“
Sì
.
”
He smiled indulgently at her as he slid into the seat beside her. “And do not try to tell me that you will not read them all, too. You picked half of them out.”
“Yes, but somehow I just don’t think we need advice on what to do for a color-blind child.” She’d laughed out loud when she’d seen the clerk ring that title up, but it was only marginally more comical
than him
buying the book on how to teach an infant to swim. “The baby isn’t even born yet! Besides, there’s no reason to believe she’ll be color-blind.”
“Or that he won’t be. You can’t be too prepared.”
Danette
laughed. “You are a real case, you know that?”
“I am going to be a father. I think I’m entitled.”
“You’re so proud of yourself for knocking me up that I’m surprised your head fit through the car door.”
“And yet, it did fit,” he said with a smile.
She gave into the irresistible urge to return his smile. Underlying his super-patient attitude had been a glowing sense of pride in his accomplishment that a blind woman could not miss. It was sweet and she’d found it impossible to stay angry in the face of his obvious pleasure in her condition. Not that she was really angry anyway.
She was still hurting
and
feeling guilty because she hated the thought that in his mind her love wasn’t real. As reluctant as she was to give his view credence, she could see where he justified his belief.
She sighed.
“That is a sound I have come to dislike intensely.”
Turning startled eyes to meet his now serious blue gaze, she asked, “What?” He hated her
sighing?
“Why?”
“It indicates
an unhappiness
in you I do not wish to be there.” There was no evidence of his earlier lighthearted mood as he cupped her face in his hands. “We know how pleased I am about your pregnancy, but are
you
happy about the baby,
tesoro
mio
?”
It was always so hard to concentrate when he touched her, but she made herself answer as prosaically as possible. “Yes, how can you doubt it?”
“You were frightened yesterday.”
“I still am a little, but my head knows I shouldn’t be and the thought of having your baby is a very sweet one, if you want the truth.”
His hands dropped away and he sat back against the seat, his expression disbelieving. “So sweet, you do not wish to marry me.”
“Can we not talk about that right now?” They’d been getting along so well and she didn’t want to mar the pleasure of that rapport. She didn’t like being at odds with him…she was used to her time with him being a source of pleasure, not pain.
Even when they disagreed.
“Just accept that I am happy about the baby.” Before he could say something cutting, she went on. “By all rights, you shouldn’t be pleased that your secret lover is pregnant with your child, but you are and I accept that. I don’t care if it makes sense in your brain that I’m content to be pregnant with your baby, or not. I am, all right?”
“I am glad.”
She nodded. “Good.”
“If you do not wish to discuss marriage…”
“I don’t.”
“Let us discuss you moving in with me.”
“
What
?” The expression “jumping from the frying pan into the fire” sprang to mind.
“You are pregnant with my child.”
“That’s been well and truly established.”
“Even if you do not wish to have a relationship with me, I want to look after you. Will you allow me that privilege?” He looked so serious…so determined.
But
he’d picked her up wrong.
“You believe I don’t want to have a relationship with you?”
“You said so. As you have pointed out repeatedly, you broke up with me.”
Guilt flayed her and she didn’t think he meant it to. He was right…but darn it, it wasn’t because she hadn’t wanted a relationship with him. It was because she’d wanted something more than he’d been prepared to give…because she’d wanted one for the right reasons.
He’s prepared to give you what you want now
, an insidious voice inside her head told her.
“I didn’t break up with you because I didn’t want you.” She remembered what he’d said the night before about how he thought her willingness to do so
meant
she didn’t really love him. “And it wasn’t because I don’t love you, either. It just hurt too much to be with you.”
“As my
secret
lover?”
“Yes,” she whispered painfully.
“But when I offered to remove the secret aspect, you still refused to be with me.”
“Because I didn’t want to hurt more down the road when you left.”
“Not to be too repetitive, but that is no longer an issue. I want marriage. That is a permanent relationship.”
“I want to believe that, but…”
“But you do not?”
“I want to,” she said again.
He sighed. “But you do not trust me to remain faithful.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You do not have to. I have convinced you that I am not the faithful type.”
“Well, actually, that summation of your character never rang true.”
“But you do not believe our marriage will last a lifetime.”
“How can it, with nothing but an unexpected pregnancy and your stubbornness to hold it together?”
“We have much more than that.”
“Like what?”
“Like
your
stubbornness, for starters, and a white-hot passion that has not ebbed in six months, and a commitment to family and a desire for the same kind of future. We even work for the same company.”
“Correction…you own the company I work for.”
“But that is something in common, something that holds us together. We are both content to live in
Was he right? She just didn’t know, but one thing he said made a lot of sense. They were both very determined people.
She sighed.
He frowned. “You were not happy to wake up with me beside you in bed this morning.”
But
she had been when he insisted on her staying there while he got her toast and tea so her tummy would settle. She’d liked being looked after, especially by him.
“You surprised me.” It sounded lame in the face of his certainty she didn’t want to be with him, which was not the problem. “Everything is just happening so fast. I feel like my life has been changing with the regularity of a metronome and swinging just as drastically from one extreme to another too.”
“But they are extremes you have instigated.”
“I didn’t get myself pregnant,” she gasped, and glared at him.
He grinned, not in the least offended now that she had assured him she was happy about the baby. He looked supremely satisfied.
“No,
amante
.
I
did that.”
She couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing.
For some reason her laughter triggered something in Marcello and before she knew what was happening, she was being kissed to within an inch of her life. He tasted so good and it felt so right to have his arms around her that she didn’t even think to try to deny him. When he lifted his head, she was sitting securely on his lap and tingling in places she’d prefer not to talk
about
.
As if he could not help himself, he kissed her once more, hard and on the lips. “You taste good,
cara
.”
“So do you.”
But
she might respect herself a little more if she had at least minimal defenses against him.
“So, you will move in with me?”
She went to sigh and stopped herself. She wasn’t unhappy, not really.
And
didn’t want him thinking otherwise. She just knew when she was beaten. The truth was she was pregnant and feeling vulnerable and she’d rather live with him than fight the good fight by herself. Especially when she wasn’t sure it was the
good
fight anymore.
“Well?” he demanded when she didn’t answer right away.
“And what will you do if I refuse, move in with me?”
His expression gave him away.
“That was exactly what you had planned, wasn’t it?”
“If you want separate beds,” he said with what she thought was total overkill considering the fact that she was on his lap and making no moves to go anywhere, “then my place is the most logical. I have spare bedrooms.”
She snuggled into him, laying her head on his chest. “That’s good to know,” she said punitively.
She could play cool, too.
“A
RE
you ready to go?”
Danette
looked up from her computer. Marcello stood in her doorway looking so gorgeous her heart rolled. “I would have thought you had too much to do to leave on time tonight. We spent the morning in the doctor’s office and the bookstore. Then you insisted on stopping for lunch before we came into work. I’m surprised your secretary isn’t climbing the walls from canceling all the meetings you’ve missed.”
He shrugged. “She is paid well to do what she does and my meetings can wait. The most pressing issues can be attended to from my study at home. I do not want to keep you in the office.”
“Don’t think you have to leave on my account. To tell you the truth, I’ve still got a ton of catching up to do myself.”
He stepped into the room and shut the door. “I do not think working extra hours is a good idea. You need your rest.”
“I’m pregnant, not sick, Marcello.”
“Funny, I was sure you were sick when you went rushing for the restroom at the doctor’s office this morning.”
“Don’t remind me. But I’m not feeling like that now and I’d rather work when I’ve got the energy for it.”
“How much longer do you need?”
“Two or three hours.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Do not push it,
cara
. Even prior to your pregnancy I did not approve of you working long into the evening. I will be back in ninety minutes, be prepared to go.”
She might love him to death, but she wasn’t about to let him start running every minute of her life. “I’m not going to be ready to leave in under two hours. You are of course welcome to go home without me.”
“That is not going to happen.”
“Then I will see you in two hours.”
“Yes, you will.”
“Your bossy nature is showing again,” she informed him with interest.
He shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips as he turned to go. “And your stubborn streak is in full evidence, but I can deal with it, just as you will learn to deal with my so-called bossy tendencies.”
“So long as you realize I reserve the right to return the favor, I’m sure you are right.”
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob.
“In what way?”
Clearly the idea of a woman getting bossy with him was a completely foreign concept. However, she had no doubts that
Flavia
had asserted her will with her son on more than one occasion, even if she’d been more subtle about it than
Danette
had the finesse or desire to be.
“If I think you are working too many hours, I will demand you go home,” she warned him.
“I will remember that,” he said, looking strangely pleased and not at all put out by the prospect, and then he left.
Ten minutes later, a young woman who worked in the company cafeteria arrived at
Danette’s
desk with a tray of nutritious snacks and some bottled water, per Marcello’s instructions.
“Did he order himself anything?”
Danette
asked.
“No,
signorina
,
” the young woman said, her eyes alight with curiosity about the employee the president of the company had taken precious time from his busy schedule to order food for.
“I see.” She dug in her
purse and pulled out some money
and then handed it to the cafeteria worker. “Then please take him a bottle of fruit juice and a plate of snacks like the one you brought me.”
“I do not know…”
“It’s all right. Trust me.” In the end,
Danette
was pretty positive it was the woman’s curiosity that convinced her to do it rather than her assurances.
“Oh, and put this on it.” She scribbled a quick note, folded it and handed it to the bemused cafeteria worker.
Ten minutes later the phone on her desk rang.
She picked it up.
“
Danette
Michaels here.”
“Thank you,
tesoro
.”
She smiled and twisted the phone cord around her finger as she leaned back in her chair. “You’re welcome. I appreciate your thinking of it to begin with.”
Her tummy stayed more settled when she kept small amounts of food in it at all times. She’d learned that pretty quickly.
“I liked the note, too.”
She’d written:
Tit-for-tat.
Love,
Danette
“Did you?” She wondered which bit he’d appreciated the most, her subtle one-upmanship, or her avowal of love.
Probably the former, she conceded. He didn’t believe she loved him, but she aimed to convince him otherwise. Even if he didn’t love her, she realized she couldn’t marry him with him believing her feelings for him were no more than physical lust and friendship. Which come to think of it was not a terrible definition of love, but it didn’t stretch to explain a depth of feeling that made her certain she’d give her life for him, too.
“Yes. Be ready to go at seven.”
“What will you do if I’m not?”
“Carry you out of your office.”
She didn’t doubt he meant it. “That might look a little odd to the other employees.”
“I am not worried about it—
are
you?”
She knew what he was asking. They’d arrived at the building together that afternoon and he’d made no effort to hide the fact that they were very much together. Considering the rumors already rife because of her bout in the bathroom the day before, the company grapevine had no doubt drawn all the right conclusions plus some. She’d been getting odd looks all afternoon, but the truth was…she
didn’t
care.