‘Renovations.’ I frowned, turning to Lydia, who wore that sly, mischievous smile she’d had when she’d dragged me skinny-dipping in Glencoe.
I mean, I had no complaints about how that turned out.
‘Niall has agreed to invest in the farm,’ Lydia said, practically glowing.‘He said he owed me after everything that happened—’
‘Didn’t expect it to be this expensive a favour,’ Niall added dryly, hands up when Lydia shot him a look.
‘I called him after our chat last night, because after what you said, well, I couldn’t get it out of my head.Bethan had mentioned something about me opening a gym here and I guess it was just… lying dormant.Then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.So I called Niall and he agreed to come and see the site, but only if I could meet him here early this morning.’
Niall checked his watch.‘Speaking of – I need to go to the airport.The wife is going to kill me if I’m not back in Dublin by this evening.That’s my cab.’
He angled his head towards the black cab pulling up.Then he reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a bright red binder, handing it to Lydia, who tucked it into her side.
My red binder.How—
I didn’t have time to ask.Niall extended a hand to Lydia, who shook it firmly.‘We’ll chat next week, talk numbers.’
Lydia’s smile faltered.I squeezed her hand.‘We’ll be there.Both of us.’
Niall smiled.‘Good.Let’s make this happen.’
Once Niall had climbed into the cab, I turned to Lydia slowly.‘What – what just happened?’
Lydia gave me a sly smile.‘We just bought a farm, baby.’
Emotions surged in my body, ramming against each other – shock, gratitude, excitement.A healthy dose of fear about the challenge we were about to face.Lydia had just secured us a whole bloody farm.A farm she was planning on being a part of.I couldn’t believe it.
All I could say, mouth agape, was, ‘I’ve been working on this for six months, and it takes you one phone call and you’ve got an investor in twenty-four hours?’
‘More like six, actually,’ she teased, running a hand through my hair and tugging me closer by the roots.
‘Overachiever,’ I murmured against her lips before kissing her, softly but deeply.‘But don’t leave my bed like that again, Sunshine.’
‘Pot, kettle,’ she snorted.
‘Oh, so it’s like that is it?I thought you’d forgiven me.Was this all some perverted revenge?’
She giggled.‘No, but I’ll show you perverted later.’
‘That better be a promise.’ I lean into her ear.‘Looking forward to showing you exactly the reason you should never leave my bed again, Lydia.’
She shivered, eyes dark with heat, and I couldn’t wait to make good on that particular promise.But then I saw it.
That damn red binder.
I tapped it.‘How did you find it?I chucked it out.’
‘I gave it to her.’
A deep voice cut through the air behind me, and I turned to find Liam and Kat crossing the courtyard.Peggy was barely held back from excitement, her front legs running towards me, as Liam tried to keep her under control.Eventually, he just let her go and I crouched down, letting her jump up and lick my face.
‘Hey, girlie,’ I murmured into her fur.‘Did you miss me?I think you missed me.’
Kat chuckled.‘Is any bond stronger than a man and the dog they didn’t want?Hey, Cuz.’
She pulled Lydia in for a hug.Their height difference meant Kat’s head tucked perfectly under Lydia’s chin.
‘Ren,’ Liam said, pulling me into a back-slapping hug.‘So we’re doing this huh?’
