Falling for Alexander (Corkscrew Bay #2) (17 page)

Harry shook his head. “
The coastal road’s not passable. I’ve got a team clearing it as we speak.” He looked around, his mind already moving on to the next emergency. “There’s nothing you can do for now, Kate. Just sit tight.”

“
There is one thing you can do,” Alexander said as Harry strode off. “Dora will need a hand and these people—” He nudged his chin toward the rear end of the bus that was just departing “—would probably appreciate a familiar face when they get to the castle.”

“
Yes, of course.” She dug her keys out of her pocket, glancing around her as she absorbed the distress that seemed to hang in the air. She’d be of more use helping where she could rather than milling around here. Still… Her gaze went back to Alexander.

“
I’m going to join the searches,
cara
. I’ll find your friends, I promise. And I’ll bring your parents up later, okay? At least we have a generator there until the power comes back on.”

She nodded, her lips finally twisting into a smile as he reassured her with the sincerity settled in his eyes, the determin
ation set in his jaw. She’d never have to worry alone, not ever again.

He pulled her back into his arms. “
I love you,
cara.
” His mouth claimed hers in a slanting, breath-claiming kiss before he rested his forehead against hers. “Don’t ever leave me again.” His voice was almost fierce, a ragged command. “Not even when I order you to go.”

And then he was gone, walking up to a group of men. Her heart bumped wildly inside her chest as she stood there, her gaze following him, her jaw slack and her smile no doub
t some even sillier version of goofy.

It was after midnight before she saw Alexander again. The castle was bursting with townsfolk. From the reports she’d gotten, and the general chatter, many more than the stranded had taken refuge at the castle. Throughout history, this had always been the town’s greatest strength, banding together in a crisis.

Trundle beds, brought up from the emergency supplies stored in the town hall
’s basement, lined the neglected ballroom from wall to wall. Kate had opened the staterooms above, dusty as they were, and some of the mothers with babies had taken refuge there from the chaos and noise downstairs. Dora had pulled a warm meal virtually out of her hat, a watery lamb broth that was nevertheless hot and tasty and stretched to feed everyone with loaves of bread brought in from the town stores.

“
You look dead on your feet,” Alexander whispered over her shoulder.

She spun around, and almost knocked a mug of hot chocolate out of his hand. His quick reflexes saved the chocolate as
he slipped an arm around her shoulder. He drew her outside through the main entrance, a set of arched mahogany doors that opened directly from the ballroom onto a waterfall of stone steps.

“
We’ve done as much as we can do tonight,” he said, pressing the mug into her hands. “Drink up, and then I’m taking you to bed.”

She sank down on a step and he took the one behind her, his arms draped over her shoulders, pulling her back between his legs. She
’d received news that Isobel and Finn were fine, but staying at the spa. The place was pretty banged up, but Finn had a generator there as well and he’d made some sort of refuge for his guests. Her parents were here and safe, along with a large percentage of the town.

She rested the back of her head against his thigh,
allowing herself to unwind for the first time in hours.

“
Look at that.” She lifted her gaze to the sky, a piercing black canvas splattered with the white brilliance of a billion stars and a fat, full moon.

“
Show off,” he murmured.

She sighed softly. “
Maybe it’s just trying to make up for the havoc it spat out at us.”

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Kate sipping on her warm drink, Alexander threading his fingers through her hair.

When she put her mug down, she shifted about to face him, looking up into his eyes. “Alex, I’m so sorry for hurting you, for betraying your trust, for digging into places I had no right to be. For not respecting your wishes.”

She
’d already explained a little about her own neurosis, but she wasn’t going to bring Helena and her warning into it…she’d already decided there was no excuse for prying where he hadn’t wanted her.

“
I don’t like what you did,” he said, “but you’re not the only one at fault here.”

She could just imagine what he blamed himself for.

“Don’t do that.” She shook her head slowly. “This isn’t about you keeping your sister from me or not wanting to talk about your past. I never seem to know when to leave well enough alone. That’s a bad habit I need to learn to curb. I’d never hurt you, not intentionally. I hope you know that.”

“
I’m not saying you’re perfect, or that you didn’t make a mistake, but no more than I.” His hand came out, his fingers pushing through her hair to cup around the back of her head, his thumb stroking the base of her skull. “I thought I trusted you. I kept telling myself I did. I was falling in love and somehow convinced myself the one was contingent on the other and therefore it must be so.”

“
And I betrayed that trust,” she croaked.

“
You gave me your all. You gave me things I didn’t know were missing from my life and, in return, I shut you out. I closed off large parts of myself to you. I was an arrogant fool, believing that should be enough for you. Thinking it could ever be enough for me.”

The way he was looking at her, shielding nothing,
all his regret, love and promises reflected in his eyes.

She was drowning. Drowning in Alexander and she never wanted to break the surface. “
I should have given you more time. I should never have doubted us.”

“
Listen to me for a second,
cara.
I thought you’d come to get a comment from me on Monday night before the story went out the next day. You think what you did was bad? You think you hurt me?” His voice dropped to that gravel, sexy tenor that rippled hot shivers over her skin. “I never even saw it, how utterly lacking my love and faith in you was, until Tuesday came and there was no story. You should never have had to prove yourself to me in order to earn my trust. Kate.”

She went up onto her knees, her mouth reaching for his. “
I love you so, so much.”

He tipped forward to meet her lips in a devouring kiss, his arms folding around her to pull her flush against him.

“Move in with me,” he whispered on her lips.

She stole his words with another deep kiss. Just when she thought she loved
him as much as she possibly could, he went and did something, said something, to swell her heart a little more.

It was ridiculously too soon to move in together, of course. It didn
’t feel ridiculous at all.

He kissed her back, until her toes curled, held her so tightly to him tha
t she felt as if her bones had fused to his, but then he pulled out of the kiss again, apparently determined to finish what he had to say.

“
I want to marry you,
cara
, I want everything, but I can’t wait that long to live with you and I’m sure as hell not going to propose to you with the entire town at my back—”

“
Didn’t you just do that?” she asked impishly.

His slow grin told her he knew exactly what he
’d done, but there’d be another, more romantic proposal to come.

“
I’m done with holding back of myself.
Sei tutto per me.
” His hands were in her hair, stroking, keeping her head tilted to his, his gaze hooking her and promising to never let go. “You get me, my heart, my home, my past, the good, the bad, and all your desires.”

“
You’re offering me the castle and all of my desires,” she teased lightly. She couldn’t stop smiling. Her heart was a dam overflowing with smiles, ready to burst. “That’s a lethal combination.”

“
I mean it,
cara.
This is going to be your home now, and that means making place for your life and the beliefs you hold dear. If you need your open days and public tours—”

“
Alex, I don’t.”

“
I know how important—”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “
I thought it was.” Her gaze went over his shoulder, to the door that stood partly open and the noises filtering outside to them. “But now I realise…what I feared losing was this, the town and castle being there for each other when the need arises. That’s all I want and need…” Her eyes came back to him, her smile cheeky. “And perhaps the annual Easter egg hunt.”

Chapter Twenty

Three days after the storm, the town finally seemed to settle down on its haunches again. Repair work was in full force and all but a handful of people had returned to their homes. The storm appeared to have beat a narrow path of
destruction, leaving the majority of the town with peripheral damage only.

Kate
’s home escaped relatively intact, except for the gutters about to be replaced. Alexander was upstairs, inspecting for further damage while they waited for the handy man to arrive.

She had a glass of wine ready for him when he joined her in the kitchen.

“I know it’s not yet five,” she said, hopping onto the counter, “but I’ve declared we’re still officially on storm vacation.”

“
Speaking of vacation,” he said, coming to stand between her legs, “are you able to get away for a week or so?”

“
I’ll be working at home for the foreseeable future, anyway, while the offices are being refitted. Lexi, that’s one of the girls I employ part-time, has covered for me before, so yeah, I guess… So long as I have access to wifi.” She tilted the glass to his lips, feeding him a sip of wine. “What did you have in mind?”

“
California.” He dipped a finger into the glass and painted a line of wine between the valley of her breasts, tugging the V of her vest top down as he went. “I’d like you to meet my aunt and my sister…” His finger stilled as he took a moment to concentrate on just looking into her eyes. “To properly meet my sister.”

“
I’d love that,” she said softly, smiling.

His own smile chased the sobe
r moment, his gaze turning wicked, heating her wherever it touched upon. “I don’t believe we’ve tested out this counter yet.”

“
We haven’t,” she agreed, swinging her legs up to wrap around his hips. “And we won’t have the chance to do so much longer.”

“
You’ve decided what you’re going to do with this place, then?”

“
Rent it out, I think.” She couldn’t imagine selling, but she didn’t want her home standing empty either.

“
That’s an excellent idea.” He chuckled, pressing her back gently until she was leaning on her elbows. “You’re going to need the money.”

“
You’re deluded if you think the rent from this place will cover my cell phone bills.” She laughed with him. “You have to stop smashing them.”

“
But maybe it will be enough to turn one of those part-time roles into a full-time employee at the paper.” His gaze held hers, his slow grin devastating her senses. “I want to share my whole life with you,
cara
, and that means us leaving Corkscrew Bay now and then.”

She looked into his eyes, loving the way he made her fee
l when he scattered ‘share’ and ‘us’ so carelessly into his sentences. She loved that he didn’t offer to directly throw his billions at the Corkscrew Weekly, that he understood she needed to make the paper pay its own way, her way. She loved absolutely everything about him.

“
I love you, too,” he said, his grin softening to a smile as he lowered his head until his mouth touched her skin, his tongue licking along the line of wine.

She groaned as his mouth went off course to suckle a nipple, then again as th
e door chimes sounded. “That will be Andy.”

“
Andy?” He gave her nipple one last loving nip before lifting his gaze to hers, his brow lifting in amusement. “Andy the handy man?”

She grimaced, pushing him off. “
Just get the door.”

“
Don’t move a muscle,
cara
, I’ll be right back.”

She rolled her eyes after him, adjusting her top as she slipped off the counter. Alexander didn
’t quite understand yet how things worked in Corkscrew Bay. Andy would expect a cuppa and a biscuit before he got to work.

She went to put
the kettle on, turning as she heard them return. Her welcoming smile deadpanned as Isobel practically fell into the kitchen in a flurry of white.

“
Izzy?” White satin and white bows and dainty white slippers. Kate’s lips twitched. “An early Halloween party?”

The colour bleached from Isobel
’s face as she slumped against the wall.

“
What on earth?” Kate lurched forward, her amusement dropping to the pit of her stomach. “What has happened?”

“
I think…” Isobel’s eyes widened on her. “I think I just married Finn.”