me.”
“Hmm.” He scratches his chin and then turns his head quickly, as if feeling my gimlet gaze. “Sorry, did you say something?”
I wince but pin a smile on my face. “It’s nothing. I just—” A huge Elizabethan house has appeared in front of us, its gold-coloured brickwork gleaming in the late afternoon sun. “Holy shit, is this where the wedding is?” I turn to Max. “You said it was being held in one of the groom’s homes, you piss-taking wanker.”
A welcome smile touches his wide mouth. “This is the groom’s home.”
“What?”
“Ivo is marrying Henry, who happens to be the younger brother of Silas, the current Earl of Ashworth. Henry, Ivo, and Silas grew up here.”
I stare at him for a long second. “Oh, I remember now. Henry and Ivo are stepbrothers. A bit like Dynasty.”
“Were stepbrothers,” he corrects me. “For a year or so I think. Their parents divorced almost as quickly as they got married.”
He pulls up with a flourish outside the house. He turns off the engine and unbuckles his seat belt. As he opens the door, he looks over at me. I haven’t moved. He asks, “You coming in or just sitting in the car for the weekend?”
“I think I might sit here,” I say faintly, still staring at the house.
He settles back into the seat. “You alright?”
“I’m not sure,” I say desperately. “This isn’t what I was expecting.” I glance at him. He’s focussed on me as though seeing me for the first time today. “I just don’t think I’ll fit in here.” This is so unlike me. I don’t confide weakness to anyone. It gives people a target to aim for. But with Max I usually feel safe.
His face softens. “Felix, you’d fit in anywhere. You’re clever and funny and extremely smart-mouthed.” He traces my lips with one long finger. “And if you’re really nervous, just do what I do.”
“You want me to get drunk and sleep with whoever isn’t nailed down.”
He laughs, his dark eyes warming and lighting from within. “Not at this time of the day,” he says primly. “No, just fake it.”
“Fake it?” I stare at him in disbelief. “That is your advice? Fake it.” I shake my head. “Outrageous.”
“Not really.” He laughs. “It’s what I’ve done all my life. Project enough of a confident exterior, and people will believe it. They’ll believe anything if it’s said with surety. Even if we say it to ourselves.”
“Some days I really feel you’d be happier running a cult.”
That startles a laugh out of him, and he suddenly pulls me into his arms, hugging me and dropping a smacking kiss on my face. “They’d have very stunning robes,” he says, blowing a raspberry in my neck. “And I’d put you in charge of the tranquillity classes, seeing as you’re so very zen.” I brush him off, laughing but warming inside. Some days I reckon I must look like a sunflower tilting to face wherever he is.
“Come on,” he says. “I’m here. Zeb’s coming later. These are nice people.” He pauses. “Well, apart from Patrick and Henry’s mother. You can’t have everything.” I laugh and he strokes my hair back from my face. “You’re going to enjoy the weekend, and people will love you. Nothing is going to go wrong.”
“I can tell you’ve never read any Greek tragedies,” I say sourly.
He laughs as he gets out of the car and opens the boot to get the luggage. The huge front door of the house opens, and a man appears. I blink. He’s stunning. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he’s tall and broad-shouldered with blond hair that falls in waves down to his shoulders.
He grins widely and calls Max’s name with huge delight. Max goes still as he glances up at the man, an almost anguished look crossing his face. Then he takes a step, and the house sends a shadow over his face, hiding it from me.
At next glance, his smile is there once again, and I wonder whether I’d imagined his sorrowful expression.
“Ivo,” Max says.
I can hear the smile in his voice. It’s one of my favourite things about him. The way he always seems on the verge of smiling or laughing.
Dumping the bags, Max crosses the ground in great strides as the other man rushes towards him. They collide in a big hug with a lot of laughter and a torrent of words.
I watch them unnoticed from the car. They’re of a similar height and move with the same spare grace. So, this