‘Nothing’s going to happen,’ he interrupted.
Wishing she could have even a smidge of his confidence, Peyton held up her finger, needing him to listen to her. ‘Just go with me here on this, okay? Just say something happens and I go into labour again at twenty-eight weeks or even less and the baby dies. There’s nothing keeping us together after that – there’s certainly not love. Are you going to tell me you’re going to stick around? Or will you run when it all becomes overwhelming because, trust me…’ Her voice wavered. ‘Itwill. What happensto McKenzie then?’ Hell, what would happen toher? ‘It’ll be devastating.’
Valentino ran a hand through his hair. ‘It won’t happen.’
‘Goddamn it, Valentino,’ she snapped, banging her fist on the table. ‘What if it does?’
‘You’re dealing in a lot of what-ifs.’
‘Yeah, well, I have to, I’m her mother, I have to protect her. That’s my job.’ To say nothing of protecting herself.
Valentino’s jaw clenched. ‘I make the same solemn promise I made your parents. I will not walk away.’
‘But it would be easier for you to go if we didn’t marry. If there was no wedding ring holding you here. Because staying when you’d rather be somewhere else would be just as bad.’
It was Valentino’s turn to slam his hand down on the table in frustration. ‘Dio!Listen to me. I. Will. Not. Walk. Away.’ He punctuated each word with a vicious stab at the table.
For what it was worth, she believed him. Right now, at this moment, his conviction was palpable. But Peyton knew that life could throw curve balls that could change things in a heartbeat. She also knew this was getting them nowhere. They needed a compromise, something to break the stalemate. To take the pressure off and let things evolve naturally – if they were going to.
‘You want to get to know me? Us? Fine. Let’s just do that for now. I’m not going to stop you from being involved in the pregnancy, Valentino. I will include you as much as possible.’ She glanced at the velvet box. ‘Let’s just spend some time together first and then’ – she pushed it across the table to him – ‘we’ll see.’
Valentino picked up the box but didn’t look at it, his eyes roving over her face as if trying to spot some loophole in her sudden amiability. ‘So, it’s not a no? It’s a… maybe later.’
Peyton nodded, even though she knew deep in her heart she would never marry again. Never give a man that much power over her happiness. ‘That’s right.’
Valentino examined the box for a few moments and then put it back in his pocket. ‘I’m going to keep asking.’
And she was going to keep saying no. ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less.’
12
And he did. At the end of every week together he proposed. And at the end of every week she said no. That didn’t change but Peyton did. She was different. She was thriving, this pregnancy poles apart from the last. No nausea, minimal fatigue. Hell, she was practically glowing and it was such arelief.
It actually gave her hope that this time things would be different.
She and Valentino fell into a routine. He came for dinner one night a week after McKenzie was in bed. Peyton insisted they wait till her daughter was asleep. She knew how easily McKenzie loved people and she didn’t want her becoming too attached.
On Sunday mornings he joined the whole family for breakfast. It seemed less intimate with her parents there as a buffer to his charisma and charm, and Peyton had to admit she looked forward to it. If for nothing else than to taste what amazing culinary offering he brought with him.
And, of course, they saw each other at work three days a week. Although Peyton insisted that they be scrupulous about keeping things strictly professional. No one in the departmenthad an inkling of their private affairs, which was exactly what she wanted.
Peyton had also insisted that aside from her parents, they tell no one about the baby, including McKenzie, not until she’d passed the twenty-eight-week mark at least. To her surprise, Valentino agreed. As he had with the McKenzie-in-bed rule. It seemed he didn’t want to do anything to upset her.
He treated her with kid gloves. Was attentive and sweet. He fed her tempting, delicious creations at every opportunity and made her laugh. Apart from his weekly proposal he didn’t push her into any decisions or even try to make a pass at her, despite how alarmingly she wanted to feel his mouth on hers again.
It was an urge that grew with each week of pregnancy into an almost unbearable craving. Forget ice cream with tomato sauce! Her hormones went into overdrive as she entered the second trimester and Valentino looked more and more edible.
Aggravatingly, he seemed immune to her vibes. It was like he’d decided her body was a temple for his baby and that she was no longer the woman he’d had very through carnal knowledge of – she was a mother now. The mother ofhischild.
Some kind of sacred vessel.
She should have appreciated it. And she did. By and large. Because while her fear of sexual penetration inducing labour might be irrational, it was tenacious. Still, she wouldn’t mind exploring some of those other ways of satisfying her he’d hinted at because sometimes Peyton just wanted to smack a kiss on that full sexy mouth so badly she could barely see straight.
When she started to feel the baby move at sixteen weeks, he came over twice a week for dinner and spent all day Sunday with them. Which was harder on a libido nowragingbut involved him more, for which she knew he was grateful. He attended the weekly ultrasounds and all the doctor’s appointments. When it came to discussing the best course of action to prevent anotherpremature labour, she involved him in all the decisions and even looked to him for advice.
Her obstetrician, Dr Erica de Jongh, was confident that although Peyton was at an increased risk of having a second premature labour, it was highly unlikely she would this time round because the risks factors from her first pregnancy did not exist in this one.
For a start, there was only one baby and from the weekly ultrasounds they could see their baby boy – yes, Valentino had been right about that andsmugwith it as well – was growing normally, unlike Daisy who had always been small for dates.
