“Cheers, mate!” River turned, a beaming smile splitting his face, and looked around for a chair. I followed his gaze, noticing that in the time since we’d sat down, the café had filled to virtually bursting. And of course, all eyes were on us because River Riley was chatting with us like he was our mate.
My breath caught in my chest, beads of moisture prickling at theback of my neck. I’d been so wrapped up in Henry that I’d completely forgotten we were in public, which meant that we had roles to play. I dragged my mind back over our conversation, hoping I’d said nothing incriminating. I had talked about my past, but newlyweds did that … didn’t they? Should he have already known about my Olympic dream debacle? What if TechRaker, who seemed to be everywhere we were, had someone in the café, listening? What if it was splashed all over their website tomorrow?
I forced myself to breathe, schooled my face into a pleasant smile. If anyone had overheard anything, the last thing I needed was to look suspicious and sweaty.
Stop being so moist, pores!
“There don’t seem to be any chairs,” River remarked thoughtfully. “I can just kneel, that’s okay.” He started to lower himself to the ground when Henry interrupted.
“Take Ri’s chair—she’ll sit here with me.” He pushed his chair back and patted his lap. Was that a tiny smirk tickling his lips?
My stomach fizzled as I scraped my own chair out from under the table and squeezed past River. Had there really been so little space between tables when we’d come in? I perched myself on Henry’s knees, just as his palms slid around my waist and settled me right back against him. My backside was nestled right against his junk, and his hands were warm against my belly, holding me firmly but gently in place.
O Doamne, he smelt incredible. Henry wasn’t the type of man to drown himself in overpowering cologne. He smelled like clean laundry and herbal shampoo, and I salivated at the thought of just devouring him, sinking my teeth into his warm skin and just…
“Have you had enough time to go over the proposal I sent you for Staghorn?” River asked, launching straight into business and thankfully snapping me out of the horny haze Henry’s intoxicating scent had been sending me into.
“I have.” His voice rumbled in his chest, and I felt the vibrations through my back. “I can see the merit in everything you’re proposing, but quite frankly, I’m daunted by the task. It’s completely outside of my wheelhouse.”
River sighed, running a hand through his sandy hair. “Itisdaunting. It’s a bigger task than anything I’ve ever worked on before. But I’mdetermined not to let the rainforest get turned into a concrete casino at the hands of those bastards at The Bacchanal. I’m all in on project managing the entire redevelopment process, and once it’s ready to trade, then we—you—would outsource that to a general manager, with you still sitting as head of the company.”
“Wewould outsource it,” Henry corrected. “I might be fronting the capital, but you’re putting your manpower, your skillset and your time into it. We would be partners.”
River’s face brightened. “Are you saying that you?—”
“I haven’t made a final decision yet,” Henry added. “I need to get the go ahead from the most important stakeholder, first.”
I wrinkled my nose. Was he planning to bring Atlas in on this deal?
“Ri?” Henry prompted, his fingers tapping on my belly, the sensation sending a zing of heat pooling in my abdomen.
“What?” I blurted.
Henry chuckled against my back. “Do you think we should buy an island?”
I swivelled on his lap to look him in the eye, certain he must be joking. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “I won’t make a decision like this without involving my wife. I want to know what you think. Is this a good way to invest our money?”
I clenched my jaw to stop my mouth from falling open in shock. What was he talking about? I had absolutely no say over his probably multiple millions of liquid assets, let alone all the rest!
“I … uh …” I thought fast. A real wife wouldn’t gawk like an idiot when her husband asked her questions about their finances. But thiswasn’tour money. What if I said do it, and it was a disaster, and then in two years I walked away?‘Thanks, Henry, for the permanent residency, hope you enjoy bankruptcy!’
But he was smarter than that. If he wasn’t sure on the numbers already, he wouldn’t have asked me. I glanced up at his face and the soft expectancy in his expression as he met my gaze melted me.
“It does have sentimental value to us,” I murmured, finding his hand and fingering his wedding ring. “I’d much rather it become a place we can revisit every year on our anniversary, and enjoy the beauty and the serenity, than see it paved over for high stakes cardgames, and ridiculously named cocktails, and American-style all-you-can-eat buffets, and retirees zombied-out on the pokie machines.”
Henry’s eyes darkened, and I remembered that he’d said his father was a gambling addict.
“Promise me we’ll go back every year, on our wedding anniversary, and I’ll make this deal right now. Just so I can stand on that beach every single year and remind myself how much I adore you,” he muttered against my ear.
My throat closed over with emotion, and I blinked frantically. I wasn’t going to cry, because this was all for show.
But what a show he was putting on!
“I think we just bought ourselves an island,” I whispered raggedly, and before I could think twice, I brushed a soft kiss to his lips. He hummed against my mouth, his fingers tightening on my belly.
When he pulled back, his eyes were a deep, rainforest green, his pupils blown.
