Page 62 of One Hot Rumor
She makes a zipper motion across her mouth, but her shoulders are shaking again.
"All right, Rick," I tell my brother. "Since I'm sure I have no choice, I'll meet you lot wherever this surprise is going to happen. I'm sure it'll be the dog's bollocks."
Yes, I'm being sarcastic about the last part. I don't honestly think I'll enjoy whatever those women have planned for me.
"Meet us in front of your spa at noon. Goodbye, Nick."
Richard hangs up before I can demand to know what the bloody hell is going to happen at noon. In front of my spa. Because of the American Wives Club.
My mobile rings again.
"What is it now, Rick?" I ask when I take the call.
"Change of plans. Mum and Dad insist you and Siobhan come to brunch at their house. Be there at ten."
"All right, fine. See you at ten." I end the call and toss my mobile onto the bedside table. "We're having brunch at my parents' house."
"That sounds like fun. And it'll give you a chance to talk to your family."
"I talk to them all the time."
"Not about your feelings." She slides off the bed and clasps my hands. "They need to know the real reason you quit school and the real reason this idiotic rumor upsets you."
"I haven't spent nineteen years feeling like a useless wanker. Never regretted leaving university either. So there's no need for me to—"
"Yes, Nick, there is a need. Clear the air. Get the truth out there." She leans into me, tipping her head back to meet my gaze. "You know what they say. The truth shall set you free."
"I've been free all along."
"You've led a happy and fulfilling life, but you still need to tell your family what really happened. Then, this rumor won't have any sway over you anymore."
She's right. I know that, but I've never been good at explaining my feelings. It's easier to tell Siobhan about these things because…I love her. I don't know if she loves me. After I said those words, she seemed like she was about to speak.
Until my mobile rang.
"I'll be there with you," she says. "For moral support."
"Not moral support and sex? I might need a good shag after my confession."
"Whatever you need, I'm here to give it."
Is it any wonder why I fell in love with her?
But now it's time to lay down on that guillotine and accept my fate.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Siobhan
With everything that's gone on lately, with that rumor and now the American Wives Club's surprise, I thought it would be much harder to convince Nick to tell his family why he quit college. He agreed without even getting snarky about it. We arrive at his parents' house at ten o'clock to enjoy a lovely brunch with the Hunters. Richard and Maddie haven't left for the Caribbean yet, and though they had planned to go straight from their London hotel to the airport, they insisted on coming home for brunch when Pippa called them.
They also stayed for the big surprise. Maddie helped arrange it, but she won't tell me what's involved.
"Just promise me it won't embarrass Nick," I say to her. "He's sensitive about…stuff lately."
"Don't worry," Maddie assures me. "Nick might blush a little, but he'll like it. We're doing this to help him, after all, not to make him feel worse. We love Nick to pieces."
Nick Hunter is the most amazing man I've ever met, but I don't know if I love him yet. He spoke those words to me—"I love you, Siobhan"—but I didn't get the chance to respond. Just as well. I have no idea how to respond. In the month we've known each other, he's come to mean more to me than anyone in the world except for my daughter. Felicity thinks Nick is "awesome" and "the first non-douchebag" I've ever dated. Yeah, I politely scolded her for using that word. I'm still her mother, even if she is eighteen and living on her own now.