‘Of one-night stands.’
He raised a dark brow sardonically. ‘You’d know because you’ve had so many?’
She clamped down on her bottom lip. He was scribbling outside the lines on purpose. While she was trying to stay within them with painstaking determination.
But it clawed through her. The realisation that she wanted to break the rules, too. She wanted to stem the itch on her palm by placing it on his cheek, to see how smooth his skin was without the stubble he’d had all those weeks ago. She wanted to run her fingers along his jaw, to stare into his eyes and demand he kiss her.Everywhere.She didn’t want to be this woman who lived to make others happy. She wanted to be free.
One more time.
Flora shut those thoughts down and looked at him. Tried to concentrate on the black suit sheathing his muscles and the leather shoes cushioning his feet. On anything but how he made her feel. Chaotic. Unsteady. When her life had always been so balanced and so sheltered.
‘You have no right to be here,’ she said, stamping down on the idea that he might have found her again because he wanted to extend their night. To claim her again.
‘I have every right,’ he contradicted her.
She shook her head and the messy bun piled on top of her head wobbled, strands of hair falling around her face.
He raised his long fingers to her cheek, and she held her breath as he caught a tendril between his thumb and forefinger and tucked it behind her ear. ‘You are coming undone,piccolina.’
‘Undone?’ she echoed.
‘Unravelling,’ he confirmed, his voice a sultry caress to the heavy weight in her chest.
Throatily, she repeated her earlier question. ‘Why are you here?’ She shouldn’t care. But she did. She wanted and she needed to know.
Softly, his fingers wrapped around her wrist. ‘Can you not guess?’
Heat penetrated her skin. Not a trickle, not a seeping warmth, but a shot of hotness directly into her veins.
‘No...’ She swallowed thickly. Her throat was too dry.
‘Guess,’ he urged her, his eyes fixed on her face. ‘Why would a man you spent the night with seek you out?Huntyou?’
His words were gentle. Inviting. Coaxing her to tell him a secret she didn’t have access to. She felt trapped. He was a hunter moving in on his prey, ready to pounce.
‘Don’t play with me,’ she said. ‘Why are you here?’
‘Because I need to know.’
‘Knowwhat?’ She breathed the words, low and long.
‘Are you or are you not?’ he asked.
‘Am I or am I not what?’
‘Pregnant.’
‘Pregnant?’
In that moment, everything stilled. Went blank. Before it all collided. Every memory of her safe and predictable life and her night with him. ‘What?’
‘Are you or are you not pregnant,’ he confirmed, his voice a low husk of possession.
Her gaze turned fuzzy around the edges. A huge shadow wobbled before her eyes.Him.The mountain of a man she’d chosen to give herself to.
What had she done?
The air, hot and pulsing, from her lips swirled together and pushed out a question. ‘You’re talking about a baby?’
