Miles turned around and watched Chloe as she donned an oversize pair of sunglasses and slowly walked across the tarmac toward them.
“To be honest, you didn’t really give me time to tell you anything. We can stay at the Bellamy if it’s going to be a problem.”
“Hell, no.” Sebastian said quickly. “Mom would never forgive us if we drove you away before you even got to say hi. Besides, she’ll be intrigued you brought a girl home to meet her. It’s a first for you, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Sutton chimed in. “And since Beth and Cam have hooked up, Mom’s got ideas about all of us settling down.”
Miles laughed and turned away from his brothers so he could slide an arm around Chloe’s waist and draw her to his side.
“Chloe, I’d like you to meet my brothers. Don’t feel bad if you can’t tell them apart. Each one is likely to be masquerading as the other at some stage of our stay anyway.”
“Now, now, Miles. Don’t go giving your guest the wrong impression,” Sebastian said as he stepped forward and offered Chloe his hand. “I’m Sebastian. The good-looking one.”
Chloe laughed, obviously ch
armed by his brother’s foolishness. “And you must be Sutton?” she said as she shook hands with the other twin.
“Obviously Miles has been talking about us,” Sutton drawled as he delivered a killer smile to Chloe. “Don’t believe everything he tells you.”
Miles felt a prickle of unease tug at the back of his mind. He didn’t recall ever telling Chloe his brothers’ names, and that was the kind of detail he didn’t normally forget. But then again, nothing about his life had been normal since he’d literally bumped into her on Wednesday morning. Besides, it wasn’t as if his family wasn’t in the news from time to time. He decided to ignore the niggle of doubt and, once their luggage was removed from the plane, they all walked together to the large SUV waiting outside the airstrip to take them home.
Home.
It was quite a concept to most people but for Miles it left his shoulders tense and his mind full of memories of disappointing his father and hearing in no uncertain terms that unless he toed the family line he’d be written off as a failure. What Trent had never understood was that Miles was possibly more like him than any of his other children—strong-minded and determined to succeed on his own merits. Where they differed was that Miles was not prepared to succeed at any cost—even at the expense of others—and that, unfortunately, had been what had driven the permanent wedge between the two of them.
And, despite the warm welcome he’d received, Miles still sensed the invisible gulf between himself and his brothers. They, too, had been unhappy when he’d struck out on his own after finishing college. Not to say that the twins had agreed with their father 100 percent, either, but their methods had been to effect change from the inside. This being made easier, of course, after their father’s first stroke, which had given them more of the necessary control to keep Wingate Enterprises at the top of its game. But now the company’s position on the ladder was under grave threat.
Miles and Chloe settled into the back of the SUV, and Sebastian and Sutton took the front. As they headed toward home and passed through Royal, Miles noted the familiar landmarks and wished he’d thought to book a room at the Bellamy just so he and Chloe would have some space away from the rest of his family. Yes, the Wingate mansion was huge and the land sprawled over many acres, but he knew he’d be on tenterhooks until they were on a plane back to Chicago again.
He reached across the leather seats and took Chloe’s right hand. Even she seemed tenser than he’d known her so far. Her gaze was fixed on the passing scenery and her entirely kissable lips had firmed into a straight line. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “If you’re not comfortable at the house, we can check in at a hotel. Okay?”
She turned her face to his and gave him a brittle smile. “I’ll be fine. Just don’t abandon me.”
“I’ll try not to but I will have to go into work with my brothers,” he said, keeping his voice low. “If I have to leave you, I’ll make sure you’re in good hands, I promise. My sister Beth will welcome your company, I’m sure.”
“And you have another sister, too, don’t you?”
“Yes, Harley. She’s living in Thailand at the moment. Both my sisters are heavily involved in charity work.”
Sutton looked over from the front passenger seat. “Sharing family secrets, Miles? Or uttering sweet nothings?”
“I apologize. My brother thinks he’s a comedian,” Miles said as he straightened. He made a point of not letting Chloe’s hand go.
Her smile became even more strained, and she turned her attention back out the window. He’d handled this all wrong, and she was clearly overwhelmed by his family’s obvious wealth. He knew it made some people uncomfortable. They should have taken a regular flight out of Chicago and hired a car. That way they would have had total independence. Hell, he probably shouldn’t have brought Chloe along at all. Talk about baptism by fire. Well, he’d do the job he came to do and that would be it. They’d be back in Chicago and back to discovering all there was to know about each other in no time.
* * *
Chloe felt her entire body cringe as they drove onto the Wingate estate. She’d been here once, as a child, the summer before she turned eight and her world, as she knew it, had disintegrated. Trent and Ava Wingate had hosted a massive picnic and invited all their local staff and business associates. There’d been bouncy castles and pony rides and a magician. It had been like a fantasyland and left her completely overwhelmed by everything, and she had clung to her mother like a limpet.
“Don’t worry,” she heard Miles say from beside her. “It’s not as imposing as it looks and I have it on good authority that my family won’t bite.”
She dragged her thoughts from the past. “Good to know. And, as to imposing? I’ll get back to you on that.”
The road to the house began to rise slightly, and there on the highest point of the gently rolling hills, stood a large mansion. Oh, it was imposing all right. A mix of Southwestern and California ranch architectural styles, the cream stone and stucco building dominated the knoll on which it was built. It certainly wasn’t your average family home.
Sebastian rolled the SUV to a halt outside the front of the building, and Chloe was quick to alight from the vehicle. She drew in a deep breath and was assailed with the scents of home. Pasture, animals, clean air. It was what she’d taken so much for granted growing up. Her family’s home hadn’t been terribly far from here, and while they hadn’t lived anywhere near the grandiose scale of the Wingates, they’d been affluent enough. Until Trent Wingate had done the dirty on her father, she reminded herself and steeled herself for the welcome that was apparent on the face of the woman coming through the front door.
A few inches taller than Chloe, Beth Wingate had a thin but elegant build. Her dark blond hair hung long and straight and she looked amazing in the designer sundress she’d teamed with a matching pair of flat shoes that took a little of the edge off her sophistication.