‘That’s not an answer.’
She gave a weary sigh. ‘Yes, I had thought about what I’d say to her and to be honest I...’ Her voice cracked and she swallowed hard. ‘I just know what Iwantedto be able to tell her. I wanted to be able to tell her that her father loved her.’ She compressed her quivering lips, her blue eyes lifting to his. ‘Maybe now I can?’
Looking into her exhausted white face, he felt something twist hard inside his chest and looked away, unwilling to acknowledge the surge of emotion he hid behind a gruff response. ‘You won’t need to tell her anything now. I’ll be there and she’ll know it first-hand from me.’
As Gwen stared up at him the sudden hum of tension that had filled the air between them evaporated and he placed a guiding hand in the small of her back, leaving her unsure if she should interpret his words as a promise or a threat.
‘This will save for another time. You look shattered. Just try and remember that the object of this exercise is for me to get to know my daughter, which you agreed was a good idea. But that is going to be kind of hard if you won’t let me get within ten feet of her without going into “protective tiger mother” mode.’
My daughter...The possessive inflection in his voice dispelled the embryonic, uncomfortable stirrings of guilt she had been experiencing. ‘I thinkagreedis overstating it, but obviously I’m fine with you holding her...’ she lied with stiff, unfriendly formality.
He snorted and she blushed. ‘I’m only thinking about Ellie.’ She stopped as she recognised the untruth in her claim. It was her own life with him in it inanyrole that she was thinking of. She gave a tiny frustrated shake of her head and bent down to pick up Ellie. ‘I’m just not used to—’ She straightened up with a little grunt of effort that she had noticed was getting louder. She looked down at the sleeping toddler with her thumb in her mouth and gently settled her head on her shoulder to follow Rio off the plane towards yet another car, wondering how much longer she would be able to carry her daughter this way.
There was an ironic twist to the wistful half-smile that curved her lips. Gwen had smiled politely when people told her to enjoy these early years with her child because they flew by, but she hadn’t really believed them—it was just something that people said. But she was starting to realise that they said it precisely because it was true. Those early months had already flown by but she still had precious memories to sustain her.
Rio had never had that time with Ellie, and he had no memories. The guilt came rushing back in a nauseating wave—anger was so much easier to bear.
It seemed like only yesterday that she had been wishing away these early years, dreaming of a day when Ellie was older and not needing the amount of childcare she required now. Being less hands-on would leave her with some time to herself. She would prefer not to identify the urge that had made her push Rio aside moments earlier as something perilously close to jealousy—she really didn’t want to be that person!
Rio scanned her upturned features, watching the flow of emotions across her remarkably expressive face, and felt a strange twisting sensation in his chest that took him unawares. Maybe it was the contrast between the tilt of her stubborn chin and the purple shadows beneath her incredible eyes that had dragged this unexpected—no,unheard-of—response from him.
Or maybe it was because he was closely examining her beautiful face with its soft, smooth skin and he could feel his libido pounding against the iron leash of his self-control. It was not something he normally had a problem with as his control over his emotions was always what had set him apart from his brother. But now it seemed as if the heat in the pit of his belly, the pounding of desire, was something he was going to have to learn to live with when he was around Gwen.
‘I suppose I’ve got used to not relying on anyone,’ she admitted and, despite his iron grip on himself, he flinched slightly.
CHAPTER SEVEN
WITHINSECONDSTHEair between them was thick and thrumming with a different kind of tension this time... Their eyes remained connected, sealed, and Gwen couldn’t have broken free if she had wanted to.
She didn’t want to.
Did his molten hooded stare hold some sort of hidden message? She didn’t know and she couldn’t breathe as he seemed to be leaning into her. Her head lifted as his mouth lowered and she could see the tiny silvered flecks deep in his dark eyes and felt the equally dark thrum in her blood as her knees went weak. But then Ellie shifted in her arms and let out a whimper.
The spell was broken, the small cry shattering it like splintering ice, or maybe it had all been in her fevered imagination, Gwen mused, glad of the sweep of hair that hid her too warm cheeks, as she laid a soothing hand on her daughter’s head before placing her gently in the car and getting in herself. Unfortunately there was nothing imaginary about the trickle of moisture pooling in the valley between her breasts and, despite the air-conditioned cool of the car, her clothes were sticking to her hot skin.
Not magic, Gwen, just sex,she told herself. The brutal truth hurt, but then so did discovering that fairy-tale happy endings only happened in, well, fairy tales. She was still feeling ashamed of that little rush of excitement that had left curls of heat in the pit of her belly when he spoke.
‘I think you’ve already proved your point that you are Super Mum,’ he said.
The smooth skin between her delicately delineated brows formed a tiny pleat. ‘I...what do you mean? I’m not trying to be super anything.’ She classed a good day as one when she didn’t feel utterly inadequate. Her eyes flickered wider, suspicion settling in the cooling blue depths as she looked over at him as he drove fast with an effortless skill. ‘Have you been asking people about me?’ Looking for dirt, fuel for a highly paid lawyer who would paint her as a hopeless mother?
He rolled his eyes. ‘Now don’t go getting all paranoid on me again,’ he drawled.
Her mouth opened. ‘I’m not...’ She closed it with a snap and a sigh before tacking on reluctantly, ‘All right, maybe I am being a little suspicious, but have you been telling people that you’re Ellie’s father?’
‘Would it be so terrible if I had?’
Gwen compressed her lips over a retort and reminded herself that it was always good to choose your battleground. This, she decided, looking around the confines of the car, wasn’t it. Glancing out of the window, she realised that they had left the motorway behind them now and they hadn’t passed a car for miles.
His jaw clenched as he met her combative blue stare. ‘Relax.’ It was advice that could have equally been directed at him as well, she thought, noting the tense muscles across his shoulders. ‘I haven’t said anything; you just came up in the conversation.’
Which told her absolutely nothing. She compressed her lips and glared at him. ‘Conversation with who, exactly?’
‘Being a VIP guest involves listening politely even when you’re bored. The headmaster of your school spoke highly of you, as did the head of lower school, and before you go all conspiracy theory on me I didn’t ask about you.’ But Rio had listened rather than tune out what they’d been saying. ‘It seems that among your colleagues it is an accepted fact that you have no flaws,’ he said, eyes swivelling in the mirror to touch the curve of her neck where in the gathering darkness the skin there had an opalescent sheen that was indeed flawless.
The effort of dragging his attention away from her and back to the road added another groove to the frown lines between his brows.
No one he spoke to had mentioned that mouth of hers, though he was pretty sure several of them had noticed it. But they had stuck to less inflammatory subjects like her devotion as a parent and her incredible teaching skills.