look forward to from now on.
10
Kristina
We were sitting at dinner when I first noticed the meaningful glances between Lauren and Alexander.
Lauren even blushed as she lowered her gaze, her eyelashes fluttering a little. I’d suspected something had been going on, but ...
Seriously? Oh, hell no. Lauren was the sensible one. Surely she hadn’t fallen for Alexander.
I gave them a sideways glance and wondered how long it had been going on. She did meet Alexander back in the U.S. Had they hooked up there? I thought about grilling her later and getting all the juicy details, but then I decided that Lauren would confide in me when she felt ready. It really wasn’t any of my business. But I was worried. Things could get complicated.
I reached for a bread roll, carefully watching Alexander.
He noticed my gaze on him and asked, “How is my brother behaving?”
I shrugged, not quite sure what to say. “Fine. No major problems. I mean, it’ll probably take me some time to get used to his schedule.”
“But he’s not giving you a hard time?”
I shook my head. “Oh no, it’s nothing like that, it’s…” I chewed on my lip before deciding that Alexander probably should know about Jack’s unwanted visitor this afternoon. “Someone turned up to visit Jack today… a woman called Joanna.”
Alex’s face darkened and he raised his eyes to the ceiling before muttering, “That bitch.”
I was shocked. I’ve never seen Alexander display any emotion before. He always appeared to be cool, calm and collected. Until now I wouldn’t have believed anything could get under his skin like this.
I said nothing and just waited for him to continue.
He turned to me. “Joanna was Jack’s old girlfriend. I’ve already told Lauren about her. I take it Joanna turned up to tell Jack the news about her impending nuptials.”
Lauren scowled. “I can’t believe she’s getting married already.”
Alexander nodded. “Yes, and she just happens to be marrying the man who was Jack’s closest rival on the race track; the one who caused his crash.”
“But I thought it was an accident,” I said.
Alex shook his head. “That’s what the stewards said, but if Jack hadn’t left the track, both cars would have plunged into a crowd of spectators. He had no choice.”
I swallowed feeling sick. The accident could have been even worse. Jack could have died.
Alexander must have noticed how pale I’d gotten.
“Are you okay, Kristina?”
I picked up my water glass and took a sip. “Yes,” I said. “It’s horrible to think someone could do something like that deliberately. No wonder Jack is still so…” I trailed off, deciding that I was talking too much. I was definitely getting too emotional about this. I needed to get a grip.
Alexander templed his fingers beneath his jaw. “Perhaps you could try and distract him and take his mind off Joanna’s news if you can.”
“Well,” I said, leaning forward. “I was hoping you could help me with that. I’d like to cheer him up, but I don’t know what he really likes to do. Any ideas?”
Alexander smiled, and for the first time, I noticed just how similar the brothers were. It wasn’t obvious at first. Jack had dark hair and the deepest brown eyes, whereas Alexander was fair with piercing blue eyes, but when they smiled, their differences melted away. They really were both ridiculously good-looking.
“He likes movies,” Alexander said. “He used to love coming home after a night out and watching a classic movie. In fact, I’ve got my old iPad around here somewhere, with a film app on it. You could have a look through and see if you can find something.
“That’s one thing he can still do ... He used to love the outdoors and he was always very active. Hiking and snowboarding filled the racing off-season.
“He seems to have decided against doing anything he used to. I mean, obviously the racing is out, which took up most of his time. There are
10
Kristina
We were sitting at dinner when I first noticed the meaningful glances between Lauren and Alexander.
Lauren even blushed as she lowered her gaze, her eyelashes fluttering a little. I’d suspected something had been going on, but ...
Seriously? Oh, hell no. Lauren was the sensible one. Surely she hadn’t fallen for Alexander.
I gave them a sideways glance and wondered how long it had been going on. She did meet Alexander back in the U.S. Had they hooked up there? I thought about grilling her later and getting all the juicy details, but then I decided that Lauren would confide in me when she felt ready. It really wasn’t any of my business. But I was worried. Things could get complicated.
I reached for a bread roll, carefully watching Alexander.
He noticed my gaze on him and asked, “How is my brother behaving?”
I shrugged, not quite sure what to say. “Fine. No major problems. I mean, it’ll probably take me some time to get used to his schedule.”
“But he’s not giving you a hard time?”
I shook my head. “Oh no, it’s nothing like that, it’s…” I chewed on my lip before deciding that Alexander probably should know about Jack’s unwanted visitor this afternoon. “Someone turned up to visit Jack today… a woman called Joanna.”
Alex’s face darkened and he raised his eyes to the ceiling before muttering, “That bitch.”
I was shocked. I’ve never seen Alexander display any emotion before. He always appeared to be cool, calm and collected. Until now I wouldn’t have believed anything could get under his skin like this.
I said nothing and just waited for him to continue.
He turned to me. “Joanna was Jack’s old girlfriend. I’ve already told Lauren about her. I take it Joanna turned up to tell Jack the news about her impending nuptials.”
Lauren scowled. “I can’t believe she’s getting married already.”
Alexander nodded. “Yes, and she just happens to be marrying the man who was Jack’s closest rival on the race track; the one who caused his crash.”
“But I thought it was an accident,” I said.
Alex shook his head. “That’s what the stewards said, but if Jack hadn’t left the track, both cars would have plunged into a crowd of spectators. He had no choice.”
I swallowed feeling sick. The accident could have been even worse. Jack could have died.
Alexander must have noticed how pale I’d gotten.
“Are you okay, Kristina?”
I picked up my water glass and took a sip. “Yes,” I said. “It’s horrible to think someone could do something like that deliberately. No wonder Jack is still so…” I trailed off, deciding that I was talking too much. I was definitely getting too emotional about this. I needed to get a grip.
Alexander templed his fingers beneath his jaw. “Perhaps you could try and distract him and take his mind off Joanna’s news if you can.”
“Well,” I said, leaning forward. “I was hoping you could help me with that. I’d like to cheer him up, but I don’t know what he really likes to do. Any ideas?”
Alexander smiled, and for the first time, I noticed just how similar the brothers were. It wasn’t obvious at first. Jack had dark hair and the deepest brown eyes, whereas Alexander was fair with piercing blue eyes, but when they smiled, their differences melted away. They really were both ridiculously good-looking.
“He likes movies,” Alexander said. “He used to love coming home after a night out and watching a classic movie. In fact, I’ve got my old iPad around here somewhere, with a film app on it. You could have a look through and see if you can find something.
“That’s one thing he can still do ... He used to love the outdoors and he was always very active. Hiking and snowboarding filled the racing off-season.
“He seems to have decided against doing anything he used to. I mean, obviously the racing is out, which took up most of his time. There are
Similar Books
