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Unlike when her father had rejected her and Milly, Brandon had had no one, and that sickened her.
She cradled his cheek, felt it harden beneath her palm.
‘Don’t...’ He tugged away from her touch. ‘Don’t mistake me for that lonely boy, Lacey.’
She lowered her hand, seeing the shutters she had managed to pry open—at least a little bit—slam back down.
‘I’m not that pathetic, defenceless child any more,’ he added. ‘These days, I consider solitude my strength.’
It was a warning. She got that. A warning not to assume that any kindness, any affection he showed towards his daughter, would be extended to her.
But, even so, she couldn’t help imagining that small boy, treated with such callous indifference by the man who should have nurtured him.
And the man that boy had become, who had worked so hard today to form a bond with his own child, a child he hadn’t even known existed a week ago.
Maybe he didn’t want Lacey’s compassion. But he had it regardless—along with her admiration.
Plus, she had never considered solitude a strength, and she was damned if she was going to start now.
‘Have you spoken to Ruby yet about the wedding?’ he asked.
‘Um...no, not yet,’ she said, disconcerted by the change of subject, but willing to go with it. She needed time to get all the emotions making her chest ache under control so she could face him again tomorrow with her armour intact.
‘I thought...’ She paused. ‘I thought maybe we could tell her together?’
His brow furrowed. ‘I’m afraid that won’t be possible, not unless you want to wait for at least a fortnight. I’m heading to the States this afternoon—the Atlanta deal fell through, so I’m going to scope out alternative options. I probably won’t be back until the wedding.’
‘Oh.’ Lacey’s heart sank. Despite the constant tension between them, she realised she would miss him.
Seeing him with his daughter, finding out more about his childhood, had given her a compelling insight into the man behind the mask of power and control he wore for the world.
He didn’t want her to know that man—he had made that clear. But she had agreed to marry him in three weeks’ time—which meant she needed to find out much more about him, whether he wanted her to or not.
‘By the way, the PR team have suggested we consider a honeymoon after the wedding. A week at Cade Island in Bermuda should be enough to convince the media this is a real marriage.’ His gaze focussed on her face, making the skin on her neck and chin, sensitive from last night’s voracious kiss, prickle. ‘We can take Ruby with us, if you would like?’
He was offering her a way out, a chance to use their child as a go-between. And, while on one level she suspected the offer was a genuine one, the look in his eyes suggested this was also a challenge, to see if she would take the coward’s way out.
If they went on this honeymoon alone, there would be no avoiding the chemistry that had exploded last night without warning. But why should that be a bad thing? Surely a week in paradise would give her the opportunity she needed to find out if this could really be a real marriage?
She took a deep breath, let it out slowly.
Go for it, Lacey. It’s worth the risk.
She shook her head. ‘Ruby’s had too much disruption to her routine already. Plus, she’d never want to leave Tinkerbell for that length of time. And Milly will be here to look after her.’
Her sister was arriving at the end of the week, as the school where she worked had been besieged by the press too, and the decision had been made for her to join them in Wiltshire for a week or so.
Heat flared in his eyes. ‘Okay, I’ll make the travel arrangements for the two of us.’ He checked his watch. ‘I need to leave.’ He glanced back towards the bedroom where Ruby slept. ‘Say goodbye to Ruby for me. I guess we can tell her about the wedding arrangements together on a video link?’ he offered.
The intuitive suggestion made her realise that, while Brandon had been out of his depth first thing that morning, he was already growing in confidence as Ruby’s father.
Why did that not surprise her?
‘Okay, I think that would work,’ she said.
As he turned to go, an empty space opened up in her stomach at the thought of not seeing him again, in person, for weeks. But then he stopped and turned back.
‘FYI, Lacey,’ he said, his gaze blazing with that devastating combination of heat and purpose. ‘You should organise a more reliable form of birth control than condoms before the honeymoon.’
