AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I need to go over the details with you later,” he tells her mysteriously. Then he looks back at me. “I’ve talked to the guys about it tonight, that’s all. I had to speak to them first because I had to be sure they were up for it, and—”
“Titus!” Evie barks in her best police officer’s voice.
His lips curve up. Keeping his gaze on mine, he says, “I’m moving to England.”
There’s a second of silence, and then everyone cheers again. I’m caught up in a whirlwind of hugs and kisses, but I can’t respond because my head’s whirling.
“Wait…” I push everyone away and stare at him, heart hammering. “What do you mean?”
“In September,” he says carefully, “once I’ve got everything sorted here, I’m moving to England.”
“But… what about your company?”
“Saxon is going to take over here.”
I glance across at him. He pulls an eek face, then grins.
I look at Mack. “But doesn’t he need to be near Marise?”
“Well, you see, there’s this invention that we think might be quite useful,” he says, “it’s called… what is it, Hux?”
“It’s to do with spiders. The Intra-web?”
“Something like that.”
“Oh, shut up.” I look back at Titus. In a small voice, I say, “You’d do that? For me?”
He removes a strand of my hair where it’s stuck to my wet cheek and tucks it behind my ear. “The short answer is yes. I’d do anything for you.” His lips curve up as the others all go,Awwww!But he keeps his gaze on me. “The longer answer is that I don’t want you to feel that you’re making me do it. Alan wants me to move there, and the truth is that I love it there. And it’s going to be an exciting couple of years, and a fascinating project to work on. I can’t wait. And the company will still be here if and when I come back.”
“Probably,” Saxon says, and Titus chuckles.
“I’d love to go to England,” Oliver states. “All those motorways fascinate me. I keep telling Elizabeth I want to take her up the M1, but she says she needs to get some lube first.”
We all burst out laughing. Elizabeth rolls her eyes at him. “How many whiskies have you had?”
“I lost count. Hey, it’s my stag night.”
“We should have gotten married after I had the baby,” she grumbles. “All that wine, and I didn’t get to drink any of it.”
“Aw.” He pulls her into his arms and nuzzles her neck. Her lips curve up, and she splashes him.
“Oh my God,” Sidnie says, “look!”
We all follow her gaze to the south, and stare in wonder at the flare of pink and yellowy-green light brightening the sky. As we watch, a shooting star speeds above it, like a wish flashing through the darkness.
We watch it for a few minutes, talking quietly. I lean my head on Titus’s shoulder, and he kisses my hair. My mind is still spinning, my heart racing. He’s moving to England! I can’t believe it. Will we live together? I know he’ll be working a lot—how often will I get to see him? We’ll be able to see more of Alan and Vicky too, which will be nice, as I liked them both. And it must be good for Titus—he’ll be able to use all the resources that Acheron has to further his research.
“Okay, I think we’re off,” Huxley says. “I don’t want Elizabeth to get cold.”
“Fusspot,” she says, but she doesn’t complain. She lets him help her out of the pool, and then as we all wave goodbye, they head in.
The rest of us also start getting out. The staff have brought us warmed bathrobes and blankets, and we wrap ourselves in them, say goodnight, and head toward our villas.
Inside ours, it’s warm and toasty. We brush our teeth and get ready for bed, then turn off the lights and sneak under the covers, delighted to discover that the staff had put on the electric blankets while we were in the pool. To our amazement we can see the Southern Lights dancing in the sky through the open curtains.
“Wow.” Titus props himself up on the pillows. “That’s quite a view.”
“It sure is.” I can’t tear my gaze away from him. He’s wearing a black T-shirt and boxer-briefs in bed as it’s cold. The sleeves of the tee stretch across his impressive biceps. The material is taut over his muscular chest. His hair is ruffled where it got damp and he couldn’t be bothered to brush it.
