‘People don’t have to marry to look after their child.’
‘No, they don’t. But I wanted to. So then I had to think aboutwhyI wanted to when you apparently didn’t. Why I couldn’t rest until you agreed to marry.’
The haunted look in her eyes was like a fist slammed against his heart. Conall dropped his hands and eased them around hers, threading their fingers together.
‘I told you I was raised to be strategic, pragmatic and competitive. My father sees any emotion other than greed unacceptable. I have the vaguest recollection of my mother’s love, a sense of warmth and the world being a safe place. But there’s been no love in my life since then. That’s why it took me a long time to realise I love you.’
He paused, letting the words sink in, waiting and hoping she’d return the pressure of his hands, showing she believed. And that his love mattered to her.
Suddenly Conall was breathless.
But Greer’s only movement was to tilt her head, looking down at their joined hands, her lustrous dark lashes veiling her eyes.
What was she thinking? How did she feel? He couldn’t bear the silence, waiting for her response. ‘Even then, when I understood my feelings, I was wary of telling you. All those old lessons in hiding emotion came into play.’ Finally he admitted, ‘I was scared to tell you in case you didn’t feel the same way.’
Thatmade her look at him and for the first time since he’d started talking, a thread of hope wound its way around his heart.
‘I can’t imagine you scared.’
His bark of laughter cut the thick evening air. ‘Scared? I’ve been petrified. The longer I’ve put off telling you how I feel, the harder it’s become. There never seemed to be a right time. But now I need to know.’ His hands tightened around hers. ‘Will you let me try again, to be the husband I want to be? The sort of husband you deserve. Even if you don’t love me, I know youcarefor me, Greer. We’re good together and if you give me time, I can make you happy.’
‘I want to, so much,’ she whispered, her throat working convulsively. She looked overwhelmed.
‘I wouldneverhurt you, Greer.’ He waited, frowning. ‘Sweetheart? How doyoufeel aboutme?’
Was it possible he wasn’t the only one scared to reveal his feelings? Now, as he stared into her achingly beautiful eyes, he caught a glimpse of something that stole his breath.
‘I love you.’ She enunciated the words clearly, the sound sweeter and more moving than anything he’d ever known. ‘I fell for you the day I walked into your office and by the end of the week I knew it was more than physical. I’ve loved you for ages.’
Joy began to bubble in his veins as shock seared him. ‘You’ve known all this time?’
She nodded. ‘You’re not the only one wary of emotion. I never expected to feel anything like this. And then, knowing you’d married me because I was pregnant…’
‘It was more than that, my darling. It’s been more than that for a very, very long time.’
There it was again, that gleam of hope and shimmering excitement in her gaze. Yet even now she held firm. ‘How can I know that? How can I be sure?’
Conall dropped his hand and reached for his wallet, thumbing it open and extracting a piece of paper.
She took it, eyes round with astonishment. ‘The scan.Youhave this! I thought I’d lost it.’
She traced the small, grainy shape that had been their baby and his heart nearly broke at her tender expression.
‘I found it on the floor of the penthouse when I got back from the States. It must’ve fallen out of your bag when you left.’
‘You’ve been carrying it all this time?’
He nodded.
‘Surely that just proves it was the baby you cared about.’ Yet her expression had softened and he felt a powerful shift in the energy between them.
‘Of course I cared. But the reason I kept the scan, the reason I felt so strongly, is because it wasourbaby,yourbaby. I’m not like my father, who’s frankly a womaniser. I’m a one-woman man. He values his children only to perpetuate the myth of his own power. I loved our child because it wasours, yours and mine. Because I love you. I will always love you. I never imagined one, single person could make me feel whole the way I do with you.’
Her wobbly smile was the most wonderful thing he’d ever seen.
The touch of her fingers stroking his cheek almost turned his knees to water. What he felt for her was so powerful. It was everything he needed.
‘If you want proof that I love you, I can’t provide anything concrete. Just my promise to keep loving you all the days of our lives. If you’ll take the chance on trusting me, I promise not to let you down.’ He stopped, needing to drag more oxygen into overworked lungs. ‘I’m asking for a leap of faith, Greer. I’m trusting my heart to you.’
