Page 177

She stared at him, confused.

‘He wants to meet you.’

Sarah’s blood gushed through her veins. ‘I—why?’

Tate’s smile was just a tightening of his lips. ‘Because you’re pregnant with my baby, for a start.’

‘He knows?’

Tate frowned. ‘Do you think I should have kept it from him?’

‘No. I don’t know. Maybe. I just… I’m not ready to meet him,’ she blurted out. ‘Or anyone. This is still so new. I’m still getting used to the whole idea. And to bring your brother into it before we’ve even decided what the next step is—’

‘I know what the next step is,’ he interrupted, with his trademark confidence. ‘You’re the one who has to get your head around that.’

‘But I’m not. Not yet. And I can’t even contemplate having your brother here, meeting him. I’m not ready,’ she repeated.

His nostrils flared as he expelled a sharp breath, but finally, to her relief, he nodded. ‘Fine. I’ll tell him not to come.’

‘Or I’ll go away for a few days,’ she offered. ‘I don’t want you to tell your brother he can’t come to his own home.’

‘He doesn’t think of this as home any more than I do.’

A shiver ran down her spine as she imagined how bad things must have been with their father for them to have formed this opinion.

‘This—’ he gestured to the wide, sweeping plains beyond the pool ‘—is what we care about.’

‘I’m trying to do this properly,’ she said, slowly. ‘I’m trying to work out what’s best for everyone. And I know how you feel, and maybe even that you’re probably right. But I just need some time, and space, to get there myself, okay?’

‘No,’ he said, simply, surprising her then by moving, sliding down into the pool in his shorts and shirt, and coming to stand right behind her, turning her with his strong, capable hands at her hips. She was too surprised—too aware of him—to do anything but stare. ‘If I give you space, you overthink.’

Her lips widened.

‘Tell me what you feel,’ he said.

She shook her head, the barriers she’d spent a lifetime erecting around herself impossible to break through. ‘It’s not about feelings. We need to be smarter than that.’

‘But you know we belong together. Not because of anything so stupid and infantile as love, or even sex, but because of the baby we’ve made. The baby we both love enough to lay down our lives for. That’s why you’ll stay; it’s why you’ll marry me. You know that. I know you do.’

‘But it’s not that simple, it’s—’

‘Why not?’ he pushed, pressing a finger to her lips to cut her off. ‘Why isn’t it that simple? As you keep pointing out, I have a fortune at my fingertips. I can remove any barrier or obstacle you’re concerned about. I can make sure you are provided for, no matter what. And you know me well enough, by now, to know that I will never, ever keep you here if you are unhappy. You know that, don’t you? You feel that,’ he corrected, moving his hand to her chest and pressing it there, so a shiver ran the length of her spine.

‘Look into my eyes and tell me you disagree.’

She stared at him, and her heart tripped in her chest. Face to face like this, she felt a reality burst through her that she finally accepted. She could trust him. He was good, and decent. Even if she hadn’t gleaned as much from the man himself, it was apparent from the way his staff spoke of him, even down to the fact he had the same housekeeper he’d known as a boy. He was a decent guy who wouldn’t hurt her.

‘But what if it doesn’t work out?’ she pushed. ‘You told me you would fight me for custody. You told me you’d raise this baby, no matter what.’ She was glad to have recalled his words, the threat implicit, when she needed it most.

‘And I meant it then, Sarah. I was shocked, and panicked. You’d turned up on my doorstep, dropped a bombshell, then told me you were going back to England. I reacted from instinct and fear.’

Her heart stammered. ‘Are you saying you take it back?’

A muscle jerked in his jaw. ‘It’s not that straightforward. But as with our marriage, I would do whatever I could to make sure you were okay. None of this is your fault.’

Her heart went from stammering to gaping, almost as though a knife had sliced right through it.

‘I don’t know what that means.’