Thadie squinted at the root-covered rock and shook her head. She had the upper body strength of a noodle and there was no way she’d managed to scramble up the side, even if the roots would hold her weight.
‘The sunrise will be best from there,’ Angus told her, excitement in his eyes.
‘The sunrise would be great from the beach. Or even better from the deck, with a cup of coffee in my hand,’ Thadie told him.
Angus simply grinned at her, backed away and ran towards the rock. At the same time his foot hit the root closest to the ground, he leapt up and grabbed a root high above his head and swung his legs onto the top of the rock, where he crouched looking down at her.
How did he do that? One moment he was on the ground, the next he was twelve feet in the air. ‘That was marginally impressive, Docherty,’ she told him, tongue in her cheek.
He shrugged, as if scaling a monstrous rock were nothing. He looked around and grinned. ‘The rock has a flat section and an amazing view. Get your pretty butt up here, Thads.’
‘Uh...how?’
Angus told her to stand on the lower root and reached down to grip her wrist. With a quick, sharp tug, he had her up on the rock standing next to him. Unlike her, he wasn’t out of breath and Thadie realised how much pent-up power he had access to. Impressive indeed.
Dammit, everything about him was.
They settled on the flatter section on the rock, and watched ribbons of light creep over the horizon, splashes of pinks and purples and reds, and push up into the scattered clouds hovering in the distance. The sea was still and silent and it seemed to Thadie that the island was holding its breath, waiting for the light show.
They sat there in comfortable silence, happy to watch nature preen, taking delight in her many colours. When the sun was an orange ball resting on the horizon, Thadie finally turned to look at Angus, her nose wrinkling when she caught him looking at her.
‘The show is out there,’ she told him, sounding flustered.
‘I’d much rather watch you,’ Angus told her, his deep voice sliding over her skin. He stretched out his legs and placed his flat palms on the cool rock, conscious of Thadie’s long, bare leg next to his.
There was no place he’d rather be than here, right now.
Thadie bit down on her bottom lip, before twisting her lips. ‘Were the boys okay when you said goodbye to them? Were they upset?’
Angus wasn’t going to tell her that they’d had a little cry when they’d woken up on the plane—Finn in his arms, Gus in Micah’s—when they’d realised that she wasn’t there, but had soon been distracted by ice cream and Ellie showing them a funny animal video on her phone.
At the airport, he’d hugged them goodbye, for long enough to make them squirm. And for Thadie’s family to send him speculative looks. They knew, he thought. The members of her family were smart, smart people, they could add two and two and get four. The boys had his eyes, looked like him...you didn’t need an advanced degree in genetics to work it out.
But the twins’ paternity wasn’t something he was going to discuss with her family. Not without Thadie’s permission and certainly not when she wasn’t present.
‘The boys are fine, Thads, kids are far more resilient than adults give them credit for. And when we get back to the villa you can video-call and check in.’
‘It was really hard to let them go.’
He’d seen the pain in her eyes and knew how much she’d struggled with the idea of handing them over, even if it was to the people she trusted with her life. ‘I know.’
‘It’s strange being without them. I keep thinking of something I should do, looking around for them.’
‘That’s understandable. But having some time alone will be good for you,’ he stated, then winced when he realised what he’d said. ‘Except I gatecrashed your alone time.’
She leaned into him, her shoulder pressing against his. ‘I’m glad you’re here. I really am.’
Relief rolled over him, warm and wonderful. ‘Although this place is stunning, I do need to do some work while I am here, so you’ll still have plenty of time to think about the future, make a start on sketching your designs, and figuring out how to tackle your new career.’
Angus felt the vibration on his wrist and looked down at his state-of-the-art watch, on which was displayed a brief text. It was from his government contact requesting a meeting. Requests for meetings usually meant that there was a mission on the horizon...
Strangely, his heart didn’t kick up with excitement, as it normally did. He lived for these texts, and silently cheered when they came through. It meant a break from his desk, from the most predictable and sometimes mind-numbing monotony running a huge company entailed. Missions meant danger, excitement and the thrill of knowing that he made a difference.
But his flight south last week had changed his life in a myriad small, and big, ways. Unscheduled flights, the twins, unbelievably amazing sex, wonderful conversation. His old excitement to undertake missions had also evaporated.
Now all he could think was...what if? What if something went wrong? What if he never came back?
He couldn’t do it. The risk was too great. There was only one decision he could make. When he got back to the villa, he’d jump on his computer and send his contact a message, telling her he was out.