Their Seductress [The Hot Millionaires #1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (25 page)

“Oh yeah, Ellie was warm, kind and generous, but when it came to business, she was a Rottweiler. Trust me, I know about what I speak.”

Paige dapped at the corners of her eyes with a tissue as more laughter echoed through the chapel. “He’s good,” she whispered to Nick.

Nick chuckled softly. “And that surprises you?”

“I didn’t know that about him and Ellie.”

“I’m betting there’s more. We’ll grill him later.”

Isaac waited for the laughter to die down again before he continued. “When I realized what we’d done, I tried to wangle our way out of the contract. Asked her to rethink the terms. She refused, of course, as she had every right to do. Instead she offered us both jobs. When I asked her why she’d do that when we were such jerks, she laughed, said she knew we’d learned a hard lesson and that we’d never make the same mistake again.” He paused. “She was right, we never did.

“This service is a celebration of Ellie’s life. Of all the lives she’s touched and enhanced. Judging by the number of you here today, that’s quite a few.” Heads nodded. “I don’t doubt that you all have stories to tell about Ellie’s intuitiveness, her ability to live for the moment and be herself without fear of reprisals.”

“That’s true enough,” Nick mumbled.

“Ellie was taken from us before her time but, know this.” Isaac’s voice rose. “She didn’t waste a moment of the time she had on this earth regretting anything she did, nor should we. If we take anything from her untimely demise then it ought to be that life is for living because none of us know how long we’re destined to be here. ‘Say not in grief,’ he quoted, ‘she is no more, but live in thankfulness that she was.’”

Paige gasped at the beauty of his words and sobbed against Nick’s shoulder. His arm snaked its way round her shoulders, strong, reassuring, soothing.

“The mystery of Ellie’s death confounds us all, her friends.” Isaac’s gaze rested on Paige. “But the mystery of love is greater still. To live in the hearts of those she leaves behind, as Ellie surely will, is not to die.”

Isaac’s eyes now lingered on the closed casket. “Sleep well, Ellie,” he said softly. “We all love you.”

Sniffling and loud clearing of throats echoed round the chapel as Isaac resumed his seat beside Paige.

“That was lovely,” she said, slipping her hand back into his. “Thank you.”

Nick reached over and touched Isaac’s shoulder.

The rest of the service passed in a blur. Paige vaguely recalled leaving first with Sam and his wife, greeting people at the door while Isaac and Nick ensured they knew where to go for the reception.

Back at the house she spoke to people—Melanie, Talbot, Lieutenant Weir, and Detective Archer, people she’d seen at the funeral home during the viewings. It was surreal. She had no idea what she said to them, how she got through it without breaking down, but somehow she did.

“Okay, babe, that’s it.”

Paige started violently. She’d been standing on the dock, staring at Nick’s boat, snatching a minute for herself. That minute had obviously stretched, and Isaac appeared to be telling her that everyone had left.

“Sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I haven’t been much help to you, have I?”

“You did great. Go and get changed, and by the time you come back down, the caterers will have gone.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

They walked hand in hand back to the house, and Paige slipped up the stairs. She stripped off and took her second shower of the day, hoping to wash the feeling of loss and despair from her skin. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a vest over her nakedness, not bothering with underwear, and wandered barefoot downstairs.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been in the shower, but in that time the caterers had restored the house to its former state and were long gone.

“Hey,” Isaac called from the den. “Feeling all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“So we see.” Nick raked her body with his gaze. Her clothing didn’t leave much to the imagination, and he obviously appreciated what was on show. “Come on into the kitchen. We’ve got something for you.”

“What is it?” Her gaze landed on the items prominently displayed on the counter, and she burst out laughing. “Oh, I see.”

A handsome china teapot and all the other stuff she’d requested sat there. “I guess the time has come to educate you Yanks on the
only
way to make a cup of tea,” she said, sighing.

“This ought to be good,” Isaac said, taking a seat at the counter.

“First of all, you empty the old water out of the kettle and fill it from the tap with cold water.” She did so and switched it on. “Then we wait.”

“What for?” Nick asked. “Don’t you have to spoon tea leaves into the pot?”

“Always in such a hurry.” Paige tutted, wagging a finger at Nick. “When you take me to bed, you boys are always telling
me
off for being impatient.” She picked up the packets of tea leaves one by one and lovingly ran a hand down each packet. “Ah, welcome, old friends. Now, which of you shall I sacrifice to these heathens?”

The kettle boiled and switched itself off. “First of all you have to warm the pot,” she said. “That’s very important.” She poured a little water into the teapot, swirled it around and tipped it down the sink. Then she carefully spooned Earl Grey leaves into it. “Now we can add the water,” she said reverently.

“Are all Brits as dedicated to this process as you are?” Isaac asked with a grin.

“Just because we have history and tradition,” she said, sniffing, “that doesn’t make us bad people. Okay,” she added. “Now we give it time to steep.”

“To what?”

“I think she means we let it brew,” Nick said.

“Precisely.”

She extracted delicate bone-china cups and saucers from the cupboard and set them up on the surface.

“I guess a mug’s out of the question,” Isaac quipped.

Paige threw him a withering glance. She poured milk into a jug and found sugar cubes for the bowl.

“Tea doesn’t taste right if it’s not supped from thin china,” she said loftily as she checked her watch. “Right, that should do it.” She placed the tea strainer over the first cup and carefully poured, repeating the process until all three cups were filled. “See what you make of that,” she said, handing the cups round.

“Milk and sugar?” Nick asked.

“No thanks, I’m a purist.”

She held her steaming cup up to her nose, inhaled the aroma, and sighed. Then she blew on its surface and risked a tiny sip.

“Heaven!” She closed her eyes and tipped her head backward. “How can you guys live without this simple pleasure?”

They both sipped, looked at one another, and nodded.

“Guess it’s an acquired taste,” Nick said.

Paige flapped a hand at him. “I give up!”

“Hey, what’s this?” Isaac asked, picking up a piece of paper from beside the phone.

“Oh, thanks,” Paige said, taking it from his grasp. “That’s my online boarding pass. I’m going back to England the day after tomorrow.”

Isaac glowered at her. “The hell you are!”

“There’s nothing to keep me here now,” she said, a part of her definitely wanting to stay whenever she looked at Isaac and Nick. “I was only waiting for the funeral. I’ll go back overnight Friday, have Saturday and Sunday to get over the jetlag, and then I’ll hit the ground running on Monday. I have an office to run, remember.”

Isaac took Paige’s empty cup from her hand, placed it on the counter, and frog-marched her into the den.

“He seems to be in control-freak mode again,” she said to Nick, rolling her eyes.

“Why didn’t you mention that you’d booked your flight?” Isaac asked her.

“Slipped my mind, I suppose.” She slumped down on the couch and frowned at him. “Why are you so angry? What’s the big deal? You knew I was going back straight after the funeral.”

“Look,” Nick said, “I’ll leave you two to it. I think Isaac has something he wants to ask you, Paige.”

“Well, he can ask me whatever it is in front of you.” She grabbed Nick’s hand and pulled him down next to her. “Don’t leave me here with this bully, unprotected.”

Nick shot a glance Isaac’s way. It annoyed Paige. She got the impression that if Isaac had told him to leave then he would have gone. It was like her opinion counted for nothing. Isaac merely shrugged, and Nick stayed put, a circumstance that Paige chalked up as a small victory to her.

She expected Isaac to start lecturing her about whatever it was that she’d done to upset him, and so she shifted sideways in the corner of the couch, her back to Isaac and her legs thrown over Nick’s lap. He laughed and gently rubbed her instep with his thumb. Only when Isaac didn’t speak and the silence was in danger of becoming embarrassing did she flash a glance over her shoulder. He sat beside her, grinding his teeth, looking ready to commit murder.

“What have I done this time?” she asked glibly.

“Were you really going to leave us, just like that?”

“Of course.” Paige shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Apart from anything else, you’re not fit to fly. You still have stitches in that cut.”

“They come out tomorrow.”

“So you were going to leave the first moment you could?” Isaac stood and paced in front of her, repeatedly shaking his head. “After everything we’ve been to each other? Do Nick and I mean so little to you?”

“It was fun,” she said. “A great way to get through our initial grief over Ellie. But we agreed, remember, no emotional commitment.”

“I didn’t agree.”

Paige pulled her foot out of Nick’s grasp and stood to face Isaac. “What’s this really all about?” she asked. “Is your ego hurt because I’m not willing to cling? Is that it?”

She’d never seen him so unsure of himself, except when he thought she was dead, of course. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against him.

“I didn’t plan to tell you this, not today of all days, but you leave me with little choice.” He took a deep breath, causing Paige to wonder what he was about to say. “I want you to stay here, permanently.”

She blinked up at him, totally astounded. “Why?” she asked dazedly.

“I want to marry you, Paige. I love you.” The uncertainty in his expression pulled at her heartstrings and made her realize he was serious. “Say you’ll marry me.”

She pulled away from him, folded her arms across her torso, and turned her back on him. “No, that wasn’t part of the plan.”

“No one plans to fall in love.”

“I told you,” she said, whirling to face him again, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. “I’m bad news.”

“You don’t love me?”

“If I didn’t love you, I might agree to marry you. You’re quite a hunk,” she said with a brief flash of humor. “But then so is Nick. How could I ever choose? I
do
care about you both, very much. Too much to bring you bad luck. I thought I made that plain.”

“You’re just being silly.”

“Am I? Think Doug. Think Ellie. Everyone I care about, everyone I give my heart to, gets taken from me.”

“You can’t possibly blame yourself for either of them, especially not Doug.”

“Oh, and why would that be? You found it easy enough to blame me.”

“Because,” Isaac said bleakly, shaking his head. “If anyone’s responsible for Doug’s death, it’s me.”

“You!” Paige stared at Isaac as though she’d never seen him before, a whole kaleidoscope of emotions at work behind her remarkable eyes. “How do you figure that one out? You weren’t even there when Doug died.”

Isaac resumed his seat, grabbing Paige’s hand and pulling her down with him. Now was the time to be completely honest with her. If she was worth fighting for then he must bare his heart and admit that which he’d hardly admitted even to himself. His darkest, most shameful secret was the only thing likely to bring Paige to her senses and convince her to agree to marry him. It might all backfire and she’d end up hating him, of course, but it was a chance he’d just have to take. A woman like Paige wouldn’t settle for excuses and half-truths. That wasn’t what she deserved and wasn’t what he’d give her.

“I think this calls for something a little stronger than tea,” Nick said, intuitive to the brittle atmosphere. He got up and returned a short time later with wine for Paige and beers for himself and Isaac. “Go on then,” he said to Isaac, settling himself comfortably in the corner of the couch unit. “Unless you want me to leave, of course.”

“No,” they said together.

“No,” Isaac said again, alone this time. “You need to hear this, too.”

“Shame,” Nick said, grinning. “I was rather hoping she’d turn you down flat. Then the field would be clear for me.”

“In your dreams, buddy!”

“Okay then.” Nick winked at Paige. “Go ahead and cleanse your soul.”

Isaac took a moment to gather his thoughts. The other two waited him out in tense silence.

“What I said at the funeral, about Doug and me meeting Ellie for the first time and agreeing to that stupid contract, was true,” he said. “But to understand how we got to that point we need to back up a bit.” He raised his beer bottle to his lips and took a healthy swig. “You had all sorts of material advantages as a kid, Paige, but parents who didn’t give a damn about you. Nick came from a one-parent family. His mom loved him, but there wasn’t much by way of money to help you on your way, am I right?”