Bound by Their Love

by Nicole Flockton

  Greta couldn’t help it, she laughed. ‘Don’t tell me you have a fridge and snack box in the car?’

  ‘No, but that doesn’t mean I can’t stop at a store and get you something. We have a bit of a drive in front of us.’

  ‘The resort isn’t that far from the airport. I think I can wait until I get settled in the room and then I’ll order food and drink.’

  Jeff made a noncommittal sound, as he removed his hand from her knee and started the car. His response surprised her. Instead of questioning him she turned her head and looked out the window. Watching the scenery flash by, she wished the trip to be over quickly. She wasn’t sure she could handle being in such close proximity to Jeff without touching him.

  The silence stretched between them. She had to break it. ‘So what have you been working on?’

  ‘A couple of custom designs. Nothing is turning out the way I want it.’

  ‘I’d like to see some of them, if you don’t mind sharing. Or are you one of those artists who won’t show their work until it’s completed?’

  ‘I’ve never really had anyone to show it to. I mean, I do have Skype calls with the clients at certain points in the design and making process. But they’re just thrilled to own a piece of my jewellery so they’re happy with anything I come up with.’

  Greta was intrigued at the process. If it was her, she’d be wanting to see the piece every day. See what progress he’d made. She probably wouldn’t be his ideal client. ‘I think I’d be too impatient to only have the odd conference call. I’d have to see every step to make sure it’s exactly how I want it.’

  Jeff laughed. ‘You have to learn to trust, Angel. I can make any vision come to life in jewellery. You’ve seen my pieces. People have learned not to question me.’

  Trusting other people, especially men, didn’t come easily to her. Not after all the times she’d been let down. Her father being the first on the list. And the latest.

  She went back to looking out the window. They’d been on the road a lot longer than the last time she’d been visiting Broome. They should’ve been at the resort by now.

  She glared over at Jeff, suspicion settling into her bones. She knew she shouldn’t have trusted him to deliver her to the resort. She should’ve objected and got a cab. ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘To my place.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because we thought it would be better if you stayed with me than at the resort.’

  ‘Oh no. No way. You turn this car around and take me to the resort, right now. I’m not staying with you.’

  There was no way she could stay in the same house and remain immune to him. She had a child to protect now. She couldn’t let herself risk falling for this man. Not once had he asked about the baby. He’d asked if she was doing okay, what anyone would ask when they haven’t seen someone for a little while.

  ‘You’re staying with me, Greta. I have the whole collection at my house. How can you deliver on the promises you made with your presentation if you don’t live and breathe the collection?’

  While she couldn’t fault his logic, it seemed a bit extreme to go to these lengths for an advertising campaign.

  ‘That’s a ridiculous excuse and you know it. You could easily have brought the collection to me at the resort.’

  ‘Are you going to pay for the security to transport the collection to and from my house to the resort every day? I’m not sure it’s something your father would sign off on. Think logically, Angel, it makes sense for you to stay with me.’

  ‘I suppose so.’ She turned away from him again. ‘How much longer until we get to your place?’

  ‘About another half an hour.’

  Greta let the silence settle around them again. She drummed her fingers on her leg. Did she ask him if he wanted to know about the baby? When she’d had her scan, the doctor had told her she was almost eight weeks pregnant and everything was looking good.

  ‘Do you even want to know?’ she blurted out. ‘Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious?’

  She was being deliberately vague about what she was referring to.

  ‘I wasn’t sure you’d want me to ask,’ he responded quietly. ‘We weren’t on the best of terms when it came to our baby and the situation we found ourselves in last time we spoke.’

  ‘It still would’ve been nice if you had asked.’

  He had the audacity to laugh. Not a cheerful laugh. But a dry, humourless one. ‘And if I ask now, what will you think of me then? That I only asked you because you forced me to ask the question? Or will you believe me when I say your health and the health of our baby hasn’t been off my mind since you announced your pregnancy?’

  It had been unfair of her to test him like she had. She’d known at the time that she was being a bitch by testing him. She couldn’t help it though. Before she’d found out she was pregnant, Jeff had been the only one who truly believed in her and her abilities. To support her in front her father.

  Greta had two options. Continue being a bitch or use this time, when it was just the two of them, to build a foundation so that when the baby was born, it wouldn’t be torn between the two of them. Maybe there was even hope for them to explore a relationship. For the sake of her child she would do anything so they could all have a peaceful life. It was why she carried the extra copy of the ultrasound photo in her handbag.

  She got it for Jeffrey. Thinking that if he saw their baby it would make it more real for him. But maybe she needn’t have worried.

  Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on his leg. The muscles contracting beneath her touch. ‘I’m almost eight weeks along and the doctor says the baby is growing well. My due date will be sometime in June of next year.’

  His hand closed over hers. ‘Thank you.’

  Contentment settled through her. Perhaps they had a chance after all.

  Chapter 15

  Jeffrey pulled into the driveway of his house. His sanctuary. The place he’d spent countless hours grimacing through physical therapy to enable him to walk again. His studio had been his salvation when the pain had made sleep impossible.

  Now he was going to be sharing it for a short while with the woman who was to be the mother of his child. Something he never imagined would happen.

  He switched off the engine and turned in his seat, gritting his teeth against the slight pull of his leg muscles. ‘Here we are.’

  ‘It’s beautiful, Jeff. I can understand why you wouldn’t want to leave here. I wouldn’t either if it was my place.’

  Jeffrey let that thought float through his mind. Greta living with him all the time. Sharing his house and his life. Would it be a hardship? He didn’t know. He’d been alone for so long. His grandparents had shipped him off to boarding school when he was ten. Keen to get rid of the grandchild they’d been stuck with after his parents had died in a boating accident when he was eight. He’d been studying in Europe when his grandparents had died.

  Opening up to someone, trusting them, wasn’t something he had considered. Kelly had claimed to be in love with him. Then he’d seen the real her on their trip. The way she’d flirted so provocatively with anyone who looked like they were wealthy. Even when he was sitting at the table with her. It was then he had to face the truth of the rumours he’d heard, and ignored, about her cheating on him. Regardless of what she’d done, he never should’ve broken it off with her at the top of the mountain. He should’ve waited until their trip was over. If he had, maybe then she’d still be alive.

  A shudder ripped through him and he was back at that moment. The loud roar of the loosened snow coming down toward him and Kelly at supersonic speed.

  ‘Jeff, are you okay?’ Greta’s voice pulled him from his spiralling thoughts.

  ‘Sure. Let’s go.’

  He opened his door and got out of the car, gripping the door when his leg buckled slightly. He gave it a shake and tentatively put some weight on it. It had been over five years since the accident. Yet his leg continued to remind
him.

  Greta materialised beside him. ‘You don’t look okay, and if we’re going to be spending time together you don’t have to try and hide when you’re in pain. I’ve seen the scars. I don’t know what caused them. But they’re a part of you and I accept them. They don’t turn me off you. They don’t scare me. Imperfections make a person who they are. And I like the person standing in front of me.’

  Her words were a soothing balm to his soul. ‘My leg often seizes up after I’ve been sitting for any length of time. Give me a minute and I’ll be okay.’

  ‘See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?’ She smiled at him and then reached into her purse. ‘I was going to wait until we got inside, but maybe now’s a good time to show you this.’

  Greta held out a piece of paper to him. He took it and looked at the black and grey picture, trying to make out what he was looking at. He looked up at her, the silent question obvious.

  ‘Meet your son or daughter.’

  Jeffrey returned his attention to the picture, studying it more closely. Finally the lines merged to reveal the peanut-shaped baby in the centre of the frame. He touched a finger to the paper, outlining the shape of his child.

  His child.

  The joy at seeing his baby for the first time died a little when he realised Greta had been all alone when she had this scan. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. He tightened his hold on her. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there for your first appointment. I should’ve been.’

  He kissed her hair, sniffing the coconut fragrance of her shampoo. Not stopping at her hair, he continued his way down until he found her lips. Kissing them softly at first. Her hands snaked up his back and cupped the back of his head, nudging gently, telling him she wanted more than soft kisses. He was happy to heed her request.

  This time he took her lips with the need that had been engulfing him since he’d seen her walk through the arrival terminal. Her mouth opened up beneath him. He could taste the faint strawberry flavour of her lip gloss. Their tongues met in a dance of remembrance. He let his hand stoke down her back, cupping her arse and bringing it flush against his erection. Jeffrey wanted to sink into her warmth again. Take her over and over and over, knowing that this time she couldn’t run away to her house. And he couldn’t leave.

  Greta pulled her lips away from his, arching her neck so he could trail slow kisses along her jawline. Her taste a sweet elixir. Calming him, reassuring him that everything would be okay.

  He made his way back up to her lips. The urgency that had engulfed him moments ago tempered by this sweet embrace.

  ‘We should go inside,’ she murmured against his lips.

  Laughter rumbled through. ‘No one can see us, Angel. We’re all alone.’

  He groaned in disappointment as she let her arms drop from around him. ‘I know, but I need the bathroom.’

  ‘Way to kill the moment.’

  She lightly punched him in the arm. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to continue. It’s just that needing the bathroom often is a bonus side effect of being pregnant. Along with the nausea and the tiredness.’

  Immediately concern replaced his desire. ‘Are you feeling sick? Do you need to lie down?’

  She laughed and touched his cheek. ‘I just need the bathroom.’

  Jeffrey took hold of her hand and made the short trek from where he’d parked the car to the front door. He unlocked it and ushered her into the cool depths of his home.

  ‘First door on the right is a bathroom. I’ll just go get your bags from the car.’

  ‘Thanks. I’ll be out to help you carry them in when I’m done.’

  ‘No need. Now go, I don’t want to have to do any clean-up.’

  Greta shook her head at his crude humour. As he made his way back to the car, Jeffrey knew it had been the right decision in bringing her to his home and not the resort. He planned to use the time to convince her she belonged with him. That together they could make a family. He would just make sure to protect his heart to keep from getting hurt. Somehow he knew that if anything was to happen to Greta or their baby, he wouldn’t survive the loss.

  Greta washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was mussed and her lips were swollen. Her look was so far removed from her usual polished business look. She liked the woman staring back at her.

  Being with Jeff already had her re-evaluating her goals and objectives, and now she was about to become a mum.

  A knock sounded on the door. ‘Angel, is everything all right? Are you sick?’

  The concern in his voice reached through the door to her, comforting her. ‘I’m fine. I’ll be right out.’

  Greta twisted the handle and came face to face with Jeff. His hand immediately went to her cheek, stroking it. The warmth from his touch reached into her, heating her blood. She was coming to like this gesture an awful lot.

  ‘I was worried,’ he said softly, as he took his hand away from her face. She wanted to pick it up and put it back there.

  ‘I wasn’t gone that long,’ she said with a laugh, not sure how to deal with this caring side of Jeff. He’d always seemed to hold himself apart from her. Except in bed. There he’d shown another side to him. She believed she’d seen the real Jeffrey Courteux.

  Why had such a charismatic man locked himself away from the world? Would he even share that part of himself with her? Did she want him to? Was he harbouring a dark secret? Sharing the deepest part of his soul with her would take their relationship to a different level. She didn’t know if they even had a relationship, in the real sense of the word. They were going to be parents, but they hardly knew each other. One dinner date and a few hours in bed didn’t constitute a relationship. But after each of their encounters, she’d found herself thinking about him more and more. Wondering what he was doing.

  Everything about them being together seemed so wrong and yet so right. How had she got herself into this mess?

  ‘Are you hungry? I can fix you some food if you’d like.’ Jeff asked, breaking into her thoughts.

  Tiredness permeated her bones; her early wake-up to make the early morning flight was catching up on her. ‘No, I’m fine. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to lie down for a little bit. Can you show me where I’m sleeping, please?’

  ‘Sure.’ He took hold of her hand and led her down the hallway, toward the back of the house.

  The entered the main living room and she gasped at the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

  ‘I didn’t know you were so close to the coast.’ Through the trees she could see the ocean. The sun shining off the blue surface, like diamonds in a jewellery store.

  He led her to the staircase. ‘Yes, it’s a unique piece of property. That’s why I bought it. Hidden from the street by the trees and I have the ocean in my backyard. It used to be owned by a well-known American rock star who would come here whenever he wanted some privacy.’

  As they made their way up the stairs, she took in the information he was sharing with her. ‘So if he liked the seclusion, why did he sell?’

  ‘He bought another piece of property about five kilometres down the road and built another house. This one came on the market at the perfect time for me. It became my salvation.’ He spoke the words to himself but she was close enough to have heard them. ‘Here we are, your room.’ He opened the door with a flourish and Greta knew the time to ask him what he meant by the house being his salvation had passed. But she wouldn’t forget it and, when the time was right, she’d ask him about it.

  Stepping across the threshold, into the room that was going to be her home for the next few days, was like stepping into a tropical oasis. Like downstairs, she had a view of the trees and ocean, only because she was up higher the ocean seemed to go on forever. Greta walked over to the window, looking at a sight she’d never seen close up before. Two kookaburras were perched on the branch closest to her. Singing to one another. On another branch further up, another two smaller kookaburras appeared to be watching the singing contest
going on.

  ‘Did you know kookaburras mate for life?’

  Jeff’s hand landed on the small of her back, his fingers gently stroking up and down. The touch was reassuring and enticing at the same time.

  ‘I didn’t know that.’

  ‘Yep.’ He pointed to two birds she hadn’t noticed sitting on a higher branch. ‘The older siblings hang around to help raise the new hatchlings.’

  Greta turned and placed her hands on Jeff’s chest, her fingers curling into his shirt. ‘Really? How do you know all these things?’

  He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Observing them while I work. This little family has been here for many years.’ He nodded toward the birds in the tree. ‘That’s Bonnie and Clyde.’

  Greta burst out laughing. ‘You named them?’

  ‘Yes, I did.’

  ‘And did you name the other family members?’

  Jeff tugged lightly on the back of her hair, causing her head to shift back a fraction. ‘No, I didn’t.’ He growled as he lowered his lips to her neck and started kissing the exposed flesh. Her fingers loosened their grip on his shirt and went to the button of his jeans.

  Her fingers stroked over his hard length beneath the denim as his mouth moved from her neck to her lips. He kissed first one corner, then the other, before trailing across her cheekbone to her ear where he tongued her ear lobe. All thoughts of working on her campaign disappeared from her mind at his touch.

  A frisson of electricity raced down her spine. God, she wanted him.

  ‘Is this the reason you wanted me to stay here?’

  His lips halted their onslaught and he took a step back. She immediately felt bereft, with the removal of his body from hers. She regretted her outburst. It wasn’t like she wasn’t fighting him off. Greta had wanted him to take her. Hadn’t she wanted to walk him over to the bed and make love to him? She could lie to herself all she wanted, but at the core of her being, right at this moment she wanted to be in Jeff’s arms. Touching his body and arching as he entered her.

  ‘No. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.’

  Before she had time to understand what was happening, he whirled around and strode out the room.