LILY HAD BEEN on tenterhooks all day, waiting for Bastian to arrive. Even applying herself to her illustrations hadn’t helped to still her mind and drown out the racing thoughts that crowded in on her like an encroaching storm.
Finally giving up on her attempts to work, she’d busied herself with cleaning the house from top to bottom, even though it didn’t need it. At least it would give her the satisfaction of knowing that Bastian would see that she cared about these things and didn’t always have her head in the clouds, dreaming.
At a quarter to eight she ran into her bedroom to change out of the loose cotton shirt and jeans she wore into something she considered more ‘in keeping’ for the coming interview. Her choice was a prettily patterned sleeveless dress with lilacs on it. She’d bought it on the day her divorce had been finalised as a symbol of starting her life over again.
Unwinding her scrunched-up topknot, she brushed out her tousled hair to leave it lying loose against her bare shoulders. After that she applied the merest hint of make-up and sprayed a little of her favourite perfume behind her ears and on her wrists.
Her teeth worried at her lip as she checked her reflection in the mirror. It didn’t really matter what she wore, she decided. It couldn’t prevent her from looking like someone who’d pinched the last chocolate biscuit in the tin and felt guilty about it. As if to illustrate the fact, her cheeks were reddening even before Bastian arrived.
But there was no more time to take stock of things when the sudden pounding on the front door announced his arrival. Taking a deep breath in, she deliberately made her descent down the stairs a slow one. The last thing she wanted him to imagine was that she was in any way eager for this meeting.
But, opening the door, Lily felt her breath all but cease when she found herself confronted by nothing less than what was surely the most beautiful man on earth.
Wearing a white cambric shirt open at the neck and dark jeans, his hair naturally tousled, he gave her a slow, toe-curling smile. ‘Buonasera, Lily... I trust you’ve been expecting me?’
‘Your prompt arrival is no surprise, if that’s what you mean, signor?’
His gaze moved up and down her figure in the pretty lilac dress, not disguising the fact that he very much liked what he saw. ‘Am I really so predictable, mia dolcezza?’
Dry-mouthed, she opened the door wider. ‘You’d better come in.’
The simple Italian endearment had thrown her. Sucking in another steadying breath, she closed the door behind him and led the way into the living room. Before they sat down she saw his glance go to the bottle of red wine she’d left on the coffee table, alongside one of the cut-crystal wine glasses she’d found in a kitchen cabinet.
He frowned. ‘The wine isn’t for you, I take it?’
‘Of course not—is it likely that I’d drink alcohol in my condition?’
‘I’m glad you would not.’
Bastian meaningfully held her gaze for perhaps longer than was necessary. Deliberately drawing her glass of orange juice towards her, Lily couldn’t help but gulp some down as she lowered herself into the armchair.
It didn’t help cool her temperature one iota.
‘The wine is for you.’
‘How thoughtful of you—shall I pour?’
‘Why don’t you let me do it? After all, you’re my guest.’
As he sat down opposite her on the tasteful sea-green couch, Lily couldn’t help wincing when she remembered what had happened the last time he’d occupied similar seating in her living room...
Was the same thought going through his mind?
Quickly quashing the speculation, she deftly took out the cork that she’d removed earlier in readiness and carefully poured the ruby-red wine into his glass.
Leaning forward, he picked up the bottle to examine the label. Inclining his head in a gesture of approval, he commented, ‘I see that you have very good taste in wine, Lily.’
Collecting her orange juice again, she clutched the glass even more tightly. ‘I have to say that’s high praise, coming from an Italian.’
After trying some of the wine, he remarked, ‘But we are not alone in creating good wine. Many countries produce wine of exceptional quality these days. Anyway, moving on...we have something much more important to discuss, si?’
‘I agree. Why don’t you start us off?’ she invited, her mouth immediately drying again in anticipation of what he might say.
She hadn’t forgotten that he wanted to make their arrangement one of convenience, rather than because his feelings for her had grown.
‘We need to discuss when our marriage will take place. My suggestion is that it should be quite soon.’
‘So you’re still set on marrying me, then?’
Immediately he positioned himself in front of her, and his unsettling glance challenged her.
‘Do you really think I would have changed my mind over something this important? When you get to know me better you’ll learn that I am a man of my word and that I always follow through on what I say.’
‘Even if the other person involved isn’t sure she agrees with you?’
‘Seeing as you are still so unsure, Lily... I will just have to be sure for both of us.’
‘How fortunate that you don’t seem to doubt yourself.’
With an amused lift of his eyebrows he remarked, ‘I have something else to say that will hopefully set your mind at rest. I have no intention of leaving you to manage the childcare on your own. I will hire us the best nanny I can find. And, as for parental occasions, I fully intend to be a supportive presence as often as I can. In fact I’ll do my utmost to be there whenever you or my children need me. In conclusion, I will make a very good life for you all.’
His companion blinked in astonishment. ‘You said children? It sounds like you’ve assumed we’ll have more than one child together?’
His lips shaped into the most seductive and shameless grin known to woman.
‘I do not assume anything. I merely speak from knowing how it is between us. Do you expect me to act as if I don’t desire you?’
As he spoke Bastian removed her glass from between her fingers and drew her up onto her feet. It seemed as though in that moment the sound of her racing heartbeat drowned out any other sound. Already her blood was moving like molten lava as it throbbed sluggishly through her veins.
‘Marriage isn’t just about desire, though, is it?’ she breathed huskily. ‘It’s about...it’s about...’
Anything more she wanted to say was crushed into silence by his lips hungrily laying claim to hers. When his hot silken tongue swept inside the velvet landscape of her mouth she couldn’t deny she’d been aching for his touch from the moment she’d seen him again.
Her response was automatic. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around him and feel the strength of his hard-honed muscles so close to the surface under his shirt. So intense were her feelings that they dangerously threatened to sweep away every last bit of common sense she possessed. She found herself forgetting everything but the joy of knowing he didn’t easily want to let her go, and the memory of their urgent sensual coupling inevitably made her eager to experience more of the same.
But then, just as though she’d suddenly been blinded by the sun, she dizzyingly came to her senses. In the next instant she found herself firmly pushing him away.
Her lover’s deep brown eyes looked bemused. ‘Are you intent on pretending that you don’t want this?’ he drawled.
‘I’m not trying to pretend anything.’ Abruptly, she folded her arms. ‘It’s just that we shouldn’t give in to our carnal desires so easily. It’s already had a serious consequence.’
‘I don’t just want your body, Lily. Didn’t you hear me when I said I intend to marry you?’
She sighed. ‘I heard. I also heard that you don’t want a real marriage, but one of convenience. That doesn’t make my decision any easier. It’s a decision that will undoubtedly affect both our lives, and I need to know I’m doing the right thing. I’ve already told you that I made one huge mistake in marrying a man I didn’t really know, and I don’t want to make another. Especially not when I’m having a child.’
His expression fierce, Bastian compelled her to look at him. ‘This is my child too, Lily—don’t forget that.’
Startled by his possessive tone, she honestly didn’t know what to do right then. Her senses were in turmoil. Yet she knew she didn’t want a man who regarded her as some kind of possession and in so doing didn’t consider her feelings. After what had happened with Marc she’d be a fool to forget that Bastian wasn’t interested in having a more meaningful relationship. He’d already told her he wasn’t expecting a romantic attachment...
Seeking distraction, she started to walk away towards the kitchen, thinking to calm herself by bringing in the snacks she’d prepared earlier.
However, her charismatic guest had other ideas.
Lightly catching her arm, he said, his tone more thoughtful than it had been previously, ‘I realise that perhaps I should have made you a proper proposal. As yet, I know I haven’t given you that. To make things right between us, I’m asking you now, Lily. Will you marry me?’
‘I’ve already told you this isn’t easy for me to decide.’
He blew out a frustrated breath. ‘Look... I’ll be frank with you. When I was younger I was briefly engaged to a woman I thought myself in love with. Clearly not feeling the same, she betrayed me with a colleague. To add insult to injury, I found them in bed together—in my flat. I’d given her a key so she could let herself in. After that...’ He shrugged and glanced away. ‘After that I vowed I would never entertain the idea of having a serious relationship again.’
‘That must have hurt. But what did you do after that? Ensure that your relationships were platonic?’
‘Not quite—after all, I’m only human.’ A corner of his mouth drew up into his cheek in amusement. ‘But, returning to my proposal, I will ask you once again, Lily. Will you agree to marry me and be my wife?’
Hot colour surged into her face. ‘I’m still uncertain, Bastian. This is just too serious to decide on quickly.’
‘Marriage is a serious thing, I agree. But, like I said before, if we explicitly set out the terms of our contract we’ll both know what we can and can’t expect from one another and therefore we’re unlikely to be disappointed.’
‘You sound so certain that we’ll be able to stick to the terms...’
‘I am.’
Even as she listened to him Lily knew the time for deliberating further was gone. A person could think on a subject for far too long and just end up feeling hopelessly confused. And in the meantime her baby’s wellbeing and future was at stake.
‘I have to put my child’s welfare before my own,’ she said solemnly, ‘so I guess my answer has to be yes, Bastian. I will agree to marry you and be your wife.’
Seeing satisfaction light his eyes, she experienced a genuine surge of pleasure at making the right decision for once.
But just after she’d given him her reply doubts once again started to besiege her...
* * *
A few nights after making their momentous decision to marry, and arranging their wedding date, Bastian agreed to give Lily some space in order to finish her current illustrative assignment before they wed. But his sense of being satisfied with his decision to marry was to be shaken by an unexpected event.
At home one evening, having just finished work in the olive groves, he had a panicked phone call from his father’s housekeeper, Dolores.
‘Signor Carrera—you must come to the house quickly! Your father has pain in his chest again and I’m afraid he might be having another heart attack!’
Swearing under his breath, Bastian slammed out through the door to his car parked outside. The vehicle flew down the dirt tracks and Tarmac roads to the house that anyone who saw Alberto regularly knew as home from home, because they were always guaranteed a welcome there.
He didn’t think much beyond that. He definitely wouldn’t go down the terrifying route of imagining that he was in danger of losing the man who meant the world to him...
When he arrived, Dolores immediately ushered him into the kitchen. Alberto was slumped in a rocking chair with a cushion behind his back and he was sweating profusely. As he strode towards the older man, whose greying hair was coiling damply to his brow, he demanded urgently over his shoulder as to whether the housekeeper had rung for an ambulance.
‘Si, signor. It is on its way. I have been trying to give your father some water, but he doesn’t seem able to swallow.’
Bastian hardly heard her. He was crouching down beside the older man and smoothing back his hair. Then, taking his father’s hand in his, he assured him that everything was going to be all right, that they were blessed enough to be able to pay for the very best of care and he would soon be back on his feet and giving Dolores merry hell when her cooking didn’t come up to scratch.
He heard the older woman sniff, as though she was finding it hard to hold back the tears.
Giving his son a painful half-smile, Alberto whispered, ‘Lei e una cuoca terribile!’ She is a terrible cook. He tried to laugh but ended up nearly choking.
Bastian instantly brought him further forward in the chair, in a bid to help him clear his throat, and began to thump on his back. It was at that very moment they heard the distinctive sound of an ambulance siren.
* * *
Bastian was emotionally wrung out and numb with fatigue. The day’s events had conspired to give him some of the most stressful few hours of his life. Now it was three in the morning, and he’d stayed at his father’s bedside since the ambulance had brought him to the hospital.
Thankfully Alberto was now sleeping soundly, in a private room, and Bastian had been assured by the heart specialist who’d attended him that he was going to be all right. He would pull through. He needed plenty of rest and the professional care of his medical team.
But it was hard to believe that things would improve when his father looked so ill and was struggling to breathe. Now, having been put through all the various tests he’d needed, he had been fitted with an oxygen mask and it seemed to his son that he was rallying. But he wouldn’t go home until he was convinced that he wouldn’t take a turn for the worst as soon as his back was turned.
By the time he did head for home he knew he couldn’t return to an empty house. It was only when he automatically found himself parking outside Lily’s place that he realised her house had always been the only destination he’d had in mind...
‘Bastian...it’s nearly four in the morning. What’s happened? Is something wrong?’
Beneath an open silky green robe that was decorated with slim-stemmed flowers, she was wearing a short cream nightgown that paid homage to her shapely slim legs, and she had clearly had got straight out of bed to answer the door. Her fair hair was prettily dishevelled and she was still rubbing the sleep from her incandescent green eyes.
He couldn’t imagine that a more delectable sight existed.
‘My father’s in hospital with a suspected heart attack.’
Unable to help himself, he let his voice break then, and he sensed the tears he hadn’t been able to hold back since he’d left Alberto’s bedside temporarily blurring his vision.
Seeing that he was clearly in some distress, Lily opened the door wider, softly remarking, ‘I’m so sorry to hear that. What do you need? If there’s anything I can do to help you know I won’t hesitate.’
‘I don’t want to be in the house alone. Can I stay here for the rest of the night with you? That’s the only help I need.’
He heard a softly released inward gasp before she answered, ‘Then let’s go upstairs.’