She nodded. ‘For your kitchen windowsill.’
‘Thank you.’ He took it from her, giving it the once over. ‘My first ever plant...’
‘It’ll be the first of many. Aloes breed like rabbits.’
He laughed and then his eyes grew serious. ‘Come on...let’s go inside.’
As he closed the door behind them the chug of boats on the canal fell away. The hallway was quiet and cool; a little gloomy. Tingling, she watched him setting the aloe down on a table that hadn’t been there before.
‘Is that new?’
‘Direk likes to sneak things in when I’m not here.’
‘He’s got a good eye; it works beautifully.’
He came to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. ‘I’ll tell you what works beautifully...’ He eased her closer. ‘You.’
She caught his forearms in her hands, lost herself in darkening green eyes. He bent his head, leaned in until their noses were almost touching. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’
And then his mouth was on hers, his lips warm and insistent. It was like melting; melding together so that she didn’t know where she began and he ended. She let go of his arms, ran her hands over his torso and under his tee shirt, fingertips connecting with warm, smooth skin. For an instant, his lips softened against hers, coaxing hers apart, and then he deepened his kiss, slowly propelling her backwards until her shoulder blades touched the wall. She felt his hands moving to her waist, travelling upward. When his thumb slid over her nipple, her pulse spiked, a volley of white-hot darts shooting through her belly. She was on fire, losing control, burning with an immeasurable need. Breathlessly, she pushed at his shoulders, breaking their kiss. ‘Can we take this upstairs...?’
‘Definitely...’ He kissed her again softly, then stepped back a little, a mischievous glint kindling in his eyes. ‘But it’ll have to wait. First, I’ve got a surprise for you.’
She dropped her hands to his waist, not wanting to let him go. ‘What sort of surprise?’
‘It’s a sort of professional gift...’ He straightened her blouse across her shoulders and then he smiled. ‘I’ve arranged for you to interview a certain award-winning actress...’
A pulse-beat. ‘No!’ Her insides were hopping like fire crackers. ‘Madelon? Is she coming?’
‘She’s already here. Come...’ He held out his hand. ‘She’s dying to meet you.’
Her heart was pounding. Meeting Madelon was the last thing she’d expected. It felt like a grand gesture, not because Madelon was a star but because she was his sister. He was trusting her with his family.
As they walked towards the kitchen, her mind was racing, sifting through anything she could remember about Madelon’s career. He’d given her a wonderful opportunity, but this wasn’t how she was used to working. She felt hopelessly unprepared.
‘Hello, Mia!’ Madelon kissed her on both cheeks then stepped back, smiling.
It was hard not to feel a little star-struck. The slender blonde with the golden skin and warm curious eyes was someone she’d only ever seen on the big screen. In the flesh Madelon was smaller, less statuesque than her screen persona. Her resemblance to Theo was tangible.
‘It’s lovely to meet you, Madelon.’ She glanced at Theo. ‘I’m blushing, I know. It’s just that this is a little unexpected.’
Madelon touched her arm. ‘Apologies! Theo’s learned to strike while the iron’s hot!’ Her eyes were darker than Theo’s, more hazel. ‘I always seem to be on the move these days. It can be hard to plan ahead.’
‘Impossible, more like!’ Theo was cracking eggs into a bowl. ‘Remember that time we were supposed to meet in London?’
‘No! Don’t!’ Madelon was laughing, her eyes pleading for understanding. ‘We’d been planning it for weeks...a few days in London after my final show in the West End...’
‘I’d broken my journey especially...’ Theo started beating the eggs.
Madelon threw him a conciliatory look. ‘Poor Theo! He’d been in LA, was travelling back to Europe.’
Frenetic whisking. ‘Jet-lagged, of course!’
‘Rub it in, why don’t you!’ Madelon shook her head. ‘We’d planned to see the sights because you know I never have time when I’m doing a show...’
It was impossible not to like Madelon; she had an easy manner, an infectious, throaty laugh.
‘So it was the last night, final curtain... I was looking forward to seeing Theo but then my agent called! She said I needed to get myself to LA “immediately” to audition for a movie. Theo was mid-air, couldn’t take a call, so I had to text him to let him know I was catching the red-eye to LA...’
Theo set down the bowl. ‘We ended up having coffee in the airport, and it wasn’t even decent coffee!’
She laughed, giving him a pointed look. ‘Well, that would’ve definitely been the last straw!’
Madelon’s eyes flashed. ‘You obviously know him very well...’
She caught Theo’s eye. ‘I’m getting to know him...’ He winked and turned towards the stove.
Seeing Madelon and Theo together, how close they were—their easy conversation—reminded her of how she was with Ash and somehow it was reassuring. Madelon’s whole demeanour was open, her eyes warm and interested. Madelon was like Theo without the clouds. Would Madelon so patently adore a brother who’d done something bad, something that he needed to hide?
Watching them now—Madelon’s hand on his arm, their low laughter, their obvious affection—she couldn’t help feeling that maybe she’d been searching for skeletons in empty closets...
In bed with Theo that afternoon, she hadn’t fully bought into his story about why Eline had had an affair—‘I was the accessory that didn’t match her outfit any more’. She’d wondered if he might have been to blame, but perhaps that was what Hal had done to her: made her mistrustful. She sighed. It was entirely possible that Eline’s fame had changed her. That kind of thing happened all the time. She bit her lip. When Theo had said that Eline was ancient history—not worth talking about—she’d thought he was deflecting, avoiding the subject, but maybe that hadn’t been it at all. She drew a slow breath, tingling
