Page 15 of Single Dad Christmas

“Max—he’s a year younger than me—is group CEO. He’s more interested in the businesses that are overseas. The hotels make up a part of the holdings, but he stays out of my side of things, and I stay out of his. Lucas, he’s two years younger than Max, has his own business. He’s in New York. Our cousin Christopher is only a couple of months younger than Max. He’s an investor.”

“An investor?”

“He inherited a fortune when his parents passed away. My parents were adamant that he should live with them, and not his mother’s side of the family.”

“Why?”

“Because of the fortune his legal guardians would have at their disposal,” he said. “Money isn’t new to us, but it would have been to them. They were worried it would be corrupting.”

She considered that. “Did they still get to see him?”

“My parents weren’t monsters,” he said, with a laugh. “They also wanted Chris because they loved him, and they wanted him to have as normal a life as possible, after such an awful loss.”

She thought of Ares, and how the sudden death of his parents and brother had totally changed his world, as a fifteen-year-old boy.

“How old was he, when they died?”

“Seven.”

She winced. “So, you really would be like brothers to him?”

“As he is to us.”

“Did you grow up in Sydney?”

“Nah,” he said, in that uniquely Australian way. It made her smile. She tried to imagine what a protocol officer might make of it and couldn’t, so gave up. “Not when I was little, anyway. We have a property, out west. Big, open, dusty, dry. Beautiful.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure that’s what I’d go for on the advertising material.”

He grinned down at her. “There’s a dam which is always full, thanks to a deep bore. Our family’s money originally came from cattle farming, and it’s always been sort of important to us—we can’t give it up. My parents have this thing about not forgetting your roots, not forsaking your heritage.”

“So, who runs the cattle farm?”

“My folks.”

“Your folks?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I just thought?—,”

“They were dead?” He laughed then. “How old do you think I am?”

“It’s not that,” she assured Noah, joining him in a soft laugh. “It’s just, you all run the businesses…”

“My dad retired as soon as he could. After his brother died, he knew the responsibility of running everything on his own. He was very glad to pass the baton.”

“How old are you though?” She blurted out. “I mean, you have a fifteen-year-old…”

His face changed immediately, so she regretted having asked the question. They turned the corner again, and the whole street filled with life and sound. At least ten restaurants sat on either side of the wide road, and they were all full, with patrons spilling out onto the street. About a week ago, the local council had strung up big, bright Christmas baubles, from one side of the street to the other, and strung lights in between. The lampposts had been adorned with garlands of green, and fairy lights twinkled in between the plastic foliage, giving the whole street a very festive vibe.

“What do you feel like?” he asked, gesturing to their options.

She didn’t want to talk about food. She wanted to talk about him. He was endlessly fascinating to her, and she couldn’t believe there was so much about him she didn’t know. She stared up at him, her stomach in knots, her whole body in a state of uncertainty.

She wasn’t ready for this.

She wasn’t ready to be attracted to someone else. To be interested in another guy. Ares might have bounced out of their relationship and straight into a serious, ‘til death do us part commitment, but Louisa was too bruised and battered by the whole experience to even think about opening herself up to someone else.

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