‘That could work.’
And maybe it would, for suddenly she knew that for the first time she was actually willing to consider marrying him.
* * *
They spent the rest of the morning together, watching lizards and frogs and birds through the glass. Ram knew a surprising amount about the various animals and plants, and she found herself not only relaxing, but enjoying herself and his company.
So much so that as she dialled Anna’s number the following morning she found it increasingly difficult to remember that he was the same person who had made her feel so horribly trapped and desperate.
‘So let me get this right,’ Anna said slowly down the phone. ‘You’re staying with Ram Walker in his rainforest treehouse. Just you and him. Even though we don’t work for him anymore. And you think that’s normal?’
‘I didn’t say that,’ Nola protested, glancing over to where Ram lay lounging in the sun, a discarded paperback on the table beside him. ‘Obviously nothing he does is normal. He’s the richest man in Australia. I just said that me being here is not that big a deal.’
Her friend gave a short, disbelieving laugh. ‘Is that why I wasn’t invited?’
Nola grimaced. ‘You weren’t invited because you’re in Edinburgh. With a broken foot and a husband.’
‘I knew it!’ Anna said triumphantly. ‘So there is something going on!’
‘No!’ Nola froze as Ram turned and glanced over at her curiously. Lowering her voice, she said quickly. ‘Well, it’s complicated...’
She badly wanted to tell her best friend the truth. Sooner or later she would have to. Her fingers gripped the phone more tightly.
‘I’m pregnant, and Ram’s the father.’
Her words hung in silence down the phone and she closed her eyes, equal parts of hope and fear rising up inside her. What if Anna was disgusted? Or never wanted to speak to her again?
‘That’s why I’m here. We’re talking things through.’ Breathing out shakily, she pressed the phone against her face. ‘I wanted to tell you before, but—’
‘It was complicated?’
Nola opened her eyes with relief. Her friend’s voice was gentle, and full of love. It was going to be okay.
‘I’m sorry. I just couldn’t get think straight.’
Anna laughed. ‘That’s okay. I forgive you as long as you tell me everything now.’
She didn’t tell Anna everything, but she gave her friend an edited version of the last few days. But even while she was talking she was thinking about Ram. Having finally stopped fighting him, all she wanted was to concentrate on the two of them building a relationship that would work for their child.
That was, after all, the reason she’d decided to stay.
The only reason.
Her cheeks grew hotter.
Try telling that to her body.
Her mouth was suddenly dry. Staring across the deck at Ram, she felt her breath catch fire. It was true, she did want a relationship with him that would work for their child. But that didn’t mean she could deny the way her body reacted to his. Even now, just looking at him was playing havoc with her senses. And up close he seemed to trigger some internal alarm system, so that she felt constantly restless, her body shivering and tightening and melting all at the same time.
But her relationship with Ram was already complicated enough. So it didn’t matter that no man had ever made her feel the way he had. Giving in to the sexual pull between them would only add another layer of complication neither of them needed.
Her mouth twisted.
Maybe if she told herself that often enough, she might actually start to believe it.
* * *
‘So,’ Ram said softly, as she sat down beside him and handed him the phone, ‘is everything okay?’
She nodded. ‘Yes. I told her about the baby. She was a little...’ she hesitated, searching for the right word ‘...stunned at first, but she was cool about it.’
Ram studied her face. Since agreeing to stay, Nola had seemed more relaxed, but he couldn’t shift the image from his head of her looking so small and crushed, and impulsively he reached out and ran his fingers over her arm.
‘You need to be careful. Are you wearing enough sunblock?’
She grimaced. ‘Loads. I used to try and tan, but it never works. I just burn and then peel, so now I am fully committed to factor fifty.’
‘Is that right?’ His gaze roamed over her face. ‘Then I’m jealous. I only want you to be fully committed to me.’
Nola blinked. He must be teasing her, she decided. Ram might want to marry her in order to legitimise this pregnancy, but he didn’t do commitment. And jealousy would require an emotional response she knew he wasn’t capable of or willing to give. But knowing that didn’t stop her stomach flipping over in response to the possessiveness in his words.
Hoping her thought process wasn’t showing on her face, she said lightly, ‘You’ve got bigger competition than a bottle of sunblock.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘I do?’
He let his fingers curl around her wrist, and then gently he pulled her towards him so that suddenly their eyes were level.
‘I thought you said you didn’t have anyone missing you,’ he said softly.
She bit her lip. ‘I don’t think he does miss me. He’s quite self-sufficient...’ Glancing up at the stubble shadowing his jaw, she smiled. ‘A little prickly. A bit like you, really. Except he’s green, and he’s got this cute little pot like a sombrero.’
Ram shook his head. ‘I can’t believe you’re comparing me to a cactus.’
She laughed. ‘There’s no comparison. Colin is a low-maintenance dream. Whereas you—’
His eyes were light and dancing with amusement. ‘I’m what?’
She felt her pulse begin to flutter. ‘You have a private jet and a house in the rainforest.’
‘And you care about that?’
She glanced up. Something in his tone had shifted, and he was watching her, his grey gaze oddly intent.
‘No, I don’t,’ she said truthfully. It might sound rude, or ungrateful but she wasn’t going to lie just to flatter him. ‘It’s lovely to have all this, but it doesn’t matter to me. Other things are more important.’
Her father had taught her that. His gifts had always been over the top—embarrassingly so in comparison to what her mother had chosen for her. But there had been no thought involved, nothing personal about his choice. Nothing personal about the money he’d sent either, except that it had grown exponentially in relation to his neglect.
‘Like what?’
Ram was gazing at her curiously, but just as she opened her mouth to reply, his phone rang.
Glancing down at it, he frowned. ‘Excuse me. I have to take this.’
Standing up, he walked away, his face tight with concentration.
She caught bits of the conversation, but nothing that gave her any clue as to who the caller might be. Not that she needed any. It would be work-related, because of course, despite what he’d said and what she’d chosen to believe, work would always come first. She just hadn’t expected to have it pointed out to her quite so quickly.
Finally he hung up.
‘Sorry about that.’ His face was impassive, but there was a tension in his voice that hadn’t been there before.
Looking up, she forced herself to smile casually, even though she felt flattened inside. ‘When do they want you back?’
‘Who?’ He stared at her blankly.
‘Work. Do you need to leave now?’
Ram didn’t answer. He was too busy processing the realisation that since getting off the plane he hadn’t thought about work once. Even the launch seemed to belong to another life he had once lived. And forgotten.
He shook his head.
‘It wasn’t work. It was Pandora. My mother. I was supposed to have lunch with my parents today, only with everything that’s happened I forgot.’
Catching sight of Nola’s face, he shrugg
ed.
‘It’s fine—honestly. My mother’s portions are so tiny it’s hardly worth the effort of going, and besides it gives Guy, my father, a chance to complain about me, so—’
‘You could still go,’ she said hastily. ‘I can just stay here and—’
She stopped mid-sentence as his eyes locked onto hers.
‘Why would you stay here?
‘I don’t know.’ She hesitated. ‘I just thought... I mean, obviously I’d like to meet them.’
Was that true? Her pulse jumped.
She was still wary of escalating their relationship too fast. But was that because her perception of marriage was so skewed by the past? Maybe lunch with Ram’s family would help balance out her point of view. And, more importantly, it might give her some insight into the father of her child, for while she had talked a lot—about herself, her parents, even her cactus—Ram was still a mystery to her.
Take his parents. She didn’t know anything about them. If she’d been shaped by her mother and father, then surely it was logical to assume that Ram had been shaped by his parents too. So why not take this opportunity to see what they were like? For the sake of their child, of course.
She glanced up at him hesitantly. ‘Would you like me to meet them?’
Ram stared at her in silence, wondering how best to answer that question. Nola meeting his parents had not been part of the equation when he’d brought her here. Yet clearly she was trying to meet him halfway, and as it had been he who had suggested they get to know one another better it seemed churlish to refuse.
But going to lunch with them would mean leaving the rainforest, and he didn’t want to do that.
He wanted to stay here with Nola. For it to be just the two of them. There was no need to involve Pandora and Guy. Only how could he explain that without having to explain who he was and what he was...?
His chest tightened.
Lifting his face, he smiled coolly. ‘Of course. It will give me a chance to drop in at the office. There are a couple of papers I need. I’ll ring her back and see if she can do tomorrow.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THEY FLEW BACK to Sydney the next day.
Gazing out of the window, Nola wished her thoughts were as calm as the clear blue sky beyond the glass. It was hard to believe that only a few days ago she’d fled from the RWI building. So much had happened since then. So much had changed. Not least her perception of Ram.
She had believed him to be domineering, insensitive and unemotional, but as she glanced across the aircraft to where he stood, joking with the cabin crew, she knew that he was a different man than she’d thought.
Yes, he had as good as abducted her from the airport but, seeing her upset, he had backed down, given her the option of leaving. And he’d been unexpectedly gentle and understanding when she’d told him about her father.
Shifting in her seat, she bit her lip. She still didn’t really understand why she had confided in Ram. The words had just spilled out before she’d been able to stop them. But she didn’t regret it, for they had both learnt something about one another as a result.
Yet now she was about to meet his parents, and she could feel all her old nervousness creeping over her skin. Glancing down at her skirt, she pressed her hands against the fabric, smoothing out an imaginary crease.
If only they could just stay here on the plane, circling the earth for ever...
She jumped slightly as Ram sat down beside her, and plucked her hand from her lap. Threading his fingers through hers, he rested his grey eyes on her face.
‘So, what’s bothering you, then?’
‘Nothing,’ she protested.
‘You haven’t said more than two words since we got on the plane. And you’re fidgeting. So let’s start with the obvious first. What have I done?’
She shook her head again. ‘You haven’t done anything.’
‘Okay. What have I said? Or not said?’
Despite her nerves, she couldn’t help smiling.
‘It’s not you...it’s nothing—’ She stopped, suddenly at a loss for words. ‘It’s just been such a long time since I’ve done a family lunch, and spending time with my mum and dad was always so stressful.’
‘Then you don’t need to worry,’ he said dryly. ‘My parents are the perfect hosts. They would never do anything to make a guest feel uncomfortable.’
She frowned. There was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before.
‘Are you sure they don’t mind me coming along too? I don’t want to put them to any trouble.’
He smiled—an odd, twisted smile that made her heart lurch forward.
‘Pandora is the queen of the charity dinner and the benefit dance. She loves entertaining, and Guy does as he’s told, so you coming to lunch will be absolutely no trouble at all.’
Her heart felt as if it were high up in her chest.
‘And who do they think I am? I mean, in relation to you?’ She hesitated. ‘Have you told them about the baby?’
His face was expressionless. ‘No. They don’t need to know. As to who you are—I told them you used to work for me, and that now we’re seeing one another.’
As she opened her mouth to protest, he shrugged.
‘You’re the first woman I’ve ever taken to meet them.’ His grey eyes watched her steadily, his mouth tugging up at the corners. ‘It was either that or pretend you were coming to fix the hard drive.’
They landed in Sydney an hour later. Ram’s limo was waiting for them at the edge of the private airfield, and soon they were cruising along the motorway.
But instead of turning towards the city centre, as she’d expected, the car carried on.
‘Didn’t you want to go to the office first?’ Frowning, Nola glanced over to where Ram was gazing down at his phone.
‘I changed my mind.’ He looked up, his face impassive. ‘I thought you might like to freshen up, and I need to pick up a car.’
‘Where are we going?’
He smiled. ‘We’re going home.’
She frowned. ‘I thought you had a penthouse in the city?’
He shrugged. ‘I do. It’s convenient for work. But it’s not my home.’
Home.
The word made her think of her flat in Edinburgh, her shabby sofas and mismatched crockery. But home for Ram turned out to be something altogether grander—a beautiful white mansion at the end of a private drive.
Stepping dazedly out of the car, Nola felt her heart jump. She’d recognised the name of the road as soon as they’d started to drive down it. How could she not? It was regularly cited as being the most expensive place to live in the country, and Ram’s house more than lived up to that reputation.
‘Welcome to Stanmore.’ He was standing beside her, smiling, watching her face casually, but she could sense a tension beneath his smile, and suddenly she knew that he cared what she thought—and that fact made her throat tighten so that she couldn’t speak.
‘It’s incredible,’ she managed finally.
A couple of hours ago she’d denied being intimidated by his wealth, but now she wasn’t sure that was still true. For a moment she hesitated, caught between fear and curiosity, but then his hand caught hers and he tugged her forward.
‘I’m glad you think so. Now, come on. I want to show you round.’
As they wandered through the beautiful interior Nola caught her breath, her body transformed into a churning mass of insecurity. How could Ram seriously expect them to marry? This was a different world from hers. And no doubt his parents would realise that the moment she walked through their door.
‘My great-great-grandfather, Stanley Armitage, bought this land in 1864,’ Ram said casually as he led her into a beautiful living room with uninterrupted views of the ocean. ‘I’m the fifth generation of my family to live here.’
Nola nodded. ‘So you grew up here?’
His face didn’t change but his eyes narrowed slightly.
‘My mother moved out when she got
married. They live just along the road. But I spent most of my holidays here, aside from the odd duty dinner with my parents.’ He paused. ‘Which reminds me... We should probably think about getting ready.’
Nola gazed down at her skirt and blouse in dismay. They had looked fine when she’d put them on that morning, but after two hours of travelling she felt sticky and dishevelled.
‘I can’t meet your parents looking like this.’
‘So don’t,’ he said easily.
‘But I don’t have anything else.’
‘Yes, you do.’
Before she had a chance to reply, he was towing her upstairs, through one of the bedrooms and into a large dressing room.
‘I know you acted cool about it, but I thought you might worry about being underdressed, so I spoke to my mother’s stylist and she sent these over this morning.’
Hanging from a rail were at least twenty outfits in clear, protective wrappers.
Nola gazed at them speechlessly.
He grinned, obviously pleased by her reaction. ‘Pick something you like. I think there are shoes as well. I’m just going to go change.’
She nodded. But picking something was not as easy as Ram’s throwaway remark had implied. The clothes were all so beautiful... Finally she settled on a pale blue dress with a pretty ribbon-edged cardigan that cleverly concealed her bump. Her cheeks were already flushed, so she didn’t bother with any blusher, but she brushed her hair until it lay smoothly over her shoulders, and then added a smudge of clear lip gloss.
‘You look beautiful.’
Turning, she caught her breath. Ram was lounging in the doorway, his grey eyes glittering with approval.
‘So do you,’ she said huskily, her gaze drifting over his dark suit and cornflower-blue shirt.
Holding out his hand, he grinned. ‘Who? Me? I’m just here to drive the car.’
The car turned out to be a Lamborghini, low to the ground and an eye-catching bright blue.
As they drove the short distance to his parents’ house she couldn’t resist teasing him about the colour. ‘Did you choose the car to match your shirt?’
He gave her a heartbreaking smile. ‘No, your eyes,’ he said softly. ‘Now, stop distracting me.’
Kidnapped for the Tycoon's Baby Page 12
