Page 46 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

‘Well,’ he said, ‘if it’s all right with you, Damia, I’d like to steal Erin away.’

Immediately Erin protested. ‘That’s not fair. She’s been out with me all day—she shouldn’t have to work into the evening too.’

Now Damia protested. ‘It wasn’t work, really, and of course I don’t mind. Do you want me to take Ashling home? It’s almost time for her supper anyway.’

Erin felt a little redundant. After a year of being a single parent, suddenly she wasn’t alone any more.

Reluctantly, she said, ‘If you’re sure you don’t mind?’

Damia shook her head. ‘Not at all.’

Ajax said, ‘Damia has agreed to come back to the island with us when we go tomorrow. She’ll work with us for the duration of your visit.’

Erin looked at the young woman, ‘Can you do that?’

‘I have the summer off to work and learn English, and working for you ticks both those boxes. Plus, I’ll get to visit my great-aunt.’

It was all working out so seamlessly Erin felt suspicious—but she wasn’t even sure of what she should be suspicious. This was a world where things appeared as if by magic and there were no obstacles.

Damia stood up and gathered up their things. The driver parked nearby and Erin lifted Ashling out of the buggy. She was a heavy weight, still dead to the world.

She woke up briefly when she was installed in the baby seat at the back of the car, but after a sleepy smile at Erin fell asleep again. Erin gave instructions to Damia, told her to call her if Ashling wasn’t settling, and then they drove off.

‘She’ll be fine with Damia,’ Ajax said.

Erin felt prickly and disgruntled, and all for no reason she could put her finger on. It was this man...inserting himself under her skin.

‘I’m just not used to this level of support.’

‘You’ll have this level of support whenever you want it now. Money isn’t an object.’

Erin rolled her eyes. But she still found it intimidating, Ajax’s level of wealth. ‘It’s not all about the money. I don’t mind caring for my daughter.’

‘If you go back to work full-time you’ll need a nanny.’

Erin stopped. She hadn’t even realised that they were walking away from the café. Ajax must have paid their bill.

She looked at him.Work...She hadn’t even thought about work. She was in danger of forgetting an outside world existed.

That revelation didn’t help her prickliness subside.

She thought of what he’d said about working full-time. ‘I never mentioned going back to work full-time. Not explicitly.’

Ajax shrugged. He was wearing sunglasses. Together with chinos and a dark blue short-sleeved polo shirt he looked like a movie star.

‘I just assumed. You’re good at your job.’

They continued walking. The early-evening air was still balmy. Erin just wore a light top tied around her waist over the sundress, and her cross-body bag. She resembled every other tourist there. The prickliness faded, She realised in that moment that she felt more carefree than she could recall feeling in some time. If ever.

It was an unwelcome revelation when she was with someone who didn’t inspire feelings of carelessness or freedom. But since she’d noticed that little moment at breakfast, when Ajax had interacted with Ashling, albeit briefly, it had felt as if there’d been a subtle change in the air. Signifying what, exactly, Erin didn’t know—and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know. For some reason she didn’t want to dwell on it, sensing some kind of danger.

She diverted her mind back to what Ajax had said.‘You’re good at your job.’

She stopped walking again. ‘I am good at my job.’

‘You are.’

But something was striking her now. She continued walking and said, ‘You know... I just automatically pursued the career that I had the most aptitude for without ever really stopping to think about it. My parents are both academics, and the standards they set were high, but they never put pressure on me. It was all my own pressure.’

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