The Italian's Secret Baby (16 page)

He looked mildly surprised. ‘Don't you?' he returned.

‘Yes,' she heard herself reply. ‘Eventually,' she added, trying to retrieve the situation. ‘I'm sure you'd get the same answer from most women.'

‘I'm not asking most women to marry me, I'm asking you, Scarlet, and I'm still waiting for an answer.'

You had to respect the man for not pretending he loved her, she thought. People in arranged marriages sometimes fell in love and even when they didn't they had happy marriages.

My God, Scarlet, you're talking yourself into this, aren't you?

It would be mad to marry without love.

‘Yes, I'll marry you.'

A smile of pure male triumph spread across his face. ‘Excellent.' He got to his feet and Scarlet saw that Sam was awake and had his nose pressed to the window. ‘Come on, Sam, you'll get a better view of the chopper up there,' he said, taking the little boy's hand.

‘I want to fly in a chopper.'

‘And you will, Sam,' his father promised.

Just like that, she thought, watching as he led the boy away. She hadn't expected a fanfare or champagne, but
excellent
?

Dear God, what have I done?

R
OMAN
had not exaggerated the remoteness or inaccessibility of the O'Hagan estate. They had driven four miles from the village before they finally reached the gated entrance. They had been travelling along what Roman referred to as the drive, but it wasn't like any drive Scarlet had seen, for at least ten minutes now, and there was still no sign of a house or for that matter a person!

Occasionally there was a break in the trees flanking the driveway affording breath-taking vistas over parkland towards the mountains or sea, and sometimes both. Under normal circumstances Scarlet would have wanted to get out of the car and spend time appreciating the magnificent scenery.

These were not normal circumstances!

She sighed as the next bend revealed no end to the journey. She was still dreading the entire ‘meet the in-laws' thing, but she had reached the point where she wanted it over and done with. The reality could not be worse than what she was imagining…
could it
? At least Sam was no longer grouching—he had fallen asleep a couple of miles back, but this almost guaranteed he would be incredibly cranky when he woke up.

‘What if they hate me?' They would like Sam. Everyone liked Sam.

Roman slid an amused sideways look at her tense face. ‘Well, naturally I will cast you off like a smelly sock.'

‘I don't smell!' she protested.

His nostrils flared. ‘You do,' he contradicted throatily. ‘I can smell you on my skin after we've made love.'

She was overpoweringly conscious of the fluid heat in the pit of her belly. ‘Like that's happened such a lot,' she retorted, and shifted her position to lessen the pressure on her sensitised breasts.

‘It will,' he declared arrogantly.

Now she really was a basket case.

Eyes fixed glassily on the narrow track ahead, Scarlet kept her tongue firmly between her teeth. She had learnt she could say some very reckless things when consumed by lust and right now she was shaking with it! She still was, only hopefully less obviously so, when he spoke a few moments later.

‘Why do you crave approval?'

‘I don't,' she denied indignantly.

‘The only person you need to please is me.' His dark-lashed midnight eyes only touched her face for a split second but it was long enough to send a lick of heat through her body.

‘And do I? Because you have no idea how much I would
not
care if—'

‘Yes, you do please me…
very much
.'

Scarlet's audible gasp filled the short pause that followed his earthy admission.

She screwed her eyes up tight. ‘I
really
wish you wouldn't say things like that.'

‘The truth bothers you?'

‘
You
bother me!' she exploded resentfully.

‘Hold on,' she heard him say.

Scarlet opened her eyes and saw there was a horse just ahead. The rider, a female, twisted around in her saddle as she heard the car engine. Apparently recognising Roman, she started waving madly at them.

Scarlet turned her head, but Roman wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the figure on the horse and he was grinning, an uncomplicated grin of pleasure.

‘Someone you know?'

Roman didn't reply; instead he pulled the car up on the grass verge.

‘I won't be long.' He was already out of the door when he put his head back inside. ‘Has it occurred to you they are probably equally concerned about what you'll think of them?'

‘Your family?'

‘Our family.'

She lowered her eyes, confused by the possessive glow in his dark eyes. ‘Because I'm so very scary.'

Despite her sarcastic retort, actually his comment had made her feel a lot more positive. He was right—what did it matter if Sam was cranky or she looked like an unmade bed? The big picture wasn't about first impressions.

‘Scary?' The husky rasp of his voice brought her eyes back to his face. One corner of his mouth lifted in a crooked smile, and there was a warmth in his eyes that made her heart beat faster. ‘I think you're delicious.'

Delicious!

The upward surge in her spirits and confidence lasted until she saw that the person on the horse had swept off her riding hat; wavy shoulder-length chestnut hair fell free, and it shone in the weak sun. She lifted the waves off her face with a gloved hand and Scarlet could see she was very pretty.

As Roman approached the horse began to dance around in an alarming fashion—at least it seemed alarming to Scarlet. Casually the rider controlled it. Roman patted the quivering animal's neck as he came level with them.

The rider leaned down in her saddle and, with a hand behind Roman's dark head, pressed her mouth to his. While Scarlet sat and watched the woman talking in an animated fashion to Roman the tight feeling in her chest got tighter and tighter.

She couldn't remember Roman ever looking that relaxed and happy with her. Several times she threw back his head and laughed out loud.

‘That was lucky,' he remarked as he slid back into the car and turned on the ignition. ‘I was hoping to bump into Sally.'

The name made Scarlet stiffen. It was several moments before she could trust herself to speak.

‘Sally,'
she repeated in a conversational tone. ‘Would that be the same Sally who left you at the altar?'

‘All forgotten.'

Scarlet smiled, her eyes trained on her intertwined white-knuckled fingers. ‘How civilised.' The primitive emotions she was experiencing were anything but!

‘Well, we're all grown-ups aren't we? And life's far too short to hold grudges. Do you ride?'

Scarlet's head came up. ‘Horses?'

‘Horses,' he agreed, looking amused by her horrified expression.

‘I can't ride.'

‘You'll be able to see the house around the next bend. Pity you can't ride—you could have come out with me and Sally tomorrow morning.'

‘You're going riding with her?'

‘Is that a problem?'

Scarlet released a slow, fractured hiss. ‘You bet it's a problem.'

Roman glanced at her rigid profile and stopped the car. He released his seat belt and turned his body to face her. ‘Do you mind elaborating on that statement?'

‘The fact I need to just goes to prove what a totally insensitive bastard you are. Damn!' she cursed, tears starting in her eyes.

‘Let me.' Roman leaned across her, his arms brushing against her aching breasts as he released the seat-belt catch her trembling fingers had been unable to cope with. His warmth, the scent of his body, his nearness—they all conspired to fill Scarlet with an aching longing that went bone-deep.

She held herself rigid until he had straightened up.

‘So what's the problem?' he asked, in a
here-we-go-again
tone that sent her temper through the roof.

‘We'll put all that guff you gave me about fidelity to one side for a minute, because I didn't believe a word of it anyhow,' she revealed contemptuously.

‘Is that fact?' Low and without expression, his voice still managed to leave her in no doubt that he didn't like what he was hearing.

Her chin went up defiantly. If she started screening everything she said for his approval rating she'd probably never open her mouth again.

‘There are limits to even
my
gullibility, you know.'

His nostrils flared as he sucked in a breath; his golden chiselled features were a taut mask of anger. She felt despair as she realised that even now his compelling male beauty had the power to touch her deeply.

‘But not your stupidity.'

‘
My
stupidity? You're the one who expects your family to take us getting married seriously when the moment you arrive you're riding off into the hills with the love of your life!'

‘Are we talking about Sally?'

‘How many loves of your life are there?'

He gave her a black look. ‘Only one.'

The crushing confirmation was like a body-blow. Her pride wouldn't let him see how much she was hurting. ‘Am I supposed to turn a blind eye?'

‘To what?'

‘
To what?
You kissed her!' She stuffed her fist into her mouth to stop the sob that was trying to escape.

‘And you didn't like that?'

Scarlet lifted her head and her eyes skated warily across his lean face; he no longer looked angry. It was hard to read from his apparently relaxed expression what he was feeling.

‘Would you like it if I went around kissing my old boyfriends? Daft question, I don't suppose you'd even notice,' she ended on a self-pitying sniff. With a deep sigh she closed her eyes. ‘God, this was
such
a stupid idea. I don't know how I let you talk me into it?'

‘I would notice.'

Her eyes widened at the aggressive declaration. ‘You would?'

His fingers curved around her jaw, turning her face up to his. ‘And I wouldn't like it.' His dark eyes shimmered. ‘Actually I
wouldn't like it
quite a lot.'

Her heart started beating very fast. ‘What would you do?' she whispered.

A slow wolfish smile spread across his dark, lean face. ‘I'd throttle him…just a little, you understand, but enough so that he got the point.'

Suddenly her throat was so dry she could hardly speak. His primitive statement should have appalled her and here she was
excited
…and trying very hard not to let him see
how
excited.

‘The point being?'

‘That my wife is off limits.'

‘I thought we were grown-ups,' she reminded him with a disgruntled glare. ‘Besides, I don't see why I shouldn't kiss whoever I want—you do.'

He laughed. ‘That wasn't a kiss…' She read his intent before his head lowered. ‘This,' he told her throatily, ‘is a kiss.'

With a sigh she leaned back in her seat. Her lips felt tender and her body was gently thrumming with thwarted desire. It had been a kiss, but she had wanted more.

‘You know it's very,
very
hard to stop kissing you once I start.' It was some small comfort that his voice reflected some of the strain and frustration she was experiencing.

‘Then why did you stop?'

Roman jerked his head towards the back seat where Sam was sleepily rubbing his eyes. ‘We have an audience.'

‘I want a drink,' Sam announced loudly.

‘And you shall have one,' Roman promised. ‘Look, there's the house,' he said, starting up the engine.

 

‘It looks like something out of a Jane Austen book,' Scarlet said in an awed voice as the big building loomed ahead of them. She turned reproachful eyes on him. ‘You said it wasn't very big.'

‘It's only bricks and mortar—don't let the size intimidate you.'

Easy for someone who had been brought up here to say. ‘Is it very old?'

‘Late Georgian,' Roman explained. ‘With some rather ugly Victorian additions. Ask my father about the history…you'll regret it, but you'll score plenty of brownie points.'

‘Is that what you want me to do?'

He scanned her pale, tense face with wide, anxious eyes and he exhaled deeply. ‘For God's sake, will you stop worrying about what other people want and do what you damned well want?'

His anger made her blink, but it seemed to drain away as fast as it had erupted. He reached across and brushed a strand of hair from her cheek; she shivered as his fingertips lightly grazed her skin. ‘Do you like it?'

‘Like?' she repeated, fighting the compulsion to rub her cheek against his hand.

‘The house.'

‘Oh, right…yes…' She pulled back and his hand fell away. ‘Like wasn't the right word,' she modified. ‘It's big and very beautiful.'
Just like you.
‘I suppose people had lots of children in those days.'

‘Mum is trying to persuade Dad to retire to Italy. She's talking of renovating one of the estate cottages for when they come over. She thinks this place is too big for them now.'

Scarlet looked up at the daunting façade and tried but failed to imagine Sam watching Saturday morning cartoons on the telly there…she couldn't. ‘I can see her point.' She stiffened as two figures began to walk across the forecourt.

‘Oh, God…'