as she made to brush past him. ‘You are sure of this?’
‘Yes. But don’t worry; I’m not asking you for anything.’ Her eyes blazed like sapphires into his. ‘Your knee-jerk reaction to my glad news only confirms how right I was to finish things between us.’
Luke seized her by the wrists. ‘I apologise, Isobel. I said such a bad thing because the thought of you with another man’s child was a stab to my heart.’
‘How melodramatic,’ she said dully, and detached her hands. ‘Perhaps you’d be good enough to leave now, and go back to wherever you’re staying. I’m very tired.’
‘But we have much to discuss,’ he said hotly. ‘How do you expect me to sleep after such news?’
She shrugged indifferently. ‘Frankly, Lukas Andreadis, I don’t care a toss whether you sleep or not. Just go.’
‘Of course,’ he said stiffly. ‘I will burden you with my presence no longer. But,’ he added in a tone which made her toes curl, ‘when I return, Isobel, we shall talk.’
After the menace in Luke’s parting shot Isobel decided to postpone supper for a while. ‘I’ll eat something later,’ she promised, patting her stomach. ‘Sorry about your dad. I’m afraid it’s just you and me, babe.’ But even if she managed some supper she had little hope of getting any sleep later with the prospect of Luke’s return visit hanging over her. Hopefully, he would come at a reasonable enough hour the next day to allow recovery from her daily date with morning sickness.
The bell on Isobel’s door rang later while she was drying her hair after her bath. She frowned. She wasn’t expecting Jo, or one of the Careys. And her boss, the owner of the gallery, was sunning himself in Mauritius. When the bell rang again she picked up the receiver on her intercom.
‘Let me in, Isobel,’ said Luke’s unmistakable tones.
‘I didn’t expect you back tonight,’ she said coldly.
‘Nevertheless, I am here. And attracting attention. Open the door,’ he ordered.
Isobel pressed the release button, cursing because she had no time to dress. She ran into the bedroom for her old blue velour robe, tied the sash tightly, raked her fingers through her damp curls, then took a deep breath and opened her sitting room door to Luke’s knock.
He was wearing different clothes, he was newly shaved and his hair, like hers, was damp.
‘Have you eaten?’ he demanded, eyeing the robe.
‘No. We weren’t hungry.’
A pulse throbbed at the corner of his mouth at the ‘we’. ‘You must eat,’ he said disapprovingly. ‘I will take you to my hotel for dinner.’
She shook her head. ‘I’d rather not be seen with you in public.’
Colour flared along his cheekbones. ‘Why? Am I not dressed suitably?’
‘This is a small town. People know me here. Questions would be asked.’
‘That you would not care to answer,’ he flung at her.
‘Why are you so angry? I’m the one expecting the baby!’
Luke controlled himself with visible effort. ‘Come,’ he said, taking her by the hand. ‘Let us sit down and talk like reasonable people.’
‘By all means.’ Isobel let him lead her to the sofa. She curled up in a corner and waved Luke to the chair.
He looked so overpoweringly male in her feminine room Isobel’s heart started thumping again as his eyes locked with hers.
‘If,’ he began, ‘I had not come here to see you, would you have told me about the child? Ever?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said honestly. ‘I intended to wait until after she arrived and see how I felt.’
His eyebrows rose. ‘You know it is a girl?’
‘Not officially. I just feel it in my bones.’
There was silence for a while. ‘It is a bad thing for a child to grow up without a father,’ he said at last. ‘I have experience of this.’
As Isobel well knew. She sat still, waiting for him to go on.
‘We must marry,’ he said at last.
Oh, must we? ‘No,’ she said flatly.
Luke sprang up to loom over her. ‘You cannot say no this time, Isobel. We have another life to consider, not just yours, or mine.’
She glared up at him. ‘Are you seriously expecting me to marry you and acknowledge you as the father of a child you don’t believe is yours, Lukas Andreadis?’
‘I know the child is mine,’ he said impatiently. ‘Are you going to make me pay for the rest of our lives, and our child’s life, because I am human, and in my shock I said words I regretted the moment they were uttered?’
‘They hurt, Luke.’ Isobel hugged her arms