The Maid, the Millionaire and the Baby

by Michelle Douglas

  She was breathing hard when she reached the top, but the view rewarded her efforts. A sapphire sea glistened in the sun, ruffled here and there by a playful breeze. That breeze might stiffen later this afternoon, creating whitecaps, but for now it merely caressed and stroked. A few giant rocks rested between the island and the horizon, giving depth and definition to all the amazing blue.

  Turning to survey the vista behind, she was greeted with lush greenery. The wooded hill that was Tesoura’s interior hid the far coastline from view. Birdcalls rang throughout the forest, hinting at the abundant life hidden there. Below to her left, Eduardo’s pride and joy—the garden—reigned in emerald splendour with Jasper’s mansion gleaming white and magnificent in the midst of it. Beyond that stretched the lagoon with its tiny dock and barely a ripple disturbed its surface.

  If only she could channel some of that tranquillity into her own soul. Finding a flat rock, she sat and stared out to sea. Wasn’t there some poet who’d claimed beauty could heal the hurts of the world? She rested her chin on her hands and glared at the glory spread before her, waiting for it to weave its enchantment and magically glue her heart back together.

  Stupid heart.

  Stupid her for giving it away so easily where it wasn’t wanted.

  Stupid.

  Her eyes burned but she forced her chin up. Falling in love with Jasper wasn’t stupid. It seemed almost...inevitable. He was wonderful. Falling in love with him simply went to show what excellent taste she had. It was just a shame he didn’t love her back.

  She didn’t know how long she sat like that before she heard Jasper beating up a path towards her. Cool reason told her it had to be Jasper. Katherine would simply wait until Imogen came down if she wanted to speak to her. Emily would be busy with George, and Eduardo with his garden.

  There was nothing cool about how she felt at the thought of seeing him now, though. She tried to school her features. She told herself to be cheerful. She might be in love with a man who didn’t love her back, but she still had her pride.

  ‘Hey!’ she said, leaping to her feet when he broke through the undergrowth and crested the summit. With a superhuman effort she kept a grin on her face. ‘Here’s to the man of the moment!’ She gave him a round of applause. ‘You were amazing back there—all cool, calm and focussed—like some white knight on his charger.’

  ‘I—’

  ‘I mean—’ she knew she was babbling but couldn’t stop ‘—how good did it feel to slay that particular dragon?’

  ‘I...’

  She skipped forward to high-five him, but rather than slapping his palm to hers, he caught her hand, lacing his fingers with hers, and not letting go. ‘You left.’

  The hurt in his eyes nearly undid her. She couldn’t tell him the truth—that she’d needed time alone. She couldn’t tell him that in vanquishing his father he’d forced her to face the fact that he didn’t love her. She could no longer pretend that he was trapped by his family and circumstances.

  But that was her problem, not his.

  His fingers curled around hers as if they’d never let her go.

  Wishful thinking.

  Everything inside her throbbed. Her smile had fled, but she refused to let her chin drop. ‘I wanted to give you and Emily some time alone together. To process all you’ve managed to achieve, to celebrate the fact you’ve broken from your past.’

  ‘You left,’ he repeated, his brows lowering over his eyes. ‘You don’t see it, do you?’

  ‘See what?’

  ‘Without you, Imogen, there wouldn’t have been anything to celebrate.’

  What was he talking about?

  ‘Without you, I don’t want to celebrate.’

  Her heart all but stopped.

  * * *

  Jasper swallowed. He’d screwed up, hadn’t he?

  This lovely woman had offered him a glimpse of another life—a life he desperately wanted—and he’d flung it back at her. She’d offered him her heart. Not in so many words, but they both knew that had been the subtext of their conversation on the beach that night after their kiss.

  She’d been prepared to see where things between them might go, but he’d dismissed the idea. Ruthlessly. He winced, imagining how hard-hearted she must’ve thought him. She’d accepted his rejection with equanimity—hadn’t tried to change his mind, had respected his wishes.

  And then he’d kissed her again in São Paulo and had rejected her all over again. That had been unforgivable. He didn’t blame her for locking her heart up tight against him now.

  She pulled her hand from his, her brow wrinkling as if she was trying to make sense of what he’d said. ‘I can’t take credit for what happened this morning.’

  She might’ve closed her heart to him, but he could open his to her. ‘This morning had everything to do with you.’ He clenched his hand, trying to keep a hold of the feel of her, wanting it imprinted on his mind. ‘If it weren’t for you, I might never have believed that Emily was in trouble in the first place.’

  ‘I know you believe that, but I don’t. It was you who worked out how to contact her. And when she did make contact, it was you who got her to safety.’

  ‘It was also you,’ he pressed on, ‘who made me fall in love with George.’

  She rolled her eyes. ‘I think you’ll find George was responsible for that himself.’

  ‘You taught me how to be an uncle.’

  It appeared he’d finally shocked her into silence. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

  He widened his stance. ‘Yesterday afternoon when my father threatened Emily, I was angry. When he threatened Katherine, I was outraged. But when he threatened you, I wanted to kill him.’

  Even now the memory had everything inside him clenching up tight. ‘I knew I could counter the harm he threatened. You all showed me how to do that—and I’d have been happy to do it. But the thought of you having to put up with his spite, being persecuted for no other reason than the fact that you’re a good person...’ Both his hands clenched. ‘That was the moment I decided to take him down.’

  The green highlights in her eyes seemed to alternately flash and dull, like the sun on a moving sea. She moistened her lips and an ache started up inside him. ‘Why?’

  His mouth dried, but he was through with lies and deceit. ‘Because I love you.’

  She froze. She blinked. She didn’t utter a single damn word.

  Give her more, you idiot.

  Reaching out, he touched her cheek. ‘I know I’ve given you no reason to believe me—that I’ve run hot and cold. And I don’t blame you if you don’t return my feelings, but I can’t let you leave this island believing you don’t mean anything to me.’

  Her lips parted. He wanted to kiss her so badly he started to shake with it. But then she backed up a step and the hope he’d stupidly let loose drained away and the day darkened as if a cloud had just passed across the sun.

  He glanced up at the sky. Not a single cloud marred the endless blue—not even on the farthest horizon. Turning back to Imogen, he pressed his lips together to stop from begging her to give him another chance. He didn’t regret telling her how he felt; he didn’t regret telling her he loved her, but he wouldn’t harass her. He’d had enough of men hassling women to last him a lifetime.

  She thumped down to a rock as if her legs had given way. She swallowed and gestured to another rock nearby. He took it, hating how much distance it put between them. From here he couldn’t reach out and touch her.

  That’s the point.

  ‘If you’d prefer to be alone, I can leave.’

  ‘I don’t want you to leave, I’m just... I know my silence must sound deafening to you, but...’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘I’m trying to decide if I believe you or not.’

  He froze. Did that mean...? Was she saying...? He didn’t bother trying to rein in his hope. ‘
Why do you doubt me?’ If he knew that, he might be able to allay it.

  She covered her face with her hands, and he understood they weren’t playing games here—they were in deadly earnest. ‘Because it’s what you do, Jasper—it’s your modus operandi.’ She pulled her hands away. ‘You want to protect women... And children.’

  She thought that was a bad thing?

  ‘After meeting your father—’ she shuddered ‘—I can see why you don’t want to be anything like him.’

  He remained quiet, focussed.

  ‘You know that I’m not immune to you. I know you know that.’

  His heart pounded.

  ‘And I’m worried that if you think you’re hurting me, you’ll give me what you think I want regardless of the cost to yourself.’

  He leaned towards her. ‘You think I’d tell you I loved you to make you happy rather than because it’s true?’

  Her tongue snaked out to moisten her lips. ‘That’s the thought that’s crossing my mind.’

  Damn. He tried not to notice the shine on her lips, tried not to let it distract him. ‘You’re right insofar as the thought of hurting you makes me feel physically ill.’

  Although the sun beat down on them with benevolent warmth, she’d gone pale. His heart gave a sick kick.

  ‘But you’re wrong too,’ he forced himself to continue. ‘I would never lie about loving you. It would hurt you tenfold in the long run because you’d eventually work it out. How could I do that to you—a woman with so much love in her heart and so much joy for life and so much to look forward to?’ He shook his head, praying she’d believe him. ‘If I thought you loved me, but I didn’t return that love—I’d have to tell you. It’d be a clean break. Painful at first, no doubt, but I know you’d move on.’

  She blinked.

  ‘That kind of lie—the kind you’re accusing me of—is a trap. It’d be a trap for the both of us and I’ve seen what traps do to people. I don’t want that. Not for me. And I sure as hell don’t want it for you.’

  She rested her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands as she stared—almost glared—at him. It shifted her towards him fractionally and he wasn’t sure if she was aware of that or not. There had to be some other way he could convince her, something he could—

  ‘You told me that Tesoura is your home. That you have no plans for ever leaving.’

  ‘I was wrong.’ He spoke without hesitation. ‘Running away like I did was the coward’s way out.’

  She straightened. ‘That’s not fair! You had every reason for needing a bolt-hole. You are not a coward.’

  Her defence warmed him. He wanted to take it as a good sign.

  She thrust out her chin. ‘And you’re not an emotional coward either. You just told me you loved me without knowing if I’d say it back. That was pretty brave.’

  He still didn’t know if she was going to say it back. But he didn’t point that out.

  ‘Regardless of what happens between me and you, Imogen, I’m returning to the real world. I want to be close to my family. I have my heart set on living in Wollongong, but if that’s not possible then I’ll get a place somewhere in Sydney.’

  Her eyes widened at his words.

  ‘I know you don’t see it, but you’ve made me a new man.’

  Please let her see that.

  ‘You helped me deal with the bitterness and resentment I’d let fester inside me. But that’s not all. You’ve given me hope.’ He wanted her to feel the truth of his words in her bones. ‘I’m not talking about the hope that something might happen between the two of us. I’m talking about the hope that I can live a good life again—that I can be an uncle to George, a brother to Emily, a son to my mother, and maybe even a husband and father myself one day. I’m planning to reconnect with the friends I’ve shunned these last two years, and I’m going to get hands-on again with my business.’

  She straightened; her hands pressed to the spot above her heart. Tears sparkled on her lashes.

  ‘You want to know the exact moment I realised I was in love with you?’

  She nodded.

  ‘The moment you appeared in the living room in the middle of the night to help me with George when he was teething. I’d never been so darn happy to see anyone. And before you say otherwise, it had nothing to do with George. Seeing you simply made the hard stuff easier to bear. Seeing you made me feel that some piece inside me that had been missing had just been found. I felt...whole.’

  Her lips parted.

  ‘When did I actually fall in love with you?’ He shook his head. ‘Probably the moment I saw you dancing with that stupid vacuum cleaner.’

  ‘But...you yelled at me.’

  ‘I didn’t yell!’ He grimaced. ‘Though I was admittedly less than cheerful at the time.’

  She kinked an eyebrow at his understatement.

  ‘That was the moment everything started to change, and I didn’t want it to. I was pushing back against it, trying to maintain the status quo. I’m sorry I was so bad-tempered. You didn’t deserve it.’

  The expression in her eyes made his heart beat hard. ‘You want to know when I first realised I was in love with you?’ she asked.

  Every cell inside him fired to life at her words. He tried to keep his feet on the ground, not to get carried away. Her confession didn’t mean she still loved him. But her smile...

  ‘It was the moment you made arrangements for me to travel with you and Aunt Katherine to São Paulo. I told you that you were my new favourite person.’

  He remembered the exact moment.

  ‘As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew they were true. I think it all started, though, that day on the beach.’

  ‘When we kissed?’

  ‘No. Though that was a revelation.’

  She could say that again.

  ‘I’m talking about the day you fell for George. When he grabbed on to you and you just couldn’t hold out against him any longer. I think that was the moment when my heart waved a white flag and surrendered.’

  But he’d rejected her twice since then. Had he trampled so hard over her heart that she didn’t have any love left for him now? He wanted to drop to his knees in front of her but forced himself to remain where he was. ‘Imogen, I’ve just spoken about the future I want. What I want more than anything is for that future to be with you. I don’t expect you to trust me immediately.’ Desperation clawed at him. ‘But please let me see you a little when I’m back in Sydney. Let me prove to you—’

  Her smile transformed her face and he couldn’t speak as his throat closed over.

  ‘No, Jasper, that’s not a deal I want to make.’

  But she smiled in a way that lifted rather than felled him.

  ‘The deal is that you see me a lot. A whole lot. Didn’t you hear what I just said?’ She surged to her feet, and so did he. ‘I love you too.’ She moved across to stand in front of him, reaching up to touch his face, her eyes soft and her lips even softer. ‘I love you.’

  And then she was in his arms, her arms wound tight around his neck and her hair tickling his face. He wrapped his arms around her waist and closed his eyes, giving thanks to whatever deity had sent her into his life.

  She eased back, her mouth millimetres from his. ‘Deal?’ she whispered.

  ‘Deal,’ he murmured, catching her lips in a kiss that promised a lifetime. He’d finally found the one place he belonged—with Imogen—and he meant to treasure it, to treasure her, forever.

  EPILOGUE

  Three years later

  JASPER GLANCED AROUND the monstrosity of an open-plan kitchen/diner that Katherine had told him was an utter necessity and had to pinch himself. It was crammed to its vaulted ceilings—ceilings Imogen had swooned over—with Christmas cheer, with excited chatter and laughter, and with all the things he’d known Christmas could hold for other peo
ple but had never expected to experience for himself.

  Several people toasted him as he came into the room and he grinned. It was official—he and Imogen had been added to the Christmas hosting rota. He had to pinch himself again.

  His wife hadn’t been kidding when she’d said the holiday was a big deal for her family. Tonight, they were hosting the Christmas Eve party; tomorrow Imogen’s parents—two of the nicest people he’d ever met—were hosting the traditional all-day Christmas lunch, while the day after that her uncle Robert and aunt Sarah were hosting the Boxing Day wind-down.

  And he loved it. All of it. With a passion that almost seemed unholy.

  And the house he and Imogen had designed for the ten-acre block of land he’d bought in Wollongong—with its extraordinary ocean views—provided the perfect backdrop for all this warmth and belonging. Everything was...perfect.

  Almost perfect. His father had another five years to serve on an eight-year jail term, but as far as Jasper could tell not a single person missed him. Aaron had already served his eighteen-month sentence and had relocated to Darwin. Jasper’s lips tightened. But only after striking a devil’s bargain. In exchange for start-up funds for a bar and restaurant, Aaron had signed away all his custody rights to George. Jasper still couldn’t believe the man had suggested such a thing—George was a joy, a delight, a treasure. But if that was the way Aaron felt, then it was better for George to have nothing to do with him.

  He pushed the sombre thought away. Tonight was for fun and laughter and giving thanks. Moving behind Imogen, who was putting the finishing touches to a cheese and fruit platter, he slipped his arms about her waist. ‘Anything I can do to help?’

  She gave a delicious shiver when his lips touched her nape. ‘I don’t think so—the food’s all ready.’ They’d prepared a buffet-style feast and had set up picnic tables and blankets on the lawn outside. The evening was balmy and the sky full of oranges, pinks and mauves as the sun started to set. ‘But please tell me someone is supervising the children in the pool.’

  ‘Your aunt Fiona and aunt Stacey are keeping a close eye on proceedings while your uncle Jordan and uncle Dennis discuss the merits of different car motors.’