“As what?”
“As…as my mistress.”
She licked her lips, yearning to agree, yearning to say anything that would give her relief from this heartbreak. But she knew that staying here as Gabriel’s mistress wouldn’t end her pain. It would only prolong it.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I would always be waiting for the day you’d tire of me, and move on to another.”
He searched her gaze. “Can’t you live in the moment? Just live for today?”
Blinking back tears, she shook her head.
“Why?” he demanded.
For an instant, she almost laughed. He looked like a spoiled child deprived of his favorite toy. Then she sobered. “I don’t want to raise Robby that way. And because…”
“Because?”
She took a deep breath. Taking her heart in her hands, she looked up at him.
“Because I love you,” she whispered.
His dark eyes widened. “You—love me,” he repeated.
She nodded, a lump in her throat. “I left you last year because I knew you could never love me back. You’ve told me so many times you will never love anyone. Not a wife.” She trembled, lifting her eyes to his. “Not a child.”
He stared at her, and Laura waited, breathless with the hope that he might deny it, that he’d say his time with Robby had changed his mind.
“There’s more to life than love, Laura,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “There’s friendship, and partnership, and passion. And I can’t do without you, not anymore. I need you. Your truth. Your goodness. Your warmth.” He gave her a humorless smile. “It warms even my cold heart.”
She caught her breath, then rubbed her stinging eyes. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do it, Gabriel. I can’t,” she choked out. “I can’t just stay here, loving you, while you give me nothing in return but the knowledge that you’ll someday leave—”
He gripped her shoulders. “Marry me.”
Her eyes and mouth went wide. “What?”
“Marry me.” He picked up her left hand, looking down at the diamond on her finger. His lips curved upward. “You already have the ring.”
“But I thought your proposal was a lie!”
“It was.”
She shook her head tearfully. “So why are you saying this? We’re alone. You’ve already convinced Oliveira. You don’t need to pretend, not anymore!”
“I’m not pretending.” Bending his head, he kissed her hand, making her tremble with the sensation of his warm lips against her skin. He looked up. “I need you, Laura,” he said huskily. “I don’t want to lose you. Marry me. Now. Today.”
She licked her lips, feeling like she were in a dream. “What about Robby?”
Setting his jaw, Gabriel straightened.
“Perhaps I can’t love him. But I can give him my name. I can give you both the life you deserve. And I can be faithful to you, Laura. I swear it.”
It was so close to everything she’d ever wanted. Gabriel would be her husband. He would be a father, at least in name, to their child. And if some part of her warned that this was a fool’s bargain, to marry a man who could not love her, she still couldn’t resist. Her heart overrode her reason and she succumbed to the temptation of her heart’s deepest desire.
With a tearful sob, she flung her arms around him in her bulky white cotton robe, kissing him as the sun finally broke, vivid and golden, over the fresh blue Atlantic.
“Yes!” she cried with a sob. “Oh, yes!”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN