Beneath This Man (This Man, #2)(185)

‘I don’t know. Go and see.’ He pushes me away, and I leave Dad and Jesse to continue small talk as I make my way to the front door. No one can come up without knowing the code, so it has to be Clive.

I swing it open and find Dan, Kate and Sam, all stood in the penthouse foyer and my first thought is; Dan and Kate within a mile of each other? Bad news. But then Dan steps forward with a big smile on his face and I all but throw myself on him, forgetting all back pain and awkward tension between him and my best friend.

‘What are you doing here?’ I squeeze him to me and he laughs.

‘I’m doing as I’m told,’ He fights me off and holds me back. ‘You look good.’ he says on a bright smile. ‘Where’s this new bloke who I need to give the ‘if you hurt her’ speech to?’

I wave of fear flies through me at the thought of Jesse accepting any such speech. ‘In the kitchen, but you don’t need to do that.’

Please don’t do that!

He eyes me warily. ‘It’s my job.’ he states firmly, and then looks past me into the penthouse. ‘Fucking hell!’ he whispers as he cops a load of the space. He drops me and saunters off.

Kate steps forward with a clear look of trepidation of her pale face. She wraps her arms around me. ‘This has to be the most awkward situation I have ever put myself in,’ she whispers in my ear. ‘Fucking hideous.’

I laugh. ‘Ease up on your grip,’ I shrug her slightly. ‘Does Sam know?’ I whisper back.

‘Sorry and no. I thought he might have made the connection after you landed Dan’s visit on me at lunch that time, but he’s f*cking oblivious.’

‘Hey! Where’s the love?’ Sam removes Kate and throws his arms around me gently. ‘You are one mad woman.’ he says quietly.

‘I know.’ I agree. Fucking crazy mad.

‘Don’t do that again.’ he scorns me. ‘Where’s my man?’

‘Kitchen.’

He drops me and heads for the kitchen. I look at Kate, and she shakes her head. ‘If I could’ve got out of this, I would have.’ She lets out a stressed breath. ‘Come on.’ She takes my hand and we go back to the kitchen, finding Jesse making the introductions. Dan’s cautious eyes flick between Jesse and Sam for a whole lot of different reasons.

Cathy appears from nowhere with Luigi and three waiters and Jesse leaves the kitchen island chatter to have a word. I watch as he lets Cathy kiss his cheek, shakes Luigi’s hand and then points around the kitchen and through to the terrace. Cathy shoos him away and gives me a happy wave.

‘What’s happening?’ I ask him when he joins me back by the island.

‘We’re having dinner.’

‘Here?’

‘Yes, I arranged for Luigi to come in and do the honours. We’ll eat on the terrace. It’s a nice evening.’ He places me in front of him and brushes my hair away from my face.

‘I can’t believe you did this.’

He cocks his head to the side. ‘Whatever it takes, you know this.’

My hands slide up his jacket sleeves to rest on his biceps. ‘You might get the loving brother speech,’ I smile apologetically. ‘Do you think you could humour him?’

His lips press into a straight line. ‘You mean another man telling me how to look after you? I don’t think so.’

My shoulders sag slightly. ‘Whatever it takes?’ I whisper his words. I can’t even begin to imagine how much it pained him to have to talk to my parents. It goes against all of his natural instincts.

He rests his finger under my chin and drops a light kiss on the corner of my mouth. ‘Whatever it takes.’ he confirms. ‘Come on.’

He proceeds to direct everyone out of the kitchen and onto the terrace, where I find everything has been set for a meal. The outside dining table has been superbly laid, the patio heaters have been lit to take the edge off the cool evening air and bottles of wine and beer are chilling in the drinks fridge by the huge built-in barbeque. I throw Jesse a questioning look. How did he manage all of this? He smiles and gives me a gesture of sleep. While I was snoozing most of the day, he has been busy meeting my parents and preparing all of this? I’m still in shock.

I’m in a half trance as the people I love the most in the world converse, chat, laugh and drink at the table, while Luigi and his staff prepare and serve a luscious Italian feast. Jesse keeps his hand firmly on my knee, choosing to eat one handed, squeezing every so often, particularly harder when Dan commences his older brother speech. I watch Jesse struggle to remain polite and gracious while they chat, and when my mother catches the line of conversation, I’m immensely grateful for her intervention. She admonishes Dan and smiles sweetly at Jesse before picking up her conversation with Kate, who has eased up slightly after a few glasses of wine inside her, although you can’t ignore the tension that is bristling between her and Dan. Sam, however, is completely unaware and doing a good job of making my Dad laugh hard with God only knows what stories.

‘Kate’s not her normal self.’ Jesse observes quietly, as he tops up my water glass. ‘Is she okay?’

‘She and Dan have a bit of a history.’ I reply, equally as quietly and out of earshot of Dan. ‘It’s complicated.’

Jesse’s eyebrows rise in surprise. ‘I see. Did you enjoy your pasta?’