Hooked By Love Read online

  I gasped in mock exasperation, placing my hands over my breasts. Josh threw his head back and laughed out loud.

  Oh my goodness, you even look great in the morning. I revelled in his perfect features; his black tousled long hair and dark eyebrows perfectly complimented the shadow of stubble over his dimples and those startling eyes pierced mine again.

  ‘Can I take you out for breakfast?’ he asked.

  ‘Okay, but just toast. I’m not big on eating until lunch,’ I replied as I sat on the edge of the bed.

  He glanced at his watch. ‘Seeing as it’s ten thirty, let’s skip breakfast and I’ll cook you lunch … at my place,’ he offered. ‘What do you say?’

  I answered in a beat. ‘I say yay!’

  ‘Do you mind if I take a quick shower?’

  ‘Nope, feel free. You can even wear my dressing gown if you like.’

  He eyed my pink gown on the back of the door. ‘Would you be offended if I pass on this occasion? Pink’s not really my colour. I’m more of a yellow sort of guy.’

  He slid out of bed.

  ‘Okay, I’ll let it go this once,’ I said before directing him to the bathroom.

  Minutes later, I heard the shower turn on. I couldn’t help but think about how all this would play out. After I’d launched this crippling campaign against him, he still, essentially, sought solace with me? Was this a trap? Was it—no, if it were a trap, he would’ve used my body to get to me, wouldn’t he? He hadn’t even tried to have sex with me last night. Either he was a patient hunter or he honestly wasn’t out to trap me.

  I had to admit I was tempted to accidentally need something in the bathroom while he was showering, just to see where it would lead and maybe get a glimpse of what I was up against. But I felt like a hypocrite, constantly accusing him of being out to bed me when I was the horny one. I gave myself a proverbial rap on the knuckles for it.

  Rather than work my mind into a dirty ditch, I elected to wash the few dishes cluttering up my small kitchen. By the time I’d packed away the last plate, Josh came to join me.

  ‘Wow, you don’t waste any time in organising. Are you a neat freak?’ he said fiddling with his zipper as if he’d read my earlier thoughts.

  ‘More of a control freak,’ I informed him, tossing aside the dishcloth. ‘Tidiness is a sign that I am in control of my—’

  ‘Chores,’ he added.

  ‘—priorities,’ I corrected in amusement.

  ‘You look beautiful, Miss Cross,’ he said in a moment of quiet contact. He looked down at me with his mesmerising eyes. They were laughing, even though his mouth wasn’t, and his gaze sank deep into my soul, confusing my aforementioned priorities—at least the professional ones.

  ‘Thank you, Mr. O’Neil,’ I replied cordially and welcomed his lips.

  His hands fell on the small of my back and pulled my body against his.

  ‘Shall we go?’ he whispered in my ear as I virtually melted into his embrace.

  ***

  After picking up a few things from the supermarket, and stopping for Nutella crepes and hot chocolate with whipped cream and smarties, it was early afternoon when Josh and I set off to his house. He was adamant about cooking me a three-course lunch, regardless of my protests.

  ‘Seriously, I wouldn’t mind just having a toasted cheese sandwich, after filling up on the crepe,’ I insisted.

  ‘I’m sure you wouldn’t, but today you’re my guest, so I’m cooking,’ he retorted playfully. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t poison you for destroying my professional reputation.’

  ‘Oh my God, you just said that out loud,’ I told him, astonished.

  ‘That I wasn’t going to poison you or that you’ve managed to give my company a bad name?’ he asked casually.

  ‘Josh!’

  That was all I could manage in my embarrassment and amazement. How could he just come out and call that spade a spade? Was I supposed to detect some hostility there, or was he really just joking? My stomach knotted up. For the first time while in his company, I had no idea what to say or how to formulate a response, not a fitting one anyway.

  ‘What?’ he asked as we sped along the streets of his neighbourhood. ‘Don’t pretend that’s not what you were out to do. Besides, as a businessman in a cutthroat world, I have to commend you on your success in doing so.’

  I was dumbstruck, but Josh seemed unfazed.

  ‘Amber,’ he said.

  ‘Yes?’ I answered, waiting for some sort of deathblow.

  ‘I understand why you did what you did. I really do. If I were in your shoes, I would have probably done the same thing.’

  I stared at him, examining his expression for any sort of deviation from his words but found nothing false in his face. He meant what he’d said. He knew why I attacked his company, he commended me on my victory and he felt comfortable enough to say so outright. In our renewed relationship, wasn’t this a good thing? Why did I always fight positive developments? Paranoia of entrapment, emotional or otherwise?

  ‘Here we are, my palace,’ he said with pride. ‘I hope Aggie left the whisky out.’

  ‘Aggie?’ I asked.

  ‘Agatha, my housekeeper. She’s like a mother to me,’ he told me. ‘But she likes to hide the Scotch and Jack Daniels, because she says it makes me melancholy.’

  ‘Are you planning on being a miserable host?’ I asked as I gawked out the window at the stunning gardens and tall trees leading up to the garage.

  ‘That would be impossible, because you’re here,’ he said matter-of-factly.

  ‘I’m flattered.’

  ‘You’re like portable, itinerant happiness.’

  He casually got out of the car without even waiting for my response. His brutal honesty truly took me aback, even those parts which made me uneasy.

  The house was beautiful inside, elegant but in an understated sort of way and not at all what I’d expected. The placed looked lived in—not the type of showroom-style house that looked vulgar and screamed ‘look at how rich I am’.

  ‘You approve?’ he asked.

  ‘Are you crazy? What’s there not to approve of?’

  ‘What?’ His gaze followed mine, as I looked around with wide eyes.

  ‘It’s just … I thought your house would be all marble floors and golden chandeliers.’

  ‘Oh God, no! Even if I had a sheik’s money I wouldn’t sell out my sense of style like that.’

  Impressed, my gaze roamed over the wooden staircase and the grandfather clock I passed. The kitchen was big, but true in keeping with the style of the rest of the house, it was quaint and functional.

  ‘Now, you can help me, but I’m still the head chef. I call the shots,’ he told me as we unpacked the ingredients.

  I had peeled a lot of potatoes, washed a lot of vegetables and poured more than enough wine by the time everything was cooking away on the stainless steel stove.

  The front door opened. Josh and I exchanged glances.

  ‘Expecting someone?’ I asked.

  Zack walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks. His face was like that of a trapped animal at the sight of me in his uncle’s kitchen.

  ‘Hi, Zack,’ I said lightly.

  ‘Hey, Amber,’ he said without hiding his shock. He grimaced at his uncle.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Josh asked.

  ‘You! Are you spying on me now? You just had to infiltrate the one place I can go to get away from you?’ Zack shouted.

  ‘Look Zack,’ Josh started.

  Zack turned away from him and looked at me. ‘Not everyone falls for your charms, Uncle Josh. Some of us can see right through you.’ He stormed out of the kitchen.

  ‘See?’ Josh asked me. ‘You see what I have to put up with? What did I do wrong this time?’

  ‘You didn’t do anything. Let me see if he’ll talk to me.’ I placed my glass of wine on the counter and went in search of Zack. I cornered him outside the doors of the back patio. ‘Hey, are you okay?’

  ‘No. No
, I’m not. He even had to take you, Amber! First he tries to destroy the centre. Now he’s taking you too, leaving me with no one to run to!’ His eyes were wild revealing his hurt.

  ‘Sit down.’ I gestured for him to join me on the bench. ‘I understand how all of this looks but it’s not what you think. I think we all got off on the wrong foot and I’m not blameless either. All of this could have been avoided if we’d all acted using our heads instead of our emotions.’

  ‘So you’re saying you don’t care if the centre closes.’

  ‘Oh God, no. Of course I do. I only wish I would’ve dealt with things a bit better from my end. I’m not saying it’s right but your uncle runs a business. Buying and knocking buildings down is what they do. I suppose if it wasn’t your uncle’s company, it would have been someone else one day. Change is inevitable. It’s just that some people deal with it better than others.’

  ‘But what about the doc—’ He stopped.

  ‘The documents you gave us were very helpful. There were many wrongdoings, which I hope will be put right because of your actions.’

  ‘Did you tell Uncle Josh it was me?’

  ‘No, and I never will.’ We sat in silence for a few minutes and I stared up at the blue sky waiting for him to speak.

  ‘Did he tell you about my mum?’

  ‘Yes. This must be so painful for you both—’

  ‘For us both? He doesn’t care. He won’t even talk about her. It’s like she never existed.’

  ‘Please believe me when I tell you this: your uncle is hurting, deeply. Adults are a funny bunch of people. He thinks by him being strong, he’s helping you. He thinks he’ll be letting you down if he shows any sign of weakness.’

  ‘He told you that?’

  ‘He didn’t need to. I can tell by his actions. It’s not every day I get grown men crying on my shoulder.’

  ‘He cried?’ he asked incredulously.

  ‘Until he fell asleep. I think he’s leaving the ball in your court. He’s waiting for you to go to him.’

  Zack looked thoughtful. ‘I’ve been horrible to him. I said I wished he was dead instead of my mum.’

  ‘Grief makes us say things we’d never normally say to another person. We lash out because we want them to hurt as much as we do.’

  ‘I can’t believe my mum left me.’

  ‘What your mum did, Zack, it wasn’t to hurt you. To the ones left behind, it can seem like a selfish act, but no one can know another person’s pain. In the end, not even you could save her, so how do you think your uncle was supposed to?’ I deliberately compared him to Josh to show him that they were in the same boat. ‘She loved both of you very much, and neither of you have any fault in her choices. Only she had the power to save herself, and she chose her way, sweetheart, not Josh’s, and not yours.’

  He looked past me. Josh had appeared in the doorway behind me while I was talking. They stared at each other for a long while.

  ‘It’s true. I miss her so much, Zack. You’re all I have left of her,’ Josh admitted.

  Zack showed no aggression towards Josh. He was quiet, at peace. He pushed himself to his feet and fell into Josh’s open arms.

  ‘I’m sorry, Uncle Josh.’

  ‘So am I,’ Josh said, squeezing Zack tighter.

  Josh gave me a grateful nod over Zack’s shoulder and I gave him a thumbs-up.

  Lunch was remarkably relaxing. Zack, Josh and I enjoyed the cool air outside while we ate over the large glass table on the patio. It was good to see the two of them carry a normal conversation without any of the hostility she had witnessed earlier.

  ‘I can’t thank you enough, Miss Cross, for everything you’ve done,’ Josh whispered in my ear as he stood behind me while I packed away the leftover food.

  I didn’t resist when he wrapped his arms around me and instead leant back into him. He planted two small kisses on the nape of my neck. My senses spun. Josh stirred my passion more than any man ever had. His lightest touch on my skin drove me crazy with desire.

  I inwardly groaned when Josh released his hold on me when Zack walked in. I would be quite content to stay in his arms forever. I straightened and self-consciously fussed with my hair. Zack gave me a knowing look and the corners of his mouth quivered in a grin.

  ‘Did you tell her, Uncle Josh?’

  My gaze moved from one handsome face to the other. ‘Tell me what?’

  ‘That I’ll do everything in my power to stop the eviction,’ Josh said sincerely. ‘And I mean everything.’

  Chapter 26

  Josh

  After the night I spent with Amber and Zack, I discovered something I’d never thought possible. Never before had I been so happily proven wrong. For the first time since Claire’s departure from our lives and the subsequent hurt and shock, Zack and I spoke to each other like family members—an uncle and nephew on good terms. We spoke about Claire and visited her grave together for the first time in months. Zack was surprised to find out that I visited her on a weekly basis.

  Once he realized I really had been trying to get through to him, that I was hurting as much as he was, the change in him was instant. Gone was the bratty act and hostility. And all this happened thanks to a beautiful Celtic angel with eyes like rolling pastures and hair like fire. She stayed with us over the weekend but remained intentionally quiet most of the time, as if granting Zack and me the time to bond. No wonder people were so adamant to keep her in the community to guide those who were lost and wanting.

  On Sunday night, Zack came into my bedroom and sat on the end of my bed. I thought he wanted to talk some more about Claire, and he did, but it wasn’t what I’d been expecting.

  Zack’s jaw was tense. ‘I wrote you a letter, but it’s best if I tell you in person.’

  ‘What is it?’ I asked, putting aside the business plan I’d been working on.

  ‘It’s about some things I found in Uncle Craig’s office.’

  I frowned. Zack hadn’t been back to Craig’s house since the funeral. ‘In his office? When were you in his office?’ I didn’t think I wanted to know the answer.

  ‘The other day, when I made copies of all of his dodgy dealings with the local authorities.’

  ‘Jesus, Zack. Please tell me you weren’t the one who gave Amber the ammunition to destroy our company.’

  His silence was his reply.

  ‘Oh no. Why? Why would you do something like that?’

  ‘Because what Uncle Craig was doing was wrong. Didn’t you always tell me we have to speak the truth?’

  In one sentence, he had me and he knew it. ‘Well, yes, but …’

  He raised his eyebrows. What I said next would either make me look like a man of my word or a hypocrite. I couldn’t risk Zack thinking the latter.

  ‘You should have spoken to me …’

  His eyes narrowed. How could I have expected him to come to me with this when we’d barely said a decent word to each other in over a year?

  I held up my hands. ‘Okay, I respect what you did. You made a mature decision and it was the right one. I’m proud of you.’

  It was too late to do anything about the fallout. Besides, whatever Craig had coming to him, he well and truly deserved. Somehow, after the dust settled, I’d rebuild my father’s reputation with a company he’d be proud of.

  ***

  When I arrived at work the next morning, it seemed the miserable atmosphere my house had once harboured had shifted to our offices, because when I walked through the doors of the reception area, an overwhelming sense of dread draped over me.

  ‘Morning, Mary.’

  Mary averted her gaze and shuffled a stack of papers on her desk. I knew her well enough to recognise the slightest deviation from her normal body language.

  ‘Morning.’

  I could tell something was off. ‘Mary.’

  ‘Yes?’ she asked, failing to keep her voice even.

  ‘Why can’t you look me in the eye?’ I asked. Putting her on the spot was the fastest w
ay to get the information I wanted. No more sensitivity that left things unresolved. From now on, I’d pick a scab until it spilt the underlying problem. ‘Where’s my brother? He was supposed to meet me for breakfast but never showed up.’

  ‘He’s in the conference room.’

  ‘Who’s he meeting with? A new client?’

  Mary’s face paled. ‘He’s meeting with the shareholders and investors.’

  ‘But I should be present during those meetings,’ I said. ‘What are they discussing without me?’

  She hesitated, looking about the office at her mute colleagues, ‘They’re discussing … you.’

  I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Me?

  Leaning on her desk, I asked, in a softer tone, ‘So tell me what they’re discussing about me that was so urgent that a meeting had to be called before 9:00 a.m., business time.’

  ‘Craig is trying to oust you from the company. That’s why they’re all here. I’m so sorry I didn’t let you know, but he threatened to fire me.’

  ‘That’s just his style,’ I told her and stormed down the stairs to the lower floor where the boardroom doors were closed, obscuring the voices inside. I thundered through the doors and came face to face with an oval table of judges and my malevolent brother at the head, by the window.

  ‘All those in favour?’ he said as I barged in.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry. Am I imposing?’ I asked. They clearly hadn’t expected me to be here this early. ‘I see, you made a breakfast date with me to keep me waiting like a fool, Craig, just to make sure I’d get here too late to see you stab me in the back.’

  Craig leered at me. ‘Oh God, you’re so melodramatic.’

  ‘Just stop, Craig. Just stop. You’re really underestimating my intelligence and that of our shareholders if you think they’ll side with your illegal practices any longer.’ I was bluffing, of course, hoping that by mentioning them objectively I could convince them their opinions were valued.

  ‘I won’t let you stand in the way of our company’s success and progress any longer. Siding with that woman from the centre while she and her lackeys are breaking down the esteemed name of this company and its affiliates is, quite frankly, reprehensible,’ Craig shouted, his tantrum growing as he spewed that same old rhyme of achieving success at any cost.