‘What’s this?’ she asked faintly, turning to Abe, who was slightly behind her.
Ahead the space was dominated by a soft play area worthy of any commercial venture. To one side was a small village comprised of several houses, varying styles and all big enough for Tilly to play in, and outside one of them was a ride-on miniature Mercedes Benz with its own electric charging point. There was a craft area with an assortment of crayons and paper and a sketch pad mounted on an easel.
‘I had no idea what toddlers enjoy...er...playing with...’
‘So you decided to geteverything?’ she squeaked.
‘Actually, I had to restrain myself,’ Abe admitted guiltily and was gratified when she burst out laughing.
‘I should be really mad,’ Georgie teased him, while behind her Tilly was busy picking up where she had apparently left off, under the supervision of a smiling girl who was sitting on a small kids’ chair by one of the toy houses that were almost big enough to hold an adult.
‘You surely cannot have much more annoyance left in your reservoirs,’ Abe teased back.
She blushed like a teenager. Always had. He’d always found it irresistible. She was a glorious rosy colour now and his eyes drifted inexorably to her parted mouth.
He hadn’t meant to kiss her the evening before, but it had felt so natural, and, once his mouth had hit hers, rational thought had disappeared through the window.
He had shot back in time to when he hadn’t been able to see her without wanting to rip her clothes off.
He considered what marriage had always meant to him, something he had always assumed would be a formal and possibly sterile arrangement, a union forged for the sake of a country.
He thought now, as he stared hard at her full mouth and did his best to resist the urge to run his finger along that bottom lip, that marriage to Georgie would definitely have its upsides. He might not be able to fully give himself to her emotionally in the way she’d prefer but he would certainly be more than prepared to give himself physically to her just as often as she wanted.
He lowered his eyes and gathered himself.
She might hate him for what he had done, resent him for the position he had put her in, but he had kissed her just once and all that hatred and all those resentments had faded away under the seething passion that still burned between them.
Georgie felt the charge suddenly running between them, a chemical reaction she didn’t seem capable of preventing, and she turned away sharply to focus on her daughter and then, for the next half an hour, to get to know the young girl who would be helping look after Tilly, because there was no doubt in Georgie’s mind that she would need a bit of help while she was here.
Tilly was energetic and curious, and Georgie had no idea how she could help her daughter explore and run around when she was unfamiliar with the layout of the palace.
Nerves kicked in once again when Abe, who had remained in the room for the entire time, stood up and said something very quickly to the nanny in his native language before turning back to her and indicating the door.
Would Tilly burst out crying? Georgie wondered.
Left alone with someone she had only just met? But attending nursery from a very young age had, by necessity, turned her into a sociable child and there were no tears as the door to the playroom was very gently shut behind them.
Phase three was about to begin, she thought as she followed him wordlessly down another bewildering route. Same marble, different grand paintings and mosaics and balustrades but presumably a different destination.
Phase one had been the introduction of the idea of marriage, which had been followed by phase two, the introduction to his country and the life she and Tilly could have here, and now phase three was about to commence and she realised that, in the tumult of everything that had been happening, she hadn’t thought enough about his proposal to consider possibly uprooting herself from everything she had ever known.
It had lain there, on the periphery of her mind, a bridge waiting to be crossed.
The room into which she was ushered was lavish. She could understand why it was called the sun room, because a bank of arched glass doors allowed brilliant light to wash in, diluted by clever use of shutters and very fine muslin panels. It overlooked gardens she hadn’t noticed before and beyond that, as she moved to gaze through one of the windows whose shutters had been flung open, she could see the rise and fall of sandy dunes.
The marble here was black and white on the floor and the furniture was white wicker intermingled with upholstered sofas and on a sideboard was a veritable feast.
Her chef’s eye appreciated the effort that had gone into its preparation.
They helped themselves to food, the silence stretching between them until she could feel her skin break out in a thin film of nervous perspiration.
‘You have had some time to think now, Georgie.’ He sat down and dumped his plate in front of him and watched her as she sat opposite him at the glass table.
‘But it’s all been such a rush...’
‘I have stepped back from discussing my proposition,’ he said, ignoring her lame excuse, ‘because I thought you might want time to think about it. I also wanted time to adjust to parenthood and the reality of having a child. To launch into the nitty-gritty of a marriage proposal seemed...too hasty.’
‘Abe.’ Georgie sighed helplessly. ‘I believe in marriage. I just don’t believe inthismarriage. I really want you to be a huge part of Tilly’s life and I know you’ve said that you can’t possibly be a part-time dad, but surely where there’s a will, there’s a way?’
