AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘This room,’ he told her, voice cooling, ‘is the size of a matchbox. You want me to sleep on the ground? I’ll sleep on the ground.’ How ironic that they were now in the most intimate situation possible and yet she couldn’t bear the thought of sharing her bed with him. ‘And what if they poke their heads in and find the pair of love birds not sharing the same bed?’
‘They’re leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning. They’d never know.’
‘Fine.’ Leandro shrugged and made to fling aside the duvet.
‘Okay. No. They...it might be hard to explain if they popped in to say goodbye before they left.’
‘Yes. After the effusive welcome we received, there might have been disappointment all round if they thought we’d ended the evening on a raging argument serious enough to send us shooting off in separate bedrooms. What’s the problem with sharing a bed? Have I tried to lay a single finger on you since you came back into my life? Have I given you any reason to believe that I’m anything other than a decent guy trying to do the decent thing, which doesn’t include forcing himself on a woman who’s not interested?’
Their eyes tangled, his darkly brooding, holding her gaze until she was the first to look away.
If he’d hoped to force a response from her, then it hadn’t been forthcoming and he was annoyed with himself for trying to corner her into saying something,anythingthat would let him know what exactly was going on behind that guarded exterior.
Foremost wasn’t the crazy issue that he was still attracted to her. It wasn’t even the realisation that he had become the very man he had always sworn he never would...a man vulnerable to someone else’s decisions. First and foremost and the only thing that mattered was the knowledge that she was having his baby and he was going to marry her, going to be a full-time father with none of the hopeless complications associated with any kind of joint custody.
Sure, joint custody would always be a damn sight better than whathehad had as a kid, but it still would never be in the same league as a child having both parents there.
He noted the tic in her neck and the steady blush that invaded her cheeks and he wondered whether she was trying to work out how to knock him back without getting into a pointless war of words.
‘No, of course you haven’t.’ Celia tilted her chin at a mutinous, defensive angle. ‘I just thought that it might be a bit awkward... It’s not a very big bed...’
‘Feel free to barricade yourself behind the cushions but trust me...if our bodies touch during the night, then I assure you it will be purely accidental.’
Which, Celia thought with such a sharp stab of pain that she momentarily felt faint, pretty much said it all. Accidental touching where before there had been touching with intent, with intent and passion and desire and, she’d sometimes thought, more affection and tenderness than he was probably even aware of.
‘I would never,’ Leandro said gravely, his voice warmer, ‘do anything that might make you feel in the least bit uncomfortable. If it would make you feel a little...less awkward, I can head down to the kitchen and spend a couple of hours working, give you time to fall asleep in peace.’
‘It’s okay,’ Celia muttered, flushing. ‘I’ll get changed and of course it’s not a problem sharing the bed. I... I apologise for—’
‘Forget it!’ He waved his hand dismissively. ‘This is new for the both of us. Let’s put this kind of thing down to teething problems.’
She did.
She took her time showering unnecessarily and then she took her time applying some night cream and then doing a few deep-breathing exercises before she returned to the bedroom in the most conservative nightwear she had, long bottoms and a short-sleeved top firmly buttoned up.
She slept. Soundly. If their bodiesaccidentallytouched, then she wasn’t aware of it.
She woke at five, her senses alert to her parents up and about and trying to be as quiet as they could.
Next to her, Leandro was still asleep, the covers half off, his muscular, bronzed body so compellingly beautiful that she remained frozen and in awe, drinking in the sight and luxuriating in the freedom of appreciating him, of not having to hide her love because he was sleeping.
Then she slid off the bed, tiptoed out of the bedroom and only detoured via the bathroom to shove on her bathrobe so that she could go and wish her parents a good holiday.
They might have been in a state of simmering excitement about their departure but not so excited that they didn’t have time to repeat the mantra of how wonderful they thought Leandro was. So much better suited to her than Martin had been, for all Martin’s sterling qualities. Celia marvelled that her parents could both misread Leandro so completely but, then again, the guy could charm the birds from the trees and he had dazzled them both, maybe just the way he’d dazzledher.
It was nearly an hour before she headed back to the bedroom but still only just after six in the morning and she half expected Leandro to still be asleep, but when she quietly pushed open the bedroom door, heartened by the fact that the lights hadn’t been switched on, she was shocked to find that the bed was empty and Leandro was perched on a chair by the window. He had pulled open the curtains just enough for her eyes to quickly adjust to the fact that he had changed into jeans and a tee shirt. His long legs were stretched out at an angle and next to him...
Draped half on, half off the stout chest of drawers she had used ever since she’d been a kid...
Celia’s mouth dropped open and she took a couple of faltering steps forward.
‘What...what’s this doing out?’
‘Tell me about it.’
‘You’ve been rummaging in my wardrobe?’
‘Hunting down a face towel. Thought there might be a stash there. You never said you’d hung onto your wedding dress from years ago.’
