It all feels so easy, after the high tension that always seemed to surround my life with Samantha. Clio’s so low-maintenance, so easy to live with. She’s happy to spend the evening walking on the beach, or watching a movie together, sitting reading out on the deck, or occasionally working on her laptop up at the kitchen table while I work on some ideas in the living room. We’re not glued at the hip, but equally she’s content to be close to me, and I love having her around.
And the sex… the sex is magnificent. Sizzling hot, and lots of it. I’m in seventh heaven. I’ve never felt this wanted, this needed. It only takes that two weeks; only fourteen days—and in fact I think it happened somewhere in the South Island but I try to tell myself to slow down before I come to any conclusions—but there’s no doubt that by the time the two weeks is up, I’m in love with her too.
We haven’t really talked about the future. We’ve concentrated on the present, on making the most of the here and now, and we’ve both been happy with that.
But of course, we can’t put it off forever. And when I get a call from Noah on Friday, asking me if I’d mind coming up to his house for a meeting, I have a feeling I know what it’s about.
To my surprise, just as I’m about to leave, Clio pops her head into the rehoming center and says, “Are you going up to Noah’s?”
I pick up my phone and slide it into my pocket, nod at Jesse, the assistant we’ve recently hired to help me out, and go over to Clio. “Yeah, he called me and asked me to come up.”
“Me too,” she says.
I stare at her. “Oh. Do you know why?”
“Nope. He let it slip that he’d called you as well.”
We go out of the main block and into the warm early December afternoon. It’s a little cloudy today, and the Pacific is a deep blue, topped with white from the winds far out to sea. The breeze whips strands of Clio’s hair around her face and makes my shirt snap where it’s hanging over my jeans.
We hold hands as we walk up the path past the pasture that houses a couple of sheep found wandering along the state highway—the farmer’s picking them up later today. They chew contentedly at the long grass. Daisies and buttercups cluster near the fence. A rabbit sprints across the lane in front of us and disappears into a clump of bushes by the oak tree.
“Why do you think Noah wants to see us?” Clio asks.
“Maybe he’s heard something from the Ministry.”
“Have they contacted you?”
“No,” I admit. I’ve been expecting their call after my presentation, which went really well.
Her fingers thread through mine, but I can feel a touch of tension in her. “Have you decided what you’ll say?” she asks. “If they do offer you a full-time job down there?”
“No. I’ve had other things on my mind.”
She looks up at me then, and I smile, trying to reassure her. She smiles back, but I know it’s still between us, the pachyderm in the room. Of course it is. At some point we’re going to have to work out what we’re doing, where we’re going. I passed her laptop the other day and saw on the screen an advert for a zoo veterinarian. I’m not sure where it was, and I didn’t want to ask because I didn’t want to seem as if I was snooping, and she didn’t mention it to me. She’s obviously still considering her options, though.
We cross the gravel drive and go up to Noah’s front door. It opens as we approach, and there he is, smiling and welcoming us in. He kisses Clio on the cheek and shakes my hand, and we walk through to the living room. Abby’s in the kitchen, getting some muffins out of the oven, Ethan sitting beside her in his carry chair that locks into the pushchair, facing her so he can see what she’s doing. She waves. “Hey you two. I’ll bring you through a coffee and a muffin in a minute.”
Noah leads us out to the conservatory, and we sit beside each other, fussing over Spike and Willow, the German Shepherds. I feel oddly nervous, unsure why I’m here. The last two weeks have been blissful, and I don’t really want to face the future or to have to make decisions.
“How are you two doing?” Noah asks with a smile.
“Good,” Clio says.
“Fine,” I tell him.
“I’m nervous,” she adds. “Like I’ve been summoned by the Wizard of Oz.”
He snorts. “That’s the first time I’ve been called that.” He bends to ruffle Spike’s ears as he studies us. His eyes are astute—what’s going through his mind?
“How are you settling in?” he asks Clio. “Are you enjoying having your own clinic room?”
“It’s fabulous,” she says honestly. “More than I could ever have hoped for. I hope you know how grateful I am, Noah, for being given a position here.”
“There will always be a place for the two of you, no matter what you decide to do,” he says. “I built this Ark for the Kings and their friends, as well as for the animals.”
Abby comes in carrying a tray with mugs of coffee and a plate of muffins. As we help ourselves, she returns to retrieve Ethan, then joins us, sitting next to Noah. It’s unusual for her, as she normally leaves Noah when he’s doing business. I smile at Ethan, sitting on her lap, who’s over four months old and a right little character. She hands him a colorful toy caterpillar that rustles. He immediately tries to eat it.
“I guess you’re wondering why I asked you here,” Noah says. “I hope you know that the last thing I want to do is interfere in your lives.”
“God forbid,” Abby says, sipping her tea.
He gives her an amused look. “I like to help. I hope I don’t interfere.”
She winks at him. “Of course you don’t.” He reaches out and squeezes her hand.
“Anyway,” he says, “I’ve been talking to Leon and Hal.”
Clio and I exchange a glance. Neither of us knew anything about this.
“Leon heard about your possible job offer from Tama Herewini,” Noah says to me. “And Hal told me that you would have liked to have worked in a zoo.” He looks at Clio.
“Oh,” she says, and blushes. “Well, mmm…”
“I don’t know what the two of you have planned,” Noah says. “But Hal pointed out that a job has come up for a veterinarian at Wellington Zoo.”
I glance at Clio, whose eyes meet mine. “Yeah…” she says slowly.
“Leon and Hal don’t want to lose you,” Noah says. “And neither do I. We’re all thrilled at the success of the rehoming center, and we know that’s completely down to your app, Ryan, and the hours you’ve put in to the center to make it a pleasant place for people to visit. Also,” and he looks at Clio, “Stefan told me you’re the best trainee he’s ever had, and he and Hal are desperate to keep you as part of the team.”
Clio’s jaw drops.
“Equally,” Noah continues, “we don’t want to hold you back if you’re both desperate to move on.”
“We’re not desperate,” I say softly. “I’m not, anyway.”
“And neither am I,” Clio adds.
“It’s just that there are other opportunities,” I continue, “and it’s difficult to know which path to take, sometimes.”
“Of course.” Noah leans back in his seat and sips his coffee. “So I have a suggestion for you. It might not be feasible, or it might involve too much traveling and be too tiring… you’ll have to think about it carefully. But I was going to suggest a part-time option. Half the week in Wellington—Ryan at the Beehive, Clio, you at the zoo. And three or four days here at the Ark.”
We both stare at him. Then we look at each other. Then back at him.
“I don’t know if Tama would go for that,” I state, because I can’t think of anything else to say.
“And I can’t imagine the zoo would want a part-time vet,” Clio says.
For the first time, Noah looks embarrassed. “Well, I hope you don’t mind, but I contacted Tama and the zoo and put the suggestion forward. And they’ve both agreed to consider it, if it was what you wanted, and if you passed the interview, Clio, obviously.”
I
meet Noah’s eyes. I know him well enough to understand that he would have offered a substantial donation for that privilege.
He gives a tiny, unapologetic shrug. “As I said, we don’t want to lose you.”
“You naughty boy,” Clio says. “How big was your donation?” So she gets it, too.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replies. “Look, if one or both of you decides to take the full-time job, of course we’ll support you all the way. But I just wanted to put the option forward, to give you the best chance.”
And that’s when I understand; this isn’t about the jobs. Noah wants to do his best to make sure the two of us stay together.
“Thank you, Mr. Cupid,” I say softly, and Abby laughs.
He gives a bashful grin. “You can’t blame me for trying.”
“Aw,” Clio says, covering her mouth. “You’re so sweet to us all, Noah.”
“I am,” he admits, choosing a muffin. “It’s a failing. I don’t know how Abby puts up with me.”
We all laugh, and then he changes the subject and starts talking about the Black Caps’ cricket match that’s on tomorrow, and the conversation moves on. We finish our coffee and muffins, promise to think about his offer, and then say goodbye and head out of the house.
Outside, the wind has died down a little, and the sun is hot on our skin.
“I can’t believe we’re going to be in the snow soon,” she says, reminding me that we’re off to the Arctic Circle soon. “That’s going to be such an adventure.”
“It’ll be very romantic,” I tell her, putting my arm around her shoulders.
She looks up at me, as we walk slowly along the path. I can smell summer—salt from the sea, mingled with the aroma from the flowers growing by the fence. We stop under the shade of the oak tree and lean on the gate.
“What do you think?” I ask her.
“He wants us to stay together,” she says.
“Yeah, I know.”
“He’s a sweetie.”
“He is. Heart of gold.”
She clears her throat. “We’ve sort of been ignoring it, haven’t we? The decision, I mean.”
“Yeah.”
“I suppose we should put our careers first,” she says.
I nod. “We probably should.” I pick at a piece of wood on the fence and decide I need to be honest. “Except I don’t want to.”
She looks up at me, and I turn and lean on the gate, looking into her eyes. “You’re more important to me than the job,” I say honestly. “When I think about the future, all I know is that I want it to involve you. I don’t care what I do. Where I go. I just want you by my side.”
Her face lights up, and she lifts her hands to cup my face. “You’re sure?” she whispers. “It’s only been two weeks.”
“I don’t care. I’m already more in love with you than I ever was with Samantha.”
Her eyes fill with wonder. “Do you mean that?”
“I do. I wanted my marriage to work, because I didn’t want it to fail, if that makes sense. But it was never going to, because I didn’t realize it at the time, but there wasn’t a spark between us. It was like an arranged marriage—it just happened, one step after another, because we didn’t know any different. But there was no passion, no zing. And I know we’ve only been together two weeks, but there’s so much zing between us, it’s amazing…”
She laughs and kisses me, and I wrap my arms around her and kiss her back. We stand there like that for a long time, in the warm spring air, lit by the dappled light coming through the leaves, kissing, my mouth moving across hers slowly.
A loud “Baaa!” makes us jump and break apart, and we look down at the sheep that’s appeared in front of the fence and laugh.
“So what do you think of Noah’s idea?” she asks, leaning on the fence. “Do you think it could work?”
For the first time, I consider the idea of going to Wellington three days a week and working on my app for child adoption, and I feel a rush of excitement. “I like the idea,” I tell her.
She nods, and her eyes light up. “Me, too. To get to work in a zoo for a while, and also to work here? It’s like a dream come true!”
We study each other for a moment, realization sinking in. “Shall we do it?” I ask. “Travel together, get an apartment down there? Spend half the week there, half the week here?”
“I think it would be fun,” she says. “Maybe we should trial it for six months or something, until you’ve finished the app, and then see how we’re feeling. I’m not sure it would work long term—eventually it would get tiring, all that traveling. But at least we’d be together. And we can make the decision then about which way we want to go.”
“Okay.” I turn to face her again. “We’ll do it.” I hold out a hand.
She puts hers into it, and I close my fingers around hers.
“Six months,” I say. “And then you know we’re going to have to have a conversation about marriage and kids.”
Her eyes widen. “I suppose.”
“It’s coming, is all I’m saying. I don’t want to you rush you. But I’m an old man, and I can’t wait forever.”
I need her to know that my statement about not wanting to get married again isn’t going to hold, not now I’ve met her. I need her to know it’s on the cards, and that if we stay together, I definitely want it to happen.
Tears glimmer in her eyes, but she doesn’t let them fall. “All right, old man,” she whispers. “Six months, then we’ll talk.”
With the sheep looking on, I kiss Clio again. I can’t see into the future. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that when six months has passed, I’ll be kissing her in front of the altar, with all our family watching, as I slide a ring onto her finger.
Some things are just meant to be.
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My Christmas Billionaire
Pre-order My Christmas Billionaire (Book 7) – Jules and Stefan’s story – or join the Kiwi Birds to be informed when it’s out!
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Author’s Note
Larnach Castle in Dunedin is a real place! If you’re ever down in that part of the world, please do go and visit it. It’s a beautiful castle with gorgeous grounds, and very worth a visit!
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Another note
If you’ve read other stories of mine, you’ll know by now that I like to introduce previous characters in future books. If you’re interested in reading about Kit Fawkes, who does the firework display for Leon & Nix at the wedding, he’s the star of Mr. Insatiable, Book 5 of my standalone series.
Mr. Insatiable (Serenity’s Standalones, Book 5)
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Join the Kiwi Birds!
Join my Kiwi Birds community and you’ll be able to download my free starter library! This includes a short story about how Summer met Zach at her school ball when she was eighteen – join and you can read it today!
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Other Series by Serenity Woods
For an up-to-date list of available books, please visit the Books page on my website.
Bay of Islands Brides
Between the Sheets
Blue Penguin Bay
Christmas Wishes
Dartmoor Big Cat Brides
Heartfelt
Like a Boss
Love Comes Later
Sensual Healing
Serenity’s Standalones
The Billionaire Kings
The Four Seasons
Three Wise Men
Treats to Tempt You
Collections
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About the Author
Serenity Woods lives in the sub-tropical Northland of New Zealand with her wonderful husband and gorgeous son. She writes hot and sultry contemporary romances with a happy ever after, and would much rather immerse herself in reading or writing romance than do the dusting and ironing, which is why it’s not a great idea to pop round if you have any allergies.
Website: http://www.serenitywoodsromance.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/serenitywoodsromance
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Serenity_Woods
My Wicked Billionaire (The Billionaire Kings Book 6) Page 19
