But they didn’t get a chance to talk about dog and cats, or favourite movies or their taste in music, let alone the reasons Zoe had stonewalled him earlier this morning.
Because almost as soon as he’d driven the car out of Balmain and over the Anzac Bridge, heading north to the Harbour Bridge, Zoe had fallen asleep.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ZOE WAS ANNOYED with herself to find she had slept for most of the one-hour drive to Palm Beach—the most northern of Sydney’s northern beaches. Her time with Mitch was so limited, and she didn’t want to waste a minute of it.
But by the time her eyes had started to flicker open they had already driven past every one of the long, sandy beaches and the surrounding suburbs that lay between Manly and Palm Beach.
By the time her eyes were fully open they were on Barrenjoey Road, with the blue, boat-studded waters of Pittwater on their left, and cruising into Palm Beach. She barely had time to notice the handful of shops and restaurants that formed the hub of this exclusive, resort-like suburb as they flashed past.
Zoe didn’t know how many times she’d heard Palm Beach referred to as ‘the playground of the rich and famous’. When Hollywood celebrities jetted into Sydney in the summer it was often to stay in luxurious beach houses owned by themselves or their billionaire Aussie friends up here on the Barrenjoey Peninsula. Real estate was prized on this strip of land that jutted out into the sea, bounded by the surf beach on one side and the calm waters of Pittwater on the other.
Still feeling a tad drowsy, she allowed herself the luxury of watching Mitch as he drove. He made even an everyday thing like driving a car look graceful and controlled. Both hands were firmly on the wheel as he concentrated on the road ahead. She noticed he wore one of the expensive watches he endorsed in an advertising campaign. He’d told her he only endorsed products he believed were of the best quality and design. His face—already so familiar to her—was set in such a serious expression. Designer sunglasses masked his eyes.
She wished she could see his thought bubbles. Was he looking ahead to a future—if his knee continued to hold up—as an elite athlete at the top of his field?
He was a determined, driven man who had made his thoughts about not settling down until he was in his thirties very clear. And yet it appeared he was serious about wanting her as part of his future in some way—he wouldn’t have turned around at the airport otherwise.
But it wasn’t just about her now—or even about him. They’d made a baby together. The way he’d looked after her when she’d fainted gave her cause to think that despite his celebrity status he was not the kind of man who would deny his own child. He would make a good father. It would be up to her to make sure he played some role in their child’s life.
‘That trip went fast,’ she said, trying out her voice and finding it to be back to normal. She had never, ever fainted before.
‘The lady awakes,’ Mitch said, giving her a sideways glance.
Zoe remembered waking up next to him in Bali, after a night of sensual pleasure. How wonderful that time together had been—as it had been last night. She longed to be something more in his life and not to have to say goodbye in the morning. Would it ever happen?
‘I missed the whole drive down. I wish you’d woken me up,’ she said.
He smiled. ‘So you could quiz me about my preference for dog over cat?’
‘Something like that.’ She’d planned to segue into his thoughts on having kids.
‘You obviously needed the sleep,’ he said. ‘Feeling any better?’
‘Much better,’ she said, stretching her limbs as best she could in the confines of the car. ‘Thank you.’
‘We’re nearly there,’ he said.
‘So I see.’
It was a magnificent winter’s day, the sky cloudless, the sea a deep blue.
‘It’s ages since I’ve been down here. I’m a city girl—I don’t stray over the bridge too often.’
‘We came down here for a couple of vacations when I was a kid and I loved it. A friend of my parents had a house here.’
‘Nice,’ she said.
Now the road ran parallel to the surf beach that stretched to the Barrenjoey headland at one end and Whale Beach at the other. Even on a weekday in winter there were people swimming, and others in wetsuits, riding boards or paddling surf kayaks out into the breakers.
She opened her window to enjoy the salty air.
‘We lived in Newtown,’ she said. ‘My parents weren’t much for the outdoor life. They were arty, musical, and preferred to hang out in coffee shops rather than on beaches. Though when I was older I went with friends to the eastern suburbs beaches, like Bondi and Coogee. That was...that was before I moved to Wahroonga.’
‘I was always a north shore boy. I learned to surf here, how to handle a surf kayak. My brothers were older than me—they taught me.’
‘Knowing you, you probably overtook them at it your first day in the water.’
‘Yeah. That’s how it happened. They weren’t too happy, having their kid brother beating them so quickly. But that was the way it was in my family. I was the brawn—they were the brains. And that’s how it’s played out. Just like my parents planned—they got a doctor, a lawyer and a banker.’
‘And one of the best sportsmen in the world,’ she reminded him.
‘They appreciate that—don’t worry. They’re very proud of my success. They always supported me in anything I wanted to do,’ he said.
‘But why did they pigeonhole you?’ she said, indignant on his behalf.
‘They recognised our aptitudes early on, I suppose.’
‘You’ve got plenty of brains. I know that for sure. You even ended up writing a halfway decent piece of poetry for that last essay.’
‘You mean the essay that got the big red “fail”?’ he reminded her.
‘I don’t know how that awful teacher could have thought you had plagiarised that poem,’ she said.
‘You mean because it was so very, very bad?’’ he said with a grin.
‘It wasn’t bad. She just didn’t appreciate the analogy between scoring goals in a soccer game and goals in life. It was wonderfully rich in similes and metaphors and—’
‘And more similes and metaphors, and a whole heap of words I didn’t understand. It was bad, Zoe,’ he said. ‘Admit it.’
‘It didn’t have to be a masterpiece to get you a pass,’ she said. ‘I liked it, and that’s that.’
He glanced sideways at her. ‘Thank you for your loyalty. I didn’t deserve it.’
She put up her hand in a halt sign. ‘No need to go there again.’
She wondered how loyal he would feel towards her when she told him she was pregnant.
‘I got a place to study engineering at the University of New South Wales. Did I tell you that?’
‘You didn’t—that’s fantastic. You must have done well in the final exams.’
‘I had no intention of taking up the place, of course,’ he said. ‘To play football was all I’d ever wanted to do since my grandfather took me to my first game at White Hart Lane in London. I applied to university just to prove I could get in.’
At the south end of the beach Mitch turned off and swung into a street a few hundred metres back from the water. He pulled up in the driveway of an elegantly simple house, rising to two storeys, all whitewashed timber and huge windows. It was surrounded by perfectly groomed tropical gardens. In an area of multi-million-dollar houses, it fitted right in.
‘Is this your parents’ friends’ house?’ Zoe asked. ‘It’s fabulous.’
‘No, it’s mine,’ he said simply.
‘Oh,’ she said, not attempting to hide her surprise. Mitch hadn’t mentioned owning property of any kind. But then she hadn’t asked.
He opened her car door and went around to swing out both her small bag and one of his own.
‘This house looks like a very posh kidnapper’s lair,’ she said.
‘I don’t think you’ll object t
oo much to the conditions of captivity,’ Mitch replied with a smile.
They took a small glass-fronted elevator from the garage to the second floor. Zoe stepped into an airy, spacious living room that opened out through folding glass doors to a deck and an infinity edge swimming pool. Beyond that was a magnificent view of the sea, right up to the Barrenjoey headland, filtered by a stand of the tall cabbage palm trees that gave the area its name.
She turned to Mitch. ‘Can you forgive me if I can’t come up with anything more than wow?’ she said. ‘Except maybe wow again? I could look at that view all day.’
‘I bought the house for the view.’
‘The house itself isn’t too shabby either,’ she said.
The interior looked as if it had been designed by a professional, in tones of white with highlights of soft blue and bleached driftwood. Large artworks with abstract beach and marine life themes were perfectly placed through the room. It was contemporary and stylish, straight from the pages of a high-end decorating magazine. And yet there were homey touches everywhere—like a shabby-chic old pair of oars, a glass buoy covered in ancient knotted rope, tiny wooden replicas of fishing boats—that took away any intimidating edge.
What an idyllic place for children.
She slipped off her coat. The sun streaming through the windows made it superfluous.
‘The house is awesome, isn’t it?’ said Mitch. ‘I bought it with all the furniture included when the market was down, for a very good price.’
Zoe’s money-savvy brain recognised that he’d got a good deal by buying at the right time. But around here a ‘very good price’ would still measure in the multi-millions.
Great. Just great. Mitch must be very wealthy. Wealthier than she’d thought he must be. And, from her experience with her clients, the wealthier they were, the more protective they were of their money—and defensive against people they suspected of wanting to take a bite out of it.
Like a girl who got pregnant on a holiday fling and came looking for a pay-out.
She forced the negative thought to the back of her mind. If she wasn’t to tie herself up in knots of anxiety again she had to trust in Mitch that he wouldn’t believe she’d had any other motive that night in Bali than to be with him. No matter what else he might come to believe when she told him about her visit to the doctor.
‘Let me show you around,’ Mitch said.
He took her for a quick tour. The kitchen seemed to be stocked with every appliance and piece of equipment possible. The bathrooms were total luxury. Each of the four bedrooms had ocean views.
Mitch took her overnight bag to the master bedroom, with its enormous bed and palatial en-suite bathroom. ‘I’m putting your bag in here,’ he said.
She stilled. ‘And where are you putting yours?’ she asked.
‘That’s up to you,’ he said.
Whatever happened here in this beautiful house, whatever transpired with Mitch, she didn’t want to sleep in a different bedroom from him.
‘Put your bag with mine. Here. Please.’
The bedroom opened up onto a balcony. While Mitch went to get his bag she stepped out onto the balcony, breathed in the salt air. A flock of multi-coloured lorikeets took flight from the orange flowering grevillea that grew next to the pool. This truly was a magnificent place.
Mitch placed his bag next to hers and came up behind her on the balcony. He put his arms around her and pulled her back to rest against his chest. After a split second of hesitation she let herself relax against his solid strength. She felt safe, secure—and terrified.
This. Mitch. His arms wrapped around her, his breath stirring her hair, his powerful body close. It was what she wanted. Now. And in the future. She was terrified that would never happen. Not when he discovered how dishonest she’d been with him.
That she was pregnant.
* * *
Mitch held Zoe close, relieved she hadn’t pushed him away. He didn’t want to let her go. Out of his arms—out of his life. They had twenty-four hours to sort out whatever was troubling her. He just hoped it was something he could work with—or solve for her.
He wanted her with him.
The more he was with her, the more he realised that a ‘now and then’ relationship wouldn’t satisfy him for long. What he felt for her couldn’t be blocked or passed or sent off the pitch.
‘A good substitute for Bali?’ he asked as they both looked ahead at the view.
‘Oh, yes,’ she said. ‘It must be glorious in summer.’
‘One day, maybe, I’ll get to see it in summer. Usually I don’t even get back to Australia for Christmas.’
‘So you bought the house as an investment?’
‘An investment for now. A home for later. When my football career is over.’
He hated to say those words. Right now he couldn’t bear even to think about a life without playing.
‘Is that inevitable?’
‘It’s a young man’s game. I’ve still got good years ahead of me.’ If the knee stood up to it. And if he didn’t suffer any other serious injuries. ‘But, yes. It will end.’
‘What do you plan to do? Afterwards, I mean?’
Mitch liked it that Zoe didn’t seem to realise he would never have to work again. He’d been careful with investments and he would continue to be. That was where banker and lawyer brothers came in handy.
‘I was bored witless while I was recuperating,’ he said. ‘I had a good look into some of the injury prevention devices for sportsmen. Shin guards, ankle wraps, mouth guards. That kind of thing. I reckon they could be better. I’m looking into that.’
‘Sounds good. You’d still be involved in sport.’
‘But that all seems a long way away, Zoe. I don’t want to think about it too much. I’m concerned about the now, not the future.’
‘Of course,’ she murmured, her voice subdued.
The change in her tone signalled a warning. They had limited time. He had to try and recreate the atmosphere that had brought them together in such a spectacular way back in Bali at her villa.
‘I can’t promise roosters.’
‘Just parrots?’ she said.
‘Or Indonesian food,’ he said.
‘Or earthquakes?’ she added.
Mitch could think of various ways he might make the earth move for her, as he had last night. He could carry her right now to that big bed behind them in the bedroom. But first he had to find out why she had behaved the way she had this morning. After the fun they’d had at Luna Park, after the lovemaking they’d shared, he still wondered why she had dismissed him so coldly.
‘However, there is a swimming pool—that’s bigger and better than the one at the villa.’
‘With colder water?’ she said pretending to shiver.
He looked over to the sparkling blue pool. There was no elephant in residence. Both he and Zoe knew what had to be tackled.
‘The water should be heated up enough to swim,’ he said. ‘Not quite the same as Bali, but warm enough.’
‘It’s the most beautiful pool—I’ve never swum in a wet edge pool before. Are you sure I won’t drift over the edge?’
He laughed. ‘There’s a ledge below. It’s quite safe. Anyway, I’m here to catch you if you get into trouble,’ he said.
‘Are you, Mitch?’ she said, in that tremulous voice that worried him.
She went to ease away from him but he hugged her tighter. ‘Of course I am.’
They stood without speaking for a long moment.
Zoe broke the silence. ‘So. The pool. Do you leave the heating on all the time?’
‘The pool is solar-heated. But there’s a gas-fired booster. I called the manager this morning and got her to switch it on.’
‘You have a manager?’
‘She looks after several of the properties here for absentee owners. My family use the house too. And sometimes I let it out to carefully vetted guests.’
‘That makes sense. If the house is earning income
you can get tax benefits too.’
‘Of course you would know that,’ he said. ‘I also got the manager to stock the fridge with basics.’
‘I was wondering about that. I wasn’t sure what kidnappers did about feeding their victims. And it’s been a while since that toast. It must be lunchtime.’
‘Some of the restaurants here do delivery service. I asked the manager to pick up their latest menus.’
‘So we can get room service? Like in Bali?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘We can order lunch now.’
Zoe twisted in his arms so she faced him. He refused to let her go.
‘Mitch, before we order lunch, and definitely before I get into a bikini, there’s something I have to tell you.’
Mitch held his breath. What was coming?
She looked up at him, her eyes huge in her wan face.
‘I’m pregnant.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
MITCH COULD NOT BELIEVE what he was hearing. Zoe was pregnant? He gently pushed her away from him. Stared at her as if he she were a stranger as he tried to process what she had just told him. Then the reality of it hit him. He cursed loud and hard.
How had he let this happen? He had trusted her. What an idiot he had been to lose control in Bali. Not to take absolute charge over contraception. What the hell had he got himself into?
Damn. Damn. Damn.
She didn’t say another word, just stood on the veranda facing him, the glorious view stretching behind her. He knew she was nervously waiting for his response, but he was too shocked to say anything. Nothing in his twenty-seven years had prepared him for this moment. He cursed again.
He didn’t know a lot about pregnant women—in fact he knew virtually nothing. He hadn’t been in Australia when his nephews—the children of his oldest brother and his wife—had been born.
But some of the cards began to fall into place. Sickness, fainting, fatigue—all symptoms of a worrying serious illness. Or a pregnancy. What a blind fool he’d been.
From Paradise...to Pregnant! Page 14
