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CHAPTER EIGHT
FIVEDAYSLATERMateo swept by in his sports car to collect Maude from her house.
During that time, all talk about marriage had been dropped. He’d proposed once, tried to persuade her once, had been knocked back once and had retreated.
Was Maude happy?
Of course she was! Why wouldn’t she be? Wasn’t this exactly what she wanted? There was no way she wanted to be pressured into a situation that would never make sense in the long run!
Yet, she couldn’t stifle a sting of disappointment at his hasty retreat. Obviously, whatever he’d said, once his obligatory offer had been rejected, his conscience had been cleared and he’d probably breathed a sigh of relief. He’d done the honourable thing and it wasn’t his fault that she had turned him down.
He phoned her daily. How had her day been? Was there anything she needed?
Maude knew that there was a continuing conversation to be had, but she was putting it off, because she had been knocked for six by seeing him again and had wanted to take a little time out to handle events that seemed to be rushing past her at speed.
They had agreed that they would see her parents together.
‘I won’t marry you,’ she had said five days earlier. ‘But, yes, it would be good for you to come with me when I break the news to my parents. We can explain that we’ve decided that we’re better as friends but will remain committed to our child...’
Mateo had looked away, expression unreadable, and nodded. They would visit just as soon as her parents were back from the three-week holiday they had taken post-Nick’s and Amy’s wedding.
‘Your father is very naughty,’ her mum had told her with a breathless, girly giggle two days after the wedding. ‘He just went ahead and booked it...said I needed to relax after all the stress of arranging the wedding. It’s a Caribbean holiday, and he says it’s about time he got to see his wife in a bikini on a beach with someone else doing all the running around. You know your father, a hopeless romantic.’
In the meantime, Maude figured, there would be ample opportunity for Mateo and her to handle all the practical arrangements, which had yet to be discussed.
Ample time for her really to gather herself and face the future without qualm or trepidation and to count her blessings—which were many, not least having supportive family around her and, yes, Mateo, who had made it patently clear that he was going to take an active part in his child’s life.
She had cruised along, coming to terms with a life turned upside down and accepting that Mateo would now be a permanent feature in it, if from a distance, and one that she would just have to get used to. His casual daily chats had put her at ease and given her hope that her wild heart might be tamed by the time they came face to face again. Which, she’d quietly hoped, perhaps might not be until just before her parents were due to return. After all, it made sense that, ifshehad to retreat to consider an altered future, then surely so did he?
Fat chance.
The evening before, he had phoned and announced that he would be passing by to collect her the following day.
‘Around four,’ he had said. ‘And don’t ask. It’s a surprise.’
‘I’ve had quite enough surprises to last a lifetime, Mateo,’ she had told him. His burst of laughter down the end of the line had reminded her of all those times in Italy when that laughter had thrilled her to the bone, making her breath catch in her throat.
So now, watching the busy streets below from the window of her rented flat, she noted the black Ferrari and her heart skipped a beat.
She watched, savouring those illicit, forbidden few seconds as he swung his lean body out of the low, sleek car and headed for the downstairs front door.
He was dressed in black. Black jeans and a black, long-sleeved tee-shirt that managed to delineate every muscle.
Maude heard the buzz of her intercom and his disembodied voice announcing his arrival, and she took one quick glance at her reflection before taking her time to collect her backpack and run her fingers through her hair.
She wore jeans and a colourful stripy jumper and trainers. There was no sign of any bump and only a couple of days before she’d wondered what he would think as the pregnancy advanced and she turned into a barrage balloon.
It was one flight down to the front door. She paused and took a deep breath before opening it, and then had to remind herself how to talk in a normal voice as her eyes met Mateo’s, pinning her to the spot and depriving her of speech for a couple of seconds.
How could one human being be just so beautiful? A light, cool wind had tousled his hair and he hadn’t shaved. The shadow of dark stubble made him look even more heart-stoppingly dangerous.
‘Ready?’ he drawled, which brought her right back down to planet Earth.
‘Where are we going?’
‘Haven’t I already told you that it’s a surprise?’
He walked round, opened the passenger door to his car, waited as she lowered herself inside and then relaxed back in the leather seat.
