Hide and Seek (10 page)

William merely raised an eyebrow at that comment. Determined to get everything out, Josephine continued.

“It took me a while to work out I was pregnant, the stress of hiding and lack of money hasn’t been pleasant on my already screwed up metabolism. Once I worked it out, it took me a few months more to screw up the courage to come back here, to you. I do trust you, you moron, or I wouldn’t be here. I might be a little stubborn and pigheaded, but I do eventually see the light. Do you really think I’d have come back of my own volition if I thought you were one of the bad guys? I just needed to find my courage.”

Taking a deep breath, Josephine angrily wiped at the tears forming in her eyes. She hated weeping women, and was disgusted to find herself wanting nothing more than to run into William’s arms and have a good long cry.

“I’m sorry if I hurt or offended you, but I’m here now. I don’t want you mad at me. I’m here, I’m sorry, and I don’t know if you believe me—but maybe these will help.”

Josephine jerkily took a step towards William’s big bed. Reaching into her pockets she withdrew the two CDs and threw them gently on his quilt.

Taking a deep breath, praying for the strength not to start crying before she could lock herself in the bathroom, she turned to flee. Dimly, she heard a choked sound come from William, and then she heard his heavier step come quickly across the room. He stood in front of her—blocking her escape.

For a split second she wondered if he would take her arm, drag her outside and down to the precinct. Yet he bent forward and wrapped her in his strong, warm arms in a huge bear hug. No longer could she hold her tears back. With a choked cry that sounded more like a wounded animal than those delicate feminine sniffs her friends used when crying, Josephine bawled her eyes out.

Ten minutes later, she accepted a handkerchief from William and noisily blew her nose. Wiping at her eyes, she fanned her face and grimaced.

“Shit. I hate crying. It’s the weakest female thing on earth, and makes me feel like a moron. My forehead gets splotchy, my eyes get bloodshot, and I feel like a dork.”

When William laughed, Josephine glared at him.

“Your eyes go a deeper green, almost a cat-like luminescent green, I can’t see any splotches, whatever the hell those are, and I think you’ve been under enough stress and weird hormones for me to excuse it this once.”

Kissing her forehead like a father, chucking the CDs into his bag with the rest of his belongings, he resumed his packing with much less anger.

“I wasn’t angry at you, nor am I now. I’m angry at the choices you made and at the situation in general. I wish you had confided in me back before you left, but there’s no use wishing for things that happened in the past. Thank you for trusting me, for giving me the information. My brothers and I can go over them back at the house. I still want to take you there and keep you safe. We can discuss everything once Samuel and Dominic have more information. Okay?”

Josephine squirmed on the spot, feeling like a three-year-old just caught stealing cookies.

“Uh…I might be able to help you, I really don’t want to just be put on a shelf somewhere and told to wait patiently for you ‘men’ to take care of everything. I’m sorry, but I’m just not that kind of girl. And I left those CDs here—under the sink in your bathroom cupboard. I didn’t really know why at the time, it just seemed like a good idea.”

“You did? Don’t you realize what that signifies?” he queried, smiling even as he ignored her earlier comments.

“Yeah. Sort of. I didn’t really know it at the time, but I just worked it out when I saw how truly offended you were. I guess I trusted you on some level even before I left, huh?”

Silently William zipped up his bag, his eyes full of questions and understanding.

Feeling a thousand times lighter and easier, Josephine smiled. Noticing William’s unbrushed hair, carelessly tied back in a straggly ponytail, she grabbed his hairbrush and motioned for him to sit down.

“You don’t have to—” he said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I know,” she interrupted, gently pulling out the knots and smoothing the hair down his back, “but I want to. I think it’ll soothe us both a bit. I love your hair, by the way. Can I braid it back? We can play Indian and the Virgin Maiden again. That was a great game.”

William half-turned around, looking pointedly at her large belly.

“It might be a bit hard to play Virgin Maiden with that body. How about we play Indian takes a wanton captive?”

Josephine spun out the five minutes it took to brush the knots from his hair into fifteen. The rhythmic, soothing strokes lulled them both into a calmer mood. When William started shifting restlessly, Josephine started the intricate braid, wishing he wasn’t in such a rush. Idly, she marveled at how many inches his hair had grown since she left. His hair was now as long as hers, reaching halfway down his back. Licking her lips, she imagined all the things he could do to her as his captive slave.

“I like the wanton captive idea. Hand me a hair tie and we can start.”

Securing his hair, she sat down, waiting for the games to begin. When William grabbed her hand and gently pulled her from the bed, she looked questioningly at him. When he picked up her small bag as well as his own in his other hand, she frowned. As he pulled her to the door, opened it and led her out, she laughed in protest.

“Hey! What happened to our Indian game?”

“We’re playing it. This Indian is taking you captive back to his house.”

Rolling her eyes and giggling, Josephine followed him down to the elevators. She’d have to think of a way to pay him back later, maybe she could pick up some chocolate topping in the supermarket on the way up to his place…

Chapter Eight

As the scenery slowly turned from the outer city and into a more lush landscape, a gorgeous green forest, Josephine was enchanted. The dark green trees grew denser as the miles flitted by, the sky became more and more covered by the overhanging trees, and the weak sun filtered through the overgrowth.

“This is beautiful,” she commented for what felt like the millionth time. William laughed.

“Anyone would think you’d never seen a forest before.”

“Well, of course I have seen a forest before,” she insisted, indignantly, “just not one this dense and beautiful.”

Time passed and Josephine felt lulled by the warm car, William’s presence, and the soothing motion of the car as it climbed the hills.

The soft touch of William’s hand on her arm startled her, and she awoke to find the car parked in front of a huge rambling old home. A large garden, with what looked like freshly planted flowers and herbs, sat out front, and the huge rise of trees behind the house showed they were still on the edges of the large park.

“We’re here, honey. Wait a sec and I’ll help you out of the door.”

Suddenly worried, Josephine grabbed William’s arm when he moved to get out of the car.

“Your brothers won’t be upset with me, will they? They’ll think I’m trying to trap you or something, won’t they? Oh my gosh, what do we tell them?”

William smiled and hugged her soothingly. “Nah, they’re much more likely to hang shit on me for not following you more carefully and letting you run around for six months pregnant with my kids. We’ll tell them the truth, or at least the truth that makes us both look like logical, sane, rational adults.”

Inexplicably feeling better, Josephine smiled and sat back.

“Oh, well, that’s okay then.”

Laughing at his mock frown, Josephine shuffled back against the door when William growled and moved forward to kiss her. She reached up to tug his long braid as he crowded closer to her. Drowning in his kiss, feeling the car heat up by degrees as his tongue entered her mouth and started tangling with her own, Josephine bolted upright when she heard a male shout “Hey!” suddenly.

“Oh!” she gasped, looking around nervously.

William stroked her cheek, muttering a curse.

“It’s only Art, my elder brother. He has the world’s
worst
sense of timing, and it’s not improving now he’s a daddy. You’d think we were teenagers caught necking outside our dad’s front door!”

Sighing at his disgust, Josephine tried to hide her smile as William got out of the car and came around to her side. Despite her hatred of feeling delicate and helpless, she did feel better knowing at least he wouldn’t let her fall flat on her face in front of his brother.

Accepting his helping hand, she awkwardly climbed down, cursing her lack of grace. She could see the first impression she would give—hugely pregnant after running for six months. She sighed in dismay. This wouldn’t be easy.

A tall man, though not as tall as William, with the same bedroom blue eyes and dark brown hair, though cut far shorter than William’s, approached them and slapped William on the back.

“Hey there, Wills, you’ve been gone for a while. Sophie was starting to talk about dragging you back here herself…”

“William!”

Before the man could finish or introduce himself, a blonde woman with a tiny baby held protectively in her arms came rushing out of the house. Rushing down the few stairs from the front porch, she ground to a halt, handed the baby over to her husband, and threw herself in William’s arms.

Josephine was too surprised at this energetic woman to feel even a spark of jealousy over her familiarity with her William. She recalled William talking about his sister-in-law, Sophie, and guessed this was she. Blinking as the woman simultaneously pulled herself out of the hug and turned to her, she felt the full force of this woman’s smile.

“You must be Josephine. I am
so
glad William finally found you. He’s been moping around here for
months
and then suddenly after Christiana was born, he upped and left without a word to anyone, and hasn’t been back since. It’s only been a little while, but I have become so used to this place being overrun with the Rutledge men, it seemed so strange with some of them missing!”

Josephine felt a slender arm wrap around her shoulders. Next thing she knew Sophie was helping her up the stairs and into the house, still talking a mile a minute.

“I know these stairs are a pain in the ass when you’re so burdened already, but the back door has no stairs, so you can just use that later. William’s rooms are closer to the back of the house anyway. You must be what? Seven and a half months along?”

Josephine smiled.

“Just on six months, actually. But they’re twin boys.”

“Twins!” Artemais crowed. “You just had to beat me, bro, didn’t you?”

Sophie shot a glance at him and stuck her tongue out at him.

“These men are disgraceful. Just wait until you meet Dominic and Samuel at lunch! They’re wonderful, but they have no concept of womanly independence. No driving alone. No walking alone. No
shopping
alone! Really! I figure if now that you’re here we can gang up on them and do things together and try to curb some of their protective instincts.”

“Uh. Well…” Josephine trailed off as she entered into a large, sunny kitchen. She had no idea how long she would be staying, or even if she would be staying. Looking to William for help, he merely smiled at her in that secret way he had.

“I think we should be able to get some girl time in. But I’m not really sure how long I’ll be here.”

Sophie glanced from her to William.

“Not sure? William! If you dare tell me you haven’t proposed I’ll…I’ll…” spluttering in her outrage, she calmed down when Artemais handed the tiny baby back to her. It didn’t stop her spluttering, but she cradled the infant protectively in her arms, calming her in some measure.

“Now Soph, I’m sure William is doing the right thing in his own time.” Shooting a hard stare at his brother, he raised his eyebrow. “But for now, I bet poor Josephine needs a bit of a nap, hmm? William can show you his rooms. You’re more than welcome to stay for as long as you like. My brothers and I own this huge place jointly, and there’s more than enough room for you and the kids when they arrive. Christiana will probably love the company by that time.”

Feeling William come up beside her and wrap a warm arm around her shoulders, Josephine smiled, enjoying the easy, friendly relationship these adults seemed to share.

“Thank you, Art. I’m not sure yet what my…uh…our plans are, but I really do appreciate the offer. I would love to settle in and have a bit of a walk around outside. I didn’t realize the forest was literally in your backyard.”

“No problem. And just take William or myself with you when you wander. Sophie is useless, even after all these months she
still
gets lost more than a hundred feet outside the house, don’t you, dear?”

Sophie blushed, even though Josephine knew the tone was light and teasing.

“Don’t you dare embarrass me in front of my new friend. I can tell Josephine and I will be able to stand strong against you men. Go on and settle yourself, Josie. We can chat later. As for you,” she glared at William, “we will talk much sooner.”

William merely grinned at her and bowed in a surprisingly courtly manner.

“I am always at your disposal, sister dear. You merely need to pound on my door, as you always do.”

Josephine couldn’t help the huge smile that spread across her face. She could tell the teasing and jeering that would continue over dinner when the other two brothers arrived would indeed prove interesting.