“I don’t suppose you can ever be really sure,” she mused. “Some couples try for years to have a baby...”
“That won’t happen to us,” Matt cut in decisively. Some guys had a low sex drive. He certainly wasn’t one of them. With Peta, he’d have no problem working overtime on getting her pregnant.
She recognised the simmering gleam in his eyes and laughed self-consciously. “It’s crazy even talking about this.”
“It makes sense to me,” he insisted.
She frowned, sipped more of her drink, then shook her head. “We only met today.”
“How long does it take to recognise a great chance?”
Her eyes flirted uncertainly with his. “I couldn’t marry you without a prenuptial agreement.”
It was Matt’s turn to frown. Money...divorce...he recoiled from both of those subjects. Surely with her background—parents still married to each other—she’d work at the same kind of lasting power. Or weren’t her parents happy together? Good example or bad example?
Suddenly aware he didn’t have knowledge he needed, Matt simply asked, “What do you want in it?”
“That if we don’t have children, I have no claim on any property I didn’t bring into the marriage.” She leaned forward, pressing an appeal for understanding. “I’m not a gold-digger, Matt. If we got divorced, I wouldn’t try to take you for...”
“Fine!” he agreed, pleased with her strong sense of integrity. The money issue was definitely dead and a childless marriage would be reason for divorce. Even churches granted annulments on those grounds. Matt had no hesitation in saying, “If that will make you feel better, we’ll do it.” Besides, he’d have Peta pregnant so fast, the prenuptial agreement would be null and void almost as soon as it was signed.
She sat back, relieved. A little smile began playing on her lips. “You really want four children?” she asked, the possibility of her dreams being answered pushing eagerness through caution.
“Yes, I do.” He couldn’t help smiling, relief and triumph soaring through him. “I’m sure I’d be a great dad, too.”
She laughed, then retreated again in confusion at her response to him. “This has to be pie in the sky.”
Matt reached across the table and seized her left hand, his thumb deliberately marking the third finger. “I could buy you an engagement ring tomorrow. Would that make it real to you?”
She looked wonderingly at him, realising he was serious about it and unsure how to take it or what to do. Matt took great encouragement from the fact she didn’t try to withdraw her hand. He held on to it, his fingers grazing across her soft palm, loving the touch of her skin.
“Pretend for now it is pie in the sky,” he suggested. “Given that the law requires us to wait a month before we can get married, tell me how you’d like to proceed. Do you favour a diamond engagement ring? A sapphire to match your eyes? What kind of wedding would you like? Where would you like to go on your honeymoon?”
“Matt...” She was about to protest.
“Go on. Just for fun. No harm in talking.”
She sighed, venting tension. “Just for fun then,” she agreed.
Matt worked hard at making it fun as he drew her out on her dreams. He wanted Peta Kelly. He was going to win her. If he couldn’t bulldose her into marriage, he’d seduce her into it, one way or another.
CHAPTER NINE
“SIX days,” Megan muttered, pausing her eyebrow pencilling to shoot Peta a beetling frown. “You can’t be serious. It’s crazy to think of marrying a guy you met only six days ago.”
Peta lifted her gaze from the baby she was rocking in her arms and met her sister’s incredulous glare in the mirror with a serene little smile. “Tell me that after you meet him today.”
Matt had no qualms about confronting her family en masse at Patrick’s christening which was only two hours away now. A man who ran a successful company was used to tricky meetings. Peta had little doubt he would dazzle her family into thinking anything was possible with him. His innate confidence had a power that even she had found irresistible.
Megan swung around, too disturbed to continue her makeup for the big family event. “You can’t fool me, Peta. You’ve been doing crazy things ever since you came home from Rome. The hair, the bike... This getting engaged to Matt Davis is a rebound thing from Giorgio.”
“You’re wrong. It’s the sanest decision I’ve ever made.”
“Which makes my point.” Megan’s eyes jabbed at Peta accusingly. “You don’t love him.”
Her heart gave a sickening lurch and she swiftly dropped her gaze to the beautiful bundle of innocence she cradled close to her breasts. He’d fallen asleep and looked blissfully content. If all went well, within a year she’d have her own baby to hold and love and cherish. And she knew the love would be returned, a love that came with absolute trust. It was enough for her. She’d make it enough. She’d have her children and Matt would make a fine father. The painful emptiness she felt now would be filled many times over.
“Not everyone hits the jackpot, Megan,” she said, struggling to hide the desolate core inside her. She lifted hard, defiant eyes to her sister. “I like Matt. He makes me laugh. Maybe laughter’s worth more than love.”