by Amy Andrews
They chatted for half an hour about Italy and travelling and McKenzie’s implant. Not that Paige contributed much. After eating two muffins she dropped her head back against her chair and shut her eyes, letting the morning sunshine warm her skin.
She didn’t want to encourage him, she didn’t want him too cosy with her family. Just because she’d agreed not to do anything rash, it didn’t mean they were one big happy family.
Despite his assurances of support, Paige had been burnt before.
It was pleasant conversation but Valentino was charming her parents and it was strangely irritating. As good as he was to look at, as amazing as he smelled this morning—like bakery and sunshine—she wished he would just go.
Valentino found his attention drifting as he chatted with Adele and Don. He was hyper-aware of Paige beside him all loose and relaxed in her chair. She was wearing her usual baggy clothes but whether it was the angle of her body or this particular view he couldn’t help but notice how fuller her breasts seemed. How they formed two firm, high mounds against the thin fabric of her shirt and bounced when she shifted in the chair.
He wanted to nuzzle her neck, let his hand drift to one of those very enticing mounds.
Dio!
He came here for one thing and one thing only. He rose, needing desperately to get away and get his mind back on the game plan. ‘Excuse me for a moment.’ Valentino stood. ‘Paige, your bathroom?’
Paige gave him directions and, despite wanting him to leave only seconds ago, she suddenly felt bereft without him. She steeled herself for the grilling she knew was to come.
Her mother went first. ‘I like him.’
‘You don’t know him.’
‘I’d known Arnie for two minutes and knew I didn’t like him.’
Touché. She glanced at her father smiling at her mother, his dimples blazing. ‘You’ve always been a sucker for men with dimples.’
Adele ignored him and looked at her daughter. ‘So have you, darling.’
Had she? When she looked back over her life prior to Arnie the few boyfriends she’d had had indeed all been blessed with dimples. ‘Dimples do not maketh the man,’ Paige grumbled.
Adele smiled at her husband. ‘I would have to disagree with you there.’
Paige shook her head, humbled as ever by her parents’ enduring love and affection for each other. ‘Well, you would.’
‘I’m just saying that I think he’s good for you.’ Adele reached across the table and squeezed her daughter’s hand. ‘Isn’t it about time you declared a truce on the men of the world? They’re not all like Arnie, darling.’
Paige wondered how her parents would feel if they knew that this Italian Lothario they were so enamoured with had impregnated their daughter. Neither of her parents were keen for her to have any more children given what had happened with the twins.
Before she could speak, Valentino’s voice drifted out to them and three pairs of eyes sought him out. He’d stopped to talk to McKenzie.
McKenzie had grown bored quickly with the adult conversation and had asked for ‘Wigga’ and Paige, who didn’t like her watching too much television, hadn’t been able to refuse. Hearing her daughter say actual words was sweeter than the sweetest music in the world and seeing her dance now she could actually hear the music was endlessly thrilling.
They watched as Valentino took McKenzie’s hands and danced around with her. McKenzie giggled as he lifted her off the floor and twirled her round, his dark hair almost black compared to her lighter hues. She clapped as he put her down and said, ‘Again.’ And Valentino complied, his easy laughter rich and deep.
Laughter you could drown in.
And her broken, fractured, battered, stomped-on heart just about melted in her chest.
‘Oh, my,’ Adele said, her hand fluttering to her chest.
Paige dragged her gaze away from the endearing sight of Valentino—a large, virile, Italian man his hands dwarfing McKenzie’s torso—twirling her daughter—a little pink fairy girl—round and round. It was exceedingly sexy.
She blasted her mother with an impatient glare. So he was good with children. Arnie had been great with kids. Had been over the moon about the pregnancy.
But look how quickly he had turned his back when it had come to the crunch.
‘You’ve won a heart there,’ Don commented as Valentino rejoined them on the deck.
Valentino shrugged. ‘I have ten nieces and five nephews back home. Children like to dance in any language, I think.’
‘That they do,’ Don agreed.
‘Actually, sir,’ Valentino said. ‘I’m glad you’re both here.’ He looked at Paige, who frowned at him. ‘My cousin Alessandro tells me its tradition here to ask, permission of the woman’s parents to marry her. So—’
‘What?’ Paige stood up, effectively cutting Valentino off. Had he gone mad? ‘I’m not marrying you, Valentino. I told you that yesterday.’
Valentino reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. He opened it and placed it on the table in front of her.
Paige blinked. The simple square-cut diamond nestled in the satin and dazzled in the direct sunlight. It was simple and beautiful and perfect. Every woman’s idea of an engagement ring right there before her. And she wanted to put it on her finger so badly it itched. Instead, she reached down and pushed the lid shut.
‘I said no.’
Don and Adele looked at the box and then at each other. ‘It’s pretty traditional to have the woman’s consent first,’ Don joked, and Adele dug him in the ribs with her elbow as she fought a smile, mashing her lips together hard.
‘Which he doesn’t have,’ Paige said adamantly.
‘Paige, I can’t allow our baby to be born outside marriage.’
Paige felt the air around her evaporate. ‘Valentino!’
Valentino frowned as Adele gasped and turned to Paige.
‘Baby?’ she demanded.
Valentino raked his hand through his hair. She had said she was going to tell them. ‘You haven’t told them about the baby?’
Paige shut her eyes and slowly sat down. ‘No,’ she said, utterly defeated. ‘Not yet.’
Adele looked at Don. ‘That explains the appetite.’ She turned to her daughter and gave her hand a squeeze. ‘Are you okay, darling?’
Valentino could see the worry in their eyes as Paige’s parents looked at her with concern. They were no doubt apprehensive about their daughter going into premature labour again.
‘A little shocked actually, Mum. And ravenous.’
‘Maybe that’s a good sign?’ Adele suggested. ‘You couldn’t keep anything down with the twins.’
That was true. She’d actually landed in hospital on a drip twice. ‘Maybe.’ Paige nodded. But the truth was she was still scared witless about the pregnancy. And she didn’t have to look at her parents to know they were too.
Valentino observed the byplay intently. He could see the prospect of a second pregnancy for Paige didn’t just affect her and him. That her parents had been a major support for Paige and they were understandably concerned.
‘I’m not going to let anything happen to Paige or the baby. You have my word.’
Adele gave a sad smile and squeezed her daughter’s hand again. ‘I believe you. But for now I think we’d better leave you both alone to talk this through. We’ll take McKenzie out to the park.’
Paige nodded. ‘Thanks.’
Paige’s parents rose and Don held out his hand to Valentino. ‘It was nice meeting you. And I appreciate that you want to do the right thing by our daughter.’ He dropped his hand after a brief shake. ‘It’s been a tough few years for all of us. It hasn’t been easy as a father to watch Paige go through what she’s been through. I trust you understand our less than enthusiastic response.’
Valentino nodded. ‘Of course.’
Paige was grateful that Valentino waited till they had all departed before he spoke again. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know your parents were going to be h
ere this morning.’
Paige picked up the velvet box and held it out. ‘That didn’t seem to stop you.’
Valentino ignored it. ‘I’m serious about this, bella.’
‘So am I.’
‘You are carrying my child. It’s the honourable thing to do. My duty. My mother would disown me if I didn’t do the right thing.’
Duty and honour. Two things that Arnie hadn’t been big on. Still, they weren’t the words a girl wanted to hear when talking marriage. Arnie had said he loved her and couldn’t live without her.
That had worked a treat.
Fortunately she was somewhat more evolved now, her heart hardened to flattery. But there was no way she was making the biggest commitment of her life based on anything other than love. And as she’d vowed to never be so stupid again, she just didn’t see how it could work.
Paige placed the box back on the table. ‘Listen to yourself. This shouldn’t be about what’s honourable. About duty. This is a long-term commitment. You are not a long-term guy.’
‘I am now.’
Paige gave him a reproving look. ‘Are you telling me that the first time you laid eyes on me you knew I was the girl you wanted to marry?’
Valentino didn’t think it wise to tell her exactly what he had been thinking that day at the wedding. Suffice to say it had come to fruition a few hours later. ‘Love at first sight is not a sound basis for marriage.’
‘Maybe not, but it’s a good place to start. What about Daniella? Didn’t you take one look at her and know?’
Valentino frowned. ‘I was twenty-four. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t thinking with anything north of my belt. It was lust, not love.’
Maybe it had been lust with Arnie too? Maybe she hadn’t fallen in love after all. Maybe his flashy, blond good looks and his total adoration of her had blinded her to the real man beneath.
‘And it didn’t work out. Neither did you and Arnie. So maybe approaching marriage like this is the best way to go about it. We don’t have to get married straight away, we have time to get to know each other.’
‘My mother would say we should have done that first.’
He shrugged. ‘So would mine.’
Paige smiled despite her heart pounding in her chest as she prepared to ask the next question. ‘Just say I agree to getting married…what happens when you do meet the one and you’re trapped in a marriage with me? Do you expect me to be okay with it? Do you expect me to sit back and watch you break our child’s heart when you leave me for her? Not to mention McKenzie’s heart? Would you fight me for custody?’
‘Il mio dio! I haven’t thought about any of these things.’
Paige tried not to let his avoidance of the answer have an impact on her. ‘No kidding!’
Valentino’s jaw tightened. ‘There will be no other women.’
‘What about sex?’
Valentino frowned. ‘What about it? I thought you liked having sex with me?’
Paige didn’t think her liking it was really the issue. That was a no-brainer. ‘If you think I’m going to risk this pregnancy by having sex during it, then you really are crazy.’
Valentino rubbed his forehead. He hadn’t thought about that aspect of it. ‘No problemo,’ he dismissed.
‘You seriously expect me to believe you can go without sex for that long?’
Arnie had cited lack of intimacy as one of the reasons he was leaving and she’d known their defunct sex life had frustrated him. But she had been exhausted, being at the hospital all day and worried sick about the twins, watching Daisy grow steadily more ill. She’d been emotionally numb and physically disconnected from her body, and sex had been the last thing on her mind.
And, besides, it hadn’t felt right, enjoying herself while her children were in Intensive Care, fighting for their lives.
Valentino smiled at her incredulity. He should have been angry with her sexist assumption that he was incapable of going without. But he wasn’t. ‘You don’t think,’ he said, his voice dropping an octave as his gaze dropped to the interesting mounds he could now make out beneath her baggy T-shirt, ‘I’m imaginative enough to be able to satisfy you in other ways?’
Paige swallowed and to her dismay her nipples hardened in blatant response to his ogling. Her breasts had been sore and tight and uncomfortable but they seemed to flower beneath his gaze.
She was temporarily speechless.
Valentino caught her gaze and chuckled as she folded her arms across her chest. Good, he had her attention. ‘I don’t want to be excluded from the pregnancy, Paige. I want to be around to feel the baby move and kick, to see your belly grow. To help out when you’re not feeling well. To get you ice cream and tomato sauce when you wake up with a craving at three o’clock in the morning. I want to get to know McKenzie as well. I’m going to be in her life too.’
Paige wanted to shut her ears to the cosy picture he was painting. A flash of McKenzie and Valentino dancing flitted through her mind, the look of adoration on her daughter’s face as she’d clung to his neck crystal clear.
How could she expose McKenzie to him, like he was asking? Have her love and adore him when, try as she may, she couldn’t believe he was going to stick around.
Especially if something happened to the baby.
Yes, he was telling her he would but he’d spent the last decade of his life constantly moving on from one woman to another. Did he seriously expect her to believe he could reverse what by now must be fairly ingrained behaviour?
‘And what if something happens to the baby—?’
‘I told you nothing would happen,’ he interrupted.
She held up her finger. ‘Just go with me here on this, okay? Something happens and I go into labour again at twenty-eight weeks or even less and the baby dies. There’s nothing keeping us together after that—there’s certainly not love. Are you going to tell me you’re going to stick around? Or will you run when it all becomes overwhelming because, trust me…’ Her voice wavered. ‘It will. What happens to McKenzie then?’ Or to her, for that matter. ‘It’ll be devastating.’
Valentino ran a hand through his hair. ‘It won’t happen.’
‘Goddamn it, Valentino,’ she snapped, banging her fist on the table. ‘What if it does?’
‘You’re dealing in a lot of what-ifs.’
‘Yeah, well, I have to, I’m her mother, I have to protect her. That’s my job.’ To say nothing of protecting herself.
Valentino’s jaw clenched. ‘I make you a solemn promise. I will not walk away.’
‘But it would be easier for you to go if we didn’t marry. If there was no wedding ring holding you here.’
It was Valentino’s turn to slam his hand down on the table in frustration. ‘Dio! Listen to me. I. Will. Not. Walk. Away.’ He punctuated each word with a vicious finger stab at the table.
For what it was worth, she believed him. Right now, at this moment, his conviction was palpable. But Paige knew that life cold throw you curve balls and things could change in a heartbeat.
She also knew this was getting them nowhere. They needed a compromise, something to break the stalemate. ‘You want to get to know me? Us? Then let’s just do that for now. I’m not going to stop you from being involved in the pregnancy, Valentino. I will include you as much as possible.’ She picked up the box again. ‘Let’s spend some time together first and then…’ she pushed it across the table to him ‘…we’ll see.’
Valentino picked up the box. Paige looked conciliatory and certainly a lot less exasperated. It was a good compromise. She was so skittish, so hurt from her ex, he suspected if he pushed too much she’d never agree. Maybe he’d have to play it cool for a bit. Prove to her he could be the man she needed him to be.
‘So it’s not a no? It’s a maybe later.’
Paige nodded, even though she knew deep in her heart she would never marry again. ‘That’s right.’
Valentino examined the box for a few moments and then put it back in his pocket. ‘I’m going
to keep asking.’
And she was going to keep saying no. She smiled at him. ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less.’
Chapter Eight
AND he did. At the end of every week together he asked her again. And at the end of every week she said no. Then they started all over again.
They fell into a routine. He came for tea one night a week after McKenzie was in bed. Paige insisted they wait till her daughter was asleep. She knew how easily McKenzie loved people and she didn’t want her becoming too attached.
On Sunday mornings he joined the whole family for breakfast. It seemed less intimate with her parents there as a buffer to his charisma and charm and Paige had to admit she looked forward to it. If for nothing else than to taste what amazing culinary offering he brought with him.
And, of course, they saw each other at work three days a week. Although Paige and Valentino were scrupulous about keeping it strictly professional. No one in the department had an inkling of their private affairs, which was exactly what she wanted.
Paige had also insisted that they tell no one about the baby, including McKenzie, not until she’d passed the twenty-eight-week mark at least. To her surprise, Valentino agreed. As he had with the McKenzie-in-bed rule. It seemed he didn’t want to do anything to upset her.
He treated her with kid gloves. Was attentive and sweet. He fed her tempting, delicious creations at every opportunity and made her laugh. Apart from his weekly proposal he didn’t push her into any decisions or even try to make a pass at her, despite how alarmingly she wanted to feel his lips on hers again.
It was an urge that grew with each week of pregnancy into an almost unbearable craving. Forget ice cream with tomato sauce! Her hormones went into overdrive as she entered the second trimester and Valentino looked more and more edible.
But he seemed immune to her vibes. It was like he’d decided her body was a temple for his baby and that she was no longer a woman that he’d kissed and made very thorough love to on two very long nights. She was a mother now. A sacred vessel.
She should have appreciated it. And she did. By and large. But sometimes she just wanted to grab him and smack a kiss on that full sexy mouth so badly she could barely see straight.
