Epilogue 1

EPILOGUE 1

A MONTH LATER, I was still waiting for Nye to come to his senses, but last week, he'd cleared out half of his wardrobe for me and bought a new food mixer. That said he wanted me in his life, right?

So why did he keep sending mixed messages? He asked about my friends, but if I touched on his family, he shut me down. Although he didn't mind me going to the office with him, last week, he'd disappeared for the whole of Saturday and changed the subject when I asked where he'd been. And his daily questions about the progress at Lilac Cottage seemed more than just a friendly interest. Did he want me to go back there?

Today was no different.

"How's the work going?" he asked, looking up from his plate of toast.

"The men have finished clearing the site now, and they said the materials for the rebuild should start arriving today. It's going faster than I thought."

"I got a friend of a friend to have a word with the insurance company, so there shouldn't be any hold-ups."

He did? Was he that desperate to get rid of me? Suddenly, I'd lost my appetite. I got up and threw the rest of my scrambled eggs into the bin, then shoved the dirty plate into the dishwasher.

"Babe, what's up?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Oh shit. What did I say?"

"It doesn't matter."

I'd forgotten how fast he could move, and he closed the door before I managed to escape to the lounge. "Liv, I can't make things right until you tell me."

I turned to him, hands on hips as tears tickled my eyelids. "I'm upset because you want me to leave, okay?"

"Huh?"

"Every day, you ask if the cottage is ready for me to move into yet, and now you're trying to hurry things along."

"Oh, Liv." He pulled my hands free and clasped them in his. "I want the cottage finished because I'm a selfish bastard. It's taking up half your time at the moment, and I want it all."

"You don't want me to leave?"

"No, I want you to stay." He swallowed and closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them again, he sucked my soul into his clear blue eyes. "I want you to stay permanently. Don't go back to Upper Foxford."

"Really? You want me to move in here?"

He nodded, looking a little worried until I squealed and leapt into his arms.

"Is that a yes?"

"It's a yes. I love being back in London."

And more than anything, I loved being with Nye. Breakfast was forgotten as he carried me to the bedroom and reminded me of all the reasons why I never wanted to leave the apartment. Or, in fact, his deluxe king-size. I'll give you a hint—it didn't have anything to do with the glorious view from the terrace.

"If I don't need to move back to Lilac Cottage, what should I do with it?" I mused afterwards.

Nye had given up on the idea of going to the office and brought his laptop into bed, where he was answering emails in between twirling my hair around his fingers and feeding me chocolates. As long as he didn't hit the video conference button, we were all good.

"Sell it, rent it out, use it as a holiday home?" he suggested.

"I'm not sure a trip to Upper Foxford would be much of a holiday." But me as a landlord? If someone had suggested the idea a year ago, I'd have laughed, but with the state of my finances, I couldn't deny the extra money would come in handy. "The rental income could tide me over until I get my business built back up again."

No way was I going to fall into the trap I'd been stuck in with Edward again.

"Website design?"

"What else?"

"I thought you wanted to open a bakery?"

"That's just a pipe dream."

"Why? You could sell the cottage and use the cash to start one."

I'd never seriously considered the idea, but Nye had planted a little seed and I couldn't flick it away. "Do you really think that's possible?"

He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You can do anything you put your mind to, and I'd help you to set it up. You only have to ask, babe."

I knew then that all the trouble and heartache over Lilac Cottage had been worth it. Apart from Nye and Warren getting hurt, obviously. I'd rather have avoided that. But if I hadn't inherited that place and Tate and Fenton hadn't played their sick games, I'd never have met the man who completed me.

"Tate did me a favour when he led me to you."

"Forget him."

"I will, I promise." I gave my head a quick shake, wishing I could get rid of those damned memories. "I still can't believe he pulled the wool over my eyes like that." My mother's indoctrination, that's what it was. "He would have been Lord of the Manor one day, and I couldn't see past the title or his trust fund. Well, never again. I want to make my own way in life and earn my own money. And I'm going for a plain old Mr. this time."

Nye's smile faded, and he turned a shade paler.

"What? What did I say?"

He laughed, but it sounded forced. "You think I'm plain?"

Me and my stupid big mouth. "A sexy, gorgeous, hot, delicious Mr."

"Better."

Nye always seemed so confident, but after my thoughtless comment, he was on edge for the rest of the day. Well done, Olivia. I needed to think before I spoke in future.

My new man came with a new set of friends. Janelle had badgered Maddie and me into going on a night out with her and some of the Blackwood girls, although I put my foot down when they suggested a visit to Taurus. Even though Nye had seen the funny side, one of us per month being hospitalised was quite enough.

"We're celebrating tonight," Maddie said as I let her into Nye's apartment.

"Dare I ask why?"

With Maddie, it could be anything from finding a forgotten bottle of wine at the back of a cupboard to winning ten pounds on the lottery.

"You remember that woman at work I was having all the trouble with?"

I nodded.

"Well, she quit."

"Quit? Just like that?"

"Apparently, she left the area in a hurry. Something about being caught cheating with her tax credits. I heard a whisper that somebody reported her to HMRC."

"Any idea who?"

"Nope. But if I ever meet them, I'll buy them a drink. Heck, I'll even fork out for the good stuff."

Nye was sitting across the room with Warren, and he glanced up at her words. What was that look on his face? Satisfaction?

And yes, you did hear that right: Warren. Despite their rocky start, he and Nye had cleared the air and bonded over a shared hatred of hospital food, needles, and MRI scans. Which meant Warren was going to watch rugby with Nye while us girls headed for something slightly less muddy.

At least, I hoped so. Janelle had offered to organise, and she'd been a little hazy on the details.

"Where are we going?" Maddie asked when Janelle arrived with her posse in tow.

She made a sad face. "The river cruise-slash-strip show idea fell through because the dancers complained it was too cold, so we're going to Black's."

Maddie let out a whoop. "Really? As in Black's , the best nightclub in the city? I thought you had to have at least six zeroes on your bank balance to get on the guest list?"

"I've got six zeroes."

"Jannie, they're supposed to be at the end, not the beginning," one of the other Blackwood girls said.

"Not my fault the sales are on."

Janelle headed straight to the kitchen to find the chocolate supply. Nye had bought me so many boxes I'd begun to suspect he had shares in Cadbury. And he'd need to invest in a vineyard next if Maddie didn't stop raiding his wine rack.

An hour later, I clutched at Maddie, trying not to fall out of my stilettos as we followed Janelle past the queue for Black's. When I'd suggested joining it, she'd just laughed.

"We don't need to wait."

"But—"

"Trust me."

So I did, but before we got to the front, Maddie dug her nails into my arm.

"Do you see who I see?"

"What? Who? Where?" I followed her gaze, and the truffles I ate before I left nearly came back up. "Oh, hell."

Edward and Becki were waiting halfway along the block. Edward was bald, and unless my eyes deceived me, Becki's blonde tresses were a wig.

"Quick—keep walking," I whispered, but Maddie slowed down and veered in their direction.

"Edward, I haven't seen you for ages. Not since Liv came to her senses and decided you were pond life."

"Madonna, you're as charming as ever."

"What's this? A new look?" She waved a hand at his head. "You decided to go for something younger? Or did you just want to look a little less dull?"

"If you must know, I've been suffering from alopecia. My trichologist blames stress. We've already had to move because of the smell from the drains without you adding to the problem."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

I bet she was. Now Edward had moved out before summer, it meant he wouldn't see the hail of glitter when he switched on his ceiling fan.

He turned his sights on me. "How are you, Olivia? Enjoying the single life?"

"I was until I met my new boyfriend." Edward looked surprised, the bastard, and I decided to take a leaf out of Maddie's book. "Now I've moved to Chelsea, I'm farther away from my old haunts, but the view of the river from the penthouse is worth it."

Becki shifted uncomfortably, and I couldn't resist sticking the knife in.

"Oh, and Becki, I happened to see an excellent anti-cellulite cream advertised in Cosmo last month. It might be worth you giving it a go?"

I choked back my giggles as we hurried to catch up with Janelle. She greeted the doorman by name, and the velvet rope magically moved aside to let us through.

Oh yes, revenge was sweet.

In the club, the music pounded as the cocktails kept coming. We may not have had Taurus, but our waiter certainly gave him a run for his money, and when Janelle slid a twenty-pound note into his waistband, he even took his shirt off.

"Should have brought that baby oil," Maddie whispered.

All I could do was blush—I'd already used it playing with Nye the week before.

"My head hurts," I complained the next day.

"Probably something to do with the naked dude serving you cocktails."

"He wasn't entirely naked."

Okay, Janelle had convinced him to lose the trousers too by the end of the night, but we had a private room and she let him keep his boxers. And Nye wouldn't have found out anything if she hadn't drunk-dialled him at two in the morning begging for a cheeseburger.

Saint that he was, he'd turned up with Happy Meals for all of us and carried me to bed.

Now we were cuddled up on his new sofa, and he passed me a packet of paracetamol. "I warned you Jannie was a bad influence."

"Yes, I know that now."

I was just about to pinch a mouthful of his tea when his phone rang with a ringtone I hadn't heard before: Meredith Brooks singing "Bitch." Nye groaned, and when I glanced down at the screen, it said Mother calling .

We still hadn't talked about his family, and I'd assumed they weren't close. After all, Nye said he'd hated living at home, and whenever I hinted about his past, he swiftly moved on to a new topic.

"Why don't you let it go to voicemail?" I suggested.

"Because I'll never hear the end of it."

He picked the phone up, holding it like a poisonous snake. "Hello, Mother."

I only heard his end of the conversation, but he seemed far from happy. The worry lines that had started to fade turned back into deep furrows.

"No, I haven't forgotten Grandma's birthday dinner… No! I certainly don't want you to invite Cressida Haworth as my date… I'm perfectly capable of meeting a nice girl by myself."

He clearly hadn't told his mother about me, and that stung. Was he ashamed? Did my background not meet with his family's expectations? He may have been happy to have me in his home and his bed, but now I realised there were parts of his life I wasn't compatible with.

"I'll be there, Mother. Just promise you won't invite any more women."

He hung up and looked at me sheepishly. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"I'm sorry I had to hear it too. Why didn't you just tell me you had a problem with me meeting your family?"

"I didn't know where to start."

"It's simple, Nye. I know I can be a disaster in public. I'd rather you'd simply said up front that you didn't want me embarrassing you at family functions."

"Babe, that's not how it is at all. You know which fork to use better than I do."

"Then why the secrecy?"

He sighed. "It's my family that's the problem, not you. I don't want them subjecting you to the third degree and scaring you off."

"It would take more than petty questions to scare me off."

"That's only the half of it."

"I mean it. I'm yours. Hook, line, and sinker."

He stared past me for a few seconds, thinking. "In that case, do you want to come to my grandma's birthday party? Dinner and a trip to the opera. I'll understand if you don't want to, because I'd rather not go either."

Mother had spent years trying to educate me in the delights of opera, but I'd never learned to appreciate it as much as I should have. Probably because most of the time they sang in Italian and I didn't understand the storyline. But I'd pushed for the invite, so I could hardly back out now.

"I'd love to go, and I promise I won't let you down. My mother used to read me DeBrett's etiquette guide every night before I went to bed."

That earned me a tight smile. "You couldn't let me down if you tried."

He picked up the phone from where he'd dropped it and grimaced as he dialled. "About Grandma's dinner—I'll be bringing someone. Her name's Olivia, and I'd appreciate if you could send an extra ticket."

A pause.

"Porter. Olivia Porter… No, she's not one of the Old Windsor Porters. She lived in Clerkenwell before I met her… No, she's not living there now. We moved in together… Stop putting words in my mouth, Mother. I'll do that in my own time."

He hung up with the demeanour of a condemned man. "The deed is done. We're going, for better or worse."

"Aren't you being a teensy bit melodramatic?"

"You haven't met them yet."