Happy Mother's Day! - By Sharon Kendrick Page 0,49

nervously, unsure of what to say. ‘Do you have any suggestions?’

‘You mean, other than the very obvious ones a groom might make to his new bride on such an occasion?’ His black eyes glittered. ‘I think you know the answer to that question, cara. And while you think about it, you will excuse me—for I have a few calls I need to make.’

Aisling stared at him in dismay. ‘But I thought you were taking a break for your honeymoon!’

‘I’m here, aren’t I?’ he drawled insolently. ‘You have some ideas, perhaps? You want to drink a little champagne, or call on the chef and have him prepare us a few things to nibble on? Curl up together and watch a movie?’

‘Please don’t be sarcastic, Gianluca.’

‘Maybe I damned well feel like being sarcastic!’ he retorted hotly.

One of them needed to confront it and it looked as if it was going to have to be her. ‘About the sleeping arrangements.’ Help me out, her eyes appealed to him—but his handsome face remained faintly quizzical, as if he had nothing to do with the decision. She hesitated, unsure of how best to put it. Just tell him. Tell him you’re willing to share his bed tonight.

Gianluca almost laughed aloud at her pale face and the wary expression in her cool eyes. Did she think that he was going to start exercising his conjugal rights? To go over to her and take her in his arms and to kiss that sour little expression off her face until he was inside her?

Instead, his mouth flattened. ‘Oh, do not worry, cara.I am not so desperate for your body that I need to come begging you to take me into your bed. If I find that desire overwhelms me, then there are plenty of women who would relish the experience—rather than seeking it from one for whom the notion is so obviously abhorrent.’

‘Abhorrent?’ she echoed, bewildered. ‘Where the hell did you get that idea from?’

‘Your face tells its own story,’ he said softly.

Even if he didn’t have a clue about her true feelings for him, surely he must have realised that she was nervous—as any woman would have been in these extraordinary circumstances? ‘I’m apprehensive,’ she admitted carefully.

Of what? he wondered. Of letting that icy composure slip? She seemed determined to keep him at an emotional arm’s length—and he could cope with that. But if they put physical distance between them, then this whole situation would quickly become intolerable, and surely Aisling was intelligent enough to realise that.

Gianluca’s eyes narrowed. She operated like a man in the way she compartmentalised her life. So why not present his proposition in a way she would find acceptable?

He moved towards her and lifted his hand to her face, slowly and thoughtfully using it to sculpt the shape of her chin, allowing the pad of his thumb to briefly graze across the lips which trembled. He observed the darkening of her eyes as he drew his hand away.

‘I want you,’ he said starkly.

‘Gianluca—’

‘I shall come to you tonight,’ he said softly. ‘And if you want me, then you must leave your door open. That is your choice. If it is shut, I shall not come to you again.’

Oh, why didn’t he seal his intent with a kiss? she wondered desperately. Why talk about it in those hard, cold terms as if it was some kind of takeover bid? Because that was exactly what it was. First her baby, and now her body—of course he wanted them both.

But Aisling wasn’t stupid. She wanted him, too—with a fierce hunger which frightened her. A need which was born out of the heart as much as the body. She was afraid of where all this was going to lead—but she forced her mind to draw back from the dark, torturous routes of her imagination.

Why project into an unknown future? She might get hurt, yes—but she suspected she was going to get hurt anyway and only a fool would deny herself as much pleasure as possible in the meantime.

But there was no need to be a walkover. Keep him guessing. In the past she had given in to him all too easily—surely the only way to keep his interest alive was to not be a sure bet? Hadn’t he once told her that himself—that the thing about her which appealed to him was the fact that she was so enigmatic?

‘I’ll give it some thought,’ she said coolly.

Oh, but she was awesome, he thought—with reluctant admiration. Like a