One Foolish Night (Eternal Bachelors Club #4)

Her womb clenched and she rubbed harder and faster over her clit. Seconds later, she pressed her lips together tightly in order not to make a sound as her orgasm broke and washed over her.

It took seconds before she was able to walk back to the bedroom and close the door silently behind her. Only then was she able to breathe again.

This was crazy! She had to get herself under control or the week ahead would turn into a disaster, making her life even more of a mess than it already was.

From now on she had to restrain herself and see him only as a client, a man she had to remain indifferent to, because there was no place for her or her child in his heart.





12


The drive from Manhattan to Montauk had been surprisingly pleasant. Holly had turned out to be a great conversationalist. Paul didn’t know why he was surprised. After all, as an escort she had to entertain the men she was with. Already, during dinner the previous night, he’d realized how easy it was to talk to Holly.

They had exchanged more information about their lives, all so their story wouldn’t blow up once they met his parents. Or so he told himself, though a part of him knew that he’d told her things about himself and his life so that she would get to know him better and maybe understand why he’d reacted the way he had over two months earlier.

He pulled into the driveway of his parents’ house and came to a stop. Killing the engine, he turned to her. “Ready for show time?”

Holly nodded. “I think so.”

“Good.” He got out of the car and lifted their luggage out of the tiny trunk. Meanwhile, Holly had gotten out and closed the passenger door.

With his key, he unlocked the door and set the suitcases down in the foyer. When Holly came in, Paul smiled at her and reached out. “We’ll have to hold hands. Just for my parents,” he murmured. When she accepted his hand and he felt her warm palm clasping his, a pleasant wave of warmth shot from his hand up his arm, then spread through his body.

“Mother? Dad?” he called out, but there was no reply. “Maybe they’re in the backyard.”

He pulled Holly with him as he walked down the wide hallway and into the open plan living area that opened up to a large terrace with a view of the pool and the little poolhouse adjacent to it. Opening the French doors, he stepped outside and let his gaze wander. Nobody was at the pool or sitting on the terrace. Beyond a row of shrubbery that provided some privacy, a wooden dock led over the sandy beach out onto the water. His parents’ boat was docked there, which meant they weren’t out on the boat either.

“Strange,” he said, turning to Holly. “They knew I was coming today.”

“Maybe they’re just out running errands.”

“Hmm, well, let’s get settled in the meantime.”

He looked at Holly, who appeared flushed all of a sudden. At the same time he realized that he was still holding her hand. It had been such a natural gesture that he hadn’t even noticed it.

“Do you want something cold to drink?”

She gave him a grateful smile. “That would be great.”

He led her back inside and walked through the adjacent dining area into the kitchen.

“Wow, what a kitchen,” Holly commented.

“Pretty big, huh?” He smiled. “And wouldn’t you know it, my mother hates to cook. She has a cook come from the village every day to prepare her and Dad’s meals so she doesn’t have to.”

Holly glanced around. “What a luxury.”

Reluctantly, Paul released her hand, walked to the refrigerator, and took a bottle of water from it. His eyes fell on an envelope marked Paul pinned to the refrigerator door with a magnet.

“Sorry, it’s plastic again.” He handed the bottle to Holly and took the envelope from the door. He pulled out a sheet of paper and read it, then looked into Holly’s quizzical gaze. “It says here that they had to drive up to Boston to get great-aunt Mirabelle. Apparently they didn’t want her to take the train, and Mirabelle refused to accept the chauffeured car they wanted to send.” He winked at Holly. “She drives my mother crazy. You’ll love her.”

“Your mother or your great-aunt Mirabelle?”

“Great-aunt Mirabelle, of course. Trust me, my mother will despise you from the moment she sees you.”

“What? Well, thanks a lot for telling me now!” Holly grumbled.

Paul took a step toward her and took her hand. “It’s nothing personal, but my mother will despise every single woman I bring home, unless she handpicks her. And that’s the whole reason you’re here: so I can make it clear to my mother once and for all that I will choose the woman I’m going to marry one day, and that she has no say in the matter. And the sooner she realizes that, the better.”

Holly’s expression softened a little. “You and your mother don’t get on.”

“Well, let’s just say she has very high expectations and I haven’t met any of them.” He would never meet his mother’s expectations, because he had no intention of pandering to her wishes.