Turning, Ram walked purposefully across the departures lounge. Inside his head, though, he had no idea where he was going. Or what to do when he got there.
You’re the father!
Three words he’d never expected or wanted to hear.
Then—boom!—there they were, blowing apart his carefully ordered world.
His chest grew tight. Only this wasn’t just about his life anymore; there was a new life to consider now.
Through the haze of his confused thoughts he noticed two empty chairs in the corner, next to a vending machine, and gratefully sat down in one.
His head was spinning. Seeing Nola pregnant at the office, he’d guessed that he might be the father. But it had been just that. A guess. It hadn’t felt real—not least because he’d spent all his life believing that this moment would never happen.
Only now it had, and he would have expected his response to be a mix of resentment and regret.
But, incredibly, what he was actually feeling was resolve. A determination to be part of his child’s life.
Now all he needed to do was persuade Nola of that fact.
Glancing over to where Ram now sat, with that familiar shuttered look on his handsome face, Nola felt resentment surge through her. How could he do this? Just stroll back into her life and take over, expecting her to follow him across the room like some puppy he was training?
He had said he wanted to know the truth and so she’d told him, hoping that would be the end of their conversation. Why, then, did they need to speak in private? What else was there to say?
Her eyes narrowed. Maybe she should just leave him sitting there. Leave the airport, catch a train, or just go and hide in some nameless hotel. Show Ram that she wasn’t going to be pushed around by him.
But clearly he was determined to have the last word, and trying to stop him doing so would be like trying to defy gravity: exhausting, exasperating, and ultimately futile.
The fact was that he was just so much more relentless than she could ever be, and whatever it was that drove his desire—no, his determination to win, she couldn’t compete with it. Whether she liked it or not, this conversation was going to have to happen, so she might as well get on with it or she would never get on that plane.
Mutinously, she walked over to him and, ignoring the small satisfied smile on his face, sat down next to him.
Around her people were moving, picking up luggage and chatting, happy to be going home or going on holiday, and for a split second she wished with an intensity that almost doubled her over that it was her and Ram going away together. That she could rewind time, meet him in some other way, under different circumstances, and—
Her lip curled.
And what?
She and Ram might share a dizzying sexual chemistry, but there was no trust, no honesty and no harmony. Most of their conversations ended up in an argument, and the only time they’d managed to stay on speaking terms was when they hadn’t needed to speak.
Remembering the silence between them in the lift, the words left unspoken on her lips as he’d covered her mouth with his, she felt heat break out on her skin.
That night had been different. That night all the tension and antagonism between them had melted into the darkness and they had melted into one another, their quickening bodies hot and liquid...
She swallowed.
But sex wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship. And one night of passion, however incredible, wasn’t going to make her change her mind. It had been a hard decision to make, but it was the right one. A two-parent set-up might be traditional—desirable, even—but not if one of those parents was always halfway out through the door, literally and emotionally.
Breathing out slowly, she turned her head and stared into his eyes. ‘Look, what happened three months ago has got nothing to do with now...’ She paused. ‘It wasn’t planned—we just made a mistake.’
For a moment, his gaze held hers, and then slowly he shook his head.
‘We didn’t make a mistake, Nola.’
‘I wasn’t talking about the baby,’ she said quickly.
His eyes rested intently on her face.
‘Neither was I.’