Rising Stars & It Started With… Collections. Кейт Хьюит
yesterday when I first saw you.”
“The medication helps tremendously. I’m just happy I didn’t miss breakfast. I thought I’d slept too late.”
His eyes gleamed like purest silver in the shaft of sunlight slanting through the laurels. “You will never miss breakfast so long as you are here, cara. The meal will wait until you are ready for it.”
A dart of pain pierced her right in the center of her chest and she found herself blinking rapidly to dispel the tears that threatened to fall. Why? Why?
It was nothing to cry over. It was ridiculous to think of crying. Niccolo Gavretti was not holding meals for her. He was taking care of her because she carried his child, nothing more.
She absolutely would not read more into the gesture than it contained. He was not being thoughtful.
But when had anyone ever put her needs and feelings first? When had anyone ever treated her as if she were the center of their universe?
Mama and Renzo loved her, she had no doubt, but Renzo had always been the one around whom the family orbited. Because he was male. Because he was older. Because he was wildly, insanely driven and successful. She’d grown up in his shadow. It hadn’t been a bad place to be, but it had also not been a place where she could flourish on her own merits.
“Thank you,” she managed to say finally. “That’s very kind of you, but there’s no need to hold meals for me. Tell me what time you wish to have breakfast, and I will be here for it.”
His phone buzzed again, startling her. Again, he sent it to voice mail without looking at the screen. He did it so casually that she almost felt sorry for the person on the other end of the line.
“We will eat when you are ready. A pregnant woman needs plenty of sleep.”
Heat suffused her then, made her skin glow. There was something about the way he said pregnant woman that made her blush. Absurd.
“I will still endeavor to awaken at a reasonable hour,” she said stubbornly. “You shouldn’t have to wait for me.”
He grinned, and her heart squeezed tight. So, so handsome when he wasn’t scowling—and even when he was, damn him. “Truthfully, cara mia, I am a night owl. I prefer to sleep in myself. But if you begin to awaken at dawn, then dawn is when breakfast will be.”
Tina shuddered. “Never fear, dawn is definitely not my style.”
He reached for a roll. “Perhaps this night owl lifestyle will do us well when we have a newborn to take care of. I understand they do not sleep much.”
Tina could only gape at him. “Exactly how much reading have you been doing anyway?”
Though, truthfully, that wasn’t why she was stunned. No, it was the implication that we would be taking care of a newborn. Not her. Both of them, as if he, too, would get up in the middle of the night to feed the baby.
It was a mental picture she did not need.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, I’m afraid.” He picked up his coffee. “Do you have any idea how much work a baby can be?”
“I have some idea,” she said, thinking of Renzo and Faith and the haggard, sleepless looks they’d worn for the past few months.
He looked so serious. “It’s rather frightening how much attention such a little person needs.”
“Well, they can’t do it themselves.”
“No,” he agreed.
His phone buzzed again. This time he glanced at it before swearing and sending it to voice mail. It was just what she needed to pierce the bubble of dazed delight swirling around her head. He would not lull her with talk of babies.
“Why don’t you just answer it?” she asked a bit more sharply than she intended.
There was a sudden chill that blanketed his eyes, and she almost wished she’d kept her irritation to herself.
“Because it will do no good,” he told her mildly, though she wasn’t fooled he was anything other than angry about the calls. “Some women are incapable of listening to reason, and I refuse to bash my head against the wall repeatedly in an effort to be heard.”
Tina’s spine stiffened. “I’m rather surprised you would even bother. I thought your usual method was simply to leave once you were finished.”
His eyes glittered so hotly she had an urge to apologize. But she wouldn’t.
He stood and pocketed the phone, and she couldn’t quite shake the feeling she’d insulted him. Though why she should care, she couldn’t say.
“Sadly,” he said, “there are some women in a man’s life that it is impossible to leave. No matter how much he might wish it.”
The island was larger than Tina had first thought when they’d arrived yesterday. On the other side of the castle was a terraced garden, with grapevines twining over a pergola, cobbled walkways, and plots of herbs and flowers. There was also a stone pool with clear turquoise water that looked as if it, too, had been carved out of ancient rock and set here during Roman times.
It had been hours since breakfast. She’d spent some time exploring the castle, and when she’d realized there was actually a garden, she’d changed her shoes into something more reasonable so that she could investigate it further.
She skirted the pool and walked across the grass toward the vine-shaded pergola. From the outside, it looked so private and cool. Peaceful. She could use a little bit of peace in her life right now.
She hadn’t seen Nico since this morning, but she hadn’t stopped thinking about their exchange on the terrace. There are some women in a man’s life that it is impossible to leave. No matter how much he might wish it.
Like a woman who was pregnant with his child? She felt like a fool the more she thought of it. Of course he didn’t want her in his life, but he was willing to accept her because of the baby. If she married him, would she be the woman on the other end of that phone someday?
She ran her hand along a stand of tall ornamental grass, enjoying the way the fuzzy tops tickled her fingers. No doubt she would be the woman on the other end of the phone, whether she married him or not. They were having a baby together and they would always need to be in contact with each other, regardless of whether or not they married.
He would be in her life, and she in his, for as long as they lived. The thought made her shiver—only it wasn’t completely out of fear or anger that she did so.
No, more like excitement.
Tina stopped in the middle of the garden as her legs seemed to suddenly be made of jelly. My God, a baby was such a game changer. A life changer. A child was forever. It was such a huge obligation that Tina sucked in an abrupt, sharp breath, heavy with responsibility and unshed tears.
My God.
What had she gotten herself into? It was too much. Too much …
Her heart beat hard. She thought of Faith and Renzo, of the baby they both loved so much. She could see the pride in their gazes, the love and the utter conviction they would do anything it took to protect their child. And each other.
Tina passed beneath the pergola and found an outdoor furniture grouping plush with overstuffed cushions. It was a perfect place to curl up and read—or to think.
She sank onto the couch and lay back against the pillows. Tears pricked her eyes. Such a mess she was in. Nico didn’t love her, nor she him, but they’d created this life together. This tiny life that would need so many things from her.
Certainly she could hire a nanny. She could buy her own house and hire around-the-clock care for her child. She could do this alone, she didn’t doubt it.
But was it fair to her baby to