Chapter Ten #2
The first part of Apollo’s surprise turned out to be the arrival of Jem the following morning, much to the excitement of Luca, who immediately began pulling his nanny by the hand and forcing her to take a grand tour of the villa, the pool and his favourite treasure burial spots on the beach.
Apollo had been vague in his instructions: a car would pick Astrid up at noon, and she should pack a change of clothing and a bathing suit.
As she retreated to her room to obey his orders, she fretted over whether or not Luca would be upset at her leaving.
It had been a long time since she had taken this length of time off work in one go.
Even now, she hadn’t been able to avoid the urge to keep checking in on her emails, which evidently Apollo had noticed.
Switching off from work usually meant throwing herself into caring for Luca, but with Apollo there to take up half the parenting duties, she’d felt rather…
adrift. Perhaps she’d grown used to using busyness and productivity to avoid being left alone with her own feelings.
She knew that her team was competent and, and as Tristan had advised her, she was far too close to this particular storm to be of any help.
Plus, a large part of her was relieved to be hidden here in Apollo’s little slice of paradise, far away from the chaos back home.
She knew that opening herself up to all the commentary and opinions that were likely swarming the media right now would only harm her self-esteem and make it harder for her to return to work when the time came.
She would have to brave the fallout eventually, but for now… she would enjoy the reprieve.
It turned out she needn’t have worried about Luca’s separation anxiety at all, for her young son only ran to her for a quick hug when she prompted him, before hurriedly running back to continue a game of draughts with his grandmama.
Jem had been starstruck by the sight of Leona Hart all morning, much to Astrid’s amusement, and the trio had practically shooed her out the door at noon to whatever mystery location to which Apollo had arranged for her to go for the day.
She had thought Apollo would accompany her and had tried not to show her confusion at breakfast when he’d announced that he had a day of meetings planned before a surprise karting lesson for Jem and Luca in the afternoon.
But, as she made her way down to the limo, she felt her stomach swoop when he came striding around the far side of the villa, his hair wet from swimming and his shirt open to the waist.
‘Good, you haven’t left yet.’
‘Have you decided to come with me after all?’ she said, feeling mildly guilty at the pleasure that thought gave her.
‘Luca wouldn’t be too happy if I ruined his opportunity to beat Jem on the track.’ He smirked. ‘Besides, I told you this gift is for you alone, Astrid. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be much of a selfless act, would it?’
‘It’s not my birthday.’ She chewed her bottom lip, trying to hide her unease.
A warm hand tucked beneath her chin, tipping her face back up to look at him. ‘It doesn’t have to be an occasion for me to want to spoil you. Today, you’re following my orders.’
His husky words made gooseflesh spread along her skin. She inhaled a breath, his scent filling her lungs. ‘You sound way too satisfied at that prospect.’
‘You have no idea,’ he murmured close to her ear. ‘You’ll be joining me later, for dinner.’
‘Just us?’
‘Just us,’ he confirmed.
Her heart fluttered in her chest. She had always heard that Apollo was a smooth talker with the ladies, but this…this felt far more intimate than his playful flirtations of the past. His eyes met hers without hesitation, his hands reaching forward to smooth a path up her bare arms.
‘Just to be clear, by “dinner” I mean a proper date.’ He leaned forward a bare inch before pulling back. ‘You promised me one of those a long time ago. I intend to collect on that debt.’
‘As I recall, I only promised you one drink,’ she pointed out, feeling the heat of his attention on her like a brand.
‘Consider this nearly eight years’ interest.’ His eyes held a trace of mirth before he seemed to sober. ‘Your gift today is given without strings or expectations; I need you to know that. But I’d be lying if I said that my plans were completely innocent.’
‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping they weren’t,’ she whispered.
His gaze darkened, the pad of his thumb smoothing along the delicate skin of her wrists and making her shiver.
No words passed between them, but they didn’t need to.
The sinful smile that spread across his lips was more than enough to convey exactly what he intended…
and she knew without a doubt that this time she would accept.
She would turn off her risk-averse brain for one day and accept this gift for what it was.
She had spent the past weeks thinking herself into knots, wanting him so badly but not letting herself risk their fragile new co-parenting relationship. She was tired of fighting herself.
‘I’ll pick you up at five,’ he said simply, before taking a full step back and tucking his hands into his pockets, as though willing them to stay where they were. ‘I’ll be checking in to make sure you’re obeying the rules.’