Ella, on the other hand… I was the recipient of a death glare from her. “I don’t know your name,” she said sharply.
“Alex Teague. Alexander, if you want to go full formal.” I smiled at her. She obviously thought I was something to be wiped off the sole of her shoe, but if I was going to spend the morning with her, it would be more comfortable to be on speaking terms.
She didn’t bother answering, though Nate nodded at me. “Nate Mortimer,” he said.
I almost choked. He was aMortimer?Looking at him with that knowledge, I could suddenly see it. He was dressed like the Fortescues, his apparently casual clothes somehow announcing how expensive they were. It would explain why he was so comfortable with Ella. The two richest, most powerful dragon families probably hung out together all the time.
I’d thought he was hot. His kiss had burned like a supernova. But he was just another banker, making his fortune out of other people’s hard work. It was an effort to keep the smile on my face.
Ella was looking between us. “You mean you two were practically humping one another, and you didn’t even exchange names?” She sighed, loudly and dramatically. “Honestly,men.”
“Ella.” Anna Fortescue’s voice was soft as she chided her daughter, but when I glanced at her, her eyes were icy. They usually were. I’d decided this wasn’t so much a family as a collection of sociopaths that shared the same last name. Except for Ella. I hadn’t yet figured her out.
I wouldn’t do so anytime soon because I found myself trailing behind them all the way to the theatre. Nate tried at first to include me in the conversation, but Ella wasn’t relinquishing her position beside him, and there wasn’t space on the pavement for the three of us to walk side by side.
At least that allowed me to study Nate Mortimer more closely from behind, a view well worth taking in. He was wearing a brown sheepskin flying jacket, and tan chinos that highlighted his round, firm arse. It was a shame I hadn’t done more than kiss him last night.
At the theatre, an elderly man was waiting for us. Ella swept past without a word as he held the door open. Nate and I both thanked him like normal people, Nate adding that he hoped we hadn’t brought him out specially on a Sunday morning.
If I didn’t know who Nate was, I’d have thought that was thoughtful of him. Knowing he was a Mortimer, all it meant was that he was smooth and used to manipulating people. Even so, it worked, because the guy nodded and told us to come and find him if we wanted anything.
“Is there a reason you’re interested in an empty old theatre?” I asked Nate while Ella was busy taking off her coat.
“I’m researching for a book I intend to write.”
“One about making millions off the backs of others in a banking empire, I’m guessing,” I said, promptly wanting to kick myself as his eyebrows raised. I was supposed to be getting close to him, not letting him know what I thought about his lifestyle. “I mean, what’s it about?”
“Nate’s going to write a best-seller about Jane Austen’s torrid love affair with the actor Robert Elliston,” Ella said, sliding her arm through Nate’s to press her cheek against his shoulder.
“I didn’t know Jane Austen had an affair,” I said.
“She didn’t,” Nate said, then paused. “Well, she probably didn’t. Though I suppose it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility if she was extraordinarily discreet about it. For my purposes, all that matters is that she’s known to have relished Elliston’s performances. She was so impressed by him that she worried he might leave Bath when he inherited some money. Anyway, Ella—you know this place. Lead on.”
We spent the next hour or so wandering around, exploring thoroughly.
“Do you think Jane Austen was a theatre groupie?” I asked, as we walked into one of the dressing rooms.
Nate’s face lit with humour. Ella’s, however, was full of scorn. “Don’t you knowanythingabout her?”
I didn’t care what she thought of me. Nate was still grinning, and it was agoodlook on him.
“I’m going to have to put that in the book,” he said. “I should call itGreasepaint and Blowjobs: The Secret Life of Jane Austen.”
“Honestly.” Ella rolled her eyes and stomped off.
That gave me a chance to finally talk to Nate. “Sorry about last night,” I lied through my teeth. “It seemed the best thing to do in the heat of the moment.”
He smiled at me, a different sort of smile from his amused grin, and it sent all kinds of messages to my cock. “Are youreallysorry?” he asked, and for the first time, I understood what people meant when they said someone purred when speaking. “I’m not.”
“Maybe we should try out something for your book,” I suggested. “Get some of the groupie logistics nailed down.”
“I hope it’s more than logistics that are going to be nailed,” he murmured, moving forward, an almost hypnotic sway to his stride.
“Nate!” Ella’s shout echoed down the corridor outside. “You need to look at this.”
The moment was well and truly broken, though my cock still hadn’t got the memo.
“Coming,” he yelled back, and then winced. “Or not,” he added, with a rueful sideways glance at me before heading out of the room.
