Close Your Eyes (14 page)

He was visibly grateful
that she was
playing along
. His
shoulders relaxed even before he answered
,
and
his
usual careless grin
was
firmly back in place.

‘Yeah, I guess my crazy days
when
I could handle anything are over
.
’
He
nodded
. The
slightly rough tone of his voice disappear
ed
as he added, shrugging one powerful shoulder
,
‘I am on my way to mend
ing
my ways,
Megs
. Granddad said that if I want
to
as much as
set a foot into the family business
,
I
better
make
sure I stay away from any trouble. That’s the rule in our house, you know. Everyone has to appear perfect
,
and if they do something shady
,
they better keep it
well
hidden.
Then
it’s bloody fine with everyone.’

He sounded bitter,
and
Megan
was
sure she knew what
had
brought it on. Both his parents
had
cheated on each other for a long time before finally calling it quits,
Elisa’s
newfound love for her actor lover prompting her to take the unorthodox step and come clean. She
had
challenged the family with
Rupert
’s own
trespasses
, threatening to make them public if she wasn’t given a handsome payoff after the divorce. In the end
,
it
hadn’t
really
m
att
er
ed,
since
Rupert’s
lover was indiscreet enough to talk about their relationship and the whole thin
g
had blown
up
in
the
Harper
s
’
shocked faces.

‘Don’t worry about tonight,
Meg
,’
Matt
repeated softly
.
H
is hand guid
ed
her to the exit. His eyes swept the room with one last glance, making sure everything was in order
. ‘You’ll see, by tomorrow
,
Ry
will be apologizing to you
. T
ake my word for it.
’

She hoped he was right. As they walked out into the cool, misty air, she had to force her feet to keep going
. H
er
unexpected reluctance to leave
Matt
and this warm
,
safe little hideaway
sabotaged
her efforts to leave
, which
was exactly why she should have tried even harder
. T
here was no way in hell
that these
thoughts
were
right. Her place was with Ry
an
, now and
for
ever.

As she
glanced around the huge
,
octagonal room that had
long
served
as
the
Harper
family
’s
gathering place and gala room, Meg realized that she was absolutely right to be nervous
. She
couldn’t help but stare in awe at the spectacular finishes and decorations
, which were a
bit too opulent for her taste
.
Still, she felt
guilty
for harboring
such a thought.

Noticing her flower arrangements placed strategically
on
the
main
tables and on plentiful
decorative
side tables helped to calm her down
a bit
. Everything looked beautiful
. E
ach and every bloom she and Jenna
had
picked
was
fresh and flawless.
The perfection of the arrangements was
a good thing, given
that
H
enry
Harper
’s hawkish gaze
had
swept around the room the moment he joined the gathering.

‘It’s time, sweetheart
.
’ Ry
an
’s arm
snuck
around her slim shoulders,
and
his breath tickl
ed
the fine hair on the back of her head. She had put her hair up in a loose chignon
;
the
clean
lines of her neck and shoulders
were
pale against the dark blue fabric of her
silk dress
.

She would sit with the
Harper
s
, between
Ry
an
and his cousin Amelia, whose
heavily
made
-
up eyes
had
checked her out the moment she entered the room at his arm. They
settled
around the oval front table,
which was
separated from the rest of
tables
with
a
space wide enough to make it clear who ran the show. Today
,
it seemed that the stage belonged to both Ry
an
and his father, their formidable
grandfather
deciding to retreat to the background.
The eldest Harper
would only do the introduction and leave the ground to his son and grandson.

Megan knew the drill
.
Rupert
Harper
would
give a short speech, followed by Ry
an’s
. It was one of those occasions
, which seemed to multiply in frequency as his involvement with the family’s business deepened,
when he was
called into the spotlight
.
Ry
an
had
practiced
his speech
plenty of times over the last few days
to make
sure that every sentence and every syllable were perfect.

‘Don’t worry, it will be over before you know it,’ Ry
an
whispered into her ear, his voice warm and reassuring. ‘
Afterwards
,
G
randdad thought that he would show you around our stables
a bit
, if you want…’

The offer hung in the air between them
. S
parks of electricity lick
ed
along her nerve endings and tighte
ned
her throat even further. Henry
Harper
didn’t just take his visitors around the property,
and
she knew it. With anyone else
,
it could be just that, a
leisurely
walk around his praised paddocks
and
a way to spend a pleasant hour or two. With Henry
Harper
,
one had to read between the lines
. Megan’s
heart
pounded
frantically.

‘Sure, I’d love to,’ she whispered back, hoping that her voice sounded more convincing
to him than it did to her
. She’d remember not to drink anything at the reception, just in case.
Being
tipsy or even too cheerful
would be bad
. Smiles and
a
relaxed atmosphere were far off on her list when
it came to
the
Harper
clan and Henry
Harper
,
in particular.

Ten minutes later
,
she sat in one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs, the initial introduction safely out of the way. Henry graced her with a glacial smile, as did most of Ry
an
’s relatives. The only exception was
Rupert
’s fiancée
, Rosemary
Twigg
. Her
eyes
were
encouraging as she smiled reassuringly across the white tablecloth.
Megan
had spoken to
Rosemary
a few times before,
not
really getting past the superficial niceties. Still,
Megan
liked her a lot, more so than most of the other
Harper
s.

‘I was
truly impressed to find out
that you are the brain behind those arrangements
.
’
S
he pointed to the pink, purple
,
and white blooms
splashing dramatic
color against the austere table settings. ‘They
are incredible,
Meg
an.’ Another smile followed
. A
fine net of
crow’s-feet
around
Rosemary’s
eyes ma
de
it easy
to
guess
that
she smiled a lot.