But what about in the evenings? Is he going to want me to stay at his place? He’s certainly not going to be interested in coming around Albie’s house, but we haven’t talked about how it’s going to work. It’s odd, sometimes I feel I know Leon so well, and in other ways he’s still a mystery. He’s such a private guy. Will he be able to relax enough to let me into his life? I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
The driver takes the turnoff for the Ark, and I don’t know whether it’s a conscious or subconscious move, but Leon removes his hand from mine and takes out his phone to check something. I open my purse and put on some lip gloss, and by the time we pull up outside the Ark, we’ve both donned our professional facades.
Leon pays the driver, and we get out and retrieve our bags. Leon pauses then, and we face each other. We’re about three feet apart, conscious of people around us—customers pulling into the car park to use the veterinary center, staff walking across the square, two volunteers taking some of the dogs for a walk.
“I’ll take our bags to the office,” I tell him, “if you want to shoot over to your folks.” He told me earlier that he’s going over to visit his parents. I’m not sure why—he doesn’t see them that often. I’ve met his folks several times, so it’s not about introducing us, and he hasn’t asked me to go with him, so it doesn’t look as if he’s ready to tell them about us yet.
He nods, his eyes meeting mine, and I catch my breath. They’re full of affection, and some sorrow. He’s finding this as hard as I am.
“Thank you for a lovely weekend,” I say. “Sir.”
His lips twitch. “Thank you, Ms. Dixon.”
I smile, pick up our bags, and head to the office block, not bothering to look over my shoulder, as he’d never be caught watching my butt at work.
My shoulders slump a little as I walk through the offices, although I smile at my colleagues and stop by one or two to answer their questions on meeting the PM.
I put Leon’s case in his office and mine by my desk, return to sit in my chair, and lean back, looking around. I love my office. I have it exactly as I want it. I spent a good while getting all the stationery and office furniture I want—Leon gave me a catalogue from a nearby office store and a budget ten times what you’d need to kit out the largest office and told me to get what I wanted, so I treated myself to a comfortable swivel chair, an ergonomic keyboard and a wrist-rest for my mouse as I spend a lot of time at the computer, a digital Dictaphone system, a flashy printer, and all the paperclips I’ll ever need.
But they’re just things. I can get myself a set of Post-It Notes wherever I work.
I turn my chair to look out of the window and watch the two volunteers taking the dogs into the nearby field for a run. Sometimes if I have a spare ten minutes I go to the hotel and help out with the recuperating animals, and since the petting farm opened, I’ve occasionally called in there to watch the children playing with the rabbits, sheep, Guinea pigs, cats, and dogs.
I wonder whether Leon wants children. I do. What if he doesn’t? What if I give up my wonderful job and discover he doesn’t want kids, or that, when it comes down to it, we’re not compatible in a long-term relationship? I’ve never lived with a man—I don’t count Albie, as we’re hardly intimate. I think Leon and I will get on fine. I’ve known him for long enough to understand his quirks, and to be convinced we’ll fit together perfectly. But what if I’m wrong?
I turn back to my desk. There’s no point in worrying about it right now. I have phone calls to catch up on, and the finance meeting was rescheduled for this afternoon, so I need to get reports for each department printed and collated into folders, and the boardroom set up.
So I take off my jacket, make myself a coffee, turn my attention to work, and try to put out of my mind the memory of this morning, when Leon woke me up as the sun was rising to make love to me tenderly, as if I was the most precious thing in the world.
*
An hour later, I’m ready for an early lunch, and I head for the garden behind the break room. There I find Izzy, Hal’s sister Jules, and Remy. I hesitate, having hoped for some time to myself, but Izzy’s already seen me, and she waves and beckons, so I walk over to the wooden table and sit beside her.
“Hey,” I say to them all, opening the sandwich box I’ve just bought.
“Hey, Nix,” Jules says.
“How was Wellington?” Remy asks.
“Great. I got to meet the PM.”
“Oh, cool!” All three of them are genuinely thrilled—we all admire our young female Prime Minister.
“How did the presentation go?” Jules asks.
I give them a rundown of the day, omitting any personal details about me and Leon.
“I’m so pleased for you,” Izzy says, giving me a hug.
“Did you have a nice birthday?” Remy asks. “Albie said Leon was going to spoil you.”
My face warms, and I hope they don’t notice. “I had a lovely day thanks. He took me to a Dark Sky observatory, it was amazing.”
Remy and Jules give polite smiles, neither of them being particularly interested in astronomy. Izzy, however, meets my eyes for a moment before I lower mine.
“Glad you had a nice time. We’d better get back.” Jules gets to her feet. “We’ve got two Afghan Hounds coming in five minutes—they’re going to take a couple of hours to groom.”
“Have a great afternoon.” I watch them go off together, and then get to my feet.
“Hold on.” Izzy reaches out a hand to stop me. “Come on, you can’t leave it like that. What happened with Leon?”
I meet her eyes again, and my lips slowly curve up.
Her eyes widen. “Oh my God, did you two hook up?”
“Kinda.” I wrinkle my nose.
“Nix!” Her jaw drops and she clutches my hands in joy. “That’s amazing!”
I give a shy shrug. “Neither of us planned it. It just happened.”
“Of course it did. It was only a matter of time. There’s always been chemistry between the two of you.”
“You mustn’t tell anyone, though,” I warn her. “We’re keeping it under our hats for now.”
She studies me for a moment, and I eventually drop my gaze. “Tell me,” she says.
“If I want to see him, I have to leave the Ark,” I reply simply.
Her brow furrows. “He told you that?”
“Not in so many words. He’s not demanding anything. It’s just common sense. We can’t date while I work here, Izz, not when he’s so against office relationships.”
“He hasn’t said anything to me and Hal.”
“Well, he wouldn’t, because you’re both directors, and he doesn’t believe a company should tell its employees who they can and can’t see outside of work. But he would never have a relationship with someone he works with, and I wouldn’t expect him to. It’s my choice. If I want to be with him, I have to leave.”
“Oh, Nix. What will you do?”
“I don’t know.” I look away then, over the fields to the bright-blue sea. “I don’t want to leave here. I love the Ark, and working with you, and all the animals. And I’m scared that I’ll leave, and then Leon and I won’t work out, and it will all have been for nothing. But if I don’t, I’ll never get the chance to try to make it work. I have to try. I’ve loved him forever, Izz. I don’t think I can continue working so close to him and not being with him—it’s killing me.”
“I know.” She rises and puts her arms around me, and we hug for a moment. I rest my cheek on her shoulder and see the Russian Blue cat, Jemima, sitting on the fence watching us. In the field, Stefan’s throwing a ball for his Jack Russell, who’s barking furiously as he dashes to and fro to retrieve it.
This is my home. It’s going to break my heart to leave it. But if it’s the only way I can get Leon King, it’s a sacrifice I’ll force myself to make.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Leon
“Sweetheart!” My mother comes up, puts her arms around me, and giv
es me a big hug. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Hey, Mom.” I kiss the top of her head, then release her. Georgia King is tiny and gorgeous, even at fifty-eight. Her dark hair is now gray, swept back into a ponytail, and she has wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth, but they’re smile lines that appear readily, and her eyes are bright.
She leads me into the big house that overlooks Russell and the Bay of Islands. This is where I grew up, with Noah until I was six and he left to go to art college, and then with Clio, my younger sister. I have mixed feelings about the place. I had a happy enough childhood, but I was a troublesome teenager, and I wince now to think about some of the things I did and said.
Through it all, my parents supported me—they never once turned their backs on me. For that I’m thankful, and as I walk through the house and into my father’s studio, I feel a surge of affection at the sight of him sitting at his desk, drawing, the sunlight streaming through the large windows. His short silver hair shines in the light.
“Leon!” He stands with a smile and comes over, and we have a manly hug. “Good to see you, son,” he murmurs.
I swallow down a swell of emotion and move back to look down at the drawings. “Is this the new series?”
He moves a couple of sheets of paper around to show me the work in progress. “Yeah. The first book should be finished next week.”
After his success with his Ward Seven children’s stories about a group of toys that live in a hospital, Dad’s had several bestselling series. He wrote and drew a long series of graphic novels about a kid called Rory, as well as numerous other illustrated children’s books. I have a copy of all of them on my shelves at home. This year, though, he’s been working on a series called Two by Two. It’s about a group of animals who live on a fictional island, and one of them has a vision of a flood that’s going to destroy the island. So the animals all gang together to build a submarine to keep them safe. The stories are about the adventures they get up to on the sub. At the back he’s going to write about our animal sanctuary, and he’s donating a percentage of the royalties to the Ark.
“They’re amazing,” I tell him, smiling at the detailed drawings of the fox and his friends.
“Thanks.” He claps me on the back. “Want a drink?”
“Mom’s making me a coffee.”
“Cool. Come out on the deck.”
I follow him outside, and we take a seat under the umbrella. The view of the bay is breathtaking. The Pacific is a brilliant blue today, full of boats heading to and from Paihia. A cruise ship sits out to sea—the Waitangi Treaty Grounds will be busy today, and so will the souvenir shops and cafés in the town.
Mom comes out with the coffees, and she sits beside Dad. The two of them exchange a glance.
“So,” she says. “What brings you over here in the middle of the day?”
I sip my coffee. “Clio seems to be doing well.” My sister’s in the process of qualifying as a vet, and she’s been training under Hal, Izzy, Summer, and Stefan, getting her clinic hours before she takes her final exams. “I think she’s excited about the thought of having her own room at the Ark.”
When we expanded the veterinary center, we had a couple of dedicated surgery rooms built, as well as several more rooms for the vets, and Clio will inherit one of those once she’s qualified.
“She’s very excited about it,” Mom says. “Understandably so. You’ve all been very gracious in including her with your plans.”
“Of course,” I reply. “There’s room for everyone at the Ark.”
Dad smiles. “Seen Noah this week?”
“I caught up with him last Thursday after the PM’s visit. I’ll see him again tomorrow afternoon for my weekly catch up.”
They both nod, pleased. It’s tough for them to know that Noah lives on his own, practically a recluse. His father—Mom’s first husband—took his own life, and Noah struggled to deal with that. As he entered his teens, Dad took him under his wing, and Noah came around, went to art college, and became a painter of murals, earning a reputation for himself in the Northland and gaining lots of commissions. He met and married Lisa, who was a lovely girl, always smiling, I liked her a lot. When she became pregnant with their first child, everyone was thrilled. But she developed preeclampsia toward the end of the pregnancy. The baby was stillborn, and they couldn’t stop Lisa bleeding, and she died. That was ten years ago.
For five years, he mourned her, and then one day he called me to say he’d had the idea of creating an animal sanctuary, and what did I think? I was close to getting my degree in Business and Finance, and the notion of using it to help run a charity foundation appealed to me. In the end, Noah approached all his cousins, and every one of them had an input in the venture in one capacity or another. Hal and Summer—one of our step-cousins—graduated as vets and set up the veterinary center with Stefan, an old friend of ours. Albie graduated in Information Sciences, and he looks after all the technology. Even Ryan—Hal’s adopted brother—joined us last year. Another tech whizz, he developed an app called PetForever for the Ark that helps rescue animals find new forever homes, and he now runs the re-homing department.
Noah’s proud of his achievement. He loves the Ark with all his heart, and for a while we all thought it was going to bring him out of his shell. But over the last couple of years, he’s retreated more and more, and now he barely leaves his house.
Mom and Dad have found it really hard knowing Noah is in such pain. They do all they can to help, but he’s a grown man now, in his forties, and if he wants to live the rest of his life alone, there’s little they can do to make him rejoin society.
“And what about you?” Mom asks. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to talk about everyone else.”
Shame tugs at me—I’m so busy that I don’t see my parents from one month to the next, even though they only live half an hour’s drive away. I should make more time for them. They’ve been very good to me, when many other parents would have rolled their eyes and abandoned their wayward son to his own devices.
“I’ve got a problem,” I begin. “Well, more than one. For a start, I hit Albie.” I haven’t spoken to him since it happened, and it’s bothering me.
My father’s eyebrows rise, and my mother stares at me. “What?” they both say.
I blow out a breath. “He was setting me up. He was doing it on purpose—he and Hal had some kind of plan, but it backfired, and I thought he was serious, and… well, I punched him. He’s okay. I apologized.” Kind of. I sent him a text that said sorry. I haven’t spoken to him yet. I’m still angry with him and Hal.
“Okay,” Dad says. “You’re going to need to rewind a bit. Start at the beginning.”
So I tell them about Nicola’s accident, and about Hal and Albie’s attempt to provoke me into being jealous.
“It worked, then,” Dad says.
I huff a sigh. “I guess.”
“I can’t believe you hit him,” Mom tells me softly. “Poor Albie.”
“He’s such his father’s son,” Dad replies. “That’s exactly what Charlie would have done—taken it too far. What an idiot.”
“He meant well,” I say, realizing I’m now defending him. I sit forward, my elbows on my knees, and exhale slowly as I study the wooden planks of the deck.
“I think you’ve missed out the most important part of the story,” Mom says. “How do you feel about Nix?”
I sigh. “Well, that’s the other problem. You know I went down to see the PM…”
“Yeah, how did that go?”
“Brilliant. While we were down there, Nicola and I hooked up.”
Mom looks delighted, and Dad grins.
“You needn’t look so thrilled,” I grumble.
“So… you’re dating?” Mom asks.
“We haven’t got that far.” I feel a surge of helplessness. “She knows I can’t have a relationship with someone I work with. She’s talking about leaving the Ark. I feel bad about that, because she loves her job.
And I’ll feel even worse if she leaves and then we don’t work out. We might not be suited. Her leaving is a big risk to take if she gets tired of me after a few dates.”
“Or you get tired of her,” Mom says.
“Well, that wouldn’t happen, but absolutely she might have enough of me. I’m not an easy person to live with.”
“Aw.” Mom reaches out a hand and cups my cheek. “You’ve never been the devil you think you are, honey.”
“I think we all know that’s not true.”
“Sweetheart, you’re hardly the first boy to struggle at some point while growing up. Look at Noah. He was terrible trouble until I met your father, and even then it took him a few years to turn it around. And your father himself—he was hardly an angel.”
“It’s true,” Dad says. “I was a right pain in the arse.”
“Some things don’t change,” Mum replies, and he shoots her the sort of look I give Nicola when she teases me.
I sigh. “We can’t have an affair. It would be so hypocritical after me coming down hard on others for doing the same.”
Dad tips his head to the side, studying me. “Equally, is it wise to pass up on the chance of happiness because you’re worried about your reputation?”
“There’s more to it than that, Dad.”
“Yeah, I know. You’re scared of making the same mistake again. That’s understandable, but you’ve never been a coward, son. Last time the circumstances were completely different. You can’t use that as an excuse not to take a chance. We know Nix—she isn’t Angela.”
That’s exactly what Hal said. I want to yell at Dad that I’m not scared, but deep down I know he’s right. I’m terrified. Am I going to let my fear stop me from finding love?
I look out to sea. You can see the Ark from here, way off in the distance, sitting on the promontory on the other side of the bay. “It’s taken me a long time to put everything that happened behind me, and this… whatever it is with Nicola makes me feel uncomfortable, as if I haven’t learned anything in all those years.”
My Boss, the Billionaire (The Billionaire Kings Book 2) Page 17
