BRIN, SITTING AT the dining table on the deck of Radd’s villa, her bare feet up on the railing and a coffee cup in her hand, turned at the sound of the door opening. Her heart picked up speed, as it always did when it was in the same room as Radd, and she whipped around to see him walking into the villa, tossing his hat onto the king-size bed.
Today he was dressed in the bottle green polo shirt all the game rangers wore, khaki shorts and boots, and he looked as wild and as tough as the land stretched below them.
Radd caught her eyes, smiled and her stomach joined her heart’s around-her-body race. “Morning.”
“Hi, how was your game drive? See anything interesting?”
Radd took the seat opposite her, leaned across the table and snagged a piece of her jam smeared croissant. He chewed, swallowed and took the coffee cup from her hand and drained the contents before handing her empty cup back.
She lifted her eyebrows at him.
“Relax, fresh coffee, croissants and fruit are on its way,” Radd told her, bending down to unlace his boots. “The drive through the park was awesome, you should’ve come with us.”
“There wasn’t space,” Brin reminded him. The wedding party filled every seat in the vehicle, and Naledi and her friends weren’t the type of people she’d get up before dawn to spend time with. She couldn’t complain though, Radd had taken her for a drive on both Monday and last night, Tuesday, leaving his game rangers to look after the guests.
“I like it when we’re on our own,” Brin quietly admitted.
“Me, too,” Radd softly replied.
Brin turned his head to look at him and her breath caught in her throat at the desire blazing in his eyes. His hair was ruffled, his jaw thick with stubble and as sexy as sin. Brin felt a tremble roll through her and she couldn’t help licking her lips, wishing his was covering hers, his tongue in her mouth, his hand pushing her thighs apart.
Oh, God, she wanted him, here in the sunlight at just past eight in the morning...
And, judging by his clenched fist resting on the table and the flush on his cheekbones, he wanted her, too. Brin looked from him to the daybed where Radd slept, hanging from chains in the corner of the veranda. It was big enough for an orgy—hammock, her ass—and she wondered if she was brave enough to say something, anything, to get him to join her on that wide surface.
Are you ready for that, Brin Riddell? Ready for a hot affair that would end the day after next, when they returned to Cape Town? She didn’t know, she wasn’t sure...
Brin pulled her eyes off him and searched for something to say to break the tension. “Did you see anything interesting?” she asked.
Radd ate another piece of her croissant before attacking his other boot. “A leopard, a pangolin, a herd of elephants.”
Nice. “I’ve never seen a pangolin.”
“They are pretty rare,” Radd said, sitting up and, copying her, put his bare feet up on the railing. “They are the most traded animals in the world and are highly, highly endangered. I tried to explain that to the bride and her maids, but they weren’t that interested. They spent most of the drive talking about the hen party and getting slammed in Ibiza.”
Brin wrinkled her nose. Torture.
Radd rolled his eyes. “One of them even asked me who did the landscaping at Kagiso?”
“At the lodge?”
Radd shook his head and nodded to the savanna. “Out there.”
Brin laughed and shook her head. “Dear God, far too much money and not enough sense.”
“Then they had the bright idea of doing a group shot on the edge of the dam. It took me ten minutes to persuade them that the dam was home to a ten-foot crocodile known as Big Daddy.”
“Is that true?” Brin asked.
“No, but there is a resident pod of hippos in the dam who don’t like being disturbed.”
“And hippos kill a lot of people in Africa,” Brin replied.
Radd sent her an admiring glance, his dark eyes warm. “You’ve been reading up.”
Brin shrugged, knowing that her cheeks were probably pink from his praise. “I love it here, I’m fascinated. Though it would be amazing to be here without...”
Brin stop speaking, not wanting to say anything negative about his guests. Radd finished her sentence for her. “Without the wedding party? Not your type of people?”
Not at all. “I’m sure they are very nice when you get to know them,” Brin diplomatically replied.
“But you wouldn’t bet your life on it,” Radd told her, laughing. “Honey, your lips say one thing, but your eyes tell the truth. They aren’t windows to your soul, they are six-foot-high billboards. And, even if I couldn’t read your eyes, your total avoidance of the wedding party would be a damn big clue that you don’t like them. Why, is it because they are rich?”
“I’m not that shallow,” Brin replied, not happy that he could read her so well.
“No, you’re not. Neither are you a snob or quick to judge, so I’m curious as to why you have made up your mind about Naledi and company so quickly. In fact, even before they arrived...”
Brin heard the knock on the door and thanked God and all his angels and archangels for the distraction. Someone above was looking after her because Radd’s questions were coming a little too close for comfort. Radd stood up and walked into the villa, and Brin released a relieved sigh. She heard his low murmur of thanks and he soon returned holding a tray, which he placed on the table between them. A full carafe of coffee, a huge bowl of fruit salad, fresh croissants and fig jam. But, instead of resuming his seat, Radd pulled off his shirt and Brin sucked in her breath at his broad chest, lightly covered with hair, his ridged stomach, the hint of hip muscles sliding beneath the band of his shorts.
He stood with his back to her, looking past the water hole to the savanna beyond, and Brin looked her fill, taking in the way the early morning sunlight bounced off his dark hair. She longed to run her hands over his broad shoulders, kiss the bumps of his spine and discover whether his butt was really as firm as it looked. She wanted to take a bite out of his thick biceps, feel if the hair on his legs was as crisp as she imagined.
He’d been a perfect gentleman and, honestly, she was over it. She wanted to enjoy that amazing outdoor shower, share that slipper bath, drop into that plunge pool naked...with him.
She wanted his mouth on hers, his hands skating over her body, her thighs parting...
As if he could hear her thoughts, Radd turned and his eyes slammed into hers. His hands, gripping the railing behind him, turned white and, as a band of heat warmed her from the inside out, she felt her nipples contract.
Radd’s eyes dropped to her chest and before her eyes, she saw him swell, his erection tenting the fabric of his cotton shorts.
He wanted her.
She wanted him.
But Radd didn’t move. His eyes just burned and a muscle in his cheek danced. “If I kiss you, there’s no going back, Brinley,” Radd growled the words, his low tone saturated with emotion.
Brin swallowed and nodded.
“Say the words, Brinley. Know what you are asking.”
Brinley gathered her courage and forced her brain to form the words, to verbalize what she wanted. He was right, there was no going back from this.
“I want you, I’d like...you know.” Brin floundered, heat flooding her face. But she wouldn’t look away, she refused to feel embarrassed about wanting Radd. She was an adult, unattached, and so was he. They were allowed to do this.
Radd momentarily lifted his hands to cup her face in his hands. “God, you are beautiful.”
Brin stared into his eyes as she waited for him to kiss her, enjoying this moment of delayed gratification.
Radd seemed equally happy to draw out the moment, leaning over her but not yet touching her. He simply stared at her and, when the moment became too intense, gratification too difficult to ignore, Brin lifted her hand to touch his jaw, heavy with stubble. Her thumb drifted over his bottom lip.
“Kiss me, Radd.”
Was that her voice, sultry and sexy? It had to be, because Radd’s lips curved into a smile and he lowered his head, whispering his response.
“Gladly.”
His kiss, long-awaited, was heat and heaven, both decadent and divine. Radd kept his hands on her cheeks, the only contact they had apart from their mouths, knowing that this was enough, right now. In a few minutes, they’d want more but for now, this sweet and sexy exchange was both reassuring and ridiculously raunchy.
At the same time Radd’s tongue slipped past her teeth to slide against hers, he easily pulled her to her feet and against his chest. His erection pushed into her stomach and one hand rested on her bottom, acquainting himself with her shape. His other hand skimmed up her side and came to rest on her breast, his thumb sliding across her tight nipple.
Her thoughts hazy, her mind and body focused on what he was doing to her—his lips on her nipple through the material of her vest had her whimpering with delight—and the way her hands skimmed over his body. It took Brin a few moments to realize that the banging she could hear was not her heart but an insistent rap on the door to the villa.
Pulling back, she pulled a strand of her hair from Radd’s stubble and cocked her head.
“Come back here,” Radd growled, his hand encircling her neck to pull her mouth back to his.
Brin sank back into his kiss, but another hard rap on the door fractured the moment. Radd cursed but his eyes didn’t leave hers. “Ignore it,” he told her.
“Radd!”
Yep, that was Naledi’s voice and she didn’t sound happy. Brin stared at Radd and watched as irritation and frustration jumped into his eyes. “What the hell does she want now?”
Another rap, harder this time, told them that she wasn’t going away.
“I swear to God I’m going to kill her. And then I will fire the staff member who escorted her down here.”
Brin winced at his hard, cold tone and stepped away from him, immediately feeling cold and exposed, and more than a little vulnerable. The moment had been so perfect, would they ever be able to re-create it? Would she ever be this brave again? She wasn’t sure.
Radd saw something on her face, because his expression softened and he bent down to skim his lips across hers. “Don’t retreat, Brin. Let me just deal with this and I’ll be back, okay?”
Radd waited, his deep blue eyes nearly black with need, looking for reassurance that she wouldn’t change her mind, that they’d be able to pick up where they left off. She wanted to tell him that they would, but she wasn’t sure; Brin didn’t know if she could be brave twice.
And Radd knew it.
“One step forward, ten back,” Radd muttered, his frustration evident in his snappy sentence.
Another rap on the door resulted in Radd snapping out a harsh “Relax, for God’s sake, I’m coming!”
Brin watched as he picked up his shirt and dragged it over his head, his eyes blazing with annoyance and his thinned lips reflecting his displeasure. Brin was glad that she wasn’t on the other side of the door, she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his anger.
Brin heard the outside door open and, although she couldn’t see the door, and their unwelcome visitors couldn’t see into the room, she could still hear the exchange.
“Naledi.” Radd’s greeting was polite, but anyone with a brain in their head would recognize the annoyance in his voice. “How can I help you?”
“I need an extra room, the bridesmaids sharing the Serengeti have had an argument and need some space, and I understand that you have another villa that is available,” Naledi replied. “I need them separated.”
“Mari, I assume that you explained to Ms. Radebe that wouldn’t be possible?” Radd asked.
“I did.”
Brin smiled at Mari’s tart response and hoped that the Radebes would leave the staff an enormous tip when they left on Friday. If they didn’t, and Brin wasn’t convinced they would, she hoped Radd rewarded them for not killing their demanding guests.
“Her job is to cater to our every whim and I do not understand why I am standing here and nothing is happening. She’s not a very good manager, and I think you should fire her.”
Brin’s eyes widened. Okay, there was no way that Radd would stand for that type of talk. Not only was Mari exceptional at her job, but she and Radd had been friends since they were kids. He’d jump to her defense, any minute now.
Brin waited, and then waited some more. When Radd didn’t defend Mari, her heart dropped to her toes. She knew how it felt to be falsely accused, to be blamed for something that wasn’t her fault. She’d endured Kerry’s unreasonable anger on too many occasions to count and she’d prayed, wished, her mom would stand up for her, just once.
But that never happened.
Even Kerry’s making out with her boyfriend had been swept under the rug, dismissed. Her wants, needs or feelings meant nothing. Like Naledi, keeping Kerry happy was all that was important, no matter who it hurt.
Brin mentally begged Radd to stand up to the witch!
“I’m sorry you think that, Naledi.”
What? That was it? Come on, Radd, do better!
“The food is mediocre, the service second rate and I’m really not happy with the flowers.”
What? Radd told her she’d loved the flowers when she’d arrived! And how dare she criticize Mari’s staff when they’d been run off their feet with ridiculous requests. And the food was divine!
“I’m afraid it’s not possible for anyone move into the spare villa, Naledi, it’s privately owned and isn’t part of the lodge,” Radd said.
“Well, call the owner and get permission!” Naledi retorted. “Come on, chop, chop!”
Brin felt her temper catch alight. Man, she sounded just like Kerry. What, did these socialites and influencers all go to bitch school?
“It wasn’t a suggestion, Radd, I need an extra room. And you, Mari—is that your name?—get your act together. And tell your staff to do the same. I do not want to have another conversation about your lack of attentiveness again.”
Radd would say something now, of course he would. He wouldn’t let her revolting attitude go unchallenged. When neither Radd nor Mari defended each other or themselves, Brin decided she’d heard enough.
Stomping across the room, she stepped into the narrow hallway and took in the scene before her. Radd stood statue-still, his face a cold, hard mask and Mari’s eyes held the fine sheen of tears.
Naledi, dressed in a pair of skin-tight shorts and a tiny top, looked like she was enjoying herself immensely. It is dangerous, Brin thought, but someone has to say something. Then, This isn’t your fight, retreat now and keep the peace.
She wanted to, and Brin felt herself take a step back, the tension making her throat close. How many times had she been in Mari’s position, desperate for someone to be the voice of reason? To stand up for her, to stand up for what was right?
It would be easy to walk away, she’d done it a hundred, five hundred, times before. Walking away was what she did. And did well.
So walk away then...
She wanted to, she did, but her feet refused to obey her brain’s command. You’re not really going to insert yourself into this fight, are you, Brin? It’s not your problem and you don’t handle confrontation well. You can’t, at the best of times, stick up for yourself, remember?
But she could try, just this once, stick up for Mari and her staff and restore a little balance.
“Good morning, Naledi.” She, at least, could aim for a modicum of politeness.
Naledi gave her an up-and-down, not-worth-my-notice look. The last of Brin’s hesitation fled and her only thought was...oh, game on.
“Did you dump an extra dose of bitch tonic in your coffee this morning, Miss Radebe?” Brin asked her, making sure her voice was loaded with disdain.
“Excuse me?” Naledi spluttered.
“You are acting like a spoiled child,” Brin told her, keeping her tone low. She knew, from dealing with her sister, that cutting sentences quietly stated had far more of an effect than loud accusations.
“Brinley, stay out of this,” Radd told her, his voice as hard as granite.
Not a chance. Not now that she’d begun, anyway. She ignored Radd’s order and held Naledi’s dark, dismissive eyes. “Mari and her staff are wonderful and incredibly talented, and you know it. They deserve an apology and, better yet, to be treated like human beings and not your personal slaves. Furthermore...”
“Brinley, enough!”
“Too late, Radd. If you won’t stick up for them then I will!” Brin told him, furious at his lack of support for his people. “I know how Mari and her people feel, it’s deeply frustrating trying to please people who refuse to be pleased.”
Brin’s temper was slow to erupt but unstoppable when it did, and she was fast losing control of it. The combination of having her morning of passion interrupted—would that ever happen again?—her disappointment in Radd for not sticking up for his people, and feeling like she’d rolled back six months and was dealing with her sister again was a volatile combination.
Hauling in some air, she sent Naledi a scathing look. “God, if your fans could see you now. You’re acting like an entitled, spoiled, complete witch. And here’s a fun fact, the world does not revolve around you.”
Brin, shaking with anger, jammed her index finger into Radd’s bicep. “Seriously, if you cave and open up that private residence, I swear I will never talk to you again.”
“Are you going to let her talk to me like that?” Naledi screamed at Radd. “Who does she think she is?”
Brin caught Mari’s eye and she lifted her chin in a quick movement that neither Radd nor Naledi caught. But Brin understood her silent message: Thanks for the support but enough. Now, retreat.
It was a good plan. Because if she stayed she might be tempted to scratch Naledi’s eyes out.
“Let’s all calm down, shall we?” Radd said, his voice perfectly cool and even. “Mari, escort Miss Radebe back to her room. Can you send a bottle of champagne, our best vintage, and have the staff squeeze some fresh orange juice for mimosas? And maybe a basket of croissants? I’ll catch up in a few minutes.”
“Of course,” Mari replied.
Brin felt Radd’s hands on her waist and she yelped as he easily lifted her and walked her backward into his villa. He kicked the door closed with his foot and backed her up against the wall. Brin looked up into his furious face and dismissed her fear. Radd would not hurt her, physically.
Emotionally, he could rip her apart.
“How dare you interfere in a situation that has nothing to do with you? You have no idea what you are risking!” Radd demanded, his voice coated in anger and disdain. “This is my property, my business, my guests, my staff. You are...”
She waited for the “nothing,” the “you’re not important,” but the phrases never left his lips. Instead they hung between them, loud and tangible.
Radd’s hands dropped from her shoulders and he shook his head, frustration rolling off his body in waves. “Don’t confuse my attraction to you with me giving you permission to meddle in my life, Brinley Riddell. Because that will never, ever happen. Understood?”
Radd waited for her nod before dropping his hands and leaving her, slumped against the wall.
Radd wasn’t a fool, he’d seen the disdain in Brin’s eyes hours earlier when he didn’t defend Mari or his staff. But worse than that was seeing her respect for him fade.
Radd, walking back along the wooden path toward his villa, jammed his hands into the pockets of his shorts, convinced that his head was about to split apart.
Five days ago, if someone had dared to interfere with his business, his decisions or his life, he would’ve, without hesitation, told them off and immediately broken off their liaison. Thanks to having a reputation of being cold as ice and unemotional, nobody, ever, questioned him. Few people had the strength or the guts, but Brin had simply waded into a battle that wasn’t hers to wage.
He was both frustrated and proud of her.
Radd rubbed his hands over his face, irked. Before she dropped into his life, his emotions were tamped down, buttoned-up, kept corralled and constrained. Brin, somehow and strangely, held the key to unlock a myriad of unwanted and unneeded emotions.
But she didn’t know, and he couldn’t explain, that he was caught between doing what was right—yes, he should’ve defended his staff—and what was needed, which was keeping the Radebes happy until the sale agreement for the mine was finalized.
Was the mine and the PR campaign worth it? In a few months, it would be the second anniversary of his parents’ deaths. Yeah, sure, some upper-echelon businessmen were still pissed at his father, at deals that went south, money that was lost. But, Jesus, that happened more than twenty years ago...
Did his actions still reflect on him and Digby? Was buying the mine, being manipulated by Vincent, hosting this damn week and the wedding worth all the crap and stress he was dealing with?
For the first time in, well, forever, Radd wasn’t sure whether it was. And, God this hurt to admit, was their stupidly expensive PR and marketing campaign just a way to boost his ego, an expensive way to show the world that you could get oranges from apple trees?
Would anyone, apart from him and Digby, and the workers at the mine, even care whether there was a new school, better working conditions, an increase in salaries?
Shouldn’t that be the norm, not the exception?
Radd rubbed his hands over his face, feeling utterly exhausted. And he still had to deal with Brin, who probably thought he was a weak fool. But she had no idea how much control he’d needed not to tell the spoiled socialite exactly what he thought of her and her asinine demands. That was why he had remained quiet, he’d been trying to control his own temper. Brin hadn’t held back and, while he did wish she hadn’t jumped into the fray, he couldn’t help but admire her for doing so.
Brinley, Radd was starting to believe, was a good person to have in your corner. But he knew that he’d lost that chance...
God, what a mess.
Radd walked into his villa and nodded to the housekeeper, who was smoothing down the cover of his enormous bed.
“Hey, Greta.”
“Mr. Radd.” Greta smiled at him as she carefully placed a pillow in the center of the bed. “I’ll just gather the dirty towels and get out of your way.”
“No hurry,” Radd told her, moving into the living area. Walking over to the always-open doors leading to his deck, he gripped the top of the frame and looked toward the plunge pool. Brin stood in the clear water, her slim back to him, looking through the rails of the balcony to the water hole below.
A couple of buffalo cows stood at the water’s edge and Radd scanned behind them, instantly picking out the rest of the herd standing in the dense bush. In the far distance, a giraffe and her calf ambled across an open patch of savanna. Not knowing how to break the tension between them—he knew that she was aware of his presence—he looked up at the sky, which was that perfect shade of African blue, so thick and heavy he could shove his hand through it.
Radd tried to break the heavy silence. “Let’s clear the air, Brinley.”
Brin didn’t pull her eyes off the water hole. Right, the silent treatment.
Excellent.
Radd dropped his arms, pulled his phone out of his pocket and placed it on the nearest table. Kicking off his flip-flops, he whipped off his shirt and walked over to the plunge pool, dropping into the heated water behind her.
Damn, the water felt good. The best thing—apart from feeling Brin in his arms—that had happened to him this morning. Pushing his wet hair off his face, Radd joined Brin at the side of the pool, his arms brushing hers, and she immediately pulled away and put six inches between them.
Yeah, getting back in her good graces wasn’t going to be easy.
Radd sighed, wondering why it felt so imperative for him to do so. She’d just walked into his life and in a few days she would be out of it, so why did he care so much about what she thought of him? He didn’t give a damn about how people viewed him, well, except for Digby and a handful of old, good friends. Women, let’s face it, were easy.
But Brin wasn’t. Easy, that is, nor was she run-of-the-mill.
She had a backbone he hadn’t expected, a fierce temper when roused by injustice. And complete disdain for anyone who used their position and power to intimidate.
He liked that. Hell, he liked her. More than he’d like anyone for a long, long time. And that was very bad news indeed. She had the power, damn her, to be the catalyst for him to change. He didn’t want to change, he liked his life the way it was.
“I sent lunch but was told that you didn’t eat either,” Radd commented.
“I’m sorry to have wasted the food, but I wasn’t hungry.”
Hell, he didn’t care about two plates of food; he wanted to know what was going on in her head. Brin reached for her sunglasses and slid them onto her face, covering her beautiful eyes. Like her conservative, full-piece swimsuit, her lack of eye contact was another barrier to regaining the easy, laidback companionship they’d shared before.
And it had been easy; he enjoyed having her in his space and appreciated the fact that she didn’t need to be entertained. In the time they spent together alone, he felt completely comfortable reading a report or working while she read or dozed. And when they did talk, their conversation flowed. She had a self-deprecating sense of humor he enjoyed, and he found himself laughing at her wry observations. Her love for Kagiso was obvious, and she seemed eager to hear about his life on this farm as a child and tales of his wild Tempest-Vane ancestors, most of whom were eccentric. A few were certifiably nuts.
They’d been comfortable, relaxed and, dare he say it, happy.
Until the ugly scene this morning.
Radd opened his mouth to try to breach the distance between them, but Brin whipping her glasses off her face and tossing them onto the deck had his mouth snapping closed. When her eyes slammed into his, he saw her anger and, wait, was that embarrassment?
“I’m am very sorry I interfered this morning. You’re right, it had nothing to do with me and I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry if I put you in an uncomfortable position.” Brin hauled in a breath and managed, just, to meet his eyes. “I didn’t like the way Naledi spoke to Mari and I was upset that you didn’t stand up for Mari, for your staff. But you were right, it had absolutely nothing to do with me.”
Radd could tell, despite being a man and generally clueless, that she was still properly, deeply upset. He rubbed his stubble-covered jaw, trying to make sense of her extreme reaction. Yes, she and Mari seemed to like each other, but they weren’t best friends, so why was she so intent on defending her and his staff?
Making a concerted effort to keep his voice low and nonaccusatory—he was trying to understand, not start another fight—he asked for more of an explanation.
Brin hesitated before throwing her hands in the air. “You are part of their social group, a member of their elite club! You’re as powerful as them, certainly as rich! You should protect and defend those weaker than you, the people you employ!” Brin hauled herself out of the pool in a fluid movement, all long legs and feminine grace.
And damn, she was even more beautiful when she was furious. Radd couldn’t resist looking at her firm, high breasts. In the pool, against his shorts, parts of him were rising, too.
Not that she’d appreciate his response...
Brin’s eyes dropped down and widened when she saw his evident need for her. She threw up her hands and scowled at him. “Really?”
He shrugged. “I’m a guy, you’re wearing next to nothing, and I can’t help thinking about what we were doing when we were interrupted earlier.”
Brin stomped over to a lounger, snatched up her towel and wrapped it around her torso, hiding her curvy body. Damn.
Radd blew air into his cheeks and pulled himself out of the pool. He walked across the deck to where she stood, water running off him and darkening the planks of the light wooden floor.
“I wasn’t meaning to make light of your anger, but you’re an incredibly sexy woman, a woman I want.”
“That ship has sailed.”
“I gathered that.” Radd folded his arms across his chest and looked for words to regain some lost ground, preferably without having to explain why keeping the Radebes happy was so very important to him. She knew the basics, the surface stuff, but he couldn’t find the words to explain the PR campaign, rebranding their name, putting his parent’s ugly legacy to rest. Rebuilding a legacy they could be proud of...
“I need to keep the Radebes happy. Can we leave it at that?”
“At the risk of alienating your staff, losing their respect? My respect?” Brin’s words were as hard and cold as an Arctic wind. “Oh, but wait, our opinions don’t matter, because we’re not as rich or as powerful or as successful as you.”
“I didn’t say that!” Radd snapped back, stung.
“But it was what you meant!”
“The hell it was!”
A tide of red crept up Brin’s neck and he could see the light of battle in her eyes. Radd knew that he was in for another tongue lashing. He wasn’t wrong. And that was okay, he far preferred angry Brin to the subservient creature who’d apologized earlier.
“I know your type. Hell, I worked for people like you, Radd! I was blamed and castigated for things I didn’t do, things that weren’t my fault and over which I had no control! People like you, like my...like Naledi are entitled and demanding and disrespectful, and why the hell am I arguing with you about this?” Brin pushed her fingers into her hair, pushing away the long, wet curls. “This is ridiculous! Just get me out of here! Take me back to Cape Town!”
Oh, hell no. “Running away, Brin?”
“Just removing myself from your company,” Brin replied, turning around and walking into the room. Radd watched her go and, when she stopped suddenly, he looked past her to see Mari standing by the doorway, looking uncomfortable.
“Sorry, I knocked.”
His villa was like Grand Central Station today. If another person arrived uninvited, he just might lose it. Radd pulled in a deep breath, then another and tried to hold on to his temper.
“What is it?”
Mari sent him a Don’t mess with me look. Another female who was mad at him. Wonderful. “I had Simon bring a vehicle over and Chef has packed a basket of food for your dinner and breakfast.”
Mari turned her attention to Brin, sending her a sweet smile. “Thank you for sticking up for us, Brin, but it wasn’t necessary. We’ve had worse guests than the Radebe party and we know how to handle them. Mostly it’s best if you just let them rant and vent and then do what you intended to do all along. Radd knows this, as do I.”
Brin rolled her eyes at Mari’s calm statement.
Mari turned her attention back to Radd. “I think you and Brin need a break, and it would be sensible to put some distance between Brin and Naledi right now. She’s still demanding an apology from you, Brin.”
Radd’s “that’s not going to happen” coincided with Brin’s “I’d rather die.”
Mari rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers before refocusing her attention back on the pair of them. She was acting as if they were both high-maintenance toddlers. “Guys, that wasn’t a suggestion. And I think we could all do with a break.”
“I think Cape Town is far enough away,” Brin said, her expression stubborn.
“Let’s not get carried away, honey,” Mari said on a small smile. She turned to Radd. “Take Brin to The Treehouse, Radd. Leave now, while the Radebes are having their afternoon siesta. Your vehicle is parked by the staff quarters and you can avoid the lodge altogether.”
Radd nodded, thinking that Mari’s suggestion held a lot of merit. Maybe if he and Brin were alone, truly alone, they could recapture some of their earlier ease. And, even if they didn’t, they’d give Naledi time to calm the hell down.
And it had been a while since he’d been to The Treehouse.
Pulling a towel out of the pile on the shelf near the door, he swiped the cloth over his chest and rubbed his hair. Mari sent him a Get this done look and he gave her a small nod, hoping he could get Brin to agree.
How to do that?
He thought it best to stick to the facts and hopefully, whet her curiosity. “The Treehouse is a secure, completely private and lavish platform above massive boulders. Behind the structure is woodlands, and it’s my favorite place for watching the sun rise and set.”
Brin’s eyes narrowed. “How many beds?”
He couldn’t lie. “One. But it’s a huge bed and the same rules apply there as here. You’ve got to ask...”
“Yeah, that didn’t work out so well this morning.”
“It would’ve worked out fine if we hadn’t been interrupted,” Radd muttered, still feeling resentful. He now had to work ten times harder to get back to that place they had been, and Radd wasn’t sure if they would get there.
The thought depressed him. And the fact that he could feel depressed, depressed him more.
God, he was losing it.
Radd, irritated with himself and with Brin for not making this situation easier, found his patience slipping. “I’m going to The Treehouse. Come if you want to. If you don’t, fine.”
Brin took her time making up her mind and Radd forced himself not to display his impatience. This slip of a girl didn’t need to know how much she rattled him. And how much he hoped she said yes.
“Does this place have a shower?”
“Solar-powered.”
Radd sent Mari a Help me look, and she rolled her eyes before speaking. “If the lodge is a six-star establishment, then The Treehouse is a notch above. It’s a pretty special place, Brin, and you’ll regret not seeing it. It will be worth putting up with his company, I promise you.”
Thanks, Mari, Radd thought, narrowing his eyes at his old friend.
“Fine,” Brin muttered, stomping inside.
Mari smiled at him. “Prepared to do some groveling, Tempest-Vane?”
The hell he was! He was alpha to his core, groveling wasn’t part of his vocabulary. God, he wasn’t even good at apologizing! Mari’s eyebrows rose higher at his silence and he finally gave in, his shoulders slumping. “I might have to do a little damage control,” he reluctantly admitted.
Mari patted his shoulder. “Try not to hurt yourself trying something new, my friend.”
Ha-ha, Radd thought, glaring at her departing back.