British Black Sheep - Lauren Smith Page 0,66

that out and been down here.”

Alec stared in open disbelief. He’d never seen his brother like this.

“Morgan…”

“No.” His brother waved a hand to silence him. “You’ve made a right mess of things. We’ve all worked so hard to help you and Brie end up together. You just let her slip away. I’m done helping.”

“Wait.” Alec stared at all the red flush faces around the room. “What’s that supposed to mean? You all arranged this?”

Morgan glared at him but said nothing. His mother cleared her throat. “Well…we knew you wouldn’t come here unless Simon invited you.”

Simon waved his hand in acknowledgement.

“Bridget had a feeling that you might like Brie, so she helped arrange for Brie to come…”

Alec’s temper was starting to build. He didn’t like being played with like some fool. “But you all kept talking about trying to set up Brie with Morgan.”

“A bit of sibling rivalry goes a long way with you two,” his father pointed out.

“But you couldn’t have known I’d met her before I arrived.” He realized too late he given away what seemed to be his last secret.

“Of course, we did.” His mother scoffed. “I called your executive assistant at Barclays a few months ago and got your flight and seat information. It was only too easy to book Brie next to you.” His mother’s voice trembled now. “I never dreamed the second flight would crash, though.”

“We didn’t crash. It was an emergency landing!” Alec nearly snapped. Why he was nitpicking he had no idea.

“Well, you sure crashed this.” Morgan started to leave the room, but he stopped next to Alec. “Brie’s a good woman. The two of you clicked. Everyone could see it. And you just let her slip away. I mean, is work really that important to you? Why don’t you settle down for Christ’s sake?”

“Why don’t you?” Alec shot back.

Morgan’s gave a rueful smile. A hint of bitterness lingered in his gaze.

“I almost did, once. But I missed my chance. At least you still have time left to go after her.”

“You’re all mad. Brie is a wonderful woman, yes, but we barely know each other. A handful of days isn’t enough time.”

“But you’ll never find someone if you don’t take the time,” Simon countered. “And maybe, if you’re brave enough, you’ll see what’s been right before your eyes all along.”

Alec felt betrayed. His family had conspired to set him up with Brie. But by not telling either of them, Alec and Brie had treated their time together in the only logical way: a passing rendezvous. She’d said she didn’t want any relationships, and neither had he.

And the arrogance of them assuming they’d be a good fit. What if he’d hated her? What if she’d hated him? What kind of meddling had they planned to help them like each other? Did they have any idea how disastrous this could have turned out? Only a few times in his life had he been set up to fail, and it was not something he liked to experience again.

“I need to leave,” he muttered and exited the room. His family stayed behind, silently watching him. At the bottom of the stairs, he felt something tug at his boots. He glanced down and saw Ainsley pulling at his jeans. She stopped, released his pantleg and looked up, wagging her tail.

She hadn’t taken the puppy. She’d left his gift behind. He sank to his knees and lifted the puppy into his arms, clutching her to his chest as he fought off the rolling wave of grief he felt at losing her.

“How could she leave you?” he asked Ainsley. The dog licked his ear and snuggled into his arms. “Well, I won’t leave you. You’re coming with me.”

He stood and carried the puppy to his bedroom so he could pack. He was leaving for London immediately. It would give him time away from his family. Time to think.

Alec carried Ainsley inside an expensive black animal shoulder strap case as he walked into his office. The puppy had both a large breakfast and a good walk and he was pretty confident she would not make too much of a fuss while he worked at the office for a few hours. He’d brought a pee pad folded up in his attaché case for emergencies though. In the last few days he’d gotten rather good at living with the adorable little scamp in his London flat.

The teetering stacks of letters he found in his office inbox tray made him groan. He set the