‘I have many other properties in livelier destinations.’
Tabby had no idea why he assumed she would be interested in the contents of his property portfolio. But he linked his hand with hers as he was ushering her back onto his father’s private jet and her heart swelled with warmth inside her when he kept her anchored to him as they sat down. But while she was in love with him, he was not in love with her. She couldn’t afford to forget those facts. She needed to protect herself. She recalled the wildness of their intimacy the night before and an inner flush of heat turned her pink as she inexorably relived certain moments, wondering if the sheer pleasure he gave her was normal, or if indeed she was somewhat oversexed. After all, she could barely look at Aristide’s lean, hard features or meet those stunning eyes of his without thinking about what it was like when he touched her—electrifying.
Forty-eight hours later, Tabby had the ultrasound, which was done at the doctor’s surgery in the village. The latest technology had been specially flown in for the occasion and was being gifted to the surgery, courtesy of Aristide. Her eyes stung like mad when she glimpsed the incredibly real 4D imagery of her babies. One was a boy, the other thought to be a girl. Aristide was fascinated, dark golden eyes ablaze with strong emotion.
‘This makes them so real,’ he said.
‘But you do know that the gender is only a guess because it’s still too early to be sure,’ she reminded him.
‘I read the small print just like you did.’
‘We should’ve waited a little longer to have it done,’ she reiterated.
‘Why? They’ll be here in little more than six months. We need to get ready for them. Rooms furnished, toys, staff hired,’ Aristide counted out, galvanised by the concept of useful activity.
‘They won’t be needing their own rooms to start out. They’ll be sleeping in the same room as me,’ Tabby informed him calmly. ‘A night nurse would be helpful the first few weeks but there will be no need for actualstaff.’
Aristide breathed in deep and slow and opted to say nothing.
‘Of course, I expect you were mostly raised by nannies,’ she guessed.
‘Yes. My father travelled round his hotels, which are all over Europe. He had no choice.’
‘Well, I’m unlikely to be travelling very often.’
They dined that evening at his father’s farmhouse and she got the official tour of Aristide’s childhood home. Unlike Aristide’s giant barn of a house, this one exuded warmth, atmosphere and comfort. Yes, sleek sophistication ruled in every corner of Aristide’s imposing mansion, along with some very modern art, but it was not, by any stretch of the imagination, ahome. Every choice Aristide had made screamed rich single male and the latest technology.
‘Feel free to make changes to my house here,’ Aristide told her calmly.
‘I wouldn’t feel right doing that,’ Tabby replied, even though she was bursting with ideas to improve the ambience. What they had was temporary and it wasn’t her place to change anything within his home. ‘It’s not my house and my taste wouldn’t be relevant.’
‘It’s the interior decorator’s taste, not mine. I didn’t need to be part of that process.’
The next morning was Imogen’s grandfather’s funeral and Aristide attended with his father. Andy had shown Tabby some pottery she had bought at an art gallery in town and she suggested they visit it some day. One day wended into the next seamlessly and Tabby relaxed again. Her morning sickness had dwindled and she stopped taking tablets to control it. Her appetite returned once she was no longer nauseous.
‘I’m inviting some friends to join us on the yacht and we’ll island-hop for a few days,’ Aristide informed her.
‘I didn’t know that you had a yacht—’
‘It’s chartered out most of the time. I haven’t taken a lot of time off work the last few years but that’ll have to change when I become a family man,’ Aristide remarked.
‘You won’t really be a family man. The children won’t be living with you,’ Tabby pointed out. ‘Although I expect they’ll come for longer visits once they’re a little older.’
Aristide shrugged a broad bronzed shoulder. ‘We can live together—’
Tabby tensed and paled at the casual manner in which that invitation landed on her. Loving him made her very vulnerable and she had to be careful so that she didn’t get too badly hurt. His whole approach was too casual to persuade her that he was serious. ‘No. We’re not drifting into some weird, loose live-in relationship just because I’m pregnant,’ she warned him. ‘I’m having these babies and getting on with my life.’
Aristide dealt her a startled, searching glance from shrewd dark eyes. ‘I rather thought we’d moved beyond those boundaries.’
‘No, this is just a holiday, not my real life,’ she stated with conviction. ‘I have to get back to my own life.’
‘As long as you accept that that life includes me,’ Aristide responded with studied mildness of tone, although he was not remotely as blasé about her answer as he was pretending. What did she mean about herownlife? Did she mean she was planning to go back to dating other men? She was rather firmly rejecting his ideas. He had never asked a woman to live with him before! Didn’t she appreciate what a major commitment that would be for him? No, she had just breezed on past the suggestion as if it hadn’t happened, utterly dismissing it. He would’ve liked to go into the topic more deeply right there and then but a glimpse of the anxious tension etched into her small face dissuaded him from persisting just at that moment.
‘We’ll have a great time on the yacht,’ he forecast soothingly, backing off. He was a terrific negotiator and he knew when to push and when to soft-pedal.
He wondered what was going on with her, wondered grimly if he should’ve put the whole business of his becoming a parent in his lawyers’ hands. Should he have made it business rather than letting emotions get in the way? Legal advice would’ve given him guidelines. He knew his lawyers would disapprove of the actions he had so far taken: putting a ring on her finger, fake engagement or otherwise, bringing her to Anthos, letting his family get to know her. All of that was serious stuff.
It was true that he had done the same thing once before with Imogen but that had been at the point of a gun, when he had offered marriage even though he had felt far too young to make such a huge decision, only that very thought had seemed wrong, cruel and irresponsible when he had believed she was already expecting his baby.
