Imogen’s heart skated to a bruising halt then lurched into a discordant rhythm so powerful she felt queasy.
Now she understood!
‘This is you making the best of the situation, isn’t it? Making do.’ She recalled him talking in those terms in Paris, about not pining for the impossible, but adapting to whatever situation he found himself in.
‘Why not?’ That insouciant Gallic shrug made a mockery of her secret hopes and dreams. ‘I’m expected to marry some time and here we are with a baby on the way.’
He must have noticed her breathless rigidity because he went on with a smile guaranteed to turn any woman to a puddle of pure longing. ‘We like each other.’ His hand settled on one of hers, lightly stroking an intricate scroll of desire from her wrist to her thumb. ‘Sex between us is fantastic and we respect each other.’
‘You said that before.’ Her voice sounded scratchy. Were those the only reasons he could come up with for them to stay together?
‘They’re important.’ The skin between his eyebrows pinched, as if he was surprised or annoyed she wasn’t gushing with delight. ‘I couldn’t marry a woman I didn’t respect.’ His mouth curved in a way that devastated her resolve. ‘As for the sex...’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t remember it ever being so good.’
Imogen sat utterly still, scared that if she moved something, like her stupid heart, might shatter.
He wants to stay married to you because the sex is good. And because you’re conveniently providing him with a child.
No doubt he wants one to inherit the estate and the villa on the south coast, and all the other things the Girard family have amassed. He wants an heir.
She’d been dreaming of love but Thierry laid out their relationship as if it was a business merger.
Her lips flattened. That was how he saw this—a neat solution to a difficult problem. A way of keeping his child while getting companionship and sex into the bargain.
She had no illusions she was the sort of woman he’d marry in normal circumstances, but Thierry had proved himself a realist through and through. Why yearn for caviar when you have fish and chips already on the table?
Imogen felt her hair slide around her face and neck as she shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’s a good basis for marriage.’
His hand tightened, long fingers shackling her wrist. Did he feel her pulse hammering? He leaned in, crowding her against the pillows. For the first time since this conversation began she felt disadvantaged, naked beneath the sheet while he was dressed.
‘Of course it’s a good basis for marriage.’ His eyes narrowed. Fervently she hoped he couldn’t read her thoughts. ‘Unless you’re after some fantasy of romance. Is that it?’
Self-preservation made her shake her head, even as her soul cried out that that was exactly what she wanted.
‘I didn’t think so.’ His lips quirked up in the hint of a smile. ‘You’re like me, chérie—too practical to want hearts and flowers and sentimental protestations of undying love.’
Dry-eyed, Imogen gritted her teeth. Thierry couldn’t know how she felt about him. He’d never deliberately trample over her feelings. Yet that didn’t stop the pain from each dismissive word.
‘You don’t believe in love?’
His lips quirked. ‘Once. I fell in love with a girl from a neighbouring estate. But she married someone else. At the time I thought my heart was broken but I’m old enough now to realise that’s just a fiction. I’ve been happy with my life. It wasn’t blighted by rejection after all.’
His expression was reflective as he stroked her palm, making her shiver. ‘What we have is precious, Imogen, even if it doesn’t go by the name of love. Respect, liking and a baby—those make a good starting point.’
‘Don’t forget the sex,’ she said, hiding pain behind a twisted smile.
‘Oh, I don’t. Not for a moment.’ He pressed his mouth to the spot below her ear where she was most sensitive. Instantly, tremors of heat racked her, and she shivered. Yet her heart ached.
‘Let me warm you properly, Imogen.’ He reached for the tray between them, made to lift it away, but she put a shaky hand on his arm.
‘No. Don’t. I’m hungry.’ The food would be sawdust in her mouth but she couldn’t have sex with him, not now. Not knowing she’d given her heart to him and he only saw her as a convenient solution to a problematic situation.