Waking alone felt like a terrible start to their marriage. She had thought his passion meant he wanted her. After soaring through the heavens most of the night, she was juddering back to earth, landing hard as she realized he might want her physically, but that was all.
She put on yesterday’s clothes and scowled at her pale face in the mirror. Her hair stuck out like shocks of lightning and she couldn’t even get a brush through it. She wanted to check on Lily before she showered, though. She grabbed the mass together in a fat ponytail and walked out in search.
A glance into the room where Lily had slept showed the single bed had also been slept in. Her heart panged at the evidence he hadn’t had insomnia. He’d preferred to sleep apart from her. Were they to have a marriage like his parents? One based on “shared values”?
They shared two things—a child and passion. It might be enough to build on, but relationships were a two-way street. If he was going to put literal walls between them, they didn’t stand a chance.
Telling herself this was only Day One and she needed to give this time, she continued to the lounge.
She found Rico on the sofa, reading his tablet and nursing a coffee. Lily was on a blanket nearby, working her way through a box of unfamiliar toys. She gave a scolding cry when Poppy appeared and held up her arms, demanding a cuddle where she rested her head on Poppy’s shoulder while Poppy rubbed her back. Lily was a resilient little thing, but they both needed the reassurance of a hug after facing all these recent changes.
“Why didn’t you wake me when she got up?” She hid behind their daughter, mouth muffled against Lily’s hair while she kept her lashes lowered, too nervous of what she might see in his eyes to meet his gaze.
“I wanted to let you sleep.” His voice rasped across her nerve endings, waking her to sensual memory without any effort at all. Maybe it was the words, the suggestion that he had worn her out—which he had.
“She’s had toast and banana,” he added. “The housekeeper is making us a proper breakfast. It should be ready shortly.”
“I could have cooked.”
“We pay her to do it.”
Lily pointed at the toys and Poppy set her down to continue playing.
“Thank you.” Poppy hugged herself. “I’m not used to anyone getting up with her. Gran could keep an eye on her if my back was turned, but Lily was getting too heavy and fast for her to do much else.”
“A potential nanny is meeting us in Valencia. You can look forward to sleeping in every day, if you want to.”
“I can look after my own daughter.” Especially if she wasn’t working. That part was bothering her. Her income had been piecemeal with a small, but reliable paycheck from working part-time at the bus depot and occasional top-ups with school portraits and the odd headshot or boudoir shoot. Now she was reliant on Rico. It was way too much like being a burden. Again.
“There will be many occasions when you’ll have to be at my side without her. You’ll want the consistency of a regular caregiver.”
“What do you mean, ‘many’?” She finally looked at him, but he only raised his brows in mild surprise.
“Do you need a paper bag to breathe into? Why are you looking so shocked?”
“Because I thought you would go to work and maybe I’d find a job around your hours and we would eat dinner together, watch TV and go to bed like normal people.”
He sipped his coffee. As he set it aside, he revealed a mouth curled into a mocking smile.
“This is my normal. Whether you work is entirely your choice. I know many power couples in which both spouses hold down high-profile positions.”
Maybe not the bus depot, then.
“I also know many women, including my mother and Sorcha, who make a career of running a household, planning charity fund-raisers and attending events in support of their husbands.”
“How charmingly old-fashioned.” She meant antiquated and patriarchal.
The deepening of his smirk told her he knew perfectly what she was saying.
“As I say, my normal. If you do intend to work, we’ll definitely need a nanny. At least that much is settled.”
Poppy wanted to stamp her foot in frustration. She couldn’t go after him about doing his share on the childcare front, though. Not when he’d gotten up with Lily on his first morning with her, letting Poppy sleep in.
“I’ve booked a stylist to come by in an hour or so.” His gaze went to her bare, unpolished toes and came back to her electrocuted hair.
Her hand went to the seam in her distressed jeans. “Why?”
“I’m introducing you and Lily to my parents this evening.”