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‘That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t you see, Teddie? You and me meeting again—it’s fate. Every single thing that’s happened could have gone a thousand different ways, but each time fate’s pushed us closer. We’re meant to be together...we belong to each other.’
Teddie blinked. She wanted to believe him, and he made it sound so compelling, so plausible, so certain. It was why she’d fallen in love with him.
Remembering those long late-night phone calls, she felt her pulse jump in her throat. But then Aristo had always been able been a good storyteller. Only, she already knew how their story would end.
Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face. Dropping her hand, he took a step closer and captured both her arms, tightening his hands around her shoulders.
‘Are you happy?’
She looked up at him in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Are you happy? Here? With me?’
His words sent her stomach plunging, but even as she considered lying, she was nodding slowly. ‘Yes, but—’
‘But what?’
She frowned. ‘But it’s not that simple.’
‘It could be,’ he said fiercely. ‘And I want it to be. I just need you to give our relationship a second chance. To give me a second chance so I can be the husband you deserve and the father George needs. I want you to marry me.’
She couldn’t speak. She was too scared that she would agree to what he was asking—just as she’d done four years ago.
Her heart gave a thump.
She was scared too, of what would happen if she said yes. Their marriage might have lasted six months on paper, but even before their honeymoon had ended she had taken second place to his work. And now his empire was even bigger, his workload more demanding. How was he going to find the time for a wife and a child?
Wyatt had certainly never managed it, and she and her mother had just learned how to live with his absences. But she didn’t want that for George. To know what he was missing but be powerless to change it.
Only, what would happen if they split up? How would George react? Having only just bonded with his father, he might choose to stay with Aristo. Would she lose her son as well this time?
The thought made her legs start to shake.
‘George needs me.’
‘Of course he does.’ He sounded genuinely shocked. ‘I would never take him away from you. You’ve done an incredible job, caring for him on your own for three years, but I don’t want you do have to do it on your own any more. I want to be there for you—for both of you.’
‘I can’t marry you.’ She pressed her hands against his chest until she felt him release his grip, and then he took a step backwards, giving her space. ‘I’m sorry, Aristo, but I can’t—I know it feels like things can work out between us, because I feel it too. But this isn’t real life, and once we leave the island it won’t be the same—you know that.’
Her throat felt as if it was lined with sandpaper.
‘You and I—’ she looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears ‘—we are impossible.’
‘Any more impossible than Elliot choosing to meet Claiborne at my hotel? Or you stepping in for him at the last moment?’ His dark gaze was burning into her face. ‘The impossible happens all the time, Teddie.’
She shook her head. ‘You hurt me.’
The tremble in her voice seemed to belong to a completely different person. She hadn’t meant to say it so bluntly, let alone out loud and to Aristo, and the shock of her admission silenced her.
‘We hurt each other,’ Aristo said after a pause. ‘But we’re not those people any more, so let’s forget them and what happened then. Marry me and we can start again.’
Teddie stared at him in silence. It would be so easy to say yes. So much between them was good, and she knew how happy it would make George, and how miserable he was going to be if they returned home without Aristo. But how much worse would it be if his father was a full-time presence in his life?
She gave a small shake of her head. ‘That’s not going to happen, Aristo.’
Her voice was calm. Everything was so beautiful—the sunlight, the temple, the shimmering blue sea stretching away to the horizon, their new mood of intimacy and of course Aristo himself—and she didn’t want to make it ugly with a stupid, pointless argument.
Nothing moved in his face. He held her gaze. ‘We could make it happen.’
