Chapter Twenty-Nine

Aiden’s body woke up before he did, clearly overjoyed to find itself nestled against soft, warm curves. With a grin of pure male satisfaction he eased himself onto his elbow so he could begin the mouthwatering task of kissing his way down her, beginning with her dainty collarbone. To date he hadn’t considered that an erotic part of the female anatomy, but Mel was starting to redefine his concept of sexy.

He’d reached her stomach before she stirred. ‘Is this breakfast?’ she murmured, her voice husky with sleep.

‘You bet.’

In the blink of an eye her body went from relaxed and fluid to uptight and rigid. ‘What about Tom? Is he awake yet?’

With a small grunt Aiden stopped his exploration and lifted his head. ‘Chill. If he’s awake, he’s watching TV. It’s what he does in the morning.’

‘But what if he comes in?’

‘He won’t.’ Heck, it was no wonder parents claimed their sex life went downhill after having kids. ‘I promise,’ he continued more gently. ‘It’s our rule. He doesn’t disturb me unless there’s an emergency.’ His fingers drifted downwards, towards her heat. ‘Are you willing to risk there not being a fire or flood? Or one of those world famous destructive Hungarian tornados?’

Whether it was his words that convinced her or the trail of his fingers, he didn’t know, but he managed to make her forget all about Tom for a while.

When they lay back, catching their breath, Aiden threaded his fingers through her small hand and raised it to his lips. ‘I don’t want this to be another one off,’ he told her quietly. ‘I know I suck at relationships. Thanks to my screwed up childhood I find it hard to let people in. But I want to try.’ Reaching over, he planted a tender kiss on her lips. ‘Please, Mel. Let me try.’

He watched in astonishment as tears filled her eyes before she hastily rubbed at them. ‘Yes.’

A single word, barely a whisper, but it was all he needed to hear. ‘Thank you.’

Heck, now his voice was sounding scratchy, too. It was definitely time to get up and dressed. He had a final practice session to get to. Before he could muster the strength to swing his legs out of bed though, there was something he needed to know. ‘Am I allowed to ask, why the change of heart? I was beginning to think this,’ he nodded at the sight of their naked bodies, ‘you and me as lovers, might never happen again.’

She brushed at his hair with her fingers, then trailed them down his cheeks, her touch so soft he wanted to purr. For once in his life he felt … cherished he supposed was the word. Plenty of women had laid their fingers on him, but their purpose had only been to arouse. Never to simply caress.

‘Sally told me it was time to stop being such a coward.’ Mel smiled as her fingers traced his lips. ‘Actually her words were stop being such a flaming coward.’

‘Remind me to send her some flowers.’ He opened his mouth and sucked in her finger, making her giggle. Combine that with the light in her eyes and the flush on her cheeks, and his body started twitching again. ‘I wish I could spend all day here with you,’ he told her after finally releasing her captive finger. ‘But I’ve got a car to throw around the track.’

She glanced across at the time on his alarm clock and squealed, jumping out of bed. ‘Help. I’ve got a meeting in under an hour and I’ve got to get back to the hotel to change first.’ Haphazardly she began to throw on her clothes, swearing under her breath. ‘Bugger, bugger.’ Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, making such a mess of it he was forced to abandon the warmth of the bed and go and help her. ‘This is all your fault, distracting me with your body,’ she muttered as he calmly finished doing them up.

‘Hey, you distracted me first. You and that flirty short skirt.’ He eyed it up as she zipped it into place. ‘If you wear that for your meeting, you’ll get whatever you want out of it.’ While she dived into the bathroom, he shoved on his jeans and a T-shirt.

She emerged a few seconds later, her hair scrunched into a messy ponytail. Adorable was the word for her, he thought with a rush of tenderness. ‘Can I give you a lift back to the hotel?’

‘No, I’m fine.’ She added a slight shake of her head and her ponytail started to unravel. ‘There are always plenty of cabs outside. You stay here with Tom.’

He grabbed her arm as she was about to leave. ‘Hey, wait a minute. What about my goodbye kiss?’

Raising her eyes to the ceiling, she gave him a peck on the lips. Not what he’d been after so he pulled her back and gave her a demonstration of what a goodbye kiss should involve. They were both flushed when they came up for air. ‘When you get to the hotel, pack up and check out. I want you to stay here with me and Tom.’ Her eyes bulged and as her mouth opened, no doubt to argue, he added his killer punchline. ‘Please.’

He’d never seen anyone so flustered. ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’

‘How can we be in a relationship if you’re in a hotel and I’m here?’

‘There’s being in a relationship, and then there’s moving in together,’ she countered. ‘Usually one comes quite a long way before the other.’

She had him there, though the thought of her actually moving in with him, into his home, didn’t phase him. He could easily imagine Mel in his apartment. Messing up his drawers. Taking over his wardrobe. Filling his place with her clutter. And her laughter. ‘How about, while we’re on the road, you think of it as going on holiday with me?’

‘Okay.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘But if you ever do take me on holiday I want to go somewhere with more beaches than Hungary.’

He was still laughing when she closed the door behind her.

Even as he wandered with Tom over to the Delta motorhome – the boy had demanded a bacon sandwich from the people who knew how to cook – a grin remained plastered across Aiden’s face. Hit by the smell of bacon as they entered the hospitality suite, his stomach leapt with joy, forgetting he was on a strict high carb, zero fat intake. Yet even as he meandered to the porridge station and ladled a few gelatinous spoonfuls into his bowl, his smile remained.

Mel tried her best to listen attentively to the journalist, but her eyes kept wandering to the bulging suitcase sitting in the corner of the meeting room. The case she would take over to Aiden’s motorhome later today. Her heart gave a wild thump.

‘… the film of Sebastian Foster’s life?’

She blinked. ‘Sorry, do you remind repeating the question?’

‘I asked,’ he replied slowly and with a fair amount of poorly disguised irritation, ‘if you can confirm whether Aiden will be taking part in the documentary film of his father’s life?’

‘I can confirm he’s been asked and is considering the proposal. We need to determine whether it will fit with his schedule.’ She made a mental note to chase Aiden up on that. It was bound to put him in a bad mood, so maybe she’d do it after they’d retired to his bedroom …

God, she’d be there tonight. Him and her, rolling about in that big bed of his.

The journalist gave her another piercing look and Mel pinched herself, hard. Time to stop thinking about Aiden and focus on the only long-term commitment she was ever likely to make. Her job.

Thirty minutes later, having pinned down some future interview dates for both Stefano and Aiden, Mel had just eased her visitor out of the door when her phone rang.

‘It’s security here. We’ve got a woman with us who claims she’s Aiden’s mother. As he’s out on the track, can you talk to her?’

Mel’s head fell back against the chair and she let out a quiet groan. Goody wasn’t the phrase that came to mind. Still, she’d entertained the youngest Foster and slept with the oldest. Maybe she was due a grilling from Mrs Foster.

‘No problem. If you can give her a pass and direct her here, I’ll meet her at the entrance.’

The slender, elegant, dark haired lady who accosted Mel on the steps of the Delta motorhome five minutes later obviously didn’t share her sons’ charm. Only their grey eyes. ‘Where’s my son?’ she demanded in a tone as cold as her face.

Mel held out her hand. ‘Hello, you must be Caroline Foster? Pleased to meet you. I’m Melanie Hunt.’

The older lady ignored Mel’s outstretched hand. ‘I repeat. Where is my son?’

‘Aiden’s on the track.’

Caroline gave her a haughty glare. ‘I’m talking about Tom. Where is he?’

Mel itched to ask her why the sudden concern, when for the last umpteen weeks she hadn’t seemed to care. ‘I’m guessing Tom’s in Aiden’s motorhome with his new tutor.’

‘I want to see him.’

Mel stared back at her. How could this cold, hard bitch possibly be Aiden’s mother? ‘I’m sure you do, but I suggest we wait for Aiden to finish first.’

‘Who are you to tell me I can’t see my own son? Take me to him, now.’

‘No.’

Caroline’s mouth fell open and her body vibrated with such animosity Mel wondered if she was about to get slapped. But then the fight seemed to leave her and her shoulders slumped. ‘I deserved that. I’ve been travelling a lot and I’m jet-lagged and bad-tempered. Would you mind, please, taking me to see Tom?’

Mel was torn. Though her instinct was to wait for Aiden, who she knew would want to talk to his mother first, what right did she have to stop her from seeing her son? ‘Okay. If you’d like to follow me.’

Caroline seemed to take her literally – or maybe her high shoes prevented her keeping up. Either way she kept a few steps behind, thankfully preventing any conversation. At the motorhome, Mel hesitated. She wanted to warn Tom his mother was here but she couldn’t think how to do it without asking the lady in question to wait round the corner. Something that might upset the tenuous truce they’d just formed. So, heart thumping, knowing she was about to rock the poor boy’s world once more, she knocked on the door.

The look on Tom’s face when he found his mother on the doorstep nearly broke Mel’s heart. There was an instant burst of pleasure; a ten-year-old boy’s natural love for his mother. It soon faded as anger filled his eyes and a scowl marred his face. ‘Mum.’

‘Hello, Tom.’

Mel waited for the hug, at the very least a peck on the cheek, but there was no movement from either of them. They simply stood, staring, the awkwardness so painful it made Mel’s teeth ache.

Just then the bewildered looking tutor popped his head round the door. Grateful for the distraction, Mel climbed inside and made some stilted introductions, very conscious that Tom had moved to stand by her.

When silence descended once again Caroline gave her a very pointed look, clearly her cue to leave. But how could she with Tom almost glued to her hip, his eyes pleading with her to stay? Instead she walked into the kitchen area and began filling up the kettle.

‘You look at home here,’ Caroline remarked as Mel spooned coffee into three mugs.

‘That’s because she lives with us.’

Mel’s hand jolted, spilling some of the coffee onto the worktop. It was a relief to hear Tom speak at last, but she could have done without him uttering those particular words. ‘I don’t. Not really.’ Hastily she mopped up the spillage.

‘Well, you stayed last night, and Aiden told me you’re going to be staying with us whenever we’re travelling.’

Oh God. There were so many grenades for Caroline to detonate in that one sentence. The fact that Mel was sleeping with Aiden. With the full knowledge of her impressionable young son. Who’d blithely assumed he was still going to be travelling with his brother after today.

‘Well—’

About to pounce on heaven knew which target, Caroline’s words were interrupted as the door flung open, announcing the arrival of Aiden. His eyes quickly scanned the room, taking in Tom with his hands on hips, her with a flushed get me out of here face and his mum poised to yell, very loudly. He dropped the bag he’d been carrying, which landed with a resounding thud, and let out a crude oath.

‘Don’t swear in front of Tom,’ Caroline scolded.

‘Good to see you, too, Mum. How many years has it been?’

‘Ten.’ There was no warmth in her expression, no hint that she was talking to her eldest son. ‘Your choice, I might add.’

‘You seriously think I had a choice?’ With a dismissive shake of his head he strode over to where the tutor was currently trying to appear invisible. ‘Sorry, Stanley. I didn’t realise we were having a visitor today. Would you mind taking a break for half an hour?’

For a man in his fifties he could certainly turn on the pace, Mel thought, as the tutor darted out of the door. ‘I should go, too.’

‘No.’ Aiden’s grey eyes silently begged her. ‘I’d like you to stay, please.’

‘Why, she’s not family.’

The glance Aiden gave his mother could have seared paint off wood. ‘She’s been more a part of this rag tag family over the last few months than you have.’

Caroline had no answer to that, except to go and sit on the far end of the sofa, eloquently indicating that she wasn’t going anywhere, either. Needing something to do Mel went to finish off making the drinks, even though she doubted anyone wanted one. Clearly also needing something to do, Tom helped her carry them to the coffee table.

Aiden ran a hand over his sweat streaked face and sighed. ‘You’d better say what you came to say, mother.’

‘I’ve come to take Tom home.’

‘No!’ Tom jumped to his feet. ‘I’m not going home. Not with you. This is my home now. You’d rather be on holiday with that man than with me.’

As his voice started to wobble he stormed off to his room, slamming the door shut with so much force the whole motorhome shook.

Mel’s heart didn’t know which son needed the most sympathy. The little boy whose world had been turned upside down for the second time in as many months, or the older brother who was left holding his head in his hands, trying to pick up the pieces. Still in his racing overalls, what Aiden clearly needed was a hot shower and some quiet time. Not an episode of unhappy families.

‘I see you’ve successfully managed to turn him against me.’

Aiden darted his mother a withering look. ‘Don’t you think swanning off across the world without a word had rather more to do with that?’

‘You’re making such a big deal of it. Like any single mother, I needed a break. I left him in safe hands and now I’m back.’

‘Well, while you’ve been away, having your break, Tom’s been living with me. We’ve got into a routine, of sorts. You can’t just come back and disrupt it all over again.’

‘Tom needs to be with his mother.’

Aiden gaped incredulously. ‘What Tom needs is someone to take notice of him. To share his excitement when something good happens. To console him when the shit inevitably hits the fan.’ He gave his mother a harsh, unwavering glare. ‘He needs to know that someone out there gives a damn.’

‘Are you saying I don’t?’

‘Well, do you? Because from my experience I find that hard to believe.’

‘How dare you.’ Her eyes blazed at him. ‘You wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t paid for all those lessons. Made sure you were taken to all those race meetings.’

‘And how many races did you actually watch?’ he asked tightly.

His mother flushed and Mel had to look away. This was beyond painful.

‘I want joint custody of Tom, or whatever the hell the term is for an equal say in my brother’s future,’ Aiden continued with a controlled fury. ‘I don’t want him going back to that boarding school. I want to see him every school holiday and have him stay with me at weekends during the off season. I don’t want him growing up thinking nobody gives a damn about him, because I do.’

‘So do I.’

‘Then start acting like you do. Stop chasing after every man who looks at you and start being a mother to your son.’

In one swift movement Caroline rose from the sofa and slapped Aiden round the face. Hard.

As the shock registered he blinked, then wearily shook his head. ‘Get out of my trailer. Don’t bother to come back until you’re ready to listen.’

Caroline snatched up her handbag, shot a few mental daggers in Mel’s direction and headed toward the door. It thudded shut, the sound reverberating throughout the motorhome.

‘I don’t know what to say.’

Aiden gave her a wry smile and rubbed at his reddening cheek. ‘Don’t worry. She has that effect on most of us. I shouldn’t have spoken to her like that, but by God she makes me steaming mad. I stood by and let her treat me like dirt, but I can’t and I won’t let her do the same to Tom.’

‘Good.’ Her love for him rose up inside her, making it hard for her to breathe. Feeling dangerously close to tears she wrapped her arms around his waist.

‘You might not want to get too close,’ he murmured against her hair, his arms settling lightly against her. ‘I’m pretty whiffy.’

She inhaled a lungful of petrol, rubber and sweat. ‘It’s a good whiff. Maybe we should bottle it and have a Delta aftershave range.’

At his answering chuckle her heart sighed. All those weeks spent pushing him away, and she’d fallen for him anyway. ‘Tom’s lucky to have you sticking up for him, you know.’

‘Lucky?’ He let out a short laugh. ‘I’ve ignored him for the last ten years. In fact if it wasn’t for you, I’d still be ignoring him.’ He kissed the top of her head. ‘You make me a better man, Mel.’

Oh God. Tears filled her eyes and her arms tightened around him. ‘You were always that man. He just needed a bit of encouragement to come out.’

She felt his body slump in her arms. ‘Speaking of encouraging someone out.’ He glanced at Tom’s shut door. ‘I’d better talk to Tom.’

Reluctantly she let him go. ‘Good luck.’

She was nearly out of the door when he suddenly asked. ‘Did you bring your case?’

‘Yes.’

A satisfied smile burst across his face. ‘This little showdown hasn’t scared you off?’

‘I’m made of stronger stuff than that. Besides, I love a good soap opera.’

‘I prefer an action film myself.’ He licked his lips and leered wickedly at her.

Shaking her head, she blew him a brief kiss before making a quick exit. It saddened her to know that the moment she left, the smile would slip off his face as he went to have that heart wrenching talk with his brother.