‘I promote them to my four million followers, and they take me on as an intern, as well as help me to develop my own fashion line. Obviously, I couldn’t compete with them.’
‘They all do the same thing, don’t they?’
‘Actually, they don’t,’ Thadie explained. ‘Some do wedding dresses, some do high fashion, some easy-to-wear clothes. None of them does what I want to do.’
‘And that would be?’
She nodded at the incoming boat. ‘Kids’ fashion. African inspired but with worldwide appeal. Strong fabrics, great colours, generous cuts.’ Thadie bit down on her bottom lip. ‘I think I want to launch a children’s fashion line, Angus.’
It was a fantastic idea, and he had no doubt she’d do an amazing job. He couldn’t stop himself—he was so damn proud of her, and thrilled by the excitement he saw in her eyes—he dropped his mouth onto hers, torturing himself with a brief taste of her mouth. He wanted to lower her to the pier, strip her out of that lovely outfit and see the sunlight on her skin.
He’d never felt like this about anyone before. Correction: he’d never felt like this before. This was territory he’d never explored, a minefield he didn’t have the skills to navigate.
‘Oooh, gross! Why are you kissing my mum?’ Gus shouted from the boat.
Angus winced before turning around to face the twins’ disgusted expressions and Micah’s and Jago’s amusement.
He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. ‘Uh...’
Thadie’s hand touched the centre of his back.
‘Distract and evade, Angus. Watch and learn,’ she quietly murmured, before stepping around him and placing her hands on her hips.
‘What did you guys see as you were coming in? Did you see a big, fat dragon? Or a mermaid with a glittery blue tail?’ she asked them, sounding fascinated.
Being three, the twins rapidly forgot she and Angus had locked lips.
‘No, Mum!’ Gus replied, rolling his eyes as Micah lifted him from the boat to the pier.
‘It was a huge whale, maybe as big as a house,’ Gus babbled as Thadie helped him with his life vest. ‘And,Mum, we slept on the beach, and I made a fire and we watched flying stars.’
Angus stepped forward to help Finn. His younger son looked up at him and Angus felt the punch of surprise to see his eyes on Finn’s face. Would he ever get used to that? He didn’t know.
‘Hi, Angus,’ Finn quietly said, as calm as his brother was wild.
‘Hey, bud. Did you have a fun time?’ Angus asked, dropping to his haunches to unclip his vest.
‘Yes,’ he replied, before releasing an annoyed sigh. ‘It was a whaleshark, which is a fish. Gus didn’t make the fire, Micah did, and the stars were shooting stars! Gus never gets itright.’
Angus swallowed his smile as Finn turned around to hug Thadie, who was also on the balls of her feet, gathering her boysclose. She shut her eyes and Angus watched them, a hard knot of something—it couldn’t possibly be emotion, he didn’t do emotion!—in his throat.
His family...his.
Dammit.
He was so caught up in the pretty picture they made—a gorgeous woman, two astonishingly good-looking boys, a flat, clear blue sea and bright sunlight—that he didn’t hear Micah’s comment to Jago or see their wide smiles. ‘Right, well, that answersthatquestion.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THADIETOOKONElast look at the twins’s angelic-in-sleep faces and closed the door to their bedroom.
Her twins were having the best time and an amazing holiday and that made her remember her conversation earlier with Angus about the holidays he took. What was bugging her and why did she feel as if he hadn’t responded authentically?
Thadie leaned against the wall next to their bedroom, needing a moment before she rejoined Angus on the deck. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling her. If asked, she couldn’t explain how she knew, she justdid.
What was he holding back?
And why hadn’t she challenged him? This was where she’d gone wrong with Clyde. She’d let things slide, brushed away or ignored her concerns, her gut feelings. Why was she backsliding, revisiting old, and bad, habits?