‘Pretty good. I try to take care of myself.’ She nibbled her lower lip. ‘What about you?’
‘Me?’ His eyes widened, as if he was surprised she’d asked. ‘I try to take care of myself too.’
‘Good.’ She smiled up at him. ‘I’m glad.’
He stared into her eyes for so long, she lost track of her thoughts. All she registered was the warmth deepening within. It wasn’t only the flirty kind, it was more potent, more poignant—and the wisp of tenderness in his gaze stole her breath away.
He suddenly inhaled sharply, as if he too had gone without air for too long. ‘We’d better get back to the train or it might leave without us.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
VIOLETHADN’TBEENup to much dinner. When they’d returned to the train that afternoon, they’d retreated to opposite sides of the compartment by unspoken agreement. Roman had worked at his desk—all executive focus—but the stubble on his chin emphasised that cute dimple and the jeans and tee gave him a more rugged, younger look. Violet had never seen him look so handsome, nor had she ever been left so unable to do anything. Thedistractionof the man!
Now she stood in the bathroom and could barely look at herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed—their colour practically matching her pyjamas—and her eyes were sparkling. She looked drunk. Talking to him at the Christmas market this afternoon had stirred memories up and made other parts of her hungry for other things. There was no denying it any more, and she didn’t want to. She wanted to live. She wanted Roman.
She walked out of the bathroom and went straight to the control panel.
‘You adjusting the thermostat again?’ he asked.
She glanced over and gulped. ‘Well, you’re wearing very little to bed again.’
He stood in the middle of the compartment in nothing but those briefs. Violet’s temperature soared. She wanted to feel good. She wanted to forget the problems they faced. She wanted to live in the moment.Thismoment. And Roman Fraser was excellent at making her forget everything but his touch. It could be searingly simple and she was fed up with the frustration. It had been so good, that night when she’d been bold. The memory emboldened her now. She walked towards him, unfastening the top button of her pyjama top.
Roman remained standing stock-still. ‘What are you doing now?’
Nerves shimmered through her body but his reaction fired her confidence. She abandoned unbuttoning her top, took a big breath and shimmied out of the pyjama bottoms—right there, just like that. ‘What do you think?’
His jaw dropped. ‘I think...’ He cleared his throat. ‘I think...’
‘I think you should forget about thinking. Just for a little while. That’s what I’m going to do,’ she said as she walked towards him.
‘Last time the thought of more than one night made you run. You know if we do this it will be for more than one night, Violet.’
‘Things are different now,’ she muttered. But her self-preservation instinct sounded. He was the bossy, protective kind who’d want to constrain her life, and she’d been constrained for too long. So she needed to clarify things. ‘I’m going to sleep with you. But I’m not agreeing to your marriage plan. You know it’s unnecessarily old-fashioned and complicated.’
‘I don’t think giving the baby the security of my name is complicated.’ He put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer, but not flush against him the way she really wanted.
‘The baby can have your name. We don’t need to be married for that. The baby can have all your money too. I don’t need it or want it.’
‘So you don’t want to marry me, but you’ll sleep with me.’
‘A couple more times. Yes.’
‘A couple...’ He trailed off.
‘You don’t want to marry me,’ she reasoned. ‘You don’t want to marry anyone.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘If you wanted to get married, you would be already. There’re so many perfectly wonderful women you’ve met already, and the fact that you haven’t got one already...Youcan marry anyone you want.’ She knew that to be deeply, deeply true.
‘Except you, apparently.’
‘Because we’re...’ She paused. ‘We don’t even know each other. There wasn’t supposed to be anything more between us.’
‘But now there is,’ he argued. ‘Now we get to know each other. You said that yourself this morning. We have no choice but to work this out.’
‘Not in a rush, though,’ she said.