though he was pretty sure he had used those terms himself in the past.
‘That’s not the language I expect any woman of mine to use,’ he informed her coldly, before shutting the bathroom door behind him.
It took a few seconds before Alex was galvanised into action and she scrambled off the bed, hastily flinging on underwear, her T-shirt and a pair of stretchy drawstring shorts from a drawer before pushing open the bathroom door and being greeted by a wall of condensation.
‘I’m sorry you don’t like the language I use—’ her voice was trembling and her knuckles were white as she gripped the sides of the toilet seat, which was the only place to sit in the small bathroom ‘—but I’m trying really hard to get a perspective on this.’ Did he think that, because she fell into his arms, her principles would also obey the same laws and collapse without putting up a fight? ‘I don’t want something as big as a house purchase to be without our involvement. Luke should have a say in the kind of home we’re going to provide for him and so should I. Money might be a convenience but time is priceless and that’s what I want you to put into this marriage. I know it’s going to be difficult for you because you’re accustomed to doing exactly what you want but…’ Her voice was suddenly very loud as the shower was switched off and Gabriel stepped out of the cubicle, which he dwarfed.
He took his time drying and then slung the towel around his waist. ‘I have taken more time off in the past few weeks than I ever have in my whole life.’ Except when he had first met her. He had behaved out of character then as well. ‘And, if it means so much to you, then we can look for a house together.’
Alex smiled with relief and followed him out of the room. ‘That’s great. So…’
‘So…?’ Having brought no clothes with him, he contented himself with a baggy old bathrobe of hers which was hanging on a hook behind the door, then he took a seat at her dressing table and folded his arms. If getting her on board meant listening to everything she had to say, then so be it, but he didn’t intend to be a pushover.
‘There’s just one more thing.’
‘Just the one more? I’m shocked. I thought we were here for the rest of the night with your list of provisos and conditions.’
Alex flushed. ‘It concerns other women.’
‘Other women?’ Gabriel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He realised that the thought of another woman hadn’t actually crossed his mind since he had met Alex again after all this time.
‘Yes. Other women. You have to promise me that there won’t be any.’
‘What kind of a promise is that?’ Gabriel threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of frustration. He had had a lifetime of doing exactly what he wanted when it came to the opposite sex. He had power, money, good looks and status and that had all been enough to ensure compliance in the female sex. Even Cristobel had recognised his boundaries and had steered clear of them. He felt his hackles rise at the thought of someone dictating what he could or couldn’t do. The question of whether he wanted to or not didn’t come into it.
What sort of loser tolerated a woman dictating his every movement? Certainly not him!
‘I think if we’re to take this whole thing seriously, then…’
‘This is getting more ridiculous by the minute. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future? Do you think I have a crystal ball stashed away somewhere?’
Alex shook her head mutely. It had been a stupid request but his refusal to give it house room was telling. This wasn’t a guy who loved her and would be overjoyed to forswear all other women. Duty to his son might run bone-deep but he had no responsibilities to her.
Could she marry someone who would be a hero, but only when on show?
She thought back to Cristobel, to her smug, sly, knowing smile when she had explained to Alex that Gabriel was a Spaniard, that sooner or later he would find his eyes straying, that that was to be expected.
She thought back to what he had told her, that if she didn’t marry him then he would inevitably take his attentions elsewhere. She remembered all too well the sick, cloying feeling that had generated in