PLAYING DIRTY WITH THE HOT CEO

chapter 30

Heidi

Shortly after Titus leaves with Alan, Vicky arrives at the cottage in a gorgeous BMW X7, and I get in the passenger side.

“Morning!” she says, beaming, and heads off through the big double gates. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well, thank you.” I try not to think about the way Titus woke me.

“I’m so glad. Alan really wanted to put you in the tower room, but I thought you’d prefer to have Titus all to yourself in the cottage.” She flashes me a grin.

“Very astute,” I say, and laugh. “Thank you for a lovely evening, by the way. Titus was quite overwhelmed.”

“Oh, I hope he was okay with it. Maybe we should have had a sit-down dinner, but so many people wanted to meet him that it seemed more practical to have a cocktail party. He’s a very impressive young man. So incredibly smart.”

“He is. He works very hard.”

“I bet it’s nice for you to have a holiday together. If he’s anything like Alan, it’s impossible to lure him away from the office. I have to bully him to take a day off. They get it in their heads that it’s their job to save the world, and then they feel guilty when they’re not working.”

“That’s exactly right.”

“Enough about the boys though. Tell me about yourself, Heidi. You’re a primary school teacher, right?”

“Yes.” My stomach flips at the thought that she’s going to ask me questions about teaching in New Zealand. I really don’t want to have to lie to her.

But she just says, “That must be so rewarding. What age group do you teach?”

“The youngest ones, when they’re just starting school.”

“Aw, is it hard when they get upset?”

“Well, I have to remind myself I’m not their mother. I have an assistant with me, sometimes two, and they’re very hands-on. I try to stay practical. As you know, kids are easily distracted, and it’s all about keeping them occupied.”

“Very sensible. My mum used to say, ‘Busy kids are happy kids.’”

I pick up on her use of the past tense. “Is she still here?”

“No, she passed away last year.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It was very hard. I miss her a lot. Are you close to your mum?”

“I love her dearly. But she’s an artist, a painter, and her art is very important to her. She’d often leave me with my older sisters and brother while she worked.” I look out of the window at the Devon countryside flashing past.

“What about your dad? What does he do?”

“He’s in finance.”

“Are you close to him?”

I don’t answer for a moment, and eventually Vicky says, “I’m so sorry, I’m being very nosy. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay. We have a difficult relationship, that’s all.” I don’t really want to talk about it.

“What does he think of Titus?” she asks.

He’s met Titus several times over the years when Oliver has brought him to the house, and he knows Julian, Titus’s father, so I’m able to answer without lying. “He likes that he’s a hard worker.”

“Well if he doesn’t like him, he’s setting his standards a tad high,” she says, amused. “Okay, here we are.”

She’s currently driving through a small village, and I watch, surprised, as she pulls up in front of what looks like a church hall.

“I’d assumed you were heading for Exeter,” I say, unbuckling my seat belt.

“No, it’s just a small class, I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course.” I get out of the car. Oh my God, this is like the perfect English village. There’s a post office, a pub, a church, and even a village green with a duck pond. All it needs is Postman Pat and his cat and it’ll be complete.

We cross to the small hall, whose doors are standing open to admit the bright July sunshine. Inside are about eight women who are leaving their bags and shoes at the back of the hall and making their way to the yoga mats at the front. The instructor stands facing them, greeting everyone as they approach.

“Sarah, this is Heidi,” Vicky says as we walk up, “she’s staying with me, and I said she could come with me this morning, hope that’s okay.”

“Of course!” Sarah smiles. “Everyone’s welcome.”

Vicky pushes my purse away and hands over the money, and we find two mats not far from the door. Sunlight falls through the high windows in gold bars across us, and the air smells of herbs and the roses growing by the door.

“We might as well get started,” Sarah says. “Let’s begin with a warmup, and then we’ll do the sun salutation.”

As I stretch and move and hold the asanas, I think about how much I’d miss England if I were to move back to New Zealand. Not wanting to spoil my time here, though, I push the thought away and concentrate on stretching my muscles and trying to relax. As the class winds down, Sarah instructs us to lie insavasanaor the corpse pose for meditation, and she tells us to picture ourselves in a place that makes us happy. I think about my cottage, and the greenhouse where I watch the stars, but as she talks quietly, guiding us through the meditation, my mind instead drifts to the bedroom this morning, to being awoken by Titus’ soft kisses, and the way he pleasured me so easily with his mouth.

I’m glad we’ve managed to steal this time together. I know it’s not going to be easy to say goodbye to him when it’s time to part, but I don’t regret it. He’s shown me that it is possible to meet a guy who can make me feel good about myself rather than always putting me down, and for that I’ll always be thankful.