Page 38 of Riding High

‘I know.’

‘Arse,’ Mick muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.She leaned sideways to flick his ear.Ignoring his protest, she topped up Eden’s glass, then her own, and leaned back in her chair.‘Right, now that the excitement is over, can we have a normal meal?’she asked.

‘I’ve been hanging around you guys for five years now, and I’ve yet to find normal,’ Kit stated, lifting his beer bottle in a mock toast.

Justin placed his hand on Al’s and shook his head when he reached for his phone.‘No, baby, you still need to be sociable.’

Al sighed, frowned and tipped his head back to look at the ceiling.Jed, from experience, knew they had about fifteen minutes before he excused himself and went back to his home office and lost himself in the markets and his spreadsheets.

Trying to ignore his aching nose, and balls, Jed sipped at his whisky.He pulled the lasagna dish toward him and, deciding there was no point in dirtying another plate, ate directly from the serving dish.And Eden was right, it was good.He looked at Mick.‘How are the plans coming along for the charity polo match?’he asked.

Mick tapped her finger against the bowl of her wine glass and wrinkled her nose.‘We still need a main sponsor,’ she told him.‘And we need to find a charity to be the recipient of any money we raise.’

Eden’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth.‘I’m sorry… what?’

She looked genuinely confused.Jed started to explain, but Mick beat him to it.In between bites, she explained how a casual discussion they’d had about hosting a polo match to raise funds for charity a few months ago had led to an organising committee being set up by the village ‘do-gooders’ and Mick– she shot a dirty look at Jed when she got to this point– being elected its chairperson.

‘You’re raising money for charity, but you don’t have a cause in mind?’Eden asked, obviously confused.‘That doesn’t make sense.’

‘If we don’t find a charity we can all agree on, we’ll just donate the money to the Bancroft Foundation and ask them to distribute it,’ Jed explained.‘The Bancroft Foundation is?—’

Eden’s face tightened.‘I know who they are and what they do.’

‘Troyden has said that he’ll sponsor the day if we need him too,’ Mick said.‘I have to say, it’s pretty handy having a billionaire hanging around.’

Al lifted his attention off the phone he’d snuck out of his pocket.‘Not going to happen.We’ve spent the budget for charity contributions this quarter and I’m not releasing any more money.’

Mick pouted.‘Oh, don’t be annoying, Al.It’s for a good cause.’

Al’s expression turned stubborn.‘Do you have any idea how many people ask Troyden for money, how many people expect him to bail them out when they hit a sponsorship snag?It’s a full-time job for Justin to handle the emails, and then Troyden is besieged by personal calls as well.That couple, your mum’s old friend, Jed?—’

Al was terrible at names.‘Tara and Vincent Bancroft, Al,’ he supplied, weary.He wanted to go to bed.Preferably with Eden.Who now looked ghost-pale instead of fire-red.He’d never met anyone who could change colour as fast.

‘Yeah,them.They’re always asking for last-minute sponsorship.’

Yeah, his godmother and Vincent could be pushy, but you had to be when you ran one of the most successful foundations in the country.But they made a difference in many people’s lives, so he thought their persistence was an asset, not a fault.

Because he couldn’t keep his eyes off Eden’s gorgeous face, he saw an indecipherable emotion jump into her eyes.Tipping his head to the side, he watching as she pushed her food around on her plate.She hadn’t eaten more than a couple of forkfuls.

‘Are you okay?’he asked, his voice gruff.

‘Fine,’ she snapped, as prickly as a cactus.‘Why wouldn’t I be?’

Because my bloody sister invited you to dinner at my house instead of hers, because we didn’t say a word before we started devouring each other?Because we ended up on the bloody floor looking like randy teenagers?‘You hit your knee pretty hard,’ he said, trying his best to sound bland.

She lowered her hand to rub her knee.‘It’s okay.’

But she wasn’t.And he knew that not all of her unease was due to their runaway wildfire attraction.What was her story?He wanted to know.

‘Alistair, stop being a frugal prat,’ Mick snapped at Al, pulling Jed’s attention off Eden.‘I’m Troyden’s daughter, and this is a worthy cause!’

‘You don’t have a cause yet, Mick, and they are all worthy causes,’ Alistair replied, sounding bored.‘AndTroyden wouldn’t stay a billionaire if we didn’t stick to abudget.’

Jed thought he was overegging it, but Al was pedantic about Troyden’s finances.He also understood, because Troyden could be too generous and tended to fling his credit card around like it was confetti, Al needed to keep a close eye on Troyden’s money.

‘You are so annoying,’ Mick told Alistair, tossing her head.

Al, because he was Al, ignored her.He never wasted energy on drama.