So they’d both be far better off ignoring the chemistry and concentrating on what was important here, namely the child.
Thank God she’d turned down his offer of his house next door. Heaven only knew what he’d been thinking when he’d suggested that. He might have been just throwing things out there but if she’d actually taken him up on the offer she’d have been living a mere stone’s throw away instead of five miles, and his resolve to disregard the attraction that arced between them would have sorely been put to the test. Simply being in her vicinity did that as it was. A half-hour hospital appointment had been bad enough. Twenty-four-seven might just about do him in.
At least there was no reason to see her for a while, he thought, abandoning the Sunday papers for a moment, and reaching for his phone, which had just begun to ring. He’d use the time to shore up his defences and build up an immunity to her, so that when he next came across her he’d be rock solid, utterly immutable and ruthlessly focused.
Unlike now.
Feeling as dizzy and winded as if someone had thumped him in the jaw and then followed up with a punch to the gut, Marcus scowled and glared at the name on the screen.
For a split second he was tempted to ignore the call, let it go to voicemail and get back to her once those barriers were in place and he was immune. But that smacked of weakness and he had some pride, so he braced himself and hit the button. How disturbing could a phone call be anyway?
‘Celia,’ he said, pleased and relieved to note that he sounded cool and casual and not at all bothered by the fact that she’d rung.
‘Hi,’ she said, and, even though he could just about ignore the wave of heat that swept through him at the sound of her voice, there wasn’t anything he could do about the goosebumps breaking out all over his skin.
He set his jaw, shifted his chair so he was sitting in a shaft of lovely warm sunlight and told himself that the sooner he made a start on building those defences, the better. ‘How are you?’
‘Fine, fine. You?’
Exhibiting worrying displays of a complete loss of control, but nothing he couldn’t handle. ‘Couldn’t be better.’
‘I’m so glad.’
She sounded glad. She sounded all warm and soft and seductive and he wondered what she was doing at half past ten o’clock on a Sunday morning. Where she was. What she was wearing... ‘So what can I do to—I mean, for, you?’ he said, his voice just as warm and soft and seductive, which so wasn’t the plan.
‘I’m ringing to see if you’d like to come over for supper some time.’
Mentally giving himself a slap and pulling himself together, he echoed, ‘Supper?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, I’ve been thinking,’ she said, and he thought that it was a good thing that at least one of them was. ‘You’re the father of my child and it occurred to me that if we’re going to do this together, it would make sense to discuss values. Opinions we might have about parenthood. And other stuff.’
What other stuff? Sex other stuff? His head swam for a second and his pulse spiked and then he calmed down because, no, not sex other stuff, clearly. He was the only one having trouble with that at the moment. ‘I see.’
‘I also thought that it would be a good idea to get to know each other a bit better and learn to communicate without the sarcasm. Food seemed like a good idea. So what do you think?’
Marcus thought that was a fine idea. Maybe in a few months’ time, say around January, when he’d have had the chance to build up those defences.
‘Makes sense,’ he said, carefully vague.
‘Great,’ she said brightly. ‘So what about tonight?’
Marcus nearly dropped the phone. ‘Tonight?’
‘If you’re available.’
He was. He was available a lot of nights these days. Not that that was the point. ‘What’s the hurry?’ he said, trying to maintain the cool and calm tone he’d been foolishly quick to congratulate himself on only a couple of minutes ago. ‘We have months.’
‘I know. But it’s going to fly by and I’m busy every night for the next week or so. So, are you free?’
Breaking out in a sweat, he shifted his chair out of the sunlight. ‘No,’ he said abruptly. ‘And I won’t be for a while.’
There was a moment’s silence and he inwardly cursed because he could have turned her down a little more tactfully.
‘Oh,’ she said flatly. ‘Right. Well. When you do have a moment free in your busy schedule let me know.’