But he didn’t want to just make love to her for a short time, wanted days, nights, weeks with which to know her, to learn every pleasure they could give each other.
He fell back on the bed beside her, looking up at the lace canopy overhead, not knowing what to do about this woman, not knowing what to do with Meg Hamilton.
That he wanted her was in no doubt.
That she wanted him too was undeniable.
But what else did they both want? Everything? Or nothing? He couldn’t go any further with this relationship until he knew the answer to that.
And he didn’t think she could, either.
‘We’ll go downstairs.’ He nodded, turning to look at her. ‘But we won’t forget it, Meg.’ He touched one of her flushed cheeks, her eyes still dark with arousal. ‘We’ll talk later, hmm, when everyone else has gone to bed?’
She avoided meeting his gaze now. ‘If that’s what you want,’ she replied noncommittally.
Jed put a hand beneath her chin to raise her face to his. ‘We will talk, Meg,’ he told her firmly. ‘Really talk.’
He could see the slight panic in her expression he had seen earlier when she’d questioned him about his conversation with Sonia, frowning as he again wondered at the reason for it. Scott. Scott was the answer, he felt sure, but he had no idea in what way.
Or whether Meg would trust him enough, cared for him enough, to tell him.
Although none of that concern showed as they joined in the giving of presents from beneath the tree, Scott obviously enjoying his role as Father Christmas as his grandfather gave him each gift to bring in to the receiver.
This wasn’t something they did in Jed’s family, usually giving all the presents on Christmas morning. But this giving of the tree presents in the evening certainly carried on the anticipation of the day.
But if Meg had moved to sit as far away from Jed as possible, avoiding meeting his gaze too whenever he chanced to look her way, which was often, then Scott was certainly enjoying himself, receiving by far the most presents, several more from his mother, a ride-on tractor and trailer from his grandparents. David’s doing, Jed felt sure as he watched the little boy’s excitement; Lydia probably didn’t have any idea of the hopes and dreams of a three-year-old boy.
Jed had even received a couple of gifts himself, a very good bottle of red wine from Sonia and Jeremy, and a first edition from David and Lydia. Again David, Jed felt sure as he warmly thanked them both.
Meg’s gifts from her family, considering the rather frosty welcome she had received yesterday, were also surprising. She received a set of expensive oils from Sonia and Jeremy, and a beautiful cashmere sweater the same colour as her eyes from her parents.
‘I took your father along to the shop for colour reference,’ her mother explained distantly as Meg thanked them.
But there was one more small gift to be delivered, Scott’s smile shy as he moved purposefully towards his grandmother.
Jed felt his own stomach muscles clench as he saw the suddenly strained look on Meg’s face, the slight movement she made with her hand, as if she would like to stop Scott, that hand dropping back to her side as she decided against it.
Jed turned quickly back to look at Lydia, willing her, whatever the gift was Scott carried, not to hurt the little boy who was her grandson.
Lydia looked confused as Scott stood in front of her holding out the gaudily covered present, obviously clumsily wrapped by his own little hands. ‘For me?’ she said huskily, obviously completely unprepared for this. ‘But I thought you and Mummy had given me a bottle of my favourite perfume?’
It was the most Lydia had spoken at one time to Scott since his arrival, and Jed could see that Meg was blinking back the tears, but the slight movement she again made to go to her son’s side, in an effort of protection, Jed felt sure, was checked by her father’s hand placed on her arm this time, David giving a slight shake of his head as Meg look up at him, his gaze firmly fixed on his wife.
Jed felt his own tension deepen, moving to stand at Meg’s other side, knowing what she was feeling, dreading; if Lydia said or did anything to hurt Scott…
He would strangle the woman himself if she did, Jed decided fiercely.
‘We did, Granma.’ Scott nodded, his smile still shy. ‘But we went to the shop and bought it; I made this for you myself.’ He still held out the gift.
Lydia swallowed hard as she reached out to accept the gift, her face very pale beneath her make-up.
And the breath of every other person in the room was cautiously held, Jed realized as he looked at them in turn, Sonia’s scarlet-tipped nails digging into Jeremy’s sweater-covered arm as she clung to him, David’s arm about Meg’s waist now as she leant weakly against him.
Jed turned sharply back to look at Lydia, ready to leap forward and scoop Scott up in his arms if this all went terribly wrong.
‘Mummy said she thought you already had one,’ Scott began to chatter as his grandmother started to upwrap the present with shaking hands. ‘But I made this at kindergarten for you. Do you like it?’ he prompted with the innocent excitement of the very young as the unwrapped paper revealed a star painted in gold.
A slightly misshapen star, obviously made with very small, inexperienced fingers. But to Jed’s eyes it was all the more beautiful for being that.
But would Lydia, a woman who never looked less than perfect herself, from her styled hair to her elegant shoes, be able to see that?
Jed felt Meg’s hand slip into his, his fingers tightening reassuringly about hers as his gaze remained on Lydia.
No one moved, no one spoke as Lydia stared down at this personal gift from her grandson, the tension slowly building in that silence.
‘It’s for the tree.’ Scott’s voice began to wobble in a little uncertainty as he received no response to his gift.
Jed looked across the top of Meg’s head at David, the other man deathly pale as he continued to look at his wife, but still he remained unmoving.
Couldn’t he see—why didn’t David do something? Anything to stop what was about to happen.
And then Lydia looked up, her face ravished with an emotion Jed had never seen there before, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
‘It’s beautiful, Scott,’ she gasped brokenly. ‘So, so very beautiful.’ The tears were falling heavily as she slid off her chair onto the carpeted floor, taking Scott in her arms to hug him as if she would never let him go. She looked up finally, attempting to smile reassuringly at her grandson. ‘Let’s you and I go and put it on the tree right now,’ she encouraged as she stood up, the star in one hand as she reached out the other for Scott’s.
‘Can we?’ The excitement was back in Scott’s voice as he took his grandmother’s hand. ‘Can we really?’
‘Of course we can.’ His grandmother had eyes only for him as the two of them left the sitting-room together.
Jed looked quickly at Meg. There were tears on her cheeks too as she slipped beneath her father’s arm, releasing Jed’s hand to hurry after the unlikely pair.
Jed crossed the room in long strides, not sure what was going to happen next, only that it was going to be something momentous. And that he had to be there, for Meg, and for Scott, when it did.
Chapter 10
Meg came to an abrupt halt in the cavernous hallway to stand back as her mother and Scott approached the tree together.
Her mother’s tears just now had disturbed her a little. Never, in all her twenty-seven years, had she seen her mother cry, and she wasn’t sure what they meant now either, only that her mother had voluntarily touched and spoken to Scott for the first time—more than touched him; she had hugged him as if he were the most precious thing in the world!
Of course, Meg already knew that he was, she just didn’t know what to make of her mother thinking so too.
She turned slightly as she felt Jed’s presence beside her, his narrowed gaze intent on her mother and Scott as they attempted to put the star as high up the tree as Scott held in Lydia’s arms could reach.
‘Do you think I should go and—?’
‘No,’ Jed breathed softly, turning briefly to give her a reassuring smile. ‘The two of them seem to be doing just fine on their own.’
They were, yes, her mother, with Scott still in her arms, standing back now to enjoy their handiwork, both their faces raised in wonder.
The star was no less misshapen than it had been when Scott had brought it home and insisted on wrapping it several days ago, and the glitter was no more evenly spread on its tips, and yet at that moment it was the most beautiful decoration on the tree.
‘It’s beautiful, Scott,’ his grandmother told him chokingly. ‘Absolutely perfect. Thank you so much.’
Meg felt her heart squeeze tight with emotion as Scott smiled shyly at his grandmother.
This had to be all right. It just had to be.
‘What do you think, Meg? Jed?’ her mother asked without turning to look at them. ‘Doesn’t Scott’s star look absolutely wonderful on the tree?’
‘Wonderful.’ It was left to Jed to answer as the two of them strolled over to join them, Meg too stunned at her mother calling her Meg for the first time to be able to speak at all.
Even more so as her mother reached out and tightly clasped her hand. ‘What a truly lovely son you have, Meg,’ she said emotionally. ‘You must be very proud of him.’