‘No,’ Tansy replied, reckoning that absolutely nobody would pick her unimpressive, rather ordinary self out as his future wife.
She was shown into a very large and empty office and ushered over to a sofa in the corner where coffee already awaited her. After a couple of minutes alone, she helped herself and tried to relax. When Jude blew through another door like a tornado ten minutes later, she almost dropped her cup as he strode towards her, unnervingly different and formal this time in a dark designer suit that fitted his lean, muscular physique to perfection. Yet that restive, powerful energy of his still fizzed in the air like a storm warning.
‘Tansy…your name is rather unusual,’ he remarked, disconcerting her with that opening greeting.
‘For a couple of generations all the children on my mother’s side of the family were named after plants or trees,’ Tansy told him with a reluctant smile. ‘All the obvious names for girls like Violet and Rosie and Daisy had already been used by the time I arrived.’
‘A charming tradition,’ Jude commented, his attention lingering on her, taking in the delicate curves beneath the close-fitting top, the long slender legs crossed, the feet in shabby boots. ‘You look like a teenager in that outfit. I’ll be accused of cradle robbing by the press—’
‘Hardly. I’m almost twenty-three,’ Tansy cut in defensively.
‘I’m twenty-nine. It’s still a big gap,’ Jude told her stubbornly.
‘If you say so.’ Yes-woman, yes-woman, Tansy chanted soothingly inside her head. He didn’t want an argumentative woman with opinions of her own and if she worked at it she could keep a still tongue for her sister’s sake, of course she could. Posy was worth the sacrifice of a little pride.
‘I have something important I want to discuss with you before we get down to the nitty-gritty of wedding arrangements,’ Jude revealed. ‘But I need you to agree to listen to me first without interrupting. I don’t require an answer from you right now. I simply prefer to be upfront. Our relationship will be easier if we are honest with each other…’
Tansy went pink and dropped her head, that reference to honesty cutting into her. After all, she was not being truthful with him about the reality that she would come with the extra responsibility of a young child in tow. ‘I can listen,’ she muttered tightly.
‘My original plan when I believed that I was marrying Althea was to use this marriage to father a child. Althea had agreed to that option,’ Jude told her. ‘And I would be delighted if you were willing to consider that possibility as well.’
Tansy was so astonished by that statement that her head swept up, stunned green eyes locking to his lean, darkly handsome features. He need not have worried about her interrupting him. She was so taken aback by that utterly unexpected confession that she could only stare in wide-eyed shock at him. A baby? He was actually asking her to have a baby with him? Was he out of his mind?