But what choice had she given him?
Ever since she’d forced him to meet her at that internet café she had challenged him at every turn. But she was pregnant with his child now, and her leaving the country was more than defiance. Even though she’d said she would be in touch, he hadn’t believed her.
His face hardened. And why should he? She had kept the pregnancy secret for months, and even when she’d had the perfect opportunity to tell him about the baby she had chosen instead to avoid him. And then tried to run away.
But Nola was going nowhere now. She certainly wasn’t going to Scotland any time soon.
He breathed out slowly. In fact, make that never.
If she moved back to Edinburgh, then he would be cut out of his baby’s life. Not only that, his child would grow up with another man as his father—with another man’s name instead of his. Worse, he or she would grow up believing themselves to be a burden not worth bearing, a mistake to be regretted.
He would do whatever it took to stop that from happening.
Crossing the room, he poured himself a whisky and downed it in one mouthful.
Even kidnapping.
His chest tightened.
What had he been thinking?
But that was just it. He hadn’t been thinking at all—he’d just reacted on impulse, his emotions blindly driving his actions, so that now he had a woman he barely knew, who was carrying a child he hadn’t planned, sleeping in the spare room in what was supposed to be his private sanctuary from the world.
Gritting his teeth, he poured himself another whisky and drank that too.
So why had he brought Nola here?
But he knew why. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said that the house was secluded. It was luxurious, of course, but it was completely inaccessible to anyone without a small plane or helicopter, and on most days communicating with the outside world was almost impossible.
Here, he and Nola would be completely alone and they would
be able to talk.
His fingers twitched against the empty glass.
Except that talking was the last thing he wanted to do with her. Particularly now that they were alone, miles from civilisation.
A pulse began to beat in his groin.
For a moment he stared longingly at the bottle of whisky. But where Nola was concerned it would take a lot more than alcohol to lock down his libido. A cold shower might be better—and if that didn’t work he might have to go and swim a few lengths in the pool. And then maybe a few more.
He’d do whatever was necessary to re-engage his brain so that tomorrow he could tell Nola exactly how this was all going to play out.
* * *
As soon as she woke Nola reached over to pick up her phone, holding her breath as she quickly punched in Anna’s number. When that failed to connect she called the office, then Anna again, and then, just to be certain, her favourite takeaway pizzeria by the harbour. But each time she got the same recorded message, telling her that there was no network coverage, and finally she gave up.
Rolling onto her side, she gazed in silence around the bedroom. It was still dark, but unless she’d slept the entire day it must be morning. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere, but there was no point in lying there in the dark. Sighing, she sat up. Immediately she heard a small click, and then daylight began filling the room as two huge blinds slid smoothly up into the ceiling.
She gasped. But it wasn’t the daylight or the blinds or even the room itself that made her hold her breath. It was the pure, brilliant blue sky outside the window.
Heart pounding, she scrambled across the bed and gazed down at a huge canopy of trees, her eyes widening as a group of brightly coloured birds burst out of the dark green leaves. She watched open-mouthed as they circled one another, looping and curling in front of her window like miniature acrobatic planes, before suddenly plunging back into the trees.
She had been planning on staying in her room to protest against Ram’s behaviour. But ten minutes later she had showered, dug some clean clothes out of her suitcase and was standing by her bedroom door.
Her pulse began to beat very fast. If she opened that door she would have to face Ram. But sooner or later she was going to have to face him anyway, she told herself firmly.
And, not giving herself the chance to change her mind, she stalked determinedly out of her room.