Curtis thought that her hair would curl if she knew the full extent of his godfather’s belief that they were madly in love, that it was just a question of time before they tied the knot—because why on earth would they want their baby to be born out of wedlock?—and that plans should be made about where they intended to live.
He had done his best to avoid being pinned down but the prospect of disentangling themselves from the fabrication they had concocted was beginning to look a lot less simple than either of them had originally thought.
That should have worried him. This enforced mini break should have worried him. Since when did he spend time lazing around when there were deals to be done? The fact that it didn’t worry him was even more disturbing.
Clearly, though, he was on his own when it came to guiltily enjoying this predicament. He’d seen a different side to her in Courchevel. In bite-sized pieces over the years, he hadn’t really appreciated just how smart and funny and empathetic she was. It had been a journey of discovery and so what if he was enjoying the fact that the journey hadn’t ended? It made sense because they were going to co-parent, whether he wanted more or not, and so he needed to spend this time with her, to further see the woman who was bearing his child.
‘He’s very much invested in this,’ he said, taking his third scone. ‘Time, of course, will allow us to demonstrate that we won’t be spending the rest of our lives in blissful perpetuity. How much time? How long is a piece of string?’
Jess frowned. ‘I don’t know how long the piece of string is, Curtis, but maybe we should try and measure it.’
She was aghast at the prospect of having to deal with her wayward emotions for an indefinite period of time. She saw him and she wanted more, and she hated herself for wanting more. He’d dropped all mention of marriage and she could only think that he was relieved not to have been pushed into anything. Maybe he’d had time to think what a nightmare it would have turned out to be—married to a woman he didn’t love, a woman who should have stayed firmly put in thefriendcategory.
‘At any rate, surely he can’t expect you to wash your hands of your work commitments in London?’ She tilted her head to one side. ‘You must be distraught at having to hang around here when you hadn’t planned to.’
‘Could your language be any more colourful? Distraught?’
Jess ignored the interruption. She hated the way that sexy drawl could make her whole body tighten with sexual excitement. There was a slight smile tugging the corners of his mouth and she ignored that as well but she could still feel a slow burn inside her.
‘But I have an idea that I think might work,’ she slowly suggested, frowning when he raised his eyebrows in a vaguely sceptical question.
‘Can’t wait to hear.’
‘You head back to London tomorrow, first thing. Maybe even later this evening. You then stay away for a while due to pressure of work—time issues...meetings abroad...money to be made, deals to be done et cetera. While you’re away, I’ll lay the foundations for a relationship that couldn’t possibly survive because of your long absences. Of course, I’ll make sure he knows that we will always remain the best of friends, but that we’re just not suited for anything more than that.’
‘Due to the fact that I’m never around.’
‘Well,’ she pointed out defensively, ‘youdodevote most of your time to work’
‘Hmm. So...to recap,’ Curtis mused pensively, cool green eyes boring into her until she had to struggle not to squirm, ‘you generously engineer the demise of our short-lived relationship on the grounds that I’m a complete bastard who can’t be bothered to stick around for his own flesh and blood because making more and more money is vastly more important.’
‘I didn’t say that there weren’t elements that couldn’t be fine-tuned,’ she snapped. ‘It’s just an idea, Curtis, because we both know that, sooner rather than later, we’re going to have to come clean and the later we leave it, I’m now beginning to see, the harder it’s going to be.’
‘I’m not being the fall guy in this little scheme, Jess. I’m the one who was willing to get married and do the right thing.Youwere the one who was so invested in the business of finding Mr Right that you’re willing to walk away from marriage. So when it comes to wriggling out of this arrangement you can forget it if you imagine I’m going to be nailed to the wall as the man who won’t step up to the plate and do the honourable thing.’
Hot and bothered, Jess glared at him.
Why was he being so difficult? She knew. His background demanded he provided for his child what his own feckless mother had failed to provide for him and she was stricken by a sudden attack of guilt, but then many children who didn’t have irresponsible parents managed to do very well in a situation where their parents no longer lived together. Essentially, she argued with herself, their own child would have a very different experience of growing up than he had had.
Of course, she could see that he might have been a bit taken aback by the rough outline of her idea, but surely he was as keen as she was to keep this charade as short as possible.
Did he still imagine that she would rush into marrying him after she’d said her piece?
Maybe he did. It wasn’t as though he knew just how deep her feelings for him ran, just how catastrophic it would be for her to sign up to being his wife, to being with him every minute of every day, knowing that what she felt for him would never be returned.
She was hit by a sudden wave of pure despair as all-engulfing as a tidal wave and she felt tears prick the back of her eyes.
And, just like that, he reached out and held her hand, his eyes filled with concern.
‘Don’t stress,’ he said roughly.
‘But Idostress,’ she whispered.
‘You’re scared.’ He paused and squeezed her hand, a gesture of such tender support that her heart clenched. ‘You don’t want the uncertainty of our situation hanging over your head indefinitely, like the Sword of Damocles...’
She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.
Curtis sighed and rubbed his eyes before looking at her gravely. ‘I’ll make sure...the way is suitably paved.’ His mouth twisted into a smile tinged with sadness. ‘As it seems I can’t persuade him down any other route. He’s arranged a small dinner tonight, asking one of his friends over. After that? Don’t worry. It’ll be...sorted.’
