He stood up and walked over to the table in the hallway where he’d left his phone and car keys. He picked them up, slid hisphone into the back pocket of his trousers and closed his fingers around his car fob.
‘Get some sleep, Thadie,’ he told her, resisting the urge to cuddle her close. She looked as if she desperately needed a hug, but, because he desperately wanted her, he couldn’t trust himself not to take it further. Besides, he wasn’t someone who knew how to hug. Or give comfort.
She walked past him to pull open the front door but stopped to place her forehead against the expensive wooden door. ‘I wasn’t going to ask you this, I promised myself I wouldn’t, but I can’t help myself,’ she muttered, her voice so low that Angus had to step closer to hear her words.
He placed a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to turn around. She folded her arms across her chest and stared down at the floor, her bottom lip caught between her bright white teeth.
‘Ask me what, Thadie?’
She pushed the tips of the fingers of her right hand into her forehead, keeping her eyes closed. ‘What you thought of the boys...’
In a blinding flash, he knew she wasn’t asking whether he liked Gus and Finn—because he’d made it very clear that he did—but what he thought about her success as a mum. He cupped her cheek, using his thumb to gently lift her face, and told her to open her eyes and look at him. She looked apprehensive and insecure, and very annoyed she was looking for his approval. But he was more than happy to give it.
‘They are wonderful kids, Thadie, bright and confident. It’s obvious that you are a wonderful mum,’ he told her. His mother had been as cold as his dad had been tough, and approval—love and affection weren’t something either of his parents knew how to show—had been linked to his achievements. That wasn’t the case in this house...
‘Good job, sweetheart,’ he added.
He saw her swallow, then she nodded, and tension seeped from her body. Then her eyes turned darker, if that was at all possible, a deep, unfathomable coal black. Unable to pull his gaze away, he stroked her full bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. The air around them crackled with electricity, and his world narrowed, filled by the beautiful woman in front of him.
Don’t touch her, just walk away.It had been a long, emotional, strange day, he shouldn’t complicate it further by kissing her again. Then Thadie’s tongue came out to touch his thumb and he was lost, pulled into a vortex of want and desire and red-hot need. He moved so that her body was between him and the door, so close that a piece of paper couldn’t slide into the space between them. He was instantly, completely hard and straining the zip of his trousers. His mouth met hers, soft, sweet, spicy, and he had to fight his instinct to strip her of her dress, her underwear, take her up against the door in the most primal and passionate way possible.
Where was all this want and need coming from?
Thadie’s arms encircled his waist and her hands skated up under his shirt, cool against his fevered skin. Needing more than her mouth, to touch the bare skin of her arms, and shoulders, he pulled down the thin strap to her dress and pushed his fingers under the lace of her bra, his fingers finding her nipple. She whimpered and made that low growl in her throat that he remembered so well. It was an I-want-you growl, a take-me-now sound.
He wanted to. She hadnoidea how much.
But she was feeling overwhelmed, and he didn’t sleep with drunk-with-tiredness-or-emotion women. He never took advantage of a woman just to get a temporary physical high. When they slept together again, and theywould, he wanted her to have no regrets...
He was known for his legendary willpower, but it took everything he had to pull his mouth off hers, his fingers off her breast. He rested his forehead against hers, listening to her ragged breaths.
‘I should go,’ he murmured, holding her hands next to her sides.
She nodded, her tongue touching her top lip, trying to recapture his taste. He resisted the sharp, insistent urge to kiss her again and take her to bed.
‘You should,’ she agreed, not sounding convinced. Tugging her hands from his, she put her hand on his right pec and pushed him back, creating some much-needed space between them. Thadie opened the front door, hauled in some fresh air, and stood back so that he could pass.
‘Invite me to the island with you,’ he said, verbalising the thought that had been rolling around in his head.
‘What?’
‘Invite me on your family holiday,’ he said, watching as confusion jumped into her eyes and skittered across her face.
‘Like your brothers, I can work remotely. I can take some time to get to know the boys. We could figure out a way to go forward that doesn’t involve video-calling. We can get to know each other, become friends, and build trust.’
Thadie didn’t look convinced. ‘I don’t know whether my brothers would appreciate having a stranger gatecrash their holiday...’ she said, and Angus knew she was looking for a reason to say no.
Luckily, he had an answer for that. ‘Technically, it’syourhoneymoon and you can invite whoever you want.’ He saw her waver and pushed a little more. ‘A little time, Thadie, that’s all I’m asking for. Time for us to wrap our heads around being back in each other’s lives and for me to connect, in some way, with the sons I never knew I had.’
She stared out into the darkness beyond his car and held up her hand, asking for a moment to think. Angus pushed back his impatience. If pushed too hard, she might dig in her heels. After a few excruciatingly long seconds, she turned back to him and nodded, albeit reluctantly. ‘I might come to regret this but...yes, okay.’
Angus wanted to punch the air but kept his hands in his pockets instead.
‘But you can’t tell anyone, not the boys or my brothers, Jabu...anyone...that you are the twins’ father. As I told them, you’re an old friend. I’ve invited you along to keep me company so that my brothers could spend some alone time with their fiancées without them all worrying, and feeling guilty, about leaving me alone.’
Whatever reason worked, as long as he was achieving his objective. ‘Deal. At the end of the holiday, we’ll have another conversation about the boys and how to tell them.’
‘IfI tell them,’ she quickly corrected him.