My Lonely Billionaire (The Billionaire Kings Book 4) Page 18

  I take him and put him to the breast, and he quiets immediately, kneading my boob with his fingers. I look down at him, pursing my lips. “It’s not exactly the perfect time to start a relationship, is it?”

  “You said Brock gave you the all clear.”

  “Yes…” I had my six-week check a couple of days ago. I’ve stopped bleeding, and Brock said everything was fine and I was doing really well. “But it would be different if Noah and I had already been dating before Ethan was born.”

  “True, but it’s not as if you need to start dating,” Summer says. “You’ve practically been dating ever since you’ve met him. You’ve gotten to know him really well. It’s hardly going to be like a one-night stand.”

  I feel a little faint at the thought of having sex with Noah King. “Oh jeez. I can’t, Summer. I haven’t done anything like that in so long. I feel so… frumpy.”

  “Hmm.” She narrows her eyes, and then she smiles. “I’ve got an idea.”

  Instantly, I feel wary. “What?”

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow,” she says.

  She refuses to say anything more, even after she drives me back to the Ark. She waves goodbye at the door, telling me she’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, and to make a batch of cream cheese muffins for the occasion. I wave goodbye, used to her ways by now, and put it to the back of my mind.

  As usual, Noah and I have dinner together, then I bathe Ethan and give him his nighttime feed as we watch a couple of episodes of a TV series. When we’re done, and Ethan’s starting to doze, I tell Noah I’m going to bed. He usually goes and does some work at this point, or watches a movie.

  “Goodnight,” he says, and gives me a hug. I’m holding Ethan, and Noah bends and kisses his cheek.

  “Goodnight.” I hesitate, thinking about what Summer and I talked about today, wishing I had the courage to say something, but Noah moves away and picks up our mugs to take them to the kitchen, and the moment passes. I walk along the corridor, disappointed with myself, and close my bedroom door quietly behind me. Damn it. Tomorrow, I tell myself, as I place Ethan in his cot. Tomorrow, I’ll pluck up the courage and say something.

  *

  It turns out I’m not going to have much say in the matter. Late in the afternoon, after the Ark has closed, there’s a commotion out the front of the house, and Noah goes to the door and stares as several cars draw up, and out get his cousins and their partners.

  “Surprise!” Summer says brightly. Izzy and Nix are with her, and Remy, Jules, Poppy, and Clio exit from the other car. I’ve met them all a few times now, although this is the first time we’ve all been together.

  “Hey,” Noah says, amused. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re going to have a girly party,” Summer says. “And you,” she prods him in the chest, “are being taken out for a manly drink.”

  He looks at Hal, who grins at him. Leon’s there, too, with Albie, Zach, Stefan, Ryan, and Fitz. Clearly, Summer’s been busy getting everyone organized.

  “Come on,” Leon says to Noah. “You haven’t been out for a while. Come out with us.” His eyes are gentle, encouraging. “Let’s give the girls some space.”

  Noah hesitates, then gives in and rolls his eyes. “Okay.” He glances at me. “You sure you don’t mind me leaving you with this rabble?”

  “I’m sure I’ll manage,” I tell him.

  “Are there going to be muffins?” Hal asks, peering around us.

  “We’re going to talk childbirth and babies,” Summer advises him. “In lots of gory detail.”

  “Eek. I’m off.” He follows the others to the cars, to much laughter from the girls.

  We go inside, and soon the guys’ cars are heading off down the road. Summer waits for them to disappear, then takes out her phone and makes a call. “All clear,” she says, then slides it back into her pocket.

  I narrow my eyes at her. “What’s going on?”

  “You’ll see,” she says smugly. She ushers me into the living room.

  Poppy, the ex-primary school teacher, has been coming over a lot to see Ethan, and I think we’re going to be good friends. She’s already commandeered him, and he’s enjoying every second of being cooed over by all these young, beautiful women. The others fuss over the dogs as I take a seat on the sofa, hearing another car pull up.

  “Have you ordered a stripper?” I ask, puzzled.

  “Oh my God,” Nix says. “We should totally have got a stripper.”

  Summer laughs. “Not quite, no.” She goes over to the door and welcomes in a woman I haven’t met before. She’s carrying a large box, and as she comes in, several of the other girls wave to her.

  “This is Rebecca,” Summer says. “She’s a beautician. She’s here to pamper you!”

  I stare at Rebecca, who chuckles and sits next to me. Nix is getting out a couple of bottles of wine, and they’re all already tucking into the muffins I managed to make this afternoon.

  “P-pamper me?” I stutter. “Why?”

  “Because you deserve it,” Summer says.

  “And because we want to get you laid,” Nix adds.

  Everyone starts laughing at the look on my face, and I feel myself blushing furiously. “Summer,” I scold her, “seriously!”

  “Aw,” she says, “come on. Every mom needs a little help sometimes to sex it up a bit.”

  “And we’ve got every bit of equipment we might need,” Rebecca adds helpfully. “Shall we get started?”

  I’m so taken aback, I can’t think of an excuse to refuse, so I let Rebecca lead me off to the bathroom, where she de-fuzzes my legs and bikini area, gives me a facial, and pampers me with gorgeous body lotion. Then we return to the living room, where she does my nails while the girls all talk around me, fussing over Ethan and entertaining him.

  “Thank you,” I say to Summer. “You are such a sweetie.”

  “I just think it will be good for the two of you to spend some time alone together,” she says. “You need to talk, Abby. That’s all.”

  “Well, almost all,” Nix adds.

  “Nix,” Remy scolds. “Leave the poor woman alone.”

  “I’m encouraging,” Nix protests.

  “Not everyone needs help with their love life,” Jules tells her, opening another muffin.

  “Says the woman who’s been stalking Stefan for two years and getting nowhere,” Nix announces tartly.

  Jules chokes on her muffin, and the rest of us laugh as she has a couple of gulps of wine.

  “I didn’t realize you were interested in Stefan,” I say, blowing on the nails on my left hand as Rebecca paints my right.

  “I’m not!” Jules goes scarlet. “Maybe a little bit.”

  “He’s gorgeous,” Nix states, topping everyone’s glasses up. “His grandfather was Swedish, so he’s part Viking. He’ll drag you off by your hair, Jules.” She winks at her friend.

  Jules covers her face with her hands. “Oh my God.”

  “He is lovely,” I tell her. “I met his dad, too, a couple of weeks ago. He’s part Maori, isn’t he?”

  “The best part,” Nix says, “according to Elise.” She laughs as Izzy elbows her and glares at her. “It’s not a secret,” she says. “Stefan told me himself.”

  “Told you what?” Jules asks.

  Izzy tries not to laugh, and Nix grins. “When he was younger, Stefan’s dad was a Casanova.”

  Everyone’s eyes widen, and they all burst out laughing. I glance around at them. “What’s a Casanova?”

  “It’s a male escort service in Auckland,” Nix says. “Apparently they have excellent training.”

  “Holy shit,” Jules says.

  “I wonder whether he’s passed any of his talents on to his son?” Clio says.

  “Nix!”

  “I’m just wondering.”

  “Is it true?” Poppy asks.

  “It’s how he met Elise,” Nix says. “That’s Stefan’s mother,” she explains to me. “Elise’s friend organized a Casanova for her thirtieth bir
thday because she was like Noah—she hardly went out of the house. It turned out to be Stefan’s dad. Elise liked him so much she booked him for a whole month, and they fell in love.”

  “Oh my God.” I put my hand over my heart. “That’s such a romantic story.”

  “Would it bother you to find out Hal had been a male escort?” Nix asks Izzy.

  She thinks about it. “I suppose it would be weird. But then it wasn’t as if Nikau hid it from her. She knew right at the beginning—that’s how they met.”

  “I can’t imagine sleeping with someone I’ve never met,” Clio says. “I’d die from embarrassment.”

  “I dunno,” Poppy says. “I think an escort would be fun.”

  “Poppy!” Remy says, and they all look shocked. Poppy doesn’t tend to say much, so her announcement takes us all by surprise. Like her brother, Albie, and their father, Charlie, she finds communication difficult sometimes, so she tends to say nothing rather than put her foot in it.

  “What?” she says, a little embarrassed. “I just mean it would be nice to have sex without having to get involved with someone.”

  Poppy told me her ex is another schoolteacher, but the relationship ended badly. Clearly, she’s been scarred.

  “I know what you mean,” Remy says, “and I used to think the same, but I have to admit that now I am with Albie, I would miss the closeness and the support.”

  “And the regular sex,” Jules says.

  “True,” Remy admits, making us all laugh. “The man is insatiable.”

  “It’s a male King thing,” Nix says. “Boundless sexual appetites.” She winks at me. “I hope you’re prepared.”

  I suddenly remember why Rebecca is there and feel a sweep of nerves. “Oh God, don’t.”

  “Aw,” Summer says. “Noah adores you, Abby. You’re going to have a whale of a time.”

  “Remember,” Nix teases, “aim the boobs at the ceiling.”

  “Oh dear God.”

  The girls laugh. “Can we give Ethan a bath?” Izzy asks. When I nod and smile, all the girls except Summer take him off to the bathroom, and soon lots of cooing noises and laughter fills the air.

  Rebecca has finished my nails, and she applies a fast-drying topcoat and bids me blow on them while she starts taking her stuff out to her car.

  “I’ve got a prezzie for you,” Summer says. She holds out a bag. It says Four Seasons—the popular lingerie shop with branches all over New Zealand.

  I smile wryly, open the bag, and pull out the item inside. It’s the most beautiful nightdress I’ve ever seen. It’s a plum color, made from satin with a stretchy lace bodice, and reaches down to my mid-thigh.

  “Oh my God.” My jaw drops. It must have cost her a fortune. “It’s gorgeous.”

  “I’ve got a similar one,” she says. “It’s really flattering and clings in all the right places. You can keep it on, you know, if you feel a bit self-conscious.”

  Tears prick my eyes. “You are just the sweetest thing in the whole world.”

  “I want it to work,” she says, hugging me. “You are two of my favorite people, and I know you’re going to be perfect together.”

  “I’m crazy about him,” I admit, hugging her back. “He’s just the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.”

  “Aw.” She kisses my cheek. “Tell him that, and everything’s going to be all right.”

  I wipe my eyes, smiling as the others come back in with a squeaky-clean Ethan, and hand him to me for his last feed. I put him to the breast, but inside my heart is racing.

  Is Noah still interested in having a relationship with me? Or has he changed his mind? I just hope he isn’t upset by everyone interfering. Will the guys have told him what’s going on? He’s a grown man, when it comes down to it, older than all his cousins, and it must be embarrassing for him to think they’re trying to maneuver him to go to bed with me. Maybe he’ll resent the intrusion. Oh God, am I doing the right thing?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Noah

  I sit in the Between the Sheets bar, sipping at my whisky, listening to the other guys talking about the rugby.

  I like this bar. I used to come here years ago, back when Beck Sharpe still ran it. He’s retired now, and spends a lot of time out on his boat, sailing around the Pacific Islands with his wife. Their son, Edward, has taken over the bar. It’s a lot bigger than it used to be. Beck turned the cocktail bar into a restaurant, and Edward has enlarged it and made it a lot fancier. Now it specializes in seafood, fresh from the bay. We ordered a platter of nibbles to have with our drinks, and the guys are currently digging into crumbed prawns, mussels, and bite-size pieces of beer-battered fish.

  I’m a little puzzled as to why we’re here, but I presume it was Leon’s doing, born out of a desire to make sure I don’t regress and end up housebound again. I’ve been getting out a lot lately, walking with Abby and Ethan, and we call in at the Ark most days. I don’t feel super comfortable here in town, but the old panic hasn’t yet arisen, and I’m content sitting in the corner, the sounds of the sea in the distance, drinking a good Scotch.

  “…won the last match against the Wallabies,” Hal’s saying. “I’ll be disappointed if they lost this one.”

  “Yeah but the Aussies have a superb front row,” Leon replies. “It’ll be a great game on Saturday. Don’t you think, Noah?”

  I nod, conscious of the others glancing at me. Something weird is going on tonight, but I can’t put my finger on it. “Should be a good match.” I finish off my whisky. “Well, shall we get going?”

  “I promised Nix we wouldn’t be back before seven,” Leon says, rising. “I’ll get another round.”

  I frown as he walks off and glance at Hal. He meets my gaze over the top of his glass, but just smiles. I look at Albie, who drops his gaze to the platter and helps himself to a prawn. He’s never been able to lie.

  “What’s going on, Albie?” I ask him.

  He chews the prawn, raising his eyebrows. “What? Nothing. Nothing at all. Just eating prawns. Nothing to report.”

  Hal glances at him and rolls his eyes. Indignant, Albie says, “What?”

  I look at Zach, then at the others. Zach sees something that fascinates him out of the window. Stefan, Ryan, and Fitz suddenly find their drinks incredibly interesting.

  “All right,” I say good-naturedly. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re trying to encourage Stefan to ask Jules out,” Albie says.

  Stefan rolls his eyes. “For fuck’s sake…”

  I chuckle. “I didn’t know you had a thing for Jules.” It doesn’t surprise me. She’s young and gorgeous, and he’s been single for a while.

  “I don’t,” he says, swigging the last of his current beer.

  “Why, what’s wrong with my sister?” Hal demands, and we all chuckle. Stefan glares at him and leans back in his chair with a huff. Clearly, he’s not going to admit it.

  “Remy told me something about Jules,” Albie admits out of the blue. “But if I tell you, you must swear not to do anything about it.”

  Stefan raises his eyebrows. “What?”

  Albie glances at Hal, then at Leon as he comes back with a tray of drinks and puts them on the table. “You swear not to overreact?” he says.

  “Overreact to what?” Leon hands out the drinks.

  Albie mutters something to himself along the lines of “Shouldn’t have started this,” and then says more clearly, “You know Jules’s ex, Connor?”

  “Yeah,” Hal says.

  “He hit her.”

  We all stare at him. “What?” Stefan says carefully.

  “Remy told me that Jules said Connor hit her,” Albie says. “One evening when he was drunk. Smacked her across the face. She said she couldn’t come to work that week because she had the flu, but actually she had a black eye.”

  “Jesus.” Hal’s eyes spark with anger. “I remember that.”

  Stefan stands up, chest heaving.

  “Where are you going?” I ask h
im, purposely making my tone calm, even though I’m as angry as he is.

  He sits down again. “Fucking bastard,” he says, and bangs his fist on the table. There is definitely something Viking-esque about him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went around to Connor’s house and gave him a blood eagle.

  “Yeah,” Albie says. “I had the same reaction. Remy had to lock the door and run off with the key to stop me going after him.”

  “Jules wouldn’t want us to interfere,” I tell them all. “I’m guessing she walked out on him afterward.”

  Albie nods. “Refused to talk to him. That’s when she moved in with Clio. He bothered them for a bit, kept ringing and knocking on the door. Clio told Brock eventually, and he rang the police and got them to go around and give him a warning. I don’t think she’s heard anything from him since then.”

  “I’m going to tear off his balls and make him wear them for earrings,” Stefan says.

  “Yeah,” Leon says, “you don’t have any feelings for her at all.”

  Stefan scowls, and we all chuckle.

  “I hate hearing things like that.” Zach runs a hand through his hair. “It makes me angry when women talk about being afraid of all men, and then I hear something like this and I understand why.”

  We sip our drinks moodily, musing on the state of the male population.

  “I’ve been thinking about working more with the Women’s Refuge,” I tell Leon. “I liked your idea of providing care for the animals of women who have to leave the family home because of abuse. And I thought maybe we could work with the Bay of Islands branch more closely.”

  “Definitely,” Leon says. “We’ll look into that.”

  “How’s the Hands-On Unit coming along?” Ryan asks Albie.

  “Good,” Albie says. “I’m working with Poppy as she’s obviously got close connections with the local primary schools. She’s happy to organize trips for the kids, but she’s not keen on visiting the schools herself.”

  “Because of Daniel?” I ask. I know she had a tricky breakup with her ex.

  He nods. “Yeah. She doesn’t say much, but I know what he said about her being an ice queen hurt her feelings.”