His lips parted. What would she say if he told her everything?
Fear snatched his confession away, leaving him hollow and cold. He glanced at the passing rocky cliffs of Calanques National Park.
“Less than an hour.”
She pulled a notebook out of her purse. “In that case, I did have some details I wanted to verify for the party—”
“Don’t you ever take a break?”
She looked up at him in surprise.
“When there’s time, yes.”
“It’s after eight o’clock. Nighttime,” he added.
“I’m not surprised that you view this as a time to...relax or enjoy.” She kept her eyes trained on her damned list. “But not all of us have the luxury of drinking and seducing our way through the evening.”
The frosty tone rankled him. Even if he hadn’t confessed all, he’d let her see more ofhim, whoever he was, than he’d ever shared with another woman. Because he hadn’t responded the way she wanted, she’d resorted to jabs that once would have made him laugh, but now just made his teeth grind.
“All right.” He leaned back against the chaise and closed his eyes.
“All right?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Was there something else you wanted to discuss?”
“Just persuading you to let me be involved in my child’s life.”
For a moment there was only the distant sound of the ocean waves.
“When you say it like that, it sounds awful,” she said.
Irritation flared into anger. He opened his eyes, swung his legs over so his feet rested on the deck and faced her, letting her see the depth of his displeasure.
“It is awful, Calandra. You’re threatening to not let me be involved in my own child’s life.”
“That’s not what I said. I just—”
“‘Birthday parties and such,’” he quoted back at her. “Isn’t that what you said in Paris?”
“I didn’t mean you couldn’t ever see the baby, I just...”
“Just what?” When she continued to stare at him, her face blank, he barely stopped himself from grabbing her shoulders. “Just be involved when you say it’s allowed? Maybe that’s once a year, maybe once every three years?”
She came to life, exploding with passion and energy as she leaned forward, eyes blazing.
“Fine, then! Take me to court, sue me for custody or whatever it is you want. God knows you have enough money to get whatever you want.”
“What I want,” he ground out, trying to figure out how this conversation had spiraled so quickly out of control, “is not to force the mother of my child into doing something she doesn’t want to do. Yes, I slept with dozens of women. I swung from the chandelier at the Venetian Hotel. I’ve spent money on God knows what. But I’ve always tried to do right by the people in my life, and that includes you. Why are you so afraid of me?”
“I’m not afraid of you!”
He leaned in then, his lips just a breath away from hers. Her breathing stopped, then resumed with a deep, shuddering inhale.
“Perhaps you should be, Calandra.” Just a touch closer. “Perhaps I make you feel things that frighten you. Things you want but for whatever reason won’t let yourself have.”
She swallowed hard. “I’m not going to make the same mistake my mother did.”