Chapter 16

Sixteen

A nother not-quite-surprise came on Friday. At seven p.m.—half an hour late, as usual—Steven arrived to pick up the boys and congratulated me for finally getting the roofers in. No, that wasn't the surprise, merely the precursor.

"Thought this place would fall down before you got around to fixing it. I don't know why you didn't just buy a flat. There wouldn't be so much upkeep."

"Why do you care? You're not the one paying for it."

"I hope that sister of yours has a good financial advisor. If she wants a referral, I could probably get her a friends-and-family discount."

Was he actually serious?

"She's not your friend, and she won't be family as soon as you sign those bloody divorce papers."

"I'll get around to it. Ready to go, champ?" he called to Alfie.

Nice dodge.

"My solicitor will be in touch again this week. You can't keep shirking your responsibilities."

"I'm taking the boys this weekend, aren't I? And I'm paying for all the petrol to drive them to Bristol and back because you don't have a car."

"I have another driving test next week."

He pursed his lips in that funny way of his, the way that meant he didn't think I stood a chance in hell of passing.

"Good luck."

"Arsehole," I muttered.

"Mum, you're not supposed to say that."

Of course Alfie was standing behind me.

Steven herded the boys into his car, and as soon as his taillights disappeared, I called Eis. His BMW pulled into the driveway roughly twenty seconds later.

"What were you doing, waiting around the corner?"

"Yup."

Did he realise how wanted those little things made me feel?

"I thought I'd have at least ten minutes. Why are you wearing a shirt and tie?"

"Because I owe you a fancy dinner."

"We're going out?"

"No. Find a dress."

I wasn't really a dress kind of woman. The last time Steven had taken me on an actual date, Alfie had still been in nappies. After a quick scrabble through my closet, I settled on a plain black number that was loose enough to hide my lumps and bumps, short enough to be interesting, and sparkly enough to appear as if I'd made an effort. I teamed it with a pair of heels and decided against tights. I'd waxed everywhere yesterday morning, and Eis had that feral look that meant tights would get shredded anyway.

He nodded approvingly as I walked down the stairs. "Nice. We might not make it to dinner."

"We'd better make it to dinner. I'm starving."

"At least it's nearly ready."

By "nearly ready," he meant that the butler he'd hired for the evening was waiting by the front door of Twilight's End with champagne, the chef was putting the finishing touches to the starter in the kitchen, and a maid was waiting in the formal dining room to bring our plates.

Fancy.

So freaking fancy.

"This is too much," I whispered. No way had Eis ordered this spread through Deliveroo.

"It's not enough."

Rather than sitting opposite me, Eis took his place at the head of the table with me to his right. At first, I thought it might be a bit of a power play, but then I realised he'd done it for access purposes. Far easier for him to run a hand up my bare thigh if it was right there next to him.

"There's someone else in the room," I hissed.

"Don't worry, all the staff sign NDAs."

"You think the paperwork is the problem?"

"You're such a good girl, Janie. I'm going to corrupt you."

"A good girl? I screwed you in a stranger's office last week, didn't I?"

Too late, I realised the butler had glided up behind us with a bottle of red. Dammit!

My cheeks burned while he poured a splash of wine, waited for Eis to swirl and sniff, and then filled our glasses.

"I never understood that swirling thing people do."

"Swirling releases the aromas, and smelling the wine tells you its character."

"My wine's character is best described as ‘on special offer.'"

Eis chuckled. "I'll add wine tasting to the list of things we have to do together." Like a Groupon? "My family has a vineyard in the South of France," he continued.

Of course they freaking did.

"How can this possibly work?" I mumbled out loud.

"I guess either we fly over on a weekend when Steven has the boys, or we go during the school holidays and they can come with us. Not Steven, obviously, just Harry and Alfie. Although there's a nice lake on the edge of the property. Can Steven swim?"

"I meant us. You and me. You own a vineyard, and I root through the bargain bins at Tesco."

"I've rooted through the bargain bins at Tesco."

"Have you?"

"Yeah, I accidentally dropped my Rolex in one of them when I went in to buy smoked salmon and champagne."

"Is that a joke? I can't even tell."

"Yes, it's a fucking joke. I order my groceries online from Sainsbury's. It's my dad who roots through the bargain bins, and he brings home all those little sugar and sauce packets from restaurants too. In my parents' kitchen, there's a whole cupboard full of them, and it drives Mum mad. I don't think they've ever bought a bottle of ketchup."

"Is that a joke?"

"No. Janie, if I'd known a good dinner would upset you, I would've ordered a pizza."

"I'm not upset. Just…just intimidated."

"Fuck. You want me to send the staff away?"

I shook my head, and he took both of my hands in his.

"Janie, I only want you to have nice things. I hate that you've been living in a cold, leaky house. Worse, I hate that you've been living in a cold, leaky house while I was two miles away in this place and I didn't even know. We lost thirteen years. Thirteen fucking years. I want to spoil you rotten."

Eisen Renner. All the papers called him the ultimate bad boy, but they never mentioned this sweet side. I could so easily lose myself to this man. Just sit back and let him help with the load I'd been carrying for so long. But what was the catch? There had to be a catch. I already knew he was spectacular in bed, so that wasn't the problem. What, then? It was a question I truly didn't want the answer to.

Keep kicking that can…

I conjured up a smile. "Maybe next time we could order pizza?"

"I'll even let you choose the toppings."

The menu was an A to Z of aphrodisiacs. Oysters and perfectly ripe avocado to start, followed by lamb with asparagus spears, baby carrots, and duchess potatoes, and finally honey-glazed figs with chocolate mousse.

And while somebody else cleared away the dishes, Eis carried me up to his bedroom in the east wing—because of course his house had bloody wings—and feasted on my body. He didn't care about all those little imperfections I spent so long worrying over. He made me feel beautiful.

I even forgot my inhibitions when I rode his cock like a cowgirl, when I sucked it like a lollipop and swallowed every last drop of his pleasure. We were a sweaty mess by the time we collapsed among a pile of pillows and a scattering of rose petals.

And I slept better than I had in years.