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His face hardened further. ‘And you don’t think we can provide that?’
She held her breath until Peter had delivered the fruit platters and returned to the far side of the deck where he was preparing their lunch. ‘Come on, Ari. After what you’ve been through, what we’ve both been through—’
‘My past has nothing to do with this.’
Her heart sank. ‘If you believe that then I’m going to need even more time to consider your proposal.’
‘What the hell are you saying, Perla?’
‘I’m saying you’ve been hurt and devastated. We’ve both been. We need to factor that into how much that will impact our child’s welfare.’
‘So you want me to spill my feelings to you before you consider marrying me.’
‘No. But we need to get past the bitterness and deal with the pain before we can move on. That aside, we’ve barely spent more than forty-eight hours in each other’s company.’
His eyes gleamed. ‘And a good portion of that time we spent having sex. At least we know we’re compatible in the bedroom.’
Heat crawled over her skin and burrowed inside to sting parts of her body she didn’t want to think about right now. ‘How does that help in bringing up a child?’
His gaze drifted over her flushed skin, and his smile held a great deal of mockery. ‘You’d be surprised how compliant a well-sated man can be.’
She speared a piece of papaya with her fork as her face flamed. ‘Well, I wouldn’t know. I didn’t succeed in that department during my marriage.’
He stiffened. ‘You were wasting your passion on the wrong man. Our marriage will be different.’
‘So...so you intend for us to...’
‘Have sex? Yes, Perla. I have no intention of living like a monk.’
So she had an answer as to how the physical part of their marriage would be. But no clue as to the emotional. Could she contemplate a future with him, knowing he would never be emotionally available?
No. Sex, as she’d discovered, was great. But it would never be enough in the long run.
Despite losing her appetite, she forced herself to eat a few more chunks of fruit and summoned a smile when the staff cleared away their plates.
She looked up to find Ari staring at her, the question clear in his eyes. ‘We agreed to a week, Ari.’
His lips compressed. ‘What will be different in a week’s time that we can’t resolve today?’
Her hands shook and she took a sip of water. ‘Maybe I can convince you to talk to me a little bit more.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘And will this therapy session be a two-way thing?’
She’d already told him the most humiliating secret, but the deeper secret, the yearning for a connection, to belong... It was that deep yearning that had swayed her into Morgan’s path in the first place. Could she share that with Ari?
She took a deep breath. ‘I’m willing to try if you are. But we both have to be committed to try.’
‘Perla...’ His voice held mild disgruntlement.
‘We agreed on a week. All I’m doing is adding a tiny addendum. You owe our child, at the very least.’
* * *
Ari felt his insides tighten and fought the need to demand an answer right there and then. With each minute that ticked past, he felt more and more on edge, as if some unforeseen wrecking ball hovered just beyond the horizon, ready to smash through the quiet joy bubbling beneath his skin.
Perla was right. He’d never intended to marry again, but waking up next to Perla on the plane to find her curled up so trustingly against him, he’d begun to dare to believe that he could have another chance to reclaim what he’d lost.
A part of him had died with Sofia and their unborn child. But he could forge a new family, be the father he’d always wanted to be, the one his own father had failed so comprehensively to be.
But in this he knew he had to be patient, no matter how much it killed him.
‘I’m not a patient man.’
His chest tightened as her mouth curved in a tiny relieved smile. ‘I’m learning that. Maybe I should also confess I’m a stubborn woman.’
His gaze flew to her hair and his groin tightened. He wryly admitted that his need to speed things up also stemmed from the fact that as a married man he wouldn’t have to hold back on the need that clawed relentlessly through him day and night.
‘Fine. I agree that we use this week to learn some more about each other.’
She smiled at Peter as he delivered their main course. Then her eyes returned to Ari. ‘Does that mean I can ask you whatever I want?’
