Carole Mortimer - To Marry Mccloud

But he needn’t have worried—she was completely dressed! The white shirt had gone, a short, slinky black dress in its place, her legs silky in sheer tights, high-heeled shoes on her tiny feet. Her hair was no longer tousled but brushed in a shiny blue-black curtain down the length of her spine, and her face was almost bare of make-up, except for a red lipgloss. But there was no doubt in Fergus’s mind that she was the most exquisitely beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life!

She joined the two men at the door, her movements gracefully elegant. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us, Fergus?’ She looked up at him expectantly.

Introduce her to Brice? Yes, he supposed he better had. It was just that for a moment there her beauty had actually taken his breath away!

He took in a ragged breath, his arm moving lightly about her shoulders as he drew her to his side. ‘Chloe, this is my cousin, Brice McAllister. Brice, this is Chloe—’ He came to an abrupt halt, looking down at her frowningly. He had no idea what her surname was!

‘Fox,’ Chloe provided laughingly as she easily read his confusion, holding out her hand to shake Brice’s. ‘Don’t mind Fergus, Brice; too much champagne!’ she quipped. ‘Now, if you’ll both excuse me?’ She included both men in the warmth of her gaze. ‘I overheard you two say you’re off to play golf, and I have an appointment myself at one o’clock. I obviously have to shower and change before then,’ she added with a self-derisive grimace at her evening dress.

Obviously, Fergus acknowledged tautly, already wondering who this one o’clock appointment was with. Besides, she couldn’t just disappear like this! When was he going to see her again? If at all?

Because suddenly Fergus found that he did want to see her again, very much so. It was very frustrating having this complete blank about their time together last night. He wanted to see her again, needed to see her—if only to have the chance to refresh his memory!

Chloe turned to him, smiling up at him before standing on tiptoe to kiss him lightly on the cheek. ‘I’ll ring you later, shall I?’ she murmured discreetly.

The effect of that kiss on Fergus told him at least some of what must have happened to him last night; his cheek still tingled, and his insides felt as if they were melting.

He had dated some beautiful women in his time, some incredibly sexy ones too, but he could never remember reacting that strongly to a single, almost platonic kiss before. Chloe Fox was pure dynamite!

‘Do that,’ he confirmed abruptly.

‘Nice to have met you, Brice,’ she said with a nod before walking over to her car.

Fergus watched her go, admiring the lean grace of her body as she moved, her legs shapely as she swung easily into the low confines of the sports car, giving the two men a brief wave before reversing the car down the driveway and speeding away.

Brice whistled softly at his side. ‘She’s absolutely beautiful, Fergus,’ he opined appreciatively.

She was gorgeous, Fergus mentally agreed. She—

She had just driven out of his life, he realised with a sickening jolt!

He, Fergus McCloud, a man who always ended relationships before they could possibly become serious, had just been given the brush-off. Big time!

Because Chloe Fox wasn’t going to call him—she didn’t have his telephone number!

Chloe managed to keep up her charade of cheerfulness until she had turned the corner away from Fergus McCloud’s home. And then her knees began to shake, quickly followed by her hands, the latter so badly she was having trouble steering the car. So much so that she knew she had to pull the car into the side of the road, or end up crashing into something.

Leaning her head back against the leather upholstery, she closed her eyes as her whole body seemed to be shaking now.

She had forced her company on Fergus McCloud last night with the sole intention of talking to him, had driven him home for the same reason. Having him collapse unconscious on the bed as soon as she’d got him up the stairs had not been part of her plan!

She had stared down at him frustratedly for several long minutes as he’d lain on the bed gently snoring, knowing that if she’d left then, as he had already predicted, along with nearly everything else about last night, he wouldn’t remember meeting her, either!

Having got that far, she hadn’t been able to allow that to happen. And so she had stayed, curled up uncomfortably in the bedroom chair, while Fergus McCloud had slept the sleep of the untroubled in the huge four-poster bed!

It had seemed like a good idea at the time; now she wasn’t so sure… She had aroused his curiosity, of that she was certain—he had obviously been stunned to wake up and see her in his bedroom this morning! But it was his compassion she really wanted. The problem was, she still wasn’t sure he was capable of it…

And then his cousin had arrived so precipitously this morning, putting an end to any chance she might have had of talking to Fergus!

She drew in a ragged breath, having finally stopped shaking enough to turn on the ignition and continue the rest of the drive to her home. A home she shared with her parents.

What would Fergus McCloud make of that if he knew? No doubt, on the evidence he had from last night, he thought her a completely free agent, able to come and go as she pleased. She hadn’t missed that quick glance he had given the ring finger on her left hand, had easily seen him relax when he’d discovered no wedding band there. But to assume she was answerable to no one just wasn’t true.

Although she should be in luck this morning; her parents should have gone to church by now, leaving her free to enter the house undetected.

She parked her car in the driveway beside her mother’s car, her father obviously having ferried them to church in his four-wheel drive.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that if her parents saw that she was still wearing the dress she had worn to go out in the previous evening, they would guess immediately that she hadn’t been home all night. And the last thing she wanted were any questions concerning her whereabouts previously!

She had reached the bottom of the wide stairway to go up to her bedroom, completely undetected by any of the household staff, when a door suddenly opened behind her.

‘Chloe…?’

David. Her brother-in-law, and also her father’s assistant. It could have been worse!

She turned to smile at him. ‘Don’t you have a home to go to?’ she joked, knowing that her sister, Penny, and their three children would be waiting for him there. And this was Sunday, after all…

Tall, and sparely built, his blond hair thinning slightly on top, David Latham had been her father’s personal assistant for the last fifteen years.

His presence in the house had brought him into close contact with all the family, and twelve years ago he had married Chloe’s older sister Penny. Their parents had been thrilled at the match, and absolutely doted on their three grandchildren: Paul, aged ten, named after his grandfather, Diana, aged seven, and five-year-old Josh.

‘I just had to stop by and drop off some papers your father needed as soon as he gets back from church.’ He held up the papers. ‘And shouldn’t I be the one asking if you forgot last night that you have a home to go to?’ he drawled, eyeing her clothes pointedly. ‘I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to join your parents at church dressed like that!’ he added forthrightly.

‘You would be right,’ she grimaced.

‘Don’t look so worried, Chloe.’ He laughed softly. ‘I was young once, too, you know.’

David obviously assumed she had been on a raucous night out. And it would be better for everyone if he continued to think that.