“Does that mean I won’t find wardrobes of women’s clothes in all the houses you own, Raf?” she asked, keeping her tone light even when something strange was flexing in her chest.
He looked genuinely confused and then, the hand at her side shifted, his fingers brushing inside the elastic of her bikini bottoms before returning to her hip. It was the briefest contact, and yet she felt as though she’d died and gone to heaven.
“These clothes,” he said, with a shake of his head, “are not mine. My aunt and uncle made sure my sort-of cousin, Sofia, has a wardrobe at each of our properties. When I bought the place, it didn’t make sense to get rid of them.” He pulled her closer, hard up against his body, so she felt the stirring of his arousal and her whole world seemed to skitter to a halt. “Wear anything you want, Elodie. It seems only fair, given the circumstances.”
It might have beenpoor manners, but Raf found he couldn’t take his eyes off Elodie as she stepped elegantly from the pool, the pale yellow bikini showing her lithe athleticism and every curve to best advantage. But it was the very slight hint of roundedness at her stomach that had his body exploding with feelings.
Possessive heat.
An ancient, animalistic sense of pride, that he’d done that to her. It was not his most cerebral thought, but it formed before he could help it. He stared at her and saw the effects of his baby growing inside of her, and every single part of him threatened to explode.
With pleasure.
Pleasure that this was really happening.
Pleasure that he had proof.
And then, also, panic. Because this was something he’d told himself he couldn’t and shouldn’t want. Because he’d told himself it was dangerous to even contemplate this.
So, he hadn’t. For two long years, he’d focused instead on living in the moment, not thinking of the future. Regardless, she was pregnant, and as he watched Elodie towel herself off, he also felt a whisper of relief, that it was her, and not any of the other women he’d been with, since his marriage broke down.
Not that he’d spent much time getting to know those women, but somehow, he could just tell that Elodie was different. He could tell that this would work, even when they weren’t a couple.
So long as you keep your hands and eyes to yourself,a voice warned, reminding him of how he’d reached for her in the pool, drawing her body against his, out of a sheer need to touch and be touched by. Remembering the way her pupils had flared, and her shape had sort of seemed to fold right into him, as though she too wanted to just meld her flesh to his. To be at one, completely.
To make love to him? Possibly.
In his heart, he suspected theybothwanted that. He’d come close to begging for it twice that day already. But they both knew why it wasn’t possible, andthathad to be his guiding light, nothing else. Desire be damned, there was too much at stake here to give in to temptation…
CHAPTER 9
IT SHOULDN’T HAVE MEANT anything, that the full wardrobe of clothing he’d offered her hadn’t been bought with his rotating-door of women in mind, but itdid.She would only admit that to herself, and much later that day, when she’d sought out a small reprieve from the effort it took to be near Raf and act as though she was unaffected by his presence. When the opposite was true. Everything about him scattered her and made her body gush with warmth and heat.
But that revelation had brought possibly the biggest burst of warmth, because it was yet another demonstration of how close knit his family was. Big, and full of love—exactly as she’d always wanted.
Careful,an inner voice warned. He wasn’t offering her a place in the family, and she should know better than to want it. She couldn’t let history repeat itself and be so carelessly trusting as she’d been with Aaron. She’d bought into their situation, hook, line, and sinker, spending time with his parents as much as she had her own, thinking of his sister as one of her closest friends. And then, when the writing had been on the wall with her relationship with Aaron, that closeness had completely evaporated, showing her how false it all was.
She’d been so quick to believe in that, too. As an only child, she’d wanted the big, happy extended family. It had all been a part of the illusion she’d sacrificed everything for.
If the only positive to come out of her breakup with Aaron was Elodie’s commitment to a more solitary life, then so be it. She would no longer believe in fairy tales and happily ever afters. Not when she had so much evidence to the contrary.
The day was warm, and after swimming with Raf and then sharing lunch on the terrace, Elodie was sapped of energy. She was surprised by how easily conversation had flown between them over lunch. He knew a lot about the area and spent most of the time answering her questions about the history of the villa, the crops grown in the surrounding fields. He’d asked her questions, too, about her childhood, her work before the breakup. Things that were easy to answer, particularly after the honesty of her confession earlier. Knowing that he knew about Aaron was somehow like having a weight lifted from her chest. Aaron had been so important to her, it had seemed strange to be having a baby with a man who didn’t know about her breakup—it was a huge part of her life, after all. But it was only as she drifted off into an afternoon nap that she realized she had started that whole conversation by asking him about his marriage. At his obvious reluctance, she’d offered to go first, sharing the whole sordid history as a way of helping them understand one another better.
Ah well, she thought, rolling onto her side with a yawn that seemed dredged from the depths of her soul. They had agreed to share dinner on the terrace. She’d ask him again then, she thought, as she fell fast and hard asleep.
The callto Gianni and Maria was harder to make than the Zoom call that morning. His aunt and uncle were romantics at heart. They’d even tolerated and welcomed Marcia into their homes, because they’d believed she made him happy.
So, to break it to them that he was expecting a baby with a woman he barely knew took every ounce of his conviction. The alternative, though, was to lie to them. To pretend he and Elodie were more than this. To pretend that he had feelings for her.
And he couldn’t—wouldn’t—lie to his family.
It wouldn’t be fair to them, or Elodie. So, he presented the information in a businesslike tone, aware that it was miles away from the reality they’d have wanted for him.
He sat on a chair on the terrace, watching as a small army of staff set the table for tonight’s dinner. Their lunch had been a casual platter, thrown together from what was in the fridge, but for this evening, he’d asked his housekeeper Fiona to arrange everything. He needed the night to go smoothly. If he had one month to win Elodie over and show her that they could co-parent this child, he intended to launch a full charm offensive. He intended to make it impossible for her to say no.
Even when she’d shown she had the ability to deny him, no matter what.
“Darling, this cannot be so,” Maria sounded cautious. “You’ve told us, dozens of times, that you will never have children.”
