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She had to laugh. ‘You are an arrogant devil.’ Not to mention so handsome that every woman on this plane had craned to look at him as they boarded. Harriet had felt so proud to be the woman by his side, resolving to wallow in the experience whilst it lasted.
It was the lasting part, however, that kept coming back to haunt her. Harriet knew in her heart that by Christmas this would all be over. Oh, dear, she was doing it again. Worrying about the future.
The thought sent a sad sigh escaping her lungs.
‘You do that a lot, you know,’ Alex said.
‘Do what?’
‘Sigh.’
‘Sorry.’
‘No need to apologise. It’s just that I sometimes wonder what’s behind the sigh.’
‘Nothing serious. It’s just a habit of mine, a way of relieving tension.’
‘You’re afraid of flying?’
Afraid of flying and dying and falling in love with the wrong man. Again.
‘A little,’ she admitted.
‘Then here...take my hand. We’re about to take off.’
* * *
Alex took her hand and squeezed it tight, feeling the tension in her as the jumbo airbus zoomed along the wet runway—it had started to rain—before lifting into the air slowly but safely. When the jet levelled off at God knew what height, she sighed again, then took her hand out of his. Alex wished she hadn’t. He’d liked holding her hand.
When Alex sighed, Harriet leant over and poked him. ‘You’re doing it now.’
He sent her a droll look. ‘Maybe it’s catching.’
‘Maybe you’re not the big, brave boy you pretend to be.’
‘I never pretend, Harry. I don’t like flying, but I’m not scared of it. What’s the worst that can happen? The plane crashes and you die. There are worse ways to go.’
Harriet nodded, her big brown eyes turning soft. ‘You’re thinking of your mother, aren’t you?’
Despite the sympathetic note in her voice, Alex could not stop his heart from hardening at the memory of what that wonderful woman had suffered. And so unnecessarily. It had blighted him, knowing he could do nothing to ease her pain. He’d been holding her hand when she’d taken her last breath. He could still see the look on his father’s face when he realised she had gone. Poor bastard. Hopefully, this time he’d stick with the rehab and get his life back on track. When he’d rung him earlier today, he’d sounded good.
‘Or is it your dad you’re worrying about?’ Harriet asked.
Her intuition touched him. ‘Not really. You were right the first time. I was thinking of my mother.’
He glanced over at Harriet and smiled. ‘But let’s not talk about sad things. We’re off to Italy, to beautiful Lake Como and then on to amazing Venice, which, I might add, I have never seen.’
Harriet’s eyes lit up with surprise. ‘You haven’t?’
‘Nope. It will be the first time for both of us. I’ve been to Lake Como, of course. Jeremy and I holidayed with Sergio at his family villa quite a lot over the years.’
‘You three are very close, aren’t you?’
‘Yep. Have been since our Oxford days.’
‘Which is where you all joined that Bachelor’s Club.’
‘We didn’t join it. We formed it. There were just the three of us. But that’s ancient history now. In reality, the Bachelor’s Club is no more. Once Sergio turned thirty-five, he decided to get married, so that was virtually the end of it.’
‘What did his turning thirty-five have to do with it?’
‘That was the age we vowed to stay bachelors till. And the age we aimed to become billionaires by.’
‘Heavens. And did you? Become billionaires, I mean?’
Alex hesitated to tell her, out of habit. He’d always kept the extent of his wealth a secret, well aware that having heaps of money sometimes brought out the worst in people. Men envied and women grovelled. He quickly realised, however, that Harriet was not that type of woman. He’d never met a more independent, less grovelling female in his life.
‘Yes, we did,’ he admitted.
‘All of you?’
Clearly, she was taken aback. Alex smiled, both at her and the memory of how their financial goals had finally been reached. Though just in time.
‘It took many years, of course,’ he explained. ‘You don’t become a billionaire overnight.’
‘I would imagine not. So how did it happen?’
‘Shortly after we started the Bachelor’s Club, the three of us went into partnership in a wine bar. It was basically a dump, but the location was good. Very close to the university and between two restaurants. We worked hard to turn it into a hip and happening place. At least, Sergio and I worked hard. Jeremy provided the money. He was the wealthy one in our group. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we didn’t stop at one wine bar. We eventually had several, all done out the same way. In the end, they were so successful that we formed a franchise. That was how we became billionaires. A little while ago, we sold the WOW franchise to an American company.’
