She smiled.
The smile he gave her in return, a genuine smile that formed little commas next to his mouth, caused her heart to skip a beat.
***
“I love these cookies,” Brynn said. She was the most relaxed Trevor had ever seen her. The girl would always be shy by nature, but she seemed to be getting used to him. She smiled, and her gaze darted away, settling on the fountain. “And thank you for the gift card and docking station. That was nice of you.”
He wanted to make sure she was comfortable. Allie had mentioned the girl liked listening to her iPod, so he simply instructed Frances to get what was needed. It was nothing, really, yet by the look on her bright red face, Brynn was pleased. “You’re most welcome. And the biscuits are British, of course.” Arnold only served them for Allie and Brynn.
In fact, both sisters had Arnold wrapped around their fingers. With great flair, he’d presented them with little frosted fairy cakes, their initials written in pink icing. Trevor didn’t get a little cake with his initials. When Allie and Brynn moved out, his butler might very well decide to go with them.
He frowned and pushed the thought aside. The very idea of Allison not living here made him uneasy. She wouldn’t always be here, but the when of it was his decision. And right now, he wanted her here. In his bed. Straddling him.
With a sigh, he shifted in discomfort. He needed to be inside Allie again. As soon as possible. The brief excursion in the pool house had only whetted his appetite, rather than easing it.
Trevor grabbed a biscuit. The fountain tinkled softly in the background. This really was a most peaceful room. The air was cool and dry and the flowers gave off a heady perfume. Maybe this should become a ritual, taking a few minutes out of the day to have tea with Allie.
She smiled at him. “Your mother finally picked a wedding cake.”
He threw her a droll look. “Excellent. I’ve worried myself silly over it.” He popped the last of the biscuit in his mouth and then wiped his hands on the napkin. “Do try the watercress sandwiches, Brynn. They’re quite nice.”
Brynn plucked one from the tiered tray and peered at it with suspicion. “What’s watercress?” She lifted the top layer of bread and sniffed the sandwich.
“Watercress is an herb. Served on these tiny, crustless sandwiches at teatime.” He picked one off the tray and took a bite. “Mmm.” He closed his eyes and smiled.
Brynn laughed and took a small bite. After chewing a few times, she shrugged. “It’s all right,” she said.
“Well, they can’t all be Jammie Dodgers.”
“She’s getting red velvet to match her red dress,” Allie said.
Trevor sighed and glanced at her. She’d changed into a peach-colored dress and her bra pushed her breasts up and outward. The memory of this morning, working his cock between those lovely tits, made him hard. Slowly his gaze traveled to her eyes, which he found glaring at him. Whoops. Wouldn’t do to be caught gaping in front of Brynn. Still, if Allie didn’t want her breasts to be admired, she shouldn’t put them on display—but he very much enjoyed it when she did.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes, darling, red velvet.”
Brynn, who had been looking over the tray of food, paused. “You call your assistant darling?”
Trevor noticed Allie turning a lovely shade of pink. It made him smile. “I call everyone darling. Darling.”
“It’s a British thing,” Allie said. By the downward turn of those lush lips, he knew his little slip had upset her. She could rail at him later. In fact, he looked forward to it.
He drained his cup and stood. “Well, ladies, delightful as always, but I must get back to work.”
“Mr. Blake, there are some things we should go over soon.” Allie gave him a hard stare.
“Of course, Miss Campbell. I’m at your disposal.”
Trevor left the conservatory with a smile. But when he walked into his office and saw his father looking over the brass armillary sphere sitting on the bookshelf, the smile turned into a scowl. “What do you want, old man?” He walked to his desk and settled into the chair behind it.
“We need to talk,” Nigel said, spinning one of the rings.
“I can’t imagine why.” He kept his gaze trained on his computer screen.
“Trevor, we’ve done this bit. I know I’ve been a bastard. And I am sorry. For all of it, Son.”
“Well and good. Close the door on your way out, would you?”
Nigel stopped fondling the sphere and walked toward the desk. “Your mother very much wants the wedding to be a family affair.”
“You’ve always been particularly good at affairs.”
Sighing, Nigel fell into a chair with careless grace. “Are you ever going to get over Anna?”
“Oh, do me a favor,” Trevor said, disgusted. Over Anna? He was over that slag long before his father came sniffing around. Still, it was bad form. Man’s code and all that. But what did he expect from such a tosser?
“I’m sorry I hurt you, Trev. And I’m sorry I wasn’t a better father to you. But Mags and I would like to try and make it up to you.”
Trevor batted his lashes. “Are you going to buy me a pony?”
Nigel scratched his jaw with one hand. “I know we haven’t been the best of parents. The memories you have aren’t all pleasant ones, but there were good times, you know.”
“Mmm, yes. Remember my sixth birthday party? In the middle of opening presents, Mother accused you of fucking around. You went tearing off in your sports car, she proceeded to get drunk on champagne and cry hysterically. One for the memory books.”
Nigel rubbed a hand over his mouth and shifted his eyes to the left. “Yes, well, you’re not six anymore. This is for your mother, Son.”
“I’ve missed most of her weddings.” Trevor paused and stroked his chin. “No, I take that back. I’ve missed all of her weddings. Yours too, in fact. Why should this one be any different?”
Nigel stood and straightened his suit jacket, tugged at his cuffs. “You will be there. You will give your mother this, and she will be happy.” With a stiff back he left the office, slamming the door behind him.
Trevor gripped the armrests on the chair and sneered. It was always about their happiness. His mother was little more than an incubator and his father, a sperm donor. Why didn’t they just leave him the hell alone?
When Allie came in seconds later, he hadn’t begun to rein in his anger.
“What’s wrong with your dad? I just ran into him in the hall and he seemed really upset.” She knitted her brow and approached the desk. “Trevor, what happened?”
He tapped a few keystrokes and brought a prospectus up on the screen. “I keep getting fucking interrupted and I’m busy. Get out.” He knew it wasn’t fair to unleash his anger on her, but he didn’t want to be bothered just now. He was tired of his parents and their infernal wedding chatter. Tired of not being able to shag Allison whenever he bloody well wanted. Tired of having so many people invade his office.
Instead of heeding him, she sighed and walked over to the desk, hopped on top of it, and tilted her head forward, looking at his screen. “I talked to your mom today.”
“I’m sure it was a riveting conversation. What do you want?”
“I wanted to remind you to take it easy around Brynn. I don’t want her to think I’m anything but your assistant.”
He still didn’t look at her. This investment expected a twelve percent rate of return. No one could guarantee twelve percent in this economy, no matter how aggressive. He didn’t trust it. And he always trusted his gut. Except when it came to Brian Campbell and his beautiful daughter.
“Fine, no more slipups in front of Brynn.”
“Have you heard from the private detective? Does he have any news about Brad?”