Page 222 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

‘I do. I did. I should have said something before. I wanted to,’ he said. ‘You look beautiful. Too beautiful to be pawed by some man old enough to be your father.’

She bit her lip. ‘My grandfather, actually. My dad got my mum pregnant when they were fifteen. It was a shotgun wedding. No, really, her brothers turned up with actual shotguns.’

‘Is that a family tradition? I mean, should I be expecting your brothers to roll up at some point?’

‘That would be unlikely.’ She gave him a small lopsided smile. ‘As I haven’t told them about us. I haven’t told anyone about us.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘And there you were accusing me of being ashamed of being seen with you.’

‘I didn’t accuse you of that,’ she protested as he took her hand and pulled her closer.

‘You were thinking it,’ he said softly. ‘How could I be ashamed? You look beautiful. You are beautiful.’ His eyes were dark and steady on her face, and it would be easy to believe him, and for a moment she did. But, of course, he was just saying the kind of things a man would say to his girlfriend.

‘You don’t believe me?’

‘I feel like an imposter. But I suppose you think that’s some kind of hubris.’

‘What I think is that you’re talking nonsense. Every single person in this room is playing a part. Everyone has a hidden agenda. So just because you and I have one, doesn’t mean you don’t belong. And you are beautiful, Sydney.’

His words made her feel light-headed. Noah had made her feel so ugly and worthless. He had made her believe that she was the problem. That everyone saw what he saw, and that it wasn’t good enough. And she knew that wasn’t true but hearing Tiger say it out loud made her feel as if she were filling with light that was brighter and warmer than the sun.

‘I wanted to tell you before but Silvana and the maids were there and I thought it would look as if I was doing it for their benefit. But I thought it, I still do. You believe me, don’t you?’

And the crazy thing was, she did. Because Tiger didn’t need to say it. They’d already had sex. Nor did he need to keep her sweet, because theirs was a finite, transactional arrangement. But most important of all, she could see the admiration in his gaze, feel it as it touched her skin, hot and bright like the lick of a flame.

Impulsively she leaned forward and kissed him. For a second, she felt his body tense with surprise and then he was kissing her back, and the heat and the noise from the regatta felt like a separate place.

Her lips parted and she felt his tongue, and she made a soft noise against his mouth as his hand moved to the nape of her neck, and she felt his thumb, sure and firm, holding her steady, which was lucky because her legs were all out of steadiness.

‘Get a room, McIntyre,’ someone shouted and she pulled back, her breath jerking in her throat, her hands tight in his shirt.

Tiger’s eyes held and for a moment he just stared at her, breathing unsteadily, as if he was as thrown by the taste of her as she was by him.

‘We should go and watch the race,’ he said finally.

‘Yes, we should.’

The balcony was heaving with people but the crowds parted like the waves for Tiger and he guided her to the far left corner.

‘You’ll get the best view here.’

‘Can you see? It’s your boat.’

‘I can see everything I want to,’ he said softly, moving behind her, his hand resting on her waist.

She barely noticed how many boats there were or who won. She was only aware of the places where Tiger’s body grazed hers. Her waist. Her hip. Her throat when he leaned in to kiss her neck and she leaned back into him, her breath catching as he held her close.

‘This is our race,’ he said finally as another cluster of boats waited for the starter’s gun to fire. ‘Can you tell which one is our crew?’

That was easy. Even among the bright colours, the orange and black ofThe McIntyrestood out. There was a band and the crowd roared as the crews began rowing smoothly through the rippling blue water.

Behind her, Tiger was still, but she could feel his tension beneath her own quivering excitement.

‘They won. You won.’ She turned towards him as the balcony erupted into cheers, her chest tight and swollen with pride and happiness and then Tiger was kissing her fiercely.

‘You won,’ she said again as he broke the kiss and pulled her against his chest.

He was pleased but he shook his head. ‘They won. I paid.’

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