“Of course he is,” her husband replied, “there’s no way I’d have put us all at the mercy of someone who didn’t know what they were doing. I’d have hired someone else to pilot the yacht, first. But Arjun dropped the bombshell on me that he did know what he was doing, and it was the perfect solution to ensuring we retained the kind of privacy we’ve been enjoying ever since we got here. Poor bloke’s definitely earned himself a rest for tomorrow. He’s been on duty all day.” His dimples appeared again. “Though it seems he still managed to summon enough energy to make love to you up in the cockpit, Mia. You were rather, erm, vocal.”
“What happened to not winding me up?” She stared at him, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “You’ve barely lasted two minutes. And there’s a joke in there somewhere, too, if you care to find it.”
Elias chuckled and lazily shrugged one shoulder. “That wasn’t a wind up. That was stating a fact.”
Realising he was right, she scowled. “Humph. I’ll let you have that one for free. But this surprise had better be good.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” he said smoothly, a self-confident grin spreading across his handsome face, which had already tanned considerably in their days on the island, “it is.”
***
“Mmm,” Mia hummed, her eyes closed and her head tilted into the breeze as it whizzed across her face and through her hair, cooling her, “what a fabulous day it’s been.” She opened her eyes to look across at Arjun, who was busy flipping switches and checking both their darkening surroundings and his screens as they drew closer to their temporary island home.
“It has,” he said, giving her a brief glance and smile before returning his concentration to the yacht’s controls, “I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it. I have, too.”
As she watched him adeptly steering the craft towards the pier, she wondered if she could take advantage of his distraction to find out what her final surprise was. But as soon as she’d had the thought, she banished it. No, it wasn’t fair on Arjun, and it wasn’t fair on all of the guys, who’d worked so hard to plan the multiple surprises for her in the first place. Not to mention it was distinctly control freak-like behaviour. She shook her head, then looked at the clock on the yacht’s control panel. It was almost 7.15 p.m.—only a few hours left of her birthday, so she wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out what it was, in any case.
She stepped up behind Arjun and slipped her arms around his waist, then rested the side of her face on his back. Like her, he’d dressed again after their earlier encounter, but she could still feel the heat of his body through the cotton of his T-shirt. And as she drew in a breath, the scent of washing detergent and a fainter one of that delicious spicy shower gel he’d used titillated her sense of smell. Comfort and spice all at once—that seemed like a fair representation of the man. She smiled against his back and gave him a squeeze.
“You all right back there?” he said, a distinct tone of amusement ringing through his voice.
“I’m fine, Arjun. Perfect, in fact. Just like today.”
“Glad to hear it, on both counts. Hold on now, we’re about to dock. Might be a little bump as we touch the pier.”
Incredibly happy about having an excuse to hug him for longer, Mia stayed where she was, barely resisting the temptation to slip her hands beneath his T-shirt and run them over his ridged abdomen. She didn’t think he’d appreciate any further distraction while he was trying to dock the boat. Crashing or damaging it would put a serious downer on everyone’s day, and that was the last thing she wanted.
She behaved herself right up until she felt all the tension drop from Arjun’s body as if at the flip of a switch, and he said, “Well, that’s it then. A successful day’s sailing.”
“It certainly was,” she replied, giving in to the previous temptation and closing her eyes as she enjoyed the feel of his warm, hard body beneath her fingers.
“Hey, you!” Arjun grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from him, then let go and turned and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides. “Enough of that, you little minx. We should, er…” He glanced over at the steps down to the lower deck, as though expecting to see something or someone there. Perhaps there was—she’d been so focussed on Arjun that someone could have sneaked up them without her noticing. He snapped his attention back to her. “Go and find the others, and disembark, I suppose,” he said brightly, adding a beaming smile for good measure.
Not believing him for a moment, she narrowed her eyes. “Yeah… I suppose we should.” She jerked her chin towards the control panel. “Need to do anything else before we leave? Oh, and we should grab that cool box.”
“No, everything’s sorted.” He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, released her, then bent to retrieve the cool box from where they’d stashed it back under the seating. They’d had a much-needed drink of cold water after making love earlier, but hadn’t touched any of the food. A fact Mia was now lamenting somewhat as her stomach rumbled in protest. It seemed an awfully long time since they’d eaten lunch.
She smiled, then turned and headed for the steps before walking down them carefully.
No sooner had she put her feet flat on the deck than large figures loomed either side of her, and a blindfold was draped over her eyes once more. “Bloody hell,” she said, clutching at her chest, her heart racing. “You made me jump! Where are you buggers taking me this time?”
“Not far, darling,” came Elias’s voice from her left side. “Not far at all. Watch your step.”
To her surprise and confusion, Elias and whoever was on her right side weren’t leading her towards the side of the boat in order to disembark, but towards the kitchen-diner, if her senses were informing her correctly. A few moments later, she was urged to a stop, then someone’s fingers undid the blindfold and slipped it from her face.
This time, with no sunlight to adjust to, Mia blinked just a couple of times to bring everything into focus. The kitchen and dining area were set out much as they’d been for breakfast and lunch, but with one crucial difference.
Decorations. Banners, bunting, streamers, balloons… the guys had apparently bought the contents of a greetings card shop and adorned the yacht’s kitchen with it.
She clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes welling. How on earth had they managed to keep all this under wraps? And where did they get the decorations in the first place? That stuff couldn’t be too easy to get hold of in this part of the world. Maybe they’d brought it with them. Gulping hard, she put her hands down and said, her voice quavering, “Okay, guys, you did it. Well done. I didn’t think you could possibly top what you’d already done for me today, but you’ve managed it.”
“Well,” Alex began, then snapped his mouth closed at a glare from Elias. He cleared his throat. “Well, gorgeous, why don’t you take a seat?” He stepped over to the breakfast bar and pulled out a stool. She moved up beside him and allowed him to help her into it with a grateful smile.
It was only as she got herself comfortable, then continued to take in the brightly-coloured, glittery adornments the guys must have put up once they’d banished her back to the top deck and Arjun, that her sense of smell kicked in. Mmm, food. Is that…?
She took her attention off the ceiling to see Thomas, Arjun, and Alex had taken places around the table and were staring expectantly in Elias’s direction. He was by the oven. He’d opened it up and was currently drawing out two loaded plates—one in each hand. “Careful,” he said as he turned and approached the table, “they’re hot.”
As he arrived, Mia realised her sense of smell had been absolutely correct. Apparently one of her favourite meals was on the menu this evening. She grinned as her husband placed a plate in front of her. “Thank you, Elias, this looks amazing. Smells delicious, too. Steak, chips, mushrooms, tomatoes… I’m on the verge of drooling here.”
“Don’t drool,” he said, stepping around her to put the meal in his other hand down in front of Arjun, who sat beside her. He kissed her t
emple. “Just eat. Don’t wait. Be with you in a jiffy.”
He was as good as his word, and within a couple of minutes all five of them were tucking into their dinner, the occasional mmm ringing out as taste buds were titillated.
Mia ate her food, peeking occasionally around the table at the bunch of tanned, healthy males she was fortunate enough to call hers. When she was finished, she put her cutlery down and pushed her empty plate away. “That was perfection, Elias, thank you.”
His mouth full of food as it was, he simply gave her a nod until he’d chewed and swallowed. Then, “I hope you’ve got room for dessert. That’s why no starter.” He winked.
She smiled, remembering the night they’d made their engagement official and had, after some debate, forgone starters to make sure they had enough room to enjoy the to-die-for cheesecake the restaurant had on offer. Ooh, does that mean we’ve got cheesecake now? Has Mr Secret Keeper slipped up? She’d have to wait and see.
Once the plates had been cleared away, Mia waited excitedly to see what it was that her sweet tooth was going to be treated to. It was only when Elias lifted something large and round out of the fridge that the penny dropped. Alex was close behind him, brandishing two bottles of the finest champagne money could buy.
Mia shook her head incredulously. Cake and champagne? She’d have to do some serious swimming tomorrow to burn off the extra calories. But what the hell—birthdays only came once a year. Just as well, really, otherwise she’d be the size of a house in no time.
Elias placed the cake in front of her with a flourish. “We decided not to sing, darling, as we thought that’d be a step too far. We wanted to spoil you, not make your ears bleed. Happy birthday, from all of us.”
“Happy birthday, Mia,” came the echoing responses, followed by the unmistakeable popping sound of a champagne cork.
Mia stared at the cake for a moment—a simple yet beautiful design, with white icing and her name written on it in chocolate. She highly suspected it was a good old Victoria sponge with strawberry jam nestling beneath that exterior. It was her favourite, a fact that was no secret.
Blinking back tears, she looked up, then took in each of them in turn. They all peered back expectantly—whether it was for her reaction or a slice of cake, she couldn’t be sure. “Guys, I’ve known for a long time that you’re all amazing, exceptional and incredibly giving. But today, you’ve outdone yourselves. Truly. I’m absolutely blown away. I can’t find the words to express my gratitude or tell you how spoiled and special I’m feeling right now. So these ones will have to do, I’m afraid. Thank you, to the moon and back again. I love you all, very much.”
As four responses of “I love you, too,” came back, Mia’s heart swelled so much she thought it would burst.
Chapter Eleven
Mia hit send on her email reply, then deleted the original message, since she didn’t need to keep it. She sighed as her inbox view came back up, as overflowing as it had been a few minutes ago. It was her first day at work following her return from honeymoon and she was already missing their technology and communications device-free existence. She’d been back in the office and busy for two solid hours and didn’t feel like she was much further forward. For every message she dealt with and either filed or deleted, two new ones seemed to appear. That was her punishment for going on a three-week honeymoon, she supposed.
She sat back in her chair, then linked her hands and stretched her arms up to the ceiling with a grin. Even if it took her another three weeks—three months, even!—to clear these emails, it would still totally have been worth it. It had been the trip of a lifetime, and although it was already starting to feel like it was a lifetime ago, she had plenty of amazing memories to keep her spirits up. One beautiful island. Four gorgeous men. Unlimited sex. Bags of fun. The best birthday ever.
The best honeymoon ever. Her smile widened as she wondered if all newlyweds could say their honeymoons had been quite as thrilling as hers. Doubtful.
An excitable yap caused her to spin her chair around so she could look out of the window. That noise could only have been caused by one being. Sure enough, Harry scampered across the lawn, his uncoordinated puppy legs not all going in the same direction, his tongue lolling out and ears bouncing. Mia groaned. Bad dog. Stop being all funny and cute and making me want to skive off work so I can come and play with you and your dad. I’ve got work to do.
She watched for a moment longer until Thomas came into view. He was clearly dividing his attention between the excitable puppy, who was into eating things he shouldn’t and digging in places he shouldn’t, and working. But Mia could hardly complain—she’d bought the dog in the first place, after all. And besides, it was just a phase. Thomas was doing an excellent job of training Harry, and his obedience was improving all the time. Though it was possible Thomas’s three-week absence had maybe undone some of the good work. She had every faith they’d get back on track soon enough.
She didn’t have a clue how Thomas knew she was there, but once he’d put down the secateurs and spade he’d been carrying, he looked directly up at her. His face broke into a wide grin, and he waved. She waved back, her expression mirroring his and her mood lifting instantly. The temptation to go out there and see them increased exponentially.
Damn it, she couldn’t—she had far too much to do. She gave Thomas another wave, then blew him a kiss and quickly spun the chair back to face the desk before her resolve cracked. She glanced at the clock in the corner. Only just past ten o’clock. With a sigh, she made up her mind to plough on until lunchtime, then seek Thomas out and see if he had time for a quick break. He’d be just as slammed with catching up, she was sure, but half an hour wouldn’t hurt—and they had to eat.
Bloody hell, Mia, you’re the boss. If you want to take a two-hour break, there’s nobody to stop you or give you a bollocking, remember?
In actual fact, it was more likely she’d get a bollocking if she worked too much. Either Thomas or Betty in person would be quick to remind her of the importance of taking a break, or if any of the others happened to call and discover how long she’d been gawping at a computer screen, she’d be in trouble.
She grabbed her glass of water from its coaster, took a long drink, then put it down. After rolling her head from side to side, then jigging her shoulders around to loosen the tightness that had developed in them, she returned her concentration to her emails. Only a bazillion left to go. She swallowed her groan and got stuck in. She’d been so confident she could manage the business alone after losing her father, so indignant that her father felt she couldn’t cope. Now was the time to prove she could.
Ten minutes before she was due to go for the lunch break she’d promised herself, she clicked on a red-flagged message—she always went through the ones marked ‘important’ first, working from oldest to newest—and was immediately drawn in. The sender’s name was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place it right away.
Dear Ms Harrington,
Apologies for the informal method of communication. I had been trying to reach you on the telephone, but after several unsuccessful attempts, I finally got a hold of a member of your staff, James, who notified me you were on honeymoon. Congratulations on your recent marriage. I apologise also for not knowing your new surname—I didn’t think to ask James when he gave me your email address.
The reason I’ve been trying to contact you is because I have a business proposal which may be of interest to you. I own a portion of the land bordering your estate which is used for coppicing. However, I am getting close to retirement age and am in the process of liquidating my assets. You have a reputation in this area for looking after the landscape, local heritage, and your employees, as well as being an exceptional businesswoman. Therefore, I would much rather give you the right of first refusal on the land and the business, rather than risking it falling into the hands of someone who would simply clear the area and build houses on it, or some similar abhorrence. I also suspect you would not be happy about st
ructures being thrown up adjacent to your estate. The business is doing well and is very lucrative—though I do not expect you to take my word for that. I feel it could become even more lucrative with someone younger and with fresh ideas taking the helm. I believe the staff would stay on, too, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that side of things. They will keep things running as smoothly and efficiently as they always have.
If you could contact me to let me know if you’re interested or not, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you further. I don’t plan to extend this offer to anyone else until I have heard from you. My telephone number is in the signature line of this email—I do not check my email messages very regularly, so a telephone call would be much preferred.
I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Kind Regards,
Reginald Marsden
Mia’s curiosity was instantly piqued. She’d realised who Reginald Marsden was once he’d explained he owned some of the neighbouring land. She’d never met him, since he was far from being a hands-on business owner, but she did know some of the people he employed—though more as passing acquaintances and friends of friends.
So, he wanted to sell up and had given her first dibs. She couldn’t help feeling pleased—especially about the part where he’d mentioned her reputation in the area. She’d always cared deeply about the landscape, local heritage, and her employees, so it was extremely gratifying to learn that it was being noticed by outsiders. Doing a good job and being a good employer and person were important to her, and she hoped her father would be proud of what she was achieving—wherever he was.
Whether she wanted to buy the land and business or not was another matter altogether. The funds were there—she’d had confirmation from her solicitor, Mr Lenton, that since her marriage had taken place and all the stipulations in her father’s will had been met, she was now officially the heiress. The house, the estate, the money—everything was hers, and she could use and utilise them however she saw fit. She had to admit it was a tempting prospect. It wasn’t about adding another business to her portfolio and securing another revenue stream, though. No, the appeal was, as Marsden had said, stopping someone else from buying the land, clearing the woods and building houses or something else there. The area was so rural that something of that nature would ruin the feel of their tiny village, not to mention disrupting the local wildlife. Their roads and other infrastructure probably weren’t up to it, either.
Mia's Choice_A Reverse Harem Romance Novel Page 9