Love You Always (2 page)

I wish there was more I could do for Angela’s disorder. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my sister within my power. My heart wrenches to think how close I came to losing her too. She’d never be a burden to me. Never.

* * *

Ding. Dong.

I look at the clock. It’s our eleven o’clock appointment. As I head for the door, Angela’s descending the stairs. The doorbell can be heard no matter where we are upstairs—even if we’re sitting on the can.

I pull the knob towards me and as the sunlight hits me in the retina, an even more brilliant spectacle stands before me, her sandy blonde hair gleaming with highlights from the glaring rays.

“Hello,” I manage to say, although just barely getting it past the lump in my throat.

She stares at me for a moment and scans my face. I begin to wonder if I might have something hanging from my nose.

“Hi,” she finally manages to say. “I’m Laura.” She reaches out and I shake her hand.

Without letting go of it, I pull her into the doorway. “Please, come in.”

She stumbles, falls against me, and I catch her in my arms.

“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry,” she says, her voice cracking with embarrassment.

“No, it’s my fault for pulling you in,” I reply.

She quickly pushes herself away from me and straightens her dress. She steps back a pace, evidently feeling uncomfortable that we’re inside each other’s comfort bubble, although it’s fine by me. Now it’s my eyes that scan her face—she’s beautiful, even more so with that rosy blush to her cheeks.

“
Ahem
,” my sister clears her throat.

We both look towards Angela as she stands to the side of us. She smiles, looking back and forth between our faces. I sense my sister can feel the immediate attraction between this woman and me. I must admit, her beauty catches my breath.

“I’m Marcus, and this is my sister Angela,” I introduce.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” Laura holds out her hand to Angela and they engage in a friendly shake. I notice she puts a second hand over Angela’s as she smiles at her warmly.

“Let’s adjourn to the living room,” I say, as I shut the front door and lead the way.

“Have a seat,” I tell Laura and hold my hand out to indicate the armchair of our sofa set. Angela and I sit across from her on the sofa.

My eyes can’t help but gaze downward as Laura crosses her legs. She’s got a pair of nice ones—tanned and even without stockings they’re sexy as hell. I imagine they’re smooth and silky to the touch. What I wouldn’t give to slide my fingers over those sensuous legs right now.

I’d better move my eyes off her legs before she catches me.

Damn. Too late.

I smile as if a boy caught with his hand in mischief, and her face blushes again. She looks a little nervous, but that’s understandable, and I know my eyeing up her legs didn’t help any. But she’s sure easy on the eyes to look at.

I’d better get back to business.

“Can you tell us a little about yourself?” I ask.

She gazes at me with her alluring blue eyes and I have to say, I’m attracted to her as a bear to honey. What man wouldn’t be?—she’s a gorgeous woman. But of course, it’s just physical attraction and nothing more. That’s the first thing most people are attracted to, so I’m not making any apologies for it.

“Well, I’m currently a college student majoring in business. I enjoy horseback riding, skiing, and volleyball. My favorite foods are just about everything. I’m not a picky eater, and I enjoy every cuisine there is.”

I like that she looks back and forth between Angela and I—shows she includes everyone in her conversation. She’s probably a very courteous and considerate person, caring about people and their feelings.

“My weakness is chocolate, and if you ever wave it in front of me, taunting me, and not willing to share, I’d have to take you out.” She smiles.

Angela and I look at each other and laugh. A sense of humor is always a plus. I’m liking this woman more and more.

“Hurry, Angela, hide the chocolate,” I tease.

“Oh my, a woman after my own heart. I’m sure we’ll get along, with that in common,” Angela chimes in, smiling from ear to ear. Looks like Laura’s passing the test. I can tell Sis likes her too. And it’s not only what Laura’s said so far, but also how she carries herself, the warmth that exudes from her, and the pleasantness in her tone and demeanor.

“Do you play chess?” my sis asks.

“Oh, I’m afraid not.” A small frown curves her lips.

“It’s okay. It’s only because I’m stuck inside this house that I have to engage in indoor games.” Angela looks over at me. “Marcus is such a sweetheart. I know chess isn’t his game, but he makes time to play with me a round or two. Of course, I always beat him, so maybe that’s why it’s not his favorite game.”

“What? I let you win. If I don’t, you’re all pouty for the rest of the day.”

Sis slaps me on the arm. “I am not pouty!”

I laugh at her outrage.

“Okay, so I’m exaggerating. Maybe pouty is too strong a word. How about ‘sour puss’?”

“Oh, you!” She slaps me again.

Laura laughs at our sibling banter.

“Do you have brothers or sisters, Laura?” I ask her as I shy away from my sister’s abuse.

Her bright eyes go dim. I must’ve hit a sensitive spot.

“I have a sister, but my brother died two years ago.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry to hear that,” I say with as much sincerity as I can feel. I know what she’s going through.

“We had a brother too,” Angela informs her, her voice soft and sad.

“I’m so sorry,” Laura says, her eyes full of compassion as she glances at my sister and then at me.

“How old is your sister?” I ask.

“She’s seventeen.”

“She’s still in high school then.”

She nods her head. “Yes.”

“Are you two close?” Angela asks.

“Not so much anymore. We used to be closer before our brother died. Something changed in her after that. She doesn’t seem to want to talk to me anymore.”

“That’s too bad. Maybe someday, when she’s older, she’ll realize how important you are to her.” I give her an encouraging smile.

“I sure hope so.” Her smile show signs of hope, yet uncertainty.

I’m curious to know what happened to her brother, but I don’t pry. If she wants to tell us, she’ll volunteer it. She must be feeling the same way about David, since she isn’t asking about him either.

“I’m leaving in two days. Will you be able to start tomorrow? That way, I’ll be able to help you with anything you might need before I go.”

“Yes, I sure can.” Her eyes then look at me quizzically. “You sure you don’t need to ask me any further questions?”

“Why? Are you hiding something? Are you a mass murderer?” I joke with her.

“No, of course not. A psychopath maybe, but I’ve not got enough kills under my belt to be deemed a mass murderer.” She beams me a playful smile.

“Thank God. For a minute there, I thought maybe you lure your victims with your radiant smile, then tie them up and torture them into a slow death by dangling chocolate in front of their noses.”

“Hmm, I might have to try that sometime,” she says as she rubs her chin in contemplation.

“Okay, you two, stop with the mention of chocolate, because now I’ve got a craving,” scolds Angela.

We all laugh.

“Well, what do you say, Angie? Do we hire Ms. Psychopath? Or do we go with Ms. Porcupine?”

“Oh, hands down, we go with Ms. Psychopath. No doubt about that. I’d rather be tortured with chocolate than my butt poked by a thorny critter.”

Laura’s eyes go wide.

Angela and I laugh.

“Okay, that sounded a bit weird, Angela,” I say to my sis. She can say the most absurd things sometimes. I wonder where she gets her sense of humor from.

I turn my attention back to Laura. “Looks like you’ve got the job, if you think you can handle my sister’s sense of humor.”

“Doesn’t seem like her sense of humor’s any worse than mine,” she replies with a chuckle. “Now, yours on the other hand . . .”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I’m going to be out of town then and out of both your hairs. I just shudder to think what I’m in for when I return. My sister better not be turned into Ms. Frankenstein’s monster.”

“No, not the monster,” she says, “but maybe Ms. Igor.”

“Hmm, that might actually be an improvement for Angela.”

“What?!” Again, my sister slaps me. “If my brother wasn’t such a prince of a guy, I’d disown him.”

“And just who are you going to harass if you do?”

“You’ve got a point there, brother.”

I put an arm around my sis and give her an affectionate squeeze. Laura smiles at us fondly.

I think we’ve just found us a companion for Angela.

~* Laura *~

I’m glad yesterday’s interview went well and they gave me the position. Marcus is so handsome. For a moment, when he opened the door, I couldn’t take my eyes off his face. I hope I wasn’t too conspicuous—how embarrassing. And, oh my, falling onto his hard chest gave my insides a flutter. I could tell by just the feel of him—that man is adequately buffed.

I also loved the way he interacted with his sister. There’s no doubt how close they are. It was evident that Angela adores her brother and looks up to him.

Angela seems great. She’s spunky and cheerful. I would never guess she has a disorder. I have a good feeling we’re going to get along just fine, and I’m looking forward to getting to know her more.

I look at my watch. Yikes, I’d better get packing. I’m to be at their home by one o’clock, and it’s already eleven fifteen. They’re about a twenty-minute drive from here, so that’s not too bad. Marcus wants to go over some things with me before he leaves tomorrow. It’ll be nice to spend a day with him. I’m definitely attracted to this man—he’s gorgeous, treats his sister like a princess, has a great sense of humor, and seems to have his shit together. I wonder what kind of business he’s in. I’m sure Angela will tell me more about him during my two-week stay there. I can’t wait.

* * *

“Is that all you’ve brought with you?” Marcus asks me when he sees the one small luggage and hand-carry I have with me.

“I’m a light traveler,” I tell him.

“Angela used to pack a cargo whenever she’d go anywhere. If she ever gets out of this house again, she could learn a thing or two from you,” he says, shooting me a smile.

He picks up my luggage and takes my hand-carry from me.

“I can carry that,” I protest, trying to hang on to it, but he manages to pull it away from me.

“Nothing doing. Bad enough you carried these to our doorstep, I’m not about to have you lug them upstairs. That’s my job.”

Oh my, he’s gallant, too. What more can a girl ask for? This guy is almost too good to be true. But of course, I’ve just met him, and it takes a while before a person shows their true colors, so maybe my inflated perceptions about him will deflate a little as I get to know him better. And for all I know, he may already have a girlfriend, so I might be getting all worked up for nothing. God, I hope not, but we’ll see.

“Follow me and I’ll show you to your room.”

I shut the front door before tailing behind Marcus as he ascends the polished, dark wooden staircase. Their home is quaint and kempt. The interior is cozy, and the exterior is beautiful Victorian style architecture. When I was a little girl, I had a dollhouse similar to this.

“This will be your room,” Marcus announces as we step into a bedroom twice the size of my own.

“Is this a master bedroom?” I ask as I look around the room.

“No, it’s just a guest bedroom.”

“It is
huge
.” Damn. I just gave away the size of my bedroom. We must seem poor compared to them. Our house isn’t exactly shabby, but this house definitely out-leagues it.

“Well, if you get lost, just use the intercom and someone will be at your rescue,” he jests.

“I’ll make an attempt to find my way out first. I normally don’t call for rescue until I’ve exhausted my resources.”

“Oh, an independent woman, are you?”

“Yes, I’ve had to handle a lot in my life, so I guess independence sort of grew on me.”

“That’s good. It means you know how to survive on your own.”

“I do the best I can, anyway.”

“Do you live on your own?” he asks.

“When I’m on semester breaks, I’m home with my dad and sister. While I’m away at college, I dorm. I graduate next semester, so at that time, I’ll look for a full-time job and then rent a place.”

“Are you planning to stay in your hometown after you graduate?”

“I was thinking that I would. Unless I get a lucrative job offer elsewhere, I’ll probably stay close to home. But I wouldn’t mind venturing elsewhere if the opportunity arose. I’m pretty flexible in that regard.”

“I see.”

“How about you? What do you do?” Okay, so I decided to ask him straight out instead of going through his sister.

“I invest in things. Stocks and businesses mostly. With businesses, I invest to give young upstart companies seed money to go the next step.”

“Really?” I quirk my eyebrow. “You’re so young. How did you make your money to be able to invest?”

“Well, unfortunately I can’t boast about having earned it myself, like those young dot com entrepreneurs. Angela and I inherited our money. My dad was half owner of a thriving corporation that continues to yield us an income, and he also had a large life insurance policy.”

Oh my gosh. He not only lost his brother, but his father too. I didn’t realize that, since Angela had only mentioned about their brother.

“Well, you’re managing to put your money to good use, so you can take credit for that. Sounds like you and Angela are pretty much set for life, though.”

“Yes, we pretty much are, unless I screw up royal and lose everything we have.”

“That would be awful.”

“Yes, it would.”

We stare at each other for a moment and then it dawns on me.

“Wait. Wouldn’t you still have the income from your father’s share of his corporation?” I ask.

“You’re sharp.” A grin spreads his face. “Yes, that income would keep us afloat. It’s definitely enough to live on and build up some capital again.”