Page 44 of The Wrong Billionaire
“She wants to see where it all began,” I tell him. “I think it’ll be a lovely place to spend a honeymoon.”
“I’ll tell Jacob and Ruth,” Dad says, naming the couple who runs the estate. “Ask them to spend some time getting the place ready for you.”
I smile. “That would be great.”
“… I think we could keep it to fifty,” Mum says as she and Wren come back into the room. “What do you think, Ed? Wren would prefer a small wedding, and I said we could probably limit the guest list to fifty.”
“Sounds perfect,” he states.
“Anyway, lunch is ready,” she says. “We can talk while we eat.”
The housekeeper has set lunch up outside, and we rise and go out to the table on the deck. On the way, I grab Wren’s hand and pull her to one side.
“You okay?” I murmur. “You look like a rabbit in the headlights.”
“Your mum wanted two hundred guests,” she says. “I nearly fainted.”
I chuckle. “It’s okay, I’ll talk her down.”
She lifts her hand and looks at the ring. “I can’t believe you bought this for me.”
“Only the best for my future wife.”
She raises her gaze to mine. “Fake wife,” she whispers. Her eyes dance, though, so I know she’s teasing me on purpose.
“Nothing fake about how much I want you,” I whisper back, dipping my head a little. I want to kiss her, but I don’t want her to freak out with everyone nearby.
“Oh.” She moistens her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I’m sure your mum thinks I’m already pregnant.”
“Don’t worry, you soon will be. I intend to make sure of it.”
She pushes me. “Stop teasing me.”
“I’m not. It’s a fact. We’ll have a whole week alone in the middle of the Waikato to make love as many times as we can manage it. I’m telling you, if you’re not pregnant by the end of January, it won’t be because we haven’t tried.”
Although she knows I’m provoking her a little, she still looks thrilled. “I didn’t expect that,” she says. “When the clinic first said it would take two years, it felt like a dream. I still can’t believe it might really happen.”
“We’re going to make a baby,” I tell her firmly. “And have a lot of fun doing it. Now come and eat something before you fall over.”
We join the others, and Wren’s eyes nearly fall out of her head as she looks at the food on the table. I don’t know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t platters of oysters on crushed ice beside bowls of lemon wedges, or smoked salmon blinis topped with crème fraîche and dill. There’s rare roast beef, grilled kingfish with charred asparagus, fresh sourdough with whipped feta—and, to finish, a magnificent pavlova piled high with strawberries and cream.
She doesn’t say anything, though, and tucks into everything, which makes me smile. It’s nice to see a woman enjoying a meal. So many girls pick at their food, which is a shame when it’s this good.
I know she’s nervous about fitting into my life, and keen to distance herself so she doesn’t get hurt. But when I don’t push her to speak, she surprises me by chatting away about her job and what she’s been up to over Christmas. I watch her laughing at something my father says, and feel a warmth deep inside. She’s not a bird that should be kept in a cage. She needs to be set free. Then hopefully she’ll come home at the end of each day… and eventually be happy to stay by my side.
“When do you want to announce the engagement?” Mum asks, smiling at Dad as he pours her some of the homemade lemonade from the jug in the center.
“I was thinking we could hold a party on Waiheke,” I say. “We could get the Midnight Club to organize it.”
Wren’s eyes nearly pop out. “You said it would be small! I’ve read about the Midnight Club. It’s a huge, exclusive resort!”
“And a business club,” I point out. I’ve thought this through. “We can hold it at the vineyard nearby, on New Year’s Eve. The press will all be on the mainland covering the prominent parties. By the time they hear about the engagement, it’ll all be over.”
She looks somewhat mollified.
“Don’t worry,” Aurelia says, “we’ll look after you. It’ll be great fun.”
“Oh God,” Wren says, making us all laugh. “I feel like Cinderella.”
