Page 23 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

Erin felt a bit stunned. ‘She still needs the right milk—’

‘I ordered ahead for all your requirements. You gave my assistant a list.’

Erin looked at Ajax. ‘That was only on the plane.’

‘She called ahead. Agatha has had six children. She’ll be fine.’

Erin felt impotent all of a sudden.

Ajax said, ‘Let me show you around.’

She felt that if she protested she’d be overreacting, so she followed Ajax around the side of the villa and up some steps to a terrace with a wall that overlooked a vast lawn. There was a swimming pool in the distance, just visible behind a wall of bushes, and just as she was thinking it was a potential hazard for a very curious baby who could crawl at the speed of light, Ajax pointed to the gate acting as a barrier between the terrace and the lawn.

‘She’ll be quite safe...don’t worry.’

The fact that he’d thought the same thing at the same time was some comfort.

French doors were open into a sumptuously decorated reception room which led into a formal living room and a dining room. The kitchen was on the level below, huge and gleaming. There was a home gym down here too.

Back upstairs, Ajax showed Erin another informal living room, complete with a massive screen for watching TV or movies and a sound system. Books on shelves... The latest magazines...

Then they went upstairs to the bedrooms. Ajax indicated to where the guestrooms were located—too many for Erin to count—and then moved down another corridor. He stopped outside a door and then pointed to the end of the corridor. ‘That’s my room, down there. This is you and the baby.’

Erin was about to remind him of the baby’s name, but he was opening the door and Erin stepped into the most beautiful room she’d ever seen with the softest carpet underfoot. A warm off-white on the walls with a gold trim. Simple but elegant furniture. A huge four-poster bed, muslin drapes held back by silk ties. White linen that looked so inviting it just reminded her how sticky and tired she was.

And hungry, she realised, just as Agatha appeared in the doorway with Ashling in her arms, who saw Erin and immediately leaned towards her mother, cribbing a little.

Erin took her and cuddled her close. She smelt fresh. ‘Thank you, Agatha, you didn’t have to change her.’

‘No problem. Come and see the nursery—you let me know if you need anything.’

Erin followed her to an adjoining door. The nursery was a plain room, with one of those circular cots that Erin had always coveted but hadn’t been able to afford.

Agatha was saying, ‘We didn’t have time to decorate, but it’ll be done by the end of the week.’

Erin noticed lots of things in boxes, but there was a changing table, and supplies of nappies and creams and wipes. A nappy bin. A chest of drawers stuffed full of more clothes than Ashling would ever be able to wear.

The suitcase Erin had packed with Ashling’s things looked very shabby in this pristine space.

Agatha pointed to a monitor on the chest of drawers. ‘Yours is in the bedroom, beside the bed. Its range will cover the whole property, so you’ll hear if she makes a squeak.’

Erin hadn’t needed baby monitors up to now, as her apartment was so small.

Agatha said something to Ajax in Greek, and he nodded and said,‘Efharisto.’

Agatha left and Ajax turned to Erin.

‘Please, make yourselves at home. Agatha has prepared some breakfast on the terrace downstairs for you, and then you’ll probably need to sleep for a few hours. I noticed you didn’t get much rest on the plane.’

He’d noticed? But at the mention of food, her stomach rumbled. Classy. She blushed.

‘Okay, that sounds good.’

‘I have some work to catch up on. I’ll come for you before dinner this evening, after you’ve had a rest.’

Even though he’d worked all the way through the flight clearly Ajax wasn’t at the mercy of such human failings as needing to rest.

He was still looking at her, and she said quickly, ‘Yes, of course, that’s fine. You don’t need to entertain us.’

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