AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ll have to make up the rest as we go along,” she whispers. “And Titus, don’t worry about it. If we screw up, we’ll just tell the truth and say we were embarrassed. It’ll be fine.”
I’m not so sure, but I can hear Vicky coming back, and there’s no time to argue.
“Relax,” Heidi whispers, and to my shock she lifts up onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine.
“Aw,” Vicky says as she comes in and catches the kiss. “Young love.”
“Sorry,” Heidi replies, pulling back. “It’s hard to keep my hands off him.”
“That’s understandable.” She smiles. “Come on, I’ll show you around the house.”
*
Heidi
Alan joins us as we leave the room carrying our glasses, and we slowly wander through the house, looking at the large living room with its beautiful bay window, a dining room that contains an oak table which seats ten and looks as if it has a central section that can be extended to make it bigger, a smaller, cozier living room through an archway that has a huge TV and looks as if they spend a lot of time there, and a conservatory overlooking a terrace and the gorgeous landscaped garden with its manicured lawn. Then we go upstairs, and they show us around the six bedrooms, including the one in the tower.
“We thought about putting you in there,” Vicky confesses as the two men walk ahead, talking about fishing, “but I thought you’d prefer the privacy of the cottage. You can go skinny dipping in the river and nobody can see you.” She chuckles.
I blush at the thought of seeing Titus naked and wet. “Mm.”
“I’m glad you’re here at last,” she admits. “Alan has been looking forward to meeting you both. He’s so excited about this project. I hope the weekend doesn’t seem too daunting for you, but he insisted on pulling out all the stops. Between you and me, I know it’s a lot to ask you to move over here for two whole years, especially when New Zealand is such a beautiful country, but he’s really hoping Titus will oversee the project firsthand. It’s because of our daughters, you see. I presume Titus has told you about them?”
“Yes, I’m so sorry to hear they’ve had issues conceiving. It must be very upsetting for the whole family.”
“It’s been exceptionally tough on Carrie, and she and Alan are close, so he’s taken it hard. It’s crazy when you have all this money and yet there’s nothing you can do, you know? So when Alan heard about the Kiwi project, he was determined to help where he could. The new fertility drug is going to be essential, but it’s the AI component that Alan’s really interested in.”
“Oh, I thought he wanted Elizabeth to run the project.”
“No, he wanted Titus all along. Obviously, Acheron is a pharmaceutical firm, but Alan has always believed the major breakthroughs would come with AI, and Titus’s project is going to be revolutionary. I don’t know if you’re aware, but Alan first saw him speak at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Vienna, Austria, last year. Titus was one of the keynote speakers, and he spoke about AI’s role in IVF and fertility research. Alan was so impressed with him that he met up with him after his speech and told him right there and then that he wanted to invest.”
“Wow. No, I didn’t know that.”
“It wasn’t just that he was knowledgeable and erudite. It was that he didn’t just give facts and figures and talk about the marvels of AI. He spoke about the emotional strain that continued IVF cycles put on couples, and how he hopes computers will ease that pressure. That was very important to Alan.”
I knew Titus was smart, of course, and my sisters had told me that he’d spoken at conferences all over the world. But the way that Vicky talks about him, with respect and even reverence, brings goosebumps out all over my skin.
“And he’s gorgeous,” Vicky adds in a teasing voice. “You’ve really hit the jackpot!”
“I have,” I reply. “He’s a man in a million.”
“And a boss in a billion, too,” she says. “Alan’s spoken to some of his employees, and they all sing his praises. He sounds pretty perfect. Does he have any faults?” She’s teasing, but she looks at me for a genuine answer.
The guys are waiting by the top of the stairs, and they overhear her question as we approach.
Well, I think sarcastically, he’s a bit dense when it comes to explaining his love life.
Titus’s lips twist, suggesting he’s reading my mind.
“He’s exceptionally clumsy,” I say. “I hope you don’t have any priceless vases in the cottage, because they’re likely to end up on the floor in a million pieces.”
Vicky laughs. “No, nothing like that. I guess it’s a small price to pay for him to be ninety-nine percent perfect.”
“Don’t tell him that,” I scold, “he won’t be able to get his head out of the door,” and she and Alan chuckle.
We walk down the staircase, emerging into the reception area, and leave our glasses on a table. “Let’s take you down to the cottage,” Alan says, “and then you can have a rest before the cocktail party.”
“What time does it start?” Titus asks.
