The Society Groom

And good luck to him! she told herself firmly. She simply wasn’t interested in him one way or another. Although, if she was going to be strictly honest with herself, she really hadn’t cared for the sight of that young blonde starlet—regularly featured in some of the more downmarket, glossy magazines—who’d been all over Dominic like a rash while they’d enjoyed a smoochy dance, late in the evening.

And then, soon after midnight, the bride and groom were being waved off to their bridal suite. Although it was another hour before most of the young guests decided to call it a day, leaving the very tired but happy parents of the bride and groom to also seek their beds.

Well—that’s another job well done, Olivia told herself as she shepherded the last stragglers to the door, leaving them in the capable hands of the uniformed doorman in his top hat, either to order taxis or see them to their own vehicles.

Collecting her own hat from the ladies’ cloakroom, and thanking the manager on duty for all the help and expertise of his staff, she at last felt able to make her own way home.

Unfortunately, although there was normally no problem in finding a taxi in Brook Street, the mass exodus of guests had obviously depleted the usual number of vehicles normally to be found outside the hotel. Standing outside on the street, stamping her feet to keep warm, Olivia found herself regretting that she hadn’t, in fact, realised that there might be a problem and sensibly parked her own car around the corner earlier in the day.

‘It’s funny how there never seems to be a taxi when you want one, isn’t it, miss?’ the doorman said with a grin, stepping out into the street and looking up and down the road. ‘However, I’m sure there’ll be a taxi along in a minute.’

‘I hope so,’ she muttered, pulling her jacket tightly about her cold figure. ‘At least it isn’t raining,’ she added, her teeth chattering as a blast of icy wind swept down the street.

‘You waiting for a taxi, lady?’

‘Yes, I am...’ she muttered, her eyes widening as she looked up to see a large blue Range Rover drawn up before her shivering figure.

‘You’d better hurry up and jump in.’ Dominic grinned at her through the open driver’s window. ‘Unless, of course, you don’t mind freezing to death out there!’

‘Well...’ Olivia glanced up and down the deserted street, but there was clearly no sight of a taxi. ‘Oh, all right,’ she agreed with a helpless shrug as she went around to the passenger door. ‘But you don’t know where I live. It might not be on your way home.’

‘I expect I’ll manage to find the way—to wherever it is.’ Dominic grinned again. Then, as she still hesitated, he told her roughly not to be such a fool. ‘You could be waiting out here for ages,’ he pointed out. ‘Still, if you don’t mind catching pneumonia that’s your problem, not mine!’

‘Thanks!’ she grumbled, before quickly deciding that he was quite right. There was no sight of any other form of transport, and the thought of having to stand outside the hotel, freezing to death in this weather, was more than she could face.

‘I live in Holland Park,’ she said, hitching up her skirt and climbing up into the high vehicle. ‘I hope that’s not too much out of your way? Are you planning to drive back down to Kent tonight?’ she asked breathlessly, not at all sure that it was sensible to accept a lift from Dominic, but not seeing that she had any alternative.

‘No, I’ve got a small pad in Chelsea which I and my sisters use when we have to stay overnight in London,’ he told her, putting the car in gear and driving off down the street.

With very little traffic around at that time of night, it should have been a quick and easy journey home. But as he drove them up Park Lane and around Marble Arch, towards the Bayswater Road, she began to find the atmosphere within the large vehicle becoming increasingly claustrophobic.

There was absolutely no reason for her to be feeling quite so tense and apprehensive—not to say distinctly nervous. Nevertheless, she was finding it difficult to combat the strangely insidious, intimate atmosphere within the close confines of the vehicle. Even after tearing her gaze away from the sight of his strong hands gripping the wheel, and closing her eyes as she leaned back against the headrest, all her senses appeared to be disturbingly alive, acutely conscious of the scent of his cologne, and the slight movements of the tall, powerful body seated so closely to her own.

‘I think you’d better direct me from here on,’ Dominic said quietly as they sped through Notting Hill Gate and entered Holland Park Avenue.

However, just as she was telling him to take the next left turning into Holland Park, she was surprised to find their way barred by bollards with flashing lights and two police vehicles parked across the entrance of the mews.

‘What the heck... ?’ she muttered as a policeman approached and Dominic pressed a button to lower his window.

‘Sorry, sir—we’ve got a slight problem here,’ the man told him. ‘It seems that there’s a burst water main, and—’

‘Oh—not again!’ Olivia groaned.

‘Yes, I’m afraid so, miss.’ The policeman shrugged. ‘Someone from the Fire Brigade told me that there’s often a problem here in Holland Park Avenue. Although I understand the mains are due to be replaced in the near future.’

‘That’ll be the day,’ she grumbled, fed up to the back teeth with the aged water pipes which had caused so much trouble for such a long time.

‘How long will it take before it’s mended?’ Dominic enquired.

The other man shrugged. ‘I’m told there’s no access to either end of the mews for the next four hours at least. And I shouldn’t be at all surprised if it doesn’t take a lot longer than that,’ he added gloomily.

‘OK. Thanks,’ Dominic said, closing the window and quickly putting the car into reverse before speeding off back down Holland Park Avenue.

‘What are you doing? Where do you think you’re going? ’ she cried, feeling stunned by the speed of events, and desperately trying to work out where she was going to spend the night.

‘I’ve got a spare bedroom, so it makes sense for you to stay the night in my house,’ he told her. ‘Unless, of course, you’d prefer that I take you to a hotel?’

Olivia turned to glare at him in the darkness. ‘Oh, yes—that’s a great idea!’ she grumbled sarcastically. ‘First of all I’ve got to find a hotel that’s still open at this time of night. And even if I do they probably wouldn’t be willing to take me in—not without any luggage, or even a toothbrush to my name,’ she added grimly.

Dominic merely shrugged his shoulders. ‘It’s up to you, of course. Although it doesn’t look as if you’ve got much choice, does it?’

‘No.’ She gave a heavy sigh. ‘You’re quite right—it doesn’t.’

However, by the time he was parking the large Range Rover in Markham Square, Olivia had managed to overcome her instinctive anger and annoyance at finding herself at the mercy of some arbitrary fate.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I really ought to apologise for being so ratty just now. I expect that I’m just a bit tired—and I was looking forward to returning home and putting my feet up. But I shouldn’t have taken it out on you,’ she added, turning to give him a brief, apologetic smile. ‘And I really am very grateful for the offer of a bed tonight.’

‘there’ no need to apologise.’ He waved a hand dismissively in the air. ‘We’ve both had a long, tiring day.

‘Just a minute,’ she said as he released his seatbelt and opened his door to alight from the vehicle. ‘This “spare room” of yours? I take it it really does exist—and isn’t some figment of your imagination?’

Dominic gave a low rumble of sardonic laughter. ‘Relax! I have at least three spare bedrooms—so you’ll be able to take your pick,’ he told her, before coming round to open the passenger door. ‘Although, of course, I’d be more than happy to offer you the use of my own bedroom. ’

‘If it includes you as well—the answer is thanks, but no thanks!’ she snapped, her nerves not improved by the sight of his wide grin and the glint of ironic amusement in his eyes, clearly visible beneath the sodium glare of a nearby streetlight.

‘Calm down, darling,’ he drawled, helping her down from the vehicle and issuing her in through the front door of a large house. ‘I can promise you, on my word of honour, that I won’t lay a hand on you.’

‘You’d better keep your promise—or you’ll be sorry!’ she muttered grimly as he led the way into a sitting room.

So much for the ‘small pad in Chelsea’! Olivia told herself, recalling how Dominic had described his home in London as she gazed around the large, elegantly decorated room. Having been forced to save up every penny for her own small mews house, she was in no doubt that this huge building would, on the open market, fetch well over a million pounds.

‘Now...why don’t we both relax and have a drink?’ he was saying, with a slow, sensual smile which practically made her hair stand on end. ‘I can offer you some whisky, or brandy, or...’

Olivia gave a nervous shake of her head. ‘No, thanks all the same, but I’m really feeling very tired. It’s been a long day,’ she added quickly. ‘If... if you don’t mind, I’d like to go to my room straight away.’

‘Of course,’ he said, opening the door and waving for her to go ahead of him up the wide flight of stairs, before leading her along the landing and throwing open the door of a large guest room.

‘As you see,’ Dominic told her, walking across the large room and opening a door in the far corner, ‘this guest bedroom has its own en suite bathroom. I’ll just check...’ He switched on the lights and peered around the door. ‘Yes, there appear to be plenty of towels. But let me know if there’s anything else you require, OK?’ he murmured as he retraced his steps across the room, giving her a slight smile before closing the bedroom door behind him.

Well, things could definitely be a lot worse, Olivia told herself some time later, almost groaning with pleasure as she lay back in the deliciously oily, highly perfumed bath water, closing her eyes and letting all the stresses and strains of the day drain out of her tired body.

Although she’d been fed up at not being able to relax in her own bed, it was kind of Dominic to have placed a spare room at her disposal. Not that he wasn’t the same tricky, conniving, two-timing rat that she’d known all those years ago, of course, she quickly reminded herself. Leopards didn’t change their spots—right? And the way that blonde bimbo had practically glued herself to his tall, broad-shouldered figure on the dance floor had been nothing short of disgraceful!

But why should she care? It was, after all, years since she’d first tumbled headlong into love with Dominic. But she was no longer a silly teenager, and if he wanted to make an exhibition of himself—or go to bed with half the women in London, for that matter—it was absolutely nothing to do with her.

Well, yes...OK...she had been upset to see him again. But that was only because his appearance at the wedding had been so totally unexpected. Any woman would be likely to feel slightly shocked and thrown a bit off base by the sudden appearance of an old flame. So her reaction had been a quite normal one, she assured herself firmly. And, after a good night’s sleep, she would be perfectly capable of saying a cheerful goodbye to her host before going back to her own home and never giving him another thought.

Having sorted out the current situation to her own satisfaction, Olivia felt a whole lot more cheerful. Of course, the relaxing effect of a hot bath had a lot to do with it, she told herself, climbing out of the deep tub and wrapping a thick fluffy towel about her slim figure. However, it wasn’t until she was walking slowly back into the bedroom that she suddenly realised she had a slight problem.