“Yes. I can. I’m sure we won’t get divorced.” Josh rubbed a thumb over her knuckles, and Helen watched Caroline’s eyes widen in awareness of him. “I trust you,” Josh said. “I know you don’t care about the money.” He paused. “I also know you’d fight me for the castle.”
Mitch barked out a laugh. “He’s got you there.”
To Helen’s surprise, Caroline beamed at Josh. “You are absolutely right, and you’re unreasonably stubborn.”
Josh’s mouth quirked into a smile as the tension in the room eased.
“He gets it from his father,” Helen told them with a smile of her own.
Andrew thumped his napkin on the table. “I’m having nothing to do with this.” He stalked out of the room in disgust.
“Don’t worry about him. He’ll calm down,” Helen said.
“In a year or two,” Mitch muttered.
“I wouldn’t worry,” Dougal said. “It’s not like you need him to walk you down the aisle. What does the father of the groom do, anyway? Nothing. The wedding will be fine.”
For a second people were stunned, before they started to laugh. Josh winked at Caroline, who blushed in reply.
Without thinking, Helen leaned over the table and held Caroline’s hand. “I like you, Caroline Patterson. I like you a lot.”
She watched as Caroline blinked back tears before straightening her shoulders and nodding her thanks.
Helen patted her son’s cheek. “Looks like you knew what you were doing after all.”
“I’m disgusted that you ever doubted me.” He signalled to the waitress for seconds.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
After dinner, Josh insisted on walking Caroline home. Considering his mother and best friend were there to witness his offer, Caroline didn’t think she could refuse. That was how she ended up in her kitchen making Josh a cup of tea at eleven o’clock on a Sunday night.
“I really should get to bed.” Caroline banged the mugs down on the counter a little harder than she’d intended.
“We can go to bed, baby.”
Josh was sitting at her kitchen table. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a pale blue T-shirt that was tight across his shoulders. His very broad shoulders. Caroline licked her lips as she watched the muscles move beneath his shirt. She caught what she was doing and jerked her gaze up to his face. Josh smiled wickedly. It made her stomach tighten.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Why wouldn’t the man go home? Caroline had been doing her best to avoid him since they’d gotten physical on Thursday evening. It was working fine. So fine, in fact, that she wouldn’t mind avoiding him totally until the wedding. Then they could have all those awkward conversations when they absolutely had to. And not a minute before.
She plonked his mug in front of him.
“No cookies?” His blue eyes sparkled under lashes so thick they made her mouth water.
Caroline sat facing him, and cradled her mug in her palms. “I’m sure there are cookies at your place. Why not go there?”
His laugh seemed to echo throughout her house. She gulped her tea. It burned her tongue. She didn’t care. It was something else to focus on other than the man facing her. The man with soft, full lips. The man with firm muscles under soft skin. She wondered what that skin tasted like. Would it be salty? Would it be sweet? She blinked her thoughts away. She needed to go to bed. Her eyes flew open. Alone! She needed to go to bed alone. She took another large gulp of her tea. Forgetting yet again that it was hot. Hopefully, the sooner she finished, the sooner she could send Josh home.
“Dinner went well, I thought.” Caroline could do small talk. Small talk was good. Small talk would keep her mind off of his thick thighs and long legs.
“Yeah, Dad was about normal. Mom likes you.”
“That’s good.” What else was she supposed to say? She shifted in her chair. It felt as though her skin was on high alert. Even the air around her made it tingle. The soft linen of her dress felt abrasive. Her underwear felt like bondage. It was constraining her. “Are you done yet?” Okay, so it came out a little ruder than she’d intended.
“I’m savouring it.” Josh took a sip. His eyes on Caroline. “I like savouring things. I like letting the taste rest on my tongue until it overwhelms me.”
Caroline blinked hard. “Are you making sexual innuendo?”
Josh’s eyes sparkled. “I was trying to.”