He stared at her calmly. ‘That will depend.’
‘On what?’
He was watching her carefully, as though gauging her probable reaction to what he was about to say. But, really, given everything that he’d already said and done, how bad could it be?
‘On what happens next. You see, I’ve given it a lot of thought,’ he said slowly, ‘and I can only think of one possible solution to this situation.’
Her nerves were starting to hum. She looked over at him impatiently. ‘And? What is it?’
He stared at her for a long moment, and then finally he smiled.
‘We need to marry. Preferably as soon as possible.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
NOLA STARED AT him in stunned silence.
Marry?
As her brain dazedly replayed his words inside her head she felt her skin grow hot, and then her heart began to bang against her ribs. Surely he couldn’t be serious.
She laughed nervously. ‘This is a joke, right?’
For a moment he looked at her in silence, then slowly he shook his head.
She stared at him incredulously. ‘But you don’t want to get married.’ Her eyes widened with shock and confusion. ‘Everyone knows that. You told me so yourself.’ She frowned. ‘You said marriage was a Mobius strip of emotional scenes.’
Watching the pulse beating frantically at the base of her throat, Ram felt a flicker of frustration.
To be fair, her reaction wasn’t really surprising. He’d spent most of the night thinking along
much the same lines himself. But, as he’d just told her, marriage was the only solution—the only way he could give his child the right kind of life. A life that was not just financially secure but filled with the kind of certainty that came from belonging.
He shrugged. ‘I agree that it’s not a choice I’ve ever imagined making. But situations change, and I’m nothing if not adaptable.’
Adaptable! Nola felt her breathing jerk. What was he talking about? As soon as she’d shown the first signs of not wanting to do things his way he’d kidnapped her!
‘Oh, I see—so that’s what this is all about.’ She loaded her voice with sarcasm. ‘Dragging me out here, trying to coerce me into marrying you, is just your way of showing me how adaptable you are.’ She gave a humourless laugh. ‘You’re about as adaptable as a tornado, Ram. If there’s anything in your path it just gets swept away.’
‘If that was true we wouldn’t be having this conversation,’ he said calmly.
‘How is this a conversation?’ Nola shook her head. ‘You just told me we need to marry. That sounds more like an order than a proposal.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘I’m sorry if you were hoping for something a little more romantic, but you didn’t exactly give me much time to look for a ring.’
She glowered at him, anger buzzing beneath her skin. ‘I don’t want a ring. And I wasn’t hoping for anything from you. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve managed just fine without you for the last three months.’
His gaze didn’t flicker.
‘I wouldn’t know,’ he said softly. ‘As you didn’t bother telling me you were having my baby until last night.’
Pushing away a twinge of guilt that she hadn’t told him sooner, she gritted her teeth. It had been wrong of her not to tell him that she was pregnant. But marrying him wasn’t going to put it right.
Only, glancing at the set expression on his face, she saw that Ram clearly thought it was.
Forcing herself to stay calm, she said quickly, ‘And I’ve apologised. But why does that mean we need to get married?’
Ram felt his chest grow tight. Did he really need to answer that? His face hardened and he stared at her irritably. ‘I would have thought that was obvious.’