Modern Romance February Books 5-8. Jane Porter
Would she lose her son as well this time?
The thought made her legs start to shake.
‘George needs me.’
‘Of course he does.’ He sounded genuinely shocked. ‘I would never take him away from you. You’ve done an incredible job, caring for him on your own for three years, but I don’t want you do have to do it on your own any more. I want to be there for you—for both of you.’
‘I can’t marry you.’ She pressed her hands against his chest until she felt him release his grip, and then he took a step backwards, giving her space. ‘I’m sorry, Aristo, but I can’t—I know it feels like things can work out between us, because I feel it too. But this isn’t real life, and once we leave the island it won’t be the same—you know that.’
Her throat felt as if it was lined with sandpaper.
‘You and I—’ she looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears ‘—we are impossible.’
‘Any more impossible than Elliot choosing to meet Claiborne at my hotel? Or you stepping in for him at the last moment?’ His dark gaze was burning into her face. ‘The impossible happens all the time, Teddie.’
She shook her head. ‘You hurt me.’
The tremble in her voice seemed to belong to a completely different person. She hadn’t meant to say it so bluntly, let alone out loud and to Aristo, and the shock of her admission silenced her.
‘We hurt each other,’ Aristo said after a pause. ‘But we’re not those people any more, so let’s forget them and what happened then. Marry me and we can start again.’
Teddie stared at him in silence. It would be so easy to say yes. So much between them was good, and she knew how happy it would make George, and how miserable he was going to be if they returned home without Aristo. But how much worse would it be if his father was a full-time presence in his life?
She gave a small shake of her head. ‘That’s not going to happen, Aristo.’
Her voice was calm. Everything was so beautiful—the sunlight, the temple, the shimmering blue sea stretching away to the horizon, their new mood of intimacy and of course Aristo himself—and she didn’t want to make it ugly with a stupid, pointless argument.
Nothing moved in his face. He held her gaze. ‘We could make it happen.’
‘But we don’t need to.’ She tried again to lighten the atmosphere between them. ‘You asked me if I’m happy, and I am. We both are. So why add unnecessary complications?’
She could almost see him examining her words, deliberating and weighing up his response. Her heartbeat accelerated. His expression was one she recognised, for she’d seen it often, when he had been on the phone or at his laptop at their home, and it hurt that he was treating his ex-wife and child like some glitch at work.
Aristo frowned. He could sense her retreating from him—could feel their mood of easy intimacy starting to shift into something more strained—and even though he’d been the one to introduce the topic of marriage he felt irrationally angry with her.
‘For someone claiming to want honesty and openness you’re being a little disingenuous. Surely marriage would simplify matters between us. It will certainly simplify matters for George.’
Teddie stared at him in silence for a moment. ‘How? By moving him away from the only home he’s ever had to live in some uptown mausoleum? I told you before—he has friends, a routine, a life.’
‘And now he has a father. Or am I less important than some random three-year-old he sits next to at lunch?’ He shook his head dismissively. ‘Kids change friends all the time at that age, Teddie.’
‘I know that,’ she said sharply. ‘And, no, I don’t think you’re less important—just deluded. Listen to yourself! We bumped into one another in a hotel less than a week ago and now you want us to remarry. I mean, who does that, Aristo?’
He kept his gaze hard and expressionless. ‘We did. Four years ago. Okay, it was seven weeks, not one.’
‘And look how that turned out!’ She stared at him in disbelief. ‘It was hardly a marriage made in heaven.’
Aristo steadied himself against the pillar. The script he’d prepared inside his head was unravelling—and faster than he could have imagined. Focus, he told himself. Remember why you brought her here.
‘This time will be different. In six weeks I’m floating my business on the stock exchange. Leonidas Holdings will soon be a household name. I can give you and George everything you need, everything you’ve ever wanted.’ Some of the tension left his muscles and he exhaled slowly. ‘You could both come to the ceremony. They might even let George ring the bell.’
Teddie felt as though her legs were going to give way. She felt dizzy, misery and fury tangling with her breath. She’d thought they were talking about getting married, and yet somehow they’d ended up talking about his business. Even now, when he was proposing, she was somehow relegated to second place.
‘So that’s what this is about? Some photo op for the Leonidas empire.’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Why “of course not”?’ she said shakily. ‘Everything you do is ultimately about business.’
Uncoupling her eyes from his, she took a step backwards, her shoulders tensing, her slim arms held up in front of her chest like a boxer. Only, somehow the gesture made her look more vulnerable.
‘We should never have married. Whatever happened in your bed last night doesn’t change that, and it certainly doesn’t mean we should marry again.’
‘Teddie, please…’
‘Can’t you see? I don’t have a choice.’ She could feel the tears, and knew she couldn’t stop them. ‘There’s no point in talking about this any more. I’m going to go back to the boat now.’
As she darted past him she heard him swear softly in Greek, but it was too late—she was already halfway up the path, and running.
SLAMMING HER BOOK SHUT, Teddie tossed it to the end of her bed.
It was a romantic novel, with a heroine she really liked and a hero she currently hated. She’d been trying to read for the last half-hour, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate on the words. Other more vivid, more significant words kept ping-ponging from one side of her head to the other.
She could practically hear Aristo’s voice, feel the intense, frustrated focus of his dark gaze, smell the scent he wore on her own skin—even though she’d showered, his phantom presence was still flooding her senses. Her heart was suddenly beating too fast.
The walk back to the boat had seemed never-ending. She had half expected him to follow her, if only to have the last word. Then she’d been scared that he’d wait and make his own way back, leaving her to somehow explain his absence to Dinos.
But she needn’t have worried on either count. He had turned up perhaps five minutes after her and seamlessly picked up where he’d left off earlier in the day, engaging Dinos in conversation about his day’s catch.
Back at the villa, their son’s innocent chatter had been a welcome distraction, but the whole time she’d been dreading the moment when they would be alone again.
Only, again she needn’t have worried, for Aristo had politely excused himself after kissing George goodnight.
And she should have been pleased—grateful, even—that he had finally got the message. Instead, though, she had felt oddly disappointed and, lying here now, she still couldn’t shift the sense of loss that had been threatening