Page 107 of Tempt

“You wouldn’t know it looking at public documents but this building has been part of my family history for two hundred years. Renovating it and finding a way to bring it back to life means more to me than I can possibly explain. When Margaret brought me Allison Riley’s portfolio I knew without a doubt she was the perfect person to blend history with modern technology, doing it all with the love and compassion that only those with a deep love of history and architecture can muster.”

The room was painfully silent as everyone hung on each word Theo spoke as if he were weaving some sort of magical tale.

“But something else special happened when Allison came into my life. She rebuiltme, piece by piece.”

I swear the whole room sighed, but I was frozen—stunned and more in love with him than ever before.

“She has a rare gift for identifying the beauty hidden by years of neglect. For understanding how to blend the power of history with the potential of the future. For merging aesthetic beauty with functionality. She took her own experience and didn’t hesitate to work with my teams at iON Innovations to usher in a new era in historic preservation and urban redevelopment.”

My ego was getting pretty big thanks to his beautiful words. But then he locked eyes with me and I lost my breath.

“I fell in love with her somewhere between her confidence in her abilities and her compassion for others. She saved my building from its unfortunate past and in the process saved me from mine. She gave the new iON Center a future while simultaneously building one for us as well.”

I was totally crying. Not full-on sobbing or anything undignified like that, but there were tears leaking out of my eyes and I needed a tissue or ten.

Then Theo winked at me and mouthed, “I love you” before looking back out at the room. “Thank you all so much for indulging the romantic in me. I just wanted the world to know that I am madly in love with your guest of honor and that she deserves every bit of recognition. Thank you.”

The room erupted into thunderous applause and whistles (and a few cat calls) that didn’t stop until Theo pulled me into his arms and kissed me so tenderly my toes curled.

Chapter 39

Theo “the romantic billionaire genius” was much more popular in the tabloids than Theo “the reclusive billionaire bachelor.” The weeks that followed were pretty intense and we decided the only way we were going to survive it was to give them what they wanted.

So we granted interviews and intentionally went out on a few public dates while simultaneously drawing a line in the sand.Thispart of our lives is public,thispart is not…and if you push us, we’ll take it all away. So far it was working for us.

Which was why the week of Nicki’s wedding actually went pretty smoothly. The exclusive event photographer walked through the venue (our country house) and received one exclusive photo of the happy couple.

The wedding was gorgeous. Early summer was in the air and the weather was delightful. The rolling hills were green, the skies were blue, and the wedding was white. Nicki grinned from ear to ear the entire day, and Higgins had “something in his eyes” more than once.

It was extra exciting for me because Elizabeth had officially moved to Brackley and I could see her any time I wanted to. I secretly watched Adam watching her from across the dance floor. He was one of those guys who had eyes for only one woman, and once he found that woman, she was his and he was hers. It didn’t matter if there was a ring on her finger. And that was good because working through her trust issues required an enormous amount of patience. Patience Adam seemed to have in spades. I was willing to bet I’d be standing up at their wedding one day.

The song changed and Adam’s eyes lit up. He moved quickly across the nearly empty dance floor, sweeping a surprised Elizabeth into his arms and leading her out onto the dance floor. Their bodies melted together and Adam rested his head on hers, eyes closed, drinking her in.

They were happy.

“They’re good together,” Theo murmured in my ear.

“Aye,” I said. I’d been trying out new lingo again.

“We’regood together.” He slipped his strong arm around my waist and pulled me backward into his solid wall of muscle.

“Aye,” I said again, this time with a huge, satisfied grin on my face.

“Leave the heels on,” he growled and nipped my earlobe. It sent a shot straight to my core and I sighed.

Nicki had asked Margaret and I to stand up beside her. The wedding had a strong 1940’s theme to it, so I was dressed in one of my favorite styles from my hair to my shoes…and Theo had repeatedly expressed his joy in that.

I was just about to tell him all the different ways I was going to leave my shoes on when my parents interrupted.

“Sorry to intrude,” my father said, clearing his throat, “but we’re headed up to the hotel.”

Mom and Dad had flown in for the wedding weekend for two reasons: one to spend time with us, and two, to attend their new London Liaison’s wedding. Nicki was hired on a five-year contract to revamp Riley Cosmetics and create a stronger European presence. She cared a heck of a lot more about the cosmetics industry than I did and she’d been looking for a new challenge to supplement her art career. When I’d made the suggestion everyone had balked…until I explained.

It was a clearly defined contract period (a period after which I expected Nicki to be family, not just my boyfriend’s sister.) It gave her just enough time to implement her ideas, while giving my father enough to see if she would work as my replacement. I wasn’t going anywhere but I was firm in the idea that I did not want to run the company. Instead, I was serving as lead consultant. I knew the family business and the industry. At the end of five years we could either make things permanent, or go our separate ways. It worked for everyone.

“Good night,” I said, kissing them both on the cheek. Theo shook Dad’s hand and kissed Mom on the cheek.

“Let me know if you need anything,” Theo said. All the wedding guests were staying at his hotel up the road in Keswick.

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