He flung off his sweaty T-shirt and opened the door to find the room humid and lit up with the flickering light from dozens of candles. The tinkle of water drew his gaze to the clawfoot tub.

With her hair in a bun at the top of her head, damp tendrils stuck to her cheek and forehead, Rosie lounged in a bath. Bubbles covered her body up to her chest, and the mischievous grin she gave him had him toeing off his running shoes and dropping his gym shorts.

“Got room for me?”

“Always.” She pushed up, so her nipples, all rosy and wet, popped out of the water.

“Damn, princess.” He stepped into the warm water behind her and stretched out his legs, so they bracketed her thighs. An arm around her waist, he pulled her back against him. This is all I need. Right here. My princess in my arms. “I’m sorry for running out the way I did.”

“Don’t be. I understand.”

“Nah. I made you feel bad, and that’s the last thing I want to do. It’s just I’ve got—”

“A million things on your mind, and it’s when you’re distracted that you come up with solutions.”

He kissed her cheek. “That’s right. And I did. I got it all worked out. What’s been bugging me is that I bailed—again—on Owl Hoot. I got all these great ideas, got everyone on board, and then I walked away. But there’s no reason I can’t finish everything I started. I’m going to hire my buddy Chris to run things in my absence. A couple of years ago, I hired him as executive chef of the spa restaurant, but he didn’t feel qualified, so he wound up running the contest that brought us Delilah. He did a great job, so, I think he’d—”

“I think you should go home and finish the job yourself.”

He sat up so abruptly, water splashed over the sides of the tub. “What? No.” He shouldn’t have run out on her after the dinner. She’d gotten the wrong impression. “That’s what I’m saying. The board approved the list of businesses and the triathlon. I’ll still be overseeing it, but I’ll have Chris on the ground.”

“You don’t want to work with your brothers on the triathlon?”

A pinch to his heart told him he did. “Technology’s made the world a smaller place. I can work with them from here.”

“And the reliquary museum? You don’t want to scout out the treasures?”