. A lighthearted, teasing side that hid the wealth of love he obviously felt for the woman.

“So, Caroline,” Mae Harrison drew her attention away from Nicholas. “How long have you and Nick known each other? If I don’t ask you, I’ll never know,” she added confidingly. “He never tells me anything about his private life.”

Caroline gave the older woman a startled look. “Oh, but-”

“Caroline isn’t part of my private life, Aunt Mae,” Nicholas informed her dryly as he handed the women two of the cups of tea he had poured, raising one dark brow in Caroline’s direction as he saw the heated color enter her cheeks. “Cake?” His expression was deceptively innocent as he gave Caroline an empty plate before offering the plate containing his Aunt Mae’s fruit cake, no doubt baked especially for the occasion.

Caroline seemed slightly in a daze as she absently took a piece of the fruit cake. “You seem to be under some sort of misapprehension as to my identity, Mrs Harrison.”

“Now, didn’t I ask you to call me Mae?” Nicholas’ aunt rebuked her gently, at the same time shooting him a questioning glance.

Nicholas easily guessed the reason for Mae’s puzzlement; as he had already explained to Caroline, she really wasn’t what his aunt had been expecting from his own description of his PA as being ‘prim, officious and efficient’. A description that he had genuinely thought applied to Caroline. But not any more… He frowned slightly. “Caroline is my PA, Aunt Mae,” he supplied abruptly as he turned away to collect his own cup of tea and piece of cake, before sitting down on the foot-stool beside his aunt’s chair. Nevertheless, he sensed Mae’s thoughtful gaze fixed on him for several seconds. Deservedly so, considering his previous comments about Caroline had given his aunt the impression that she was a much older woman, an older woman who he had no more interest in seducing than she had in being seduced.

He had found the situation amusing when he’d told Caroline yesterday. Now, with his aunt looking at him so interestedly, Nicholas felt far less amused.

“Caroline seems to have finished her tea, so perhaps I could show her up to her room so that she can freshen up after our journey?” he suggested lightly, knowing by Caroline’s slightly dazed expression as she looked down at the empty cup in her hand and the plate on her knee that she had probably consumed both without even being aware of doing so. “I take it Caroline has my old bedroom and I’m in the box room?” he asked his aunt lightly as he met her searching gaze with one of deliberate blandness.

An expression that obviously didn’t fool her for one moment. “Do that.” His aunt nodded.

Caroline was well aware that there was some sort of exchange going on between aunt and nephew beneath the surface-politeness of their conversation. Just as she was aware that she was the subject of that exchange. But how much Mae Harrison knew, or had guessed, about Caroline’s relationship with Nicholas she wasn’t sure… “There’s really no need for Nicholas to give up his bedroom for me,” she assured her brightly. “I’m sure I would be perfectly comfortable in the box room.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“I wouldn’t hear of it,” Mae Harrison told her decisively as she stood up. “Never turn down an act of self-sacrifice on a man’s part, Caroline,” she reproved lightly. “They have things far too much their own way in this world as it is.”

Caroline gave a rueful smile. “Nicholas very generously gave up his bed for me last night-” She broke off abruptly, fiery color entering her cheeks at the realization that she and Nicholas had been stranded at the inn for two nights and not one. She shot him a beseeching glance to cover her obvious mistake.

A glance he returned with mocking amusement. “Caroline meant, of course, that due to the fact that the inn had only one spare bedroom I’ve had to spend the last two nights sleeping in a chair,” he drawled.

“Quite right too,” his aunt approved briskly. “It’s nice to know that not all my teaching went in one ear and out the other! Well, don’t keep Caroline standing there; away with you and show her to the room she’s to use.”

Caroline still felt slightly disoriented as she followed Nicholas up the narrow staircase to the bedrooms above. She had known this visit to his aunt was going to be awkward the moment he’d mentioned it to her, but it was so much worse than she had even imagined it would be. She couldn’t hide the feelings she felt for the dynamic Nicholas Connelly, a man who was as arrogant as he was successful. But the Nicholas Connelly she had seen the last couple of days-the man who was Mae Harrison’s nephew, who not only respected his aunt but obviously adored her-was so much more endearing.

“Sorry, it’s a little cold up here.” Nicholas looked down at Caroline as he saw her shiver when they entered the room that had been his bedroom when he visited during his teens.

Caroline gave him a smile. “I-Please don’t linger up here on my account. I’m sure that you and your aunt have a lot of catching up to do.”

Nicholas already knew that most of that ‘catching up’ would be about Caroline herself. “Care…”

“I’ll come down in a few minutes,” she assured him huskily, her gaze not meeting his as she looked about the bedroom instead.