AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I’ve got to get up. What time are you and the gang heading back today? Because you’re welcome to stay here this morning. Just lock up on your way out.’
‘You know what I remember best about my mother?’ he said as he pulled her to him and placed a kiss on her temple. ‘Whenever my father had to leave for work, be it for a day or for a fortnight, she always got up and saw him off, and he always left smiling. Even back then I liked her priorities.’
Rowan remembered back to those days in far-flung countries when her parents hadn’t even bothered to tell her where they were going. She’d simply wake to an amah or the housekeeper telling her they were gone. Could be why Rowan liked her job so much nowadays. Knowing where people were and what they were doing just flat-out worked for her on a psychological level. That kind of information was important to her. It made her feel secure.
‘Was she a stay-at-home mum, your mum?’
‘Depends on your definition. Companies used to come to her with their figures for analysis. She was a mathematician—an incredibly bright one. I think that’s where we all got our smarts from.’
‘She sounds like a remarkable woman.’
‘Life is full of them.’ He turned his head, his eyes as penetrating as any laser. ‘You’re one.’
‘Trust me—I am not that smart.’
‘You’re a driven, focused, impressively networked problem-solver. And you know I’m more than halfway gone on you. And now we need to get out of this bed before I derail all your good intentions when it comes to you being on time for work.’
Rowan slid out of bed with a light in her heart. She shared her toiletries and her shower with him and smirked her satisfaction when he emerged, hair still spiky and wet, smelling faintly of ginger and roses. She ground beans and made coffee with the sinfully expensive machine that had been a fortieth birthday present to herself, and watched his eyes glaze over when he lifted the steaming black brew to his lips.
This man practically turned into a biddable little lamb in exchange for a morning cup of coffee.
Something to remember.
By the time he was on his second cup she was almost ready to walk out through the door. ‘You’ll lock up behind you?’
He nodded and set the cup down. ‘So … Me coming here to see you during the week. You coming up to the beach house when you can. Is that going to work for you? Because if it does … if you want to try to build some kind of ongoing relationship with me … I’m all for it.’
‘An exclusive relationship?’
‘I don’t share.’ His eyes flashed hot with temper. ‘We do this and you’re mine and no one else’s. And I’m yours.’
‘Yes.’
She wanted to crawl into his lap and stay there for a week. Gorge herself stupid on him and let him feast on her. She wanted this man and all that he was offering. There would be spats with him, because he wasn’t a malleable soul and neither was she. There was a good chance that she would want more than he could give.
But she contented herself with kissing him slow and sweet and savouring this moment of pure happiness. ‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes, I think that would work.’
CHAPTER TWELVE
ON WEDNESDAY THE following week Jared got a phone call from Damon. He and Damon didn’t really do social calls, so his brother’s quiet ‘Hey, how you tracking?’ caught his attention, regardless of the innocuous words.
‘Yeah, good. Better than I was.’
‘And your ribs? They’re good now too?’
Okay, now his brother was getting weird.
Jared strode past the pool on his way to the big double doors that led out onto the deck overlooking the ocean. ‘Yeah, they’re fine. What’s going on?’
‘You at the beach house?’
‘Yeah. Why? You need it for something?’
‘Need you to get something out of the safe for me. I’ll call you back in five minutes.’
‘Better make it ten. I know that safe, but damned if I can remember the password.’
‘You break it—you buy it. Search your memory, brother. I know you have one.’
‘You always have to do things the hard way,’ Jared grumbled.
‘Good to hear you bitching again. I’ve missed it.’
Damon rang off.
Jared sighed, put the phone back in its cradle and padded down the long hallway to Damon’s study. He’d barely set foot in it since he’d been here. Mostly he used the kitchen, the pool and the beach that beckoned so brightly. He was taking it easy. Feeling his way in this new life and trying not to demand too much from the woman he wanted to be with.
