She ran to you with hope in her heart, just as I would if you dropped into my life ten years from now. And Libby loathed herself for being so weak.
So weak because she was at the closed door and trying hard not to open it.
Instead, she peered through the letterbox and saw that delicious mouth.
‘Go,’ she said. ‘You hurt too much.’
‘No.’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re the one who always wants to talk,’ Daniil pointed out.
‘Well, I don’t now.’
‘You should have said you weren’t ready to go the ballet. That was all you had to do.’
Yes, Libby knew that, but it wasn’t just the ballet that had had her emotions in turmoil all week.
‘If you had just told me...’
‘That’s fine, coming from you,’ she snapped. ‘King of boundaries.’
All that was visible of him was that lovely sulky mouth and she watched as it stretched into a smile. ‘I’m here to talk, Libby.’
‘You might not want to hear what I have to say, though.’
Oh, they had a whole lot of talking to do but there was something she had to get off her chest first.
‘You remember that you said my technique was all wrong, that I should just lay it all out on the table up-front?’
‘I do.’ Daniil frowned. He had no idea where this was leading. He had raced through the night to tell her his truth and was instead being asked to listen to what she had to say.
‘I haven’t been feeling well,’ Libby said.
‘Okay?’
‘My period...’
‘Is that why you’re teary and irrational?’
‘No,’ she whispered. She’d deal with his presumption another time. ‘It’s late.’
She watched as his tongue ran over his lips and then closed her eyes, too scared to look.
‘How late?’
His voice sounded very normal, much the way it had when he’d asked her if she’d be using her own savings for the ballet studio, only the stakes were far higher now.
‘A week,’ Libby said, and when she got no response elaborated, ‘That’s a lot for me.’
‘And how do you feel?’
‘Sick,’ Libby said.
‘Sick with nerves, or sick?’
‘Both,’ Libby admitted. ‘I’m scared.’
‘Never, ever be scared when you’re near me.’
‘You’re not cross?’
‘Why would I be cross? We were both there when it happened, we both took the chance. I’ve told you—I never take risks unless I’m prepared to weather the consequences.’
‘You thought about it.’
‘Not really,’ Daniil said, and now she had the courage to look at his beautiful mouth and see his slight smile. ‘But I’ve never taken such a risk with another woman. Libby, whether you are pregnant or not, you don’t need to be scared.’
‘But I do. I’ve just started my own business...’ Tears were taking over again and Daniil listened to them. He could step in, tell her she had nothing to worry about, that even if she didn’t want him, the money would be taken care of, yet he knew that right now it was about her.
That Libby needed to know that she would be okay.
Herself.
‘I’d have to employ someone or close and I was just getting started, it’s too soon...’
‘Libby!’ He broke into her mounting panic. ‘Do you know why my business plans work so well, why the banks always say yes to me?’
‘No.’
‘Because I’m a pessimist. The bank knows that I don’t put a positive spin on things. I factor in things like illness and pregnancy and women who leap to the worst possible conclusion and shut up shop because their soon-to-be ex might have slept with a ballerina a decade or so ago...’
She started to smile because she had been thinking exactly that—wondering how she could work while her heart was breaking, how she could dance and smile if she found she had a baby on board and no longer had him.
‘You really think I can do it?’
‘Of course. I wouldn’t have put my name to it otherwise.’
She was calm, not as calm as she had been in that sugary haze in his hotel suite, but the panic was fading.
‘You’re very good in a crisis.’
‘I am,’ Daniil said. ‘It’s the normal stuff that I don’t do so well with—like flowers and calling and letting you know the day-to-day stuff in my life. Will you let me in?’