‘Rosy, that is more than OK, of course.’ He couldn’t believe it had been that simple. Now all he had to do was work out what he had to say in a way that didn’t make her run like a scared rabbit, or bad-tempered ferret the moment he spoke.
They both just stood and looked at each other, and for a minute there he felt his world was perfect.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Matt grimaced as he pulled into the drive of Chase’s house. Rosy hadn’t rung him yesterday evening as she had said and there had been silence all day today. When his phone had eventually rung it had been an invite from his sister to come to dinner here. He didn’t think he’d ever had a dinner invite from her before, plus with the exception of their drunken night earlier in the week he had barely seen his sister since the party, so felt compelled to say yes – but having to come back to this house was not improving his mood much.
Initially he had tried to wriggle out of it, but realized it would be a chance to properly meet this Chase bloke and find out what was going on with him and his sister, and what had been going on between him and Rosy. If anything, the man might even be able to shed some light on why Rosy had screamed at him that night. Matt had a feeling that he wasn’t going to like the answers he received and had little faith in the character of the sort of man that his sister liked to date. It was his fraternal duty to speak his mind about the whole set-up but to do so he’d need to establish a few facts first – which was why he found himself on this stupidly ostentatious doorstep, pressing the doorbell and preparing to play nice.
His sister eventually opened the door, swinging it wide.
‘Oh wow, you’ve got a face like thunder! I’m not going to let you in if you don’t smile.’
‘Seriously, do you know how much I don’t want to be here? You owe me for having such a strong sense of sibling loyalty that I turned up at all, so you’re bloody letting me in! I’ve come to find out what’s going on and what on earth you are doing spending all your time here, Ange.’
‘I thought you were coming for dinner. And don’t be rude, I’ve been cooking for you. I’m sure I smell of onions – did you know that they are next to impossible to cut up? Really hard, slide all over the place, although Chase did give me a particularly difficult one. I don’t know how normal people manage.’
‘Cooking? Cooking?’
‘Yes, it’s not that surprising, I am an adult. Chase is teaching me new things. Oh my God, what’s that look for?’ His sister breathed out so hard he almost felt sorry for her and had to fight the grin that was about to appear on his face, banishing his dark mood. He supposed loud sighs were a step up from thrown crockery. ‘I do hope you’re not going to be difficult, Matt. I didn’t invite you here to be difficult.’
‘I’m sure he’s not, Ange, let the poor man in. I expect he’s just come to check out where you’ve been spending the last two weeks, and rightfully so. Hi, Matt, do come on in. It’s nice to meet you properly at last, I’ve heard so much about you.’ Chase appeared at the door and leant forward to shake his hand in welcome. Matt’s innate good manners and the pleading look on his sister’s face meant there was no choice. Whatever this guy was playing at, Matt figured going carefully was the way to find out the truth. Making an enemy straight off the bat certainly wasn’t going to help anyone. He smiled and outstretched his hand.
‘Yup, number one on the list of things Ange loves to talk about is her brother. How do you do?’
‘Never stops.’ Chase smiled and Matt couldn’t help but smile back. ‘And Rosy also has some nice things to say, in a kinda complicated fashion!’
What was going on here?
‘I doubt that very much, she seems to be avoiding me at the moment.’
‘Ah, that I can’t answer to, but I can pour you a drink.’ Chase led Matt through the huge foyer and then down a hallway into the best equipped kitchen he had ever seen. This man was obviously quite domesticated and, if he had heard her correctly, managed to get his sister doing things in the kitchen. And had mentioned Rosy in front of Angelina and survived.
Chase fetched him a beer from the fridge (down to earth – tick) then made small talk as he threw some steaks on a griddle and asked Angelina to get more salad things from the fridge. This she did, without a grumble. Even further than that, she did it with a smile, so double tick to Chase so far (unless of course he had drugged her or she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and then Matt would have to get ready to punch him).
Dinner was served and as they sat at the kitchen table, Chase made the talk flow easily and Angelina managed not to behave as if she were four years old. It was proving to be quite a remarkable evening; he would go as far as to say he was enjoying it. When his sister was pleasant, genuinely pleasant not paparazzi-around-the-corner pleasant, she was capable of being a joy. It was just that Matt hadn’t seen it for a while and never in front of someone she was dating. Normally she seemed to assume that histrionics were part and parcel of a functioning relationship and that men were attracted to the drama. Quite clearly Chase wasn’t and she knew it.
‘So tell me about your first date?’ he asked. Normally he wouldn’t bother but knowing how Ange liked to brag about chic restaurants and fast cars he thought she deserved a bit of a treat for being so bloody normal this evening.
‘It was really nice wasn’t it, Angelina?’ Chase squeezed her hand as she giggled back at him.
‘No, it was vile.’ But her words belied the look upon her face. ‘He promised me a present and then bought me wellies’ – Matt choked on his beer – ‘and made me get in a boat.’
‘You like boats.’
‘No, I like yachts where you can lie in the sun sipping cocktails…’
‘You drank a fair amount from what I remember,’ Chase teased and received a glower in return. A loving glower. Another first for anyone that wasn’t Matt.
‘Shush. He made me get in a boat and then he caught fish, and that’s not the worst bit because he cut them open too.’
Chase nodded. ‘Yep, you have to gut them, Ange.’
She gave a shiver. ‘He cut them open and made me eat them; honestly, Matt, I thought I had died and gone to hell. I thought I had been captured by a madman and if I didn’t do what he said I’d be next.’
‘Really? You thought that was what was happening?’ The madman’s eyebrow jerked up and then he switched into a European accent. ‘You were right. Tonight, baby, tonight I shall cut you into leetle pieces.’
‘You met her last boyfriend then?’ Matt giggled and received a punch from his sister. ‘Ow! What’s happened to new mellow Angelina?’
