Reunited by the Tycoon's Twins

She met his eyes and laughed again at the smirk on his face.

She shoved him gently with her shoulder as she came back to stand beside him. ‘You were always a pain, you mean. You were never a genius. You used to burn the toast.’

‘And here was me thinking you never noticed me at all.’ God, that grin of his really was too much. It spread automatically to her face without her even thinking about it. And it made her want to sway her body closer to his in a way that would be bad for both of their states of mind.

She reined in her libido and tried to keep her body on-message. ‘I noticed the smoke alarm going off at regular intervals,’ she said. ‘It was kind of hard to ignore.’

‘I had to get your attention somehow.’

She looked up and met his gaze, neither of them looking away long after the look had turned from friendly to intense to something much more concerning and she knew that, however hard they tried to talk about it or ignore it, this chemistry wasn’t going anywhere. The thought sent a shiver through her, and she wasn’t quite sure whether it was pleasure or fear.

‘Don’t tease me.’ Her voice dropped to something more serious. Because they couldn’t keep bantering like this. They were going to get themselves into trouble. They had to be more careful. ‘You didn’t think of me that way back then,’ she told him with absolute certainty. ‘You couldn’t have cared less whether I noticed you or not.’

‘God, you’re so sure of yourself, aren’t you? You can’t bear to think that I might remember things differently.’

‘Jake would have killed you. Or wanted to, at least.’

He nodded slowly, his eyes still never leaving hers. ‘Then it’s a good job that Jake could never read my mind.’

‘You don’t spill your guts to him like you do to me then?’

Finally, the grin was gone. She had got through to him. She saw the defences come back up. ‘I don’t spill my guts to you.’

‘You’ve not been able to stop talking about this thing between us.’

‘Because it’s distracting,’ Finn said, his voice shorter, spikier. ‘It’s taking up so much room in my head right now that I don’t know how to talk about anything else.’

‘Why not just forget it?’ she asked.

He placed his hands on his hips, his body language matching the scowl on his face. ‘Because it’s important that I don’t forget. I know I keep saying that there’s this connection between us, Madeleine. And it’s true. I feel it. The reason I want to talk about it is because I don’t want to give that spark any power. I’m not interested in a relationship. I have the children to think about, I’m still processing a marriage that broke down and nearly took my business down with it, all because I... Look, my life isn’t compatible with a relationship. With anyone else, I don’t know...maybe I’d be up for something casual. I don’t want casual with you. I don’t want anything with you because Jake is practically my brother, which makes you family and I don’t want to do anything to mess that up.’

God, she hadn’t been expecting such a torrent of words. There was too much there to process, standing here amidst a chaotic queue of tourists in the middle of a London summer. She knew that she’d be killing herself trying to remember every word when she was finally alone tonight. But, for now, the gist of it was enough. He was as wary as she was, and he wanted whatever spark this was between them shut down fast. Good. She could get on board with that.

‘Then I’m glad we’re on the same page because I don’t want anythi

ng either, casual or otherwise, Finn. It sounds like you’re afraid I’m going to jump you. Or seduce you or something. For the record, I’m not interested in a relationship with you or anyone else. Now, can we please, please stop discussing this?’

He gave her the most intense look for a beat, and then another. And then, when she thought she couldn’t bear it any more, he broke into an easy sunny smile and changed the subject. ‘When you admit that you are desperate to play the tourist and go on the Eye.’

She was desperate to shut him up. She returned his smile, but couldn’t quite convince it to reach her eyes. ‘Fine, yes. Let’s go.’

‘So gracious,’ Finn said, pushing the pram further up the ramp as the queue edged close to the embarkation platform.

The pod rose so slowly and smoothly that it was hard to even believe that they were moving unless she looked away from the skyline for a moment, then looked back again to find it that tiny bit further away. The crowded pod—twenty-five of them plus the double buggy—had them wedged into one spot, where for most of the ride up her view was mainly of the back of the six-foot bear of a tourist who had rudely pushed in front of her. She didn’t want to look back at the hefty winding gear responsible for keeping nearly five hundred feet of Ferris wheel in the air. And it didn’t take long for her to realise that actually she had been pretty happy down on the ground, untroubled by thoughts of how sturdy that engineering really was.

But as the pod crested the top of the wheel and the bear of a man in front of her moved to another part of the pod, her cynicism fell away. The early summer sunshine flooded them with light and suddenly London was glorious beneath them, the river a living, moving ribbon through the landmarks of the city that had become so familiar that she’d stopped seeing it. From up here, she couldn’t believe that she didn’t spend her day looking around herself in wonder at the city where she got to live. And then, when she looked to her left, there were the Houses of Parliament.

She bit her lip, letting her hand rest on the glass as she took in the sight of the seat of British politics, the location of so many key moments in the history of the country. She’d dreamed of those Gothic buildings all through her degree course. She had been so sure that that was where she was headed. She’d be up close with the people making those decisions, holding them to account and providing the checks and balances that ensured a fair and accountable system of government.

But instead she was up here. Looking down on the Palace of Westminster like the tourist she would be if she turned up there now. From this height, it looked like a model. A toy. It might as well not be real for all the chance she had of working there now.

Finn’s hand rested on her shoulder and she jumped, realising she’d forgotten that he was there. She had been so wrapped up in her dreams and her lost hopes that she’d forgotten she was meant to be helping him out. That was the whole point of her being here.

‘Are the babies okay?’ she asked, angling to try and see them in the pushchair.

‘They’re zonked. They must like the movement of the wheel. What’s going on with you? You’re miles away.’

She couldn’t help a quick glance out of the pod towards Parliament before she answered. ‘I’m fine. I’m great.’