by Lynne Graham
‘Why didn’t you wake me?’
‘Your boyfriend said to let you sleep.’
‘He did?’
‘You must have been tired,’ the nurse reflected, oblivious to the grim note in Natalie’s voice. ‘You didn’t stir when he put you to bed,’ she recalled.
Natalie gulped. ‘Rafe put me to bed?’ Rafe, it seemed, had been busy. Not content with deciding what was best for her, he was usurping her authority with her child as well! The man just couldn’t help taking charge. Well, he was about to learn that she didn’t need anyone to make her decisions. She chose to forget all the occasions when the burden of making all the decisions concerning Rose’s welfare had lain heavily upon her shoulders.
‘Carried you like a baby,’ the youthful health professional confirmed with a very unprofessional gleam of envy in her eyes.
Natalie decided it was high time she put the record straight. ‘He’s not my boyfriend, he’s my boss.’
‘Boss?’
‘Yes, boss,’ Natalie declared defiantly as she stomped off.
Rose’s bed was in a bay of four but at that moment she was the only occupant. Natalie’s impetuous stride halted as she entered. The main lights in the ward were dimmed but the night light above Rose’s bed illuminated the area beneath. And the people.
Rose was seated cross-legged on top of the duvet and Rafe sat in an easy chair, leaning on the bed with his dark head resting on his crossed arms. She could not see his face but she could hear the deep rumble of his voice in the quiet of the room. Rose too was listening to what he was saying, her little face rapt.
An emotional lump formed in Natalie’s throat as she stared at the tableau. She’d never been more aware of the things that, even with the best will in the world, she couldn’t provide in Rose’s life.
Suddenly Rose’s childish laughter rang out and, brushing the back of her hand across the dampness on her cheeks, Natalie moved forward to reveal herself.
‘Mummy, Rafe’s been telling me a story about a boy who had a pet dragon but nobody else can see him.’
‘Mr Ransome has been very kind, but he’s got to go now and you must get some sleep, so snuggle down.’
Reluctantly the child complied. ‘Kiss,’ she commanded imperiously to Rafe, who complied.
‘Well what have I done now?’
Natalie pulled a concealing curtain around them. ‘Where to start?’ she hissed. ‘How about with taking unilateral decisions?’
‘You needed the sleep, Natalie.’
‘I need to stay in control. Listen, you’ve been very kind, but—’
‘Butt out and clear off. Right, am I allowed to say goodbye to Rose?’
‘Of course.’ His swift surrender had deflated her.
‘I’ll see you on the fourteenth?’ The curtain rattled as he pulled it aside.
Natalie frowned. ‘Fourteenth?’
The wedding.
‘We agreed it was the least I could do as I had robbed you of Luke.’
‘I didn’t agree to anything…’ Natalie’s brow furrowed as she tried to think back, but her recollections were frustratingly hazy. ‘Did I…?’
Rafe smiled. ‘Morning dress, right? Oh—’ he turned back ‘—don’t even think about coming into work tomorrow or Friday. No buts, I’m the one in control there.’ Or so goes the rumour, he added drily to himself as he walked away.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘OH, YES, very nice,’ Mike said vaguely as his daughter waved her new patent leather shoes in his face for his approval. Deliberately not looking at his ex-wife’s angry white face, he bent down awkwardly to his daughter’s level. ‘How would you like to come with me and Gabby to America, Rosie?’ he asked the excited child in a coaxing voice.
‘Will I see dolphins?’
Mike, who didn’t have the faintest idea that his little daughter was fascinated by dolphins, looked momentarily nonplussed by this response. ‘Sure we’ll see dolphins.’
‘Will Mummy be coming?’
‘No.’
The child’s face fell. ‘Well, thank you very much,’ she said politely, ‘but I think I’ll stay at home.’
Mike’s smile grew fixed. ‘In America we’ll have a swimming pool in the garden.’
Rose’s eyes grew round. ‘In the garden!’ she gasped in awe. ‘We don’t have a garden here, but we have a window-box.’
Natalie gritted her teeth as Mike shot her a triumphant look and hissed, ‘Out of the mouth of babes.’
‘Rose, go and put on those pretty socks we bought to go with your dress and then you can go with Daddy to have the man put flowers in your hair.’
‘Why can’t you do that?’
‘Because Aunt Gabby’s friend is much better at fixing flowers in your hair than I am.’ He’d have to be, she reflected grimly, to justify the expense of Gabby flying him along with a make-up artist across the Atlantic to fix the bridal parties’ hair and faces.
Ironically, when Mike had turned up in person to take his daughter to the hotel suite where Gabby and the other bridesmaids had spent the night she had actually felt touched by the gesture. How naïve does that make me?
She waited until the little girl had danced away before turning furiously to her ex-husband. Without preamble she grabbed him by the lapel of his morning suit—that got his attention.
‘Good God, Natalie, there’s no need to get physical!’
‘That just about sums up our marriage.’
Mike coloured. ‘What’s got into you, Natalie?’
‘You can ask that? You come here on the morning of your wedding,’ she began in a quivering voice of disbelief, ‘to tell me you’re going to apply for full custody of Rose. What do you think has got into me? You must be insane if you think I’m going to allow you and Gabby to take Rose out of the country!’ she hissed. ‘Besides, no court in the country would give you custody just because Gabby doesn’t want to risk stretch marks,’ she mocked, releasing him and pressing a hand to her trembling lips.
Was there…?
Mike looked shaken but stubbornly determined as he smoothed the fabric she had released. ‘Our lawyer doesn’t agree with you, Nat. He says we have a very good chance. What can you offer Rose compared with us?’ He looked around the neat little room with distaste.
‘Love…?’ Natalie suggested ironically.
‘Sure, sure, we all love Rosie, she’s a cute kid.’
‘And she’s house-trained.’
‘It’s the quality of life we can give her,’ Mike insisted piously. ‘She needs a proper family life.’
‘Pity, you didn’t seem to think so when you walked out on us.’
Mike flushed angrily. ‘You’re a single parent, Nat, living in a poky little flat. You’re always saying how you struggle to make ends meet.’
‘That could have something to do with the twelve months you didn’t pay me child support.’
‘Yes, well, things have changed. Since the exhibition I’m doing very well and, besides, I’d have thought you’d have been grateful to have someone else take the burden off your shoulders.’
‘Rose is not a burden and if you ever say that in front of her I’ll make sure you regret it.’
‘For God’s sake, Nat, what do you take me for?’
‘A selfish, insensitive prat…shall I go on?’
‘There’s no need to get abusive. With us Rosie would have all the advantages and opportunities money can buy.’
‘Money can’t buy everything.’ It could buy lawyers, though; lawyers who could twist the facts to suit their clients.
‘And we’re a married couple.’
Natalie felt a fresh flurry of uncertainty. He might be bluffing, but then again perhaps such things did still weigh heavily? ‘Nobody cares about that sort of thing…?’
Mike heard the uncertainty in her voice and smiled. ‘I know this is hard for you—’ he placed a hand on her shoulder ‘—but you have to think about what is best for Rosie, Nat.’
Eyes flashing fire,
Natalie angrily shrugged off his hand.
‘Am I early?’
The couple, who had been too engrossed in their argument to hear the approach of the new arrival, turned towards the figure in the open doorway.
‘And who the hell are you?’ Mike demanded.
Rafe unhurriedly transferred his attention from Natalie’s tense face. He did not feel very well disposed towards the man who had put that shadowed look of distress in her eyes and he saw no reason to disguise the fact.
‘I’m Rafael Ransome,’ Rafe announced, giving himself his full title. ‘And you,’ he observed, managing without changing expression to convey that he wasn’t overly impressed with what he was seeing, ‘must be the bridegroom.’
Natalie, who had never seen Rafe conduct himself with this particular brand of chilling hauteur before, wasn’t surprised that Mike looked uncomfortable and angry to be on the receiving end of such studied insolence.
Identification established, Rafe seemed to lose interest in the other man almost immediately. He turned to Natalie, the warmth in his eyes a stark contrast to the dismissive contempt of moments before. He opened his hand and revealed a bunch of keys before placing them beside a colourful pot plant on a leather-banded ship’s chest that had been a junk-shop find.
‘I thought I’d lost them!’
Before Rafe had arrived she’d thought that Mike looked pretty impressive in his expensive morning suit and handmade shoes. Now that he stood beside Rafe she could see that she had been mistaken. Even if they had been dressed by the same tailor Mike would always have looked like a pale imitation standing next to this extraordinary man.
It wasn’t just the fact that Rafe had a body that was better than incredible—anyone with enough discipline could achieve a six pack, she thought, eyeing his flat belly and feeling her own stomach muscles tighten. No, what made Rafe was that extra special ingredient that separated the leader of the pack from the common herd. He didn’t have to try, he just had…well…presence.
Worriedly, she examined her reaction when she’d seen him standing there. Casting herself on her boss’s broad chest every time he appeared was not the best way to hide the fact you were having an affair with him—or were about to. She wondered what Rafe would say if he knew that she had decided to…to…sleep with him. Hell, I can hardly think it, let alone say it. Do I have a problem!
Of course you have a problem—you’re in love with the man. You could only ignore something that was staring you in the face for just so long.
‘You should be more careful with your keys,’ he chided.
Natalie gulped and nodded. Oh, God, you don’t know the half of it! Sure, he wanted an affair, he’d made that plain, but a clingy woman who wanted to offer him her heart—that really wasn’t Rafe’s style.
Mike, who had been watching this interchange with a sour expression, cleared his throat.
‘Listen, if you don’t mind, Nat and I were having a private conversation.’ His hostility was still there, but it was not so overt now he had had the opportunity to fully take in the size and quality of the new arrival.
Rafe didn’t even look at the other man; his steady gaze remained fixed on Natalie’s face. ‘Do you want me to go, Natalie?’ In contrast to the intense expression in his eyes, his tone was light.
Natalie took a deep breath and turned to face her ex-husband. ‘I don’t have any secrets from Rafe,’ she claimed.
Mike frowned. ‘Since when?’
Probably something Rafe himself was wondering, too. Natalie didn’t dare check out his reaction, sure that if she did her resolve would fail. She took a deep breath and plunged recklessly onwards.
‘Since we decided to get married,’ she announced casually.
A stunned silence followed her words.
‘Well, now, isn’t that convenient?’ Mike drawled, quite obviously, despite his amused tone, thrown by her declaration.
Natalie was excruciatingly aware of the still, silent presence of the man beside her; she could only imagine how shocked Rafe had been to hear he was going to get married. She turned warily to look at him; with one word he could blow her out of the water. She had no way of knowing from his expression if the silent message she was desperately trying to telegraph him had been received.
‘Not had time to buy a ring yet, then?’
Natalie flushed and tucked her bare left hand under her right.
Observing her action, Mike regained his confidence. ‘You don’t really expect me to believe it?’ he asked, shaking his head. ‘I mean, you, married…?’
His incredulity stung. ‘Why not me married?’ she demanded dangerously.
‘Well, you’re just not the type, Nat.’
Something inside Natalie snapped. ‘Not the type to what? Need a hug occasionally, need someone to laugh at my jokes…need sex…?’
‘Natalie!’ Mike exclaimed in a shocked tone.
She gritted her teeth and planted her hands on her hips. ‘Sex, sex, sex!’ she parroted defiantly. ‘Just because you don’t fancy me, doesn’t mean other men mightn’t!’
‘Well, you haven’t had a boyfriend for the past five years—I’d say that speaks for itself.’
Natalie’s shoulders slumped in defeat as the fight drained out of her. Of course he didn’t believe it, who would? Sheer desperation had driven her to attempt a rash bluff and all she had done was make a total fool of herself. Rafe was never going to back her up—and why should he? If she was going to claim a fiancé it would have been wiser to chose a more plausible candidate.
‘Well, she’s got one now.’
The air rushed out of Natalie’s lungs in one startled gasp. Her eyes flew to Rafe’s dark, autocratic face. Even though she knew the possessive warmth in his eyes was for Mike’s benefit, her responsive stomach muscles quivered.
‘I don’t believe it. You’re just saying this to stop me getting Rosie,’ Mike accused, sounding like a truculent child. ‘It won’t work.’
‘Get Rosie?’ Rafe frowned.
Natalie cleared her throat. ‘Gabby and Mike want to take Rose to the States…’ her face crumpled ‘…and I’ll never see her again.’ The disastrous wobble in her voice made her words barely intelligible but Rafe appeared to get the gist.
‘Is that some sort of joke?’
Natalie blinked back the tears. ‘He says that they—’
‘He’s talking through his…’ Rafe cast the other man a look that caused the shorter man to blanch and withdraw behind a chair ‘…armpit,’ he finished acidly. ‘And I suspect he knows it.’ He lifted a strand of hair from Natalie’s cheek and brushed away a tear with his thumb. ‘He’s trying it on, sweetheart,’ he promised her.
‘Now, you listen here…whoever you are…’
An ebony brow quirked. ‘Natalie has told you who I am. I am the man she is going to marry.’
If it weren’t for the possessive arm that snaked around her waist Natalie would have fallen in a heap. Instead she turned her face into the broad chest at her disposal. There was something very soothing about the steady thud of his heartbeat, as there was about the hand that came to rest on the back of her head.
‘You can’t!’
‘I think you’ll find I can.’ While continuing to stroke the back of Natalie’s head, Rafe lifted his eyes to meet the indignant face of the other man. His lips curled contemptuously. ‘I appreciate that it must be hard for you to see the woman you lost with another man. I suppose,’ he added thoughtfully, ‘that it’s at times like this we realise what we have lost—or in your case thrown away. There really is no mystery here. We’ve kept our relationship under wraps because it’s a bit difficult as I’m Natalie’s boss. We’re off to visit my parents this weekend so if you don’t mind we’d like to keep it quiet until then.’
Natalie admired his ability to improvise but she wished he’d keep things simple—Mike wasn’t stupid.
‘Then that makes you…?’
‘Quite disgustingly rich,’ Natalie supplied helpfully. She
knew how Mike’s mind worked. Despite his avowed contempt for money, he was always in awe of people who had it. A really horrid part of her was beginning to enjoy the sick expression on Mike’s face.
‘You’ve been sleeping with your boss?’
His tone of shocked disgust made Natalie flush.
‘Well, actually, we haven’t been getting a whole lot of sleep.’ Rafe cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her flushed face up to him. ‘Have we, angel?’
She was grateful that he’d decided to play along, but she wished he weren’t doing so with quite this much relish. Already pretty messed up by the contact of his hard thigh against her own, her nervous system went haywire when he looked at her like that.
‘I love it when you blush and, darling, happy Valentine’s Day,’ he told her in the manner of a man who found her totally fascinating and completely irresistible.
Natalie knew it was a lie but she was still mesmerised by the caressing light in his eyes.
Rose entered the room at that moment and her face lit up when she identified the tall figure standing there. ‘Rafe…Rafe!’ she cried, bounding across the room towards him.
‘Rose…Rose!’ Rafe echoed, releasing Natalie.
Well, if nothing else had convinced Mike their daughter’s rapturous greeting would have swung it. Natalie was concerned by the child’s enthusiasm; now with Mike about to leave it was even more important that Rose didn’t grow attached to a man who wouldn’t be around for long. Natalie had no illusions—she didn’t have anything that could keep a man like Rafe interested for long. It was something she’d have to deal with when the time came.
‘Have you brought me a present?’ the little girl demanded with innocent avarice.
‘Rose!’ Natalie cried in a scandalised tone.
Rafe didn’t seem bothered. ‘Next time,’ he promised with a grin. ‘Wow, cool shoes!’
‘I look pretty.’ Rose preened complacently.
‘Beautiful,’ Rafe agreed.
‘You look beautiful, too,’ she observed. ‘Doesn’t he, Mummy?’
