“Jesus,” she said. “That’s some good-looking family you got there.”
“I’m the best-looking one, right?” I asked, thinking about how since we were teenagers, we’d jostled to be considered the most handsome, the best at football, rugby, cricket, the most outstanding student. We were a brotherhood of superlatives, always battling for first position.
“Do you think that helped you become as successful as you are—being one of five? Having to compete?”
“I’ve never thought about it,” I said, handing her a glass, picking up my wine, and heading to the sofa. “My family has always been supportive. I mean, we’re competitive, of course we are. It used to drive my mum wild, because we’d fight to the death over a game of capture the flag—the oldest three of us, in particular. But if the neighborhood kids came round—that’s when we circled the wagons and were unbeatable.” My brothers and I fought and competed throughout our childhood, but there was an unbreakable bond among us. And it gave me strength.
“Who would win?” she asked, sitting down opposite me. “At capture the flag.”
“Me,” I said without hesitation. “I’d do whatever it took to win.”
“Did you cheat?”
Her question hit me like a ton of bricks to my chest. Had she somehow learned about what happened at Oxford? “No. Never,” I said. “Sometimes I’d be accused of taking it too far. Less with my brothers but with other kids.”
“How far is too far?” She took a sip of her wine. “Wow, that’s good,” she said, closing her eyes for a little longer than a blink and pressing together her plump lips.
“You know, just brother stuff. I didn’t put anyone in hospital.”
“And seeing you with Beau, it seems like you’re all still close.”
“I joke about it but yes. My older brother, Jacob, is a doctor at The Royal Free and lives just around the corner. I probably see him the most.”
“Wait, I thought Beau was the doctor?” she asked.
“Yeah, they both are.” I shouldn’t have mentioned Jacob. I didn’t want Madison digging for the parts of my history that I didn’t want to relive. The last thing I needed was her uncovering the ties between me and Mark Alpern.
“Really? What about your other two brothers? What do they do?”
Before I could answer, I was interrupted by my doorbell.
“The food,” I said and got up.
When I came back into the kitchen with our dinner, she’d managed to find plates and cutlery.
“Do you have placemats?” she asked, just as I pulled open a drawer in the island where I stored them.
“God, even your placemats scream sexy.” She put the weathered brown leather mats down in front of the barstools at the island.
I paused, my hands poised to retrieve the contents of the bag. I tried to bite back a smile. “Even my placemats?”
Our eyes locked. “You know I think you’re sexy.” She looked away. “Especially when you have the food. Now hand it over.”
I knew she’d been attracted to me at the wedding. I knew she’d liked me enough to have sex with me. But what I didn’t know was that she found me sexy, present tense.
I pulled out the foil containers and set them on the marble. “I think you’re sexy whether or not you have the food.”
We were skirting danger. We shouldn’t be talking like this.
“We should focus on the food,” she said, trying to avoid eye contact but unable to disguise the smile hovering at the edges of her mouth.
“We should,” I agreed.
She took a deep breath as if she was pressing reset. “So, all five of you will go to see your parents this weekend?” she asked, opening one of the dishes and dividing it between our plates.
“Looks like we’ll all be descending on Norfolk.” She passed me the full plates and I set them down on my sexy placemats.
“Sounds fun,” she replied, as we both took a seat.
“Were you hoping to join us?” I asked, joking.
“Absolutely,” she replied with a grin. “Is that an invitation?”
“You seriously want to spend the weekend with me and my family?”
“I want—I need to make this article good. So the more I get to know you, the better.”
“What are you looking for that you think you’ll find in Norfolk? There’s no big secret to uncover.”
I didn’t mind answering her questions, but I couldn’t help thinking she was looking for something bad. And it concerned me that when she didn’t find it, she was going to be disappointed.
“I’m not looking for secrets. Just depth. I really want to be good at my job. I’ve wanted this job for a long time and . . . and I want to do my best.” She cut herself off as if she didn’t want to elaborate. “I’ve got a lot to prove. And if I don’t, there’s a thousand people coming up behind me who will gladly take my place.” She sounded tired. Her eyes dimmed a little as she spoke.