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‘That was before you told me how you felt,’ Jane reminded him unhappily. The clipboard was digging into her stomach and she adjusted it before continuing, ‘I never intended to hurt you, Alex. Honestly.’
‘But you have.’ Alex shifted restlessly, and then, totally without warning, he snatched the clipboard out of her grasp. ‘For goodness’ sake,’ he exclaimed, ‘can’t you put that damn thing down while we’re talking?’
He flung the offending item onto the floor and it skittered away across the polished boards. He watched it go and so did Jane, though for different reasons.Alex looked as if he was trying to control his temper, whereas Jane just felt totally exposed now.
She was wearing linen trousers and a rose-patterned smock top that fastened beneath her breasts and flared over her waistband. It was the kind of outfit lots of young women wore. It didn’t necessarily spell pregnancy. But the swell of her stomach did. She’d always been so slender before and the distinct bulge was unmistakable.
It apparently was to Alex. His eyes seemed riveted to it. Jane was embarrassed. This was the last thing she needed. She wished he would just go and leave her alone.
‘Are you pregnant?’ he asked at last, in a dazed voice. Then, with some bitterness, ‘I bet Demetri knows about this!’
‘He doesn’t.’ Anger came to Jane’s rescue. Walking swiftly across the floor, she bent and picked up the clipboard. ‘In any case, it’s nothing to do with you, Alex. I think you’d better go.’
Alex’s brow furrowed. ‘You haven’t told Demetri he’s going to be a father?’
‘Did I say this baby was Demetri’s?’
‘No. But I just assumed—’
‘You assume a lot of things,’ said Jane tersely. ‘Why don’t you do as I asked you and leave?’
He didn’t move. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘Excuse me?’ Jane couldn’t believe his audacity. ‘I think that’s my business, don’t you?’
‘Well, are you going to marry the baby’s father? Whatever you say, it is Demetri’s, isn’t it?’
Jane gasped. ‘You have no right to say that.’
‘I assume that means you’re not. Getting married again, I mean.’
‘I am married and, as I said before, you assume too many things. Now, please, I want to close the gallery. I’d like you to go.’
Alex moved a little nearer. ‘Don’t be like that, Jane. I only want to help you.’ He paused. ‘I care about you. I still do, even if you have betrayed me with someone else.’
‘I did not betray you.’ Jane wished desperately that someone would come and interrupt them. ‘Alex, this is silly. I’m sorry if you think I’ve misled you. But talking about it isn’t going to change anything.’
‘It could.’ He was just a few feet away now. ‘You could marry me instead. I think I’d make a good father. And a child needs a father, don’t you agree?’
Jane was horrified. ‘But I don’t love you, Alex.’
‘I know that.’
‘Then—’
‘I love you.’
‘No—’
‘I always have. Right from the first time I came here to do Mrs Ivanovitch’s accounts. She knew how I felt. She was the one who told me what a pig your husband had been to you. She said I should just be patient. That sooner or later you’d realise I was nothing like him.’
Oh, Olga!
Jane closed her eyes for a moment, wishing her employer were there. Obviously the conversation Alex was talking about had taken place some time ago. If only Olga had been here, she could have explained that to him.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said again. ‘I—I appreciate the compliment, Alex, I really do, but I can’t marry you.’
‘Why not?’
‘You know why not.’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t think you’ve given the matter enough thought. I know you don’t love me now, but give it time. We’ll have years to—’
‘No, Alex.’
She spoke firmly, but all he did was move even closer and put his bony hands on her shoulders. ‘Come on, Jane. Give me a chance. Let me show you how good it could be…’
‘No, Alex.’
She was getting scared now. It was obvious she wasn’t getting through to him and, whatever she said, he simply refused to listen to her.
‘I don’t think you appreciate the position you’re in,’ he went on, smoothing her arms in a way that made her skin crawl. ‘A divorcee. A single mother. There aren’t that many men who are prepared to take on another man’s child.’ He bent his head and, although she fought him, he succeeded in nuzzling her shoulder. ‘Let me care for you, Jane. You know you want to.’
