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Flora recognised his tension and wariness. ‘Have you really thought this proposition through, Angelo?’
‘If I had not, I would scarcely have suggested it,’ he fielded with cutting assurance.
But Flora was not easily cut off in full flow and an intense need to know exactly what he was offering her was now driving her. ‘But you’re being much too casual for something so serious,’ she objected with a toss of her head, copper-coloured hair dancing back from her cheekbones. ‘You’re asking me to move in with you and I’m asking you on what terms would I be living with you?’
An ebony brow elevated, his stubborn jaw line clenching hard, his tone clipped and discouraging. ‘Terms?’
If anything his reluctance to spell out the boundaries only made Flora more suspicious of his motives. ‘Terms,’ she repeated unapologetically.
‘Obviously I would take care of all your expenses and you would have access to every material thing that a woman wants.’
‘I can take care of my own expenses, Angelo. I don’t need financial assistance and I don’t need to be spoiled either. You said we would be lovers,’ she reminded him uncomfortably.
Angelo shifted a broad shoulder. ‘What more can you possibly want?’
Flora ground her teeth together and momentarily looked away from him, her hands clenching in aggravation. Just then, she would have loved to pour a bucket of cold water over him in punishment for his unwillingness to clarify his proposition. Did he not trust any woman or was it just her? He behaved as if words were handcuffs and chains that might come back to imprison him. ‘Most people expect certain guarantees before they give up their own home and move into someone else’s—particularly when there are children involved. Upheaval is very bad for children,’ she spelt out loftily. ‘And Mariska has already suffered quite enough change in her life.’
His beautiful eyes semi-screened by luxuriant lashes, Angelo released his breath in a slow measured hiss. ‘What sort of guarantees are you asking for?’
‘The obvious: stop acting like you’re thick as a brick! ‘ Flora launched back at him in growing anger. ‘You know what I’m asking! How committed would you be to making this relationship work?’
‘I’m not into discussing the finer points of relationships,’ Angelo declared, slamming yet another door closed in her face.
‘So, end of that conversation. I’m not moving to Amsterdam to live with a guy who’s so immature he can’t even talk about what he wants and expects from me or himself!’ Flora shot back at him wrathfully.
&
nbsp; ‘I am not immature, merely experienced enough to know that the instant a list of rules is drawn up in an affair I will most probably feel the need to break those rules,’ Angelo drawled smooth as silk.
‘Well, thanks, too, for that opportune warning. I definitely won’t be moving to Amsterdam on those terms! ‘ Flora tossed back at him in a tone sharp with scorn and antagonism that masked the painful sense of disappointment that she was experiencing. She was as hurt as she was annoyed. ‘I don’t think that you entertaining yourself with other women would help us to make a happy home for young children. I grew up in a divided home and I know exactly what I’m talking about, Angelo!’
‘You’re being unrealistic. None of us can see into the future. What guarantees can I possibly give you?’ Angelo countered levelly.
‘Before I abandon my home and way of life to take a chance on depending on you in another country? At the very least, your commitment to offering me an exclusive relationship. But I can see that you’re unwilling to promise fidelity,’ Flora contended flatly, clashing with his stunningly blue eyes without flinching, even as another sharp little pain slivered through her at that wounding knowledge. ‘And I’m afraid that I won’t settle for anything less.’
‘Now you’re being unreasonable,’ Angelo breathed curtly. ‘I’ve never given any woman such a pledge.’
Flora grimaced, for she now knew her true value in his eyes. He might want her but evidently he already knew that he didn’t want her enough to make sacrifices or promises that might offer her any hope of a viable future with him. He wanted her only for the moment and he wasn’t prepared to make a longer-term commitment that would reduce his sexual options. ‘Which really says all I need to know about you.’
‘But what about Mariska’s needs? What about the child you’re carrying? Don’t they deserve that we should at least try to live together?’ Angelo demanded rawly, outraged by her inflexible outlook. He had made what he deemed to be a very generous offer. He had never asked a woman to live with him before. Nor had any woman ever boldly confronted him with an in-your-face demand for exclusivity. He had certainly been in receipt of plenty of hints and persuasive moves on that score, but he had always set a very high value on his freedom and had always moved on from one affair to the next with a light heart. But this woman was different from all her many predecessors in one crucial field, he conceded grimly. She carried his baby in her womb. But did that give her the right to hold him to ransom and make such a far-reaching demand? Most women would have been honoured to be invited to live in his home and share his bed, but she had transformed his invitation into some kind of backhanded affront. His lean, compellingly attractive features stubbornly taut, he thought she was demanding too much and he dug his heels in with every atom of his stubborn strength of will.
‘I think that the children deserve something more from us than us just trying to live together. You would have to be more committed to the relationship than you obviously are prepared to be. I’m not interested in your money. Although I have no intention of becoming your temporary mistress, I don’t think that you see me as anything more than that. Let’s not discuss it any more,’ Flora urged with a forced and strained smile, keen as she was to sidestep further debate on the thorny topic. ‘It’s not doing us any good to argue about it.’
Usually more than willing to sidestep female aggression and disagreement, Angelo was taken aback by the furious flash of dissatisfaction and sense of injustice that gripped him when she chose to bring their dialogue to what he saw as a premature conclusion. Clearly it was a matter of her way or the highway. How dared she lay down the law to him in such a manner?
‘How do you propose to continue your relationship with Mariska? ‘ Angelo enquired with scantily leashed contempt.
Flora lifted her chin. ‘I’ll fly over and visit as often as I can.’
‘It won’t be an adequate substitute for you being on the spot.’
Flora lost colour, guilt and more than a touch of doubt assailing her. ‘It would be much harder for Mariska if I was there for her for a few weeks and then gone again.’
Angelo dealt her a grim appraisal. ‘It’s not that straightforward.’
‘Oh, I think it would be with a guy like you—used to having his options and enjoying them no matter what the cost,’ Flora returned without hesitation, as she knew all too well that a sexually predatory man got bored with just one woman and preferred variety in the bedroom. Her father had never hesitated to indulge himself with an attractive woman and, regardless of his marriage or his children, had always put his own desires of the moment first.
Outrage at that rejoinder cut through Angelo in a boiling hot swathe, since he was neither self-indulgent nor destructive with women. Female companionship and sex were essential to him and it had never been a challenge for him to fulfil his needs with like-minded partners. It was rare for his affairs to end on a sour note because his lovers understood from the outset that he was not promising either everlasting love or fidelity. Did Flora really expect to dictate rules to him? What sort of men was she accustomed to dealing with?
