Wanton, desirable, and utterly powerful.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘KEEP YOUR EYES closed and walk where I guide you,’ instructed Max, careful not to let her bump against Imogen, lodged happily in the baby sling on his chest. It was the first family outing they’d had since that incredible night when they’d slept together again.
‘What happened to the brisk training walk you promised me?’ She giggled nervously.
‘We took a detour first. Keep them closed.’
Trusting Max to lead her safely along, Evie kept her eyes closed but her mind whirred. The last thing she’d seen before Max had asked her to close her eyes was that they’d driven through the stunning National Park and through imposing gates and past a gatehouse lodge onto private parkland. A huge hall had stood in the distance but Max had turned onto a smaller single-track road, past a chapel and a hunting lodge.
That was when he’d first asked her to close her eyes.
The temptation to sneak a peek as the car glided silently along had been almost overwhelming and Evie had drawn on every inch of resolve not to give in to the temptation. Even when the car had finally stopped and parked up, and Max had taken an excruciatingly long time getting Imogen out of her car seat and settled in her sling before he finally came around to lead Evie herself out of the passenger side.
She could feel the heat of the afternoon sunshine on her back, and cobblestones beneath her feet, and was glad of her walking shoes. The air was full of the scent of freshly mown grass, whilst the only sounds were the calls of birds and water, like the rippling of a runnel. And then the clicking of a wooden latch, possibly an outside gate.
Still allowing Max to lead her along, she felt the slight drop in temperature, and just as she was about to assume she’d stepped indoors the heat of the sun hit her again and she realised they’d walked through some kind of archway but were still outside.
She opened her mouth to ask but Max spoke before she could.
‘You can open your eyes now.’
Not sure what to expect, Evie obliged. Blinking in the sunshine, it took her a few moments for her eyes to adjust. She gave a gasp of awe.
She was standing in an expansive cobbled quad, at the centre of which an old stone fountain trickled water into a moss-covered stone animal water trough. Large, multi-leaf sets of sliding doors offered tantalising glimpses of the single-storey rooms inside, a couple of which were already open to reveal a large black baby grand piano.
Turning around, Evie looked up at the double height, yellow sandstone building behind her.
‘The old coach house for the main hall,’ Max offered by way of explanation. ‘Shall we look around?’
‘Are we allowed?’ she found herself whispering. ‘It looks like someone’s home now.’
‘It is.’ Max grinned. ‘But it’s up for sale.’
It took Evie a few moments to process what he was suggesting.
‘You’re thinking of moving? To a family house? For you and Imogen?’
Not that it could be considered your average family house. She shook her head in disbelief. You could house about five families in a place like this.
‘For me and for Imogen. And for you,’ he corrected, the first hint of nervousness in his voice. ‘If that’s what you want?’
A family house? For them to be a proper family?
Evie could only gape at him, unable to answer as two warring thoughts crowded out her mind.
It was more than she could have ever dreamed of with Max. But she still hadn’t told him about his parents and the money.
There was no avoiding it any longer. No saying she should come clean with him only to let herself bottle out before it came to actually doing so. This time was it.
‘What are you doing tonight?’ she blurted out quickly.
‘Tonight?’ He looked taken aback at her sharp tone.
‘I mean, are you on call? Do you need to go into the hospital at all?’
‘I wasn’t planning on it, no.’ He frowned. ‘Do you need anything?’