‘I have a meeting on Monday morning in Sandton,’ he told her.
She took the suit bag from him, pulled down the zip and released a low whistle. ‘Armani, black. White shirt, red tie. Power suit,’ she said.
He draped the strap to his laptop over his shoulder and picked up his small suitcase. ‘I thought I could meet my potential client, you can meet your designer friend and I can take you to lunch afterwards, and we can celebrate your amazing new venture.’
‘You’re so sure I’ll get this right,’ she told him, her free hand sliding into his as they walked back to the house.
That wasn’t in any doubt. ‘I know you will,’ he told her. She was hugely talented, and she worked hard, why wouldn’t she succeed?
She stopped and dropped a kiss on his bicep. ‘Thanks, Angus. Thanks for believing in me.’
‘Any time, sweetheart,’ he replied, bending to kiss her head. He smiled down at her. ‘As much as I like these gestures ofaffection, I’d far prefer for them to be X-rated. Can we put the kids to bed at, say, five?’
She laughed before wincing. ‘Well, um, that’s the other thing. Would you very much mind slipping into that suit and accompanying me to a charity fundraiser tonight?’
He’d rather pull off his toenails with pliers. ‘Really, Thads? I just got in...’
She put her hand on his arm and looked up at him, her eyes beseeching. ‘I know, I know... I’m sorry. I gave my apologies because I thought I would need to work but I’ve been feeling guilty about not going since I got the invitation.’
‘Is it important to you?’
Thadie nodded. ‘It’s my favourite charity. They raise money to fulfil the dreams of kids who have a life-threatening condition. I thought I’d have to work so didn’t think I could, but now I can. And it’ll be really good publicity for the charity if my first public outing after the wedding—’
‘Non-wedding,’ Angus corrected. The thought that she’d come so close to marrying someone else irritated him.
‘—is this function. And if I rock up looking absolutely fabulous, with an exceptionally good-looking man on my arm, well...’
He grinned. ‘So, I’m just there as arm candy?’
‘No, you’re there because there’s nobody else I’d like to take,’ Thadie softly corrected him, her black eyes luminous. She wrinkled her nose in the way he loved. ‘And because you’re hot.’
He laughed at her, all the week’s tension draining away. ‘Sure, let’s go to the ball, princess.’ He gestured to the twins, who were sitting on the step leading into the house, their chins in their hands, looking impatient. ‘Who will look after them?’
‘Tumi, the au pair, is coming over at about six. They adore her. She’ll feed them, bathe them and put them to bed. She’ll also stay the night...’
His eyes narrowed, and deepened, at the sexy note in her voice.
‘To reward you for putting on a suit and tie, and making nice with people you don’t know, I booked the penthouse suite at the Edward Hotel. It has a hot tub and a very big double bed.’
All the blood drained from his head at the thought of being utterly alone with her, falling asleep with her naked and waking up to morning sex and not to two little boys jumping on his chest.
He kissed her, feeling six hundred feet high. ‘I knew hiring an au pair was a great idea,’ he smugly told her.
She narrowed her eyes at him, mock scowling. ‘Stop smirking, Docherty, it’s not a good look for arm candy.’
Angus followed her into the house, laughing.
Angus stood at the bar and watched Thadie work the room, bestowing her stunning smile on everyone she met. He sipped his red wine as she crossed the room towards him, and his weren’t the only eyes following her. If she intended to show the world, and her ex, that she was just fine, she’d certainly delivered that message. Her outfit, tight satin tangerine-orange trousers and a sleeveless fitted top in fabric just a shade lighter, was one only a superbly confident woman would have the guts to wear.
Her sky-high silver heels took her height to six feet or so, and she wore statement diamonds in her ears and on her fingers and held an expensive-looking clutch bag in her free hand. She looked...well, amazing. His tongue kept wanting to fall to the floor.
But, strangely, she didn’t look any better than she had earlier, dressed in a simple top and cut-off denims, or the way she’d looked on Petit Frère, a sarong covering her bikini. She wasnaturally lovely, inside and out. And now he was thinking in cliches...a new low.
But the fundamental truth was that she’d, in very little time at all, become a very big part of his life. She’d given him his sons, but she’d also opened herself up to him, was sharing her thoughts and feelings, dream and fears. And he’d started doing the same.
In a few short weeks, she’d become his closest confidante, the person he wanted to talk to the most. She was the first person he thought about when he woke up, the person he fantasised about at night. Over the past two weeks, his thoughts had often gone to her. He’d wondered how her day was going, whether she was happy with her work, imagined her sketching furiously, playing football with the boys on the green lawn behind the house, climbing into her large bed with a book.
Through frequent video-calling, he’d had glimpses of her day-to-day life, her world, and it fascinated him. With a little compromise, some rearranging of his schedule—he’d have to do a lot more work remotely—he could make Johannesburg his base, and her loud and noisy house his home. He’d be able to kiss Thadie’s neck when he found her at the kitchen island making supper or, if she was running late, make it himself. He could easily imagine late-night, naked swims in her pool, making love to her outside on the loungers while the boys slept upstairs.