"That's what slowed us down," Jackson said, leading us into the restaurant and holding open the door. I saw Seph and Payton immediately, seated near bi-fold doors. Maxwell and, I guessed, Killian was standing at the bar with Amelie. "I see we're waiting for Ava."
"Well she was born two weeks late," Claire said. "She's never caught up."
I laughed. "How was last night?" I asked Claire, Jackson finally letting go of my hand to go over to Max. "Get up to anything interesting?"
"Stayed in and worked, as sad as it sounds. I needed to do a bit of a refresher. You?" We headed to the bar, Claire ordering a cocktail. I went for wine and wondered what to say. I was friends with Claire and had been for some time, but her brother was involved. I didn't want to lie, so opting for withholding information seemed like the best option, for now.
"I grabbed something to eat with Jackson after my gran headed home, then had an early night." I hoped I didn't look too tired as although I had gone to bed relatively early, we hadn't slept.
"Together or alone? And how did Jackson end up crashing your museum trip?" Claire glared at Killian as he approached with Max and Jackson.
"How did I what?" Jackson said, standing just behind me. I felt his arm brushing my back and could tell that the not touching was going to last five minutes, ten at a push.
"End up at a museum on a Saturday with Vanessa and her gran," Claire picked up her cocktail and started to drink through the straw. I suspected she'd have a hangover tomorrow instead of today.
Jackson shrugged. "It was an exhibit on underwear. Why wouldn't I be interested in seeing that?"
Killian looked at Jackson with steely blue eyes. He had fair, closely cropped hair and cheekbones belonging to a model, a model drenched in masculinity and raw, dangerous sex appeal. I must've been staring as Jackson put his hand on my shoulder.Less than five minutes."I would've thought you'd have seen enough underwear to manage your own exhibition," Killian said, a slight hint of Irish brogue filtering through. His eyes turned to me. "Maxwell mentioned you were joining us. I'm Killian, by the way, not that any of these ignorant bastards would've thought to introduce us." He held out his hand for mine then brought it to his lips.
"Fuck off, O'Hara," Jackson said, his voice rough, his arm going automatically around my waist. I wasn't surprised, he'd spent most of the last eighteen hours marking me as his.
Killian laughed, Max, joining in. "That's twenty you owe, Maxwell," Killian said. "And it's nice to meet you, Vanessa. Max and I had a small wager about how long it'd take to find out if you had moved passed the co-workers stage." Max handed him a note.
"Shits," Jackson said, picking up his beer from the bar. He looked at me apologetically, Killian and Max's attention transferring to Claire who seemed to have started some form of verbal battle with Killian that looked like it could draw blood pretty quickly. "I'm sorry, Van. I should've played it cooler. But he's a manwhore and he would've made a play for you unless I... Fuck. I don't share well."
I nodded, not sure of what to say. There was no way any of the people here would report back to Richard, especially if we mentioned that he couldn't know. That was all dependent on last night and this morning not being a one-off. Jackson was making it seem as if he didn't want it to be, and I was more than happy for a repeat and maybe more. But I wasn't sure how ready I was to be involved with someone else seriously. I'd been in a relationship for six years and hadn't even got to the point where I was considering dating. "I get it, I do. I just need to make sure Richard doesn't find out. If he even suspected I was kind of seeing someone or," I blustered, realizing I'd just given us a label, "or even interested in someone else, he'd make things with the business and apartment even more awkward and difficult."
Jackson's eyes flashed. I really hoped he never had to meet Richard. It was probably a good idea Seph was going to run the case given how Richard always knew what buttons to press to get a reaction. "No one here will say anything. Even at the office. My dad instilled loyalty in us from day one, which is why all but Callum and Ava work for the company, I suppose. I'll ask them to say nothing." He led me out onto the terrace. "It's been only a couple of days but it feels as if I've known you longer. Forgive me if I say something you're not comfortable with and let me know."
A large, practical, section of me wanted to turn and hide in the River Thames, but the girly part, the one who had remembered what her sex drive was for and had a pair of eyes that appreciated the male form managed to hold on to the other section. I went onto my tiptoes and kissed him on his lips. "I promise."
"Do I still have to keep my hands off you?"
"As long as you remember we're in public, no," I said and his hands automatically went to my hips and he bent down for another kiss. We kept moving the boundaries we'd both seemingly set. How far could we move them before one of us stopped?
"Well, well, well, if my brother, Jackson hasn't moved into public displays of affection. I never thought I'd see the day." I looked over and saw a girl who had to be Ava. She looked enough like Payton and Claire, but her hair was blonde and curled to the middle of her back.
Jackson's face softened. "Have you given Claire a reasonable excuse as to why you're late?"
She grinned. "Nah, I just bought her another sex on the beach. Big sis is going to be smashed by the end of the afternoon. Is she about to start on a big case?"
"Got it in one. Ava, this is Vanessa. Van, this is my littlest sister, Ava. She irritates me least of all," Jackson said, his hand on the small of my back.
"Only because I don't work for you," Ava said, then enveloped me in a hug. "I've heard about you from Claire. You have a marketing company. I might need your services at some point. Can I get your contact details from Jackson?"
"Yes, I'd love to see what I can do to help. You'll have to see if I manage to do a good job of Callaghan Greene first," I said, aware that I hadn't done any work at all this weekend which meant tomorrow would need an early start and a late finish. I had two events planned this week and a new website going live. I wondered if I could escape early from the lunch and head to the office, although I wasn't sure if that was my addiction to work wondering or my fear of being the center of attention.
"Anyone who is brave enough to plan Dad's retirement must have enough of a screw loose to be successful," Ava said, sipping the glass of prosecco she had been nursing. "I can see Claire waving us in; it must be time to order food."
Sunday lunch was noisy and raucous; unlike anything I'd ever been to with Richard or even my own family. No one tired of teasing each other, no one argued over food, it was just shared, and the prosecco – which was bottomless as well as the lunch – kept flowing. No one stayed in the same chair, shifting round when they wanted to speak to someone else and no offense was taken.
We spilled outside after we had eaten, only Ava's friend heading off to see her parents for the remainder of the day. Everyone else was content to continue drinking and talking and I figured it probably wasn't that often that, despite most of them working together, the six siblings were together outside of work.
"So," Payton sat down next to me, handing me a glass of prosecco. "You and my brother."
I had been anticipating some form of conversation about me and Jackson. "It's only been a few days. We only met on Thursday."
"He's smitten," Payton said, smiling. "He's either been next to you or watching you. Especially when Killian speaks to you."
