used to not,’ he said slowly.
She swallowed. There was a tension in the air, a stillness and a silence, as if a storm was about to break, and she had to count the beats of her heart to steady herself.
‘So what changed your mind?’
He lifted his head, and their gazes locked. ‘You did. When you decided to meet Edward Claiborne in my hotel.’
She looked startled—and confused, Aristo thought as her green eyes widened.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘That’s okay. I didn’t either. Not until we got here.’
He stared past her at the ruined temple, his pulse oscillating inside his head, wanting, needing to find the words that would make her change her mind—
‘That first evening, when you and George went to bed, I was so tense I couldn’t sleep. So I went out for a walk and I ended up here.’ He frowned, remembering how he’d felt suddenly calm and resolute as he’d wandered between the columns. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that’s happened. You being at the Kildare. Me going to your apartment. All of it so nearly didn’t happen—and yet it did.’
Her hand tightened in his. ‘I wasn’t even supposed to be there. Elliot was. But he’d double-booked himself so I had to go instead,’ she said quietly.
‘That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Don’t you see, Teddie? You and me meeting again—it’s fate. Every single thing that’s happened could have gone a thousand different ways, but each time fate’s pushed us closer. We’re meant to be together…we belong to each other.’
Teddie blinked. She wanted to believe him, and he made it sound so compelling, so plausible, so certain. It was why she’d fallen in love with him.
Remembering those long late-night phone calls, she felt her pulse jump in her throat. But then Aristo had always been able been a good storyteller. Only, she already knew how their story would end.
Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face. Dropping her hand, he took a step closer and captured both her arms, tightening his hands around her shoulders.
‘Are you happy?’
She looked up at him in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Are you happy? Here? With me?’
His words sent her stomach plunging, but even as she considered lying, she was nodding slowly. ‘Yes, but—’
‘But what?’
She frowned. ‘But it’s not that simple.’
‘It could be,’ he said fiercely. ‘And I want it to be. I just need you to give our relationship a second chance. To give me a second chance so I can be the husband you deserve and the father George needs. I want you to marry me.’
She couldn’t speak. She was too scared that she would agree to what he was asking—just as she’d done four years ago.
Her heart gave a thump.
She was scared too, of what would happen if she said yes. Their marriage might have lasted six months on paper, but even before their honeymoon had ended she had taken second place to his work. And now his empire was even bigger, his workload more demanding. How was he going to find the time for a wife and a child?
Wyatt had certainly never managed it, and she and her mother had just learned how to live with his absences. But she didn’t want that for George. To know what he was missing but be powerless to change it.
Only, what would happen if they split up? How would George react? Having only just bonded with his father, he might choose to stay with Aristo. Would she lose her son as well this time?
The thought made her legs start to shake.
‘George needs me.’
‘Of course he does.’ He sounded genuinely shocked. ‘I would never take him away from you. You’ve done an incredible job, caring for him on your own for three years, but I don’t want you do have to do it on your own any more. I want to be there for you—for both of you.’
‘I can’t marry you.’ She pressed her hands against his chest until she felt him release his grip, and then he took a step backwards, giving her space. ‘I’m sorry, Aristo, but I can’t—I know it feels like things can work out between us, because I feel it too. But this isn’t real life, and once we leave the island it won’t be the same—you know that.’
Her throat felt as if it was lined with sandpaper.
‘You and I—’ she looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears ‘—we are impossible.’
‘Any more impossible than Elliot choosing to meet Claiborne at my hotel? Or you stepping in for him at the last moment?’ His dark gaze was burning into her face. ‘The impossible happens all the time, Teddie.’
She shook her head. ‘You hurt me.’
The tremble in her voice seemed to belong to a completely different person. She hadn’t meant to say it so bluntly, let alone out loud and to Aristo, and the shock of her admission silenced her.
‘We hurt each other,’ Aristo said after a pause. ‘But we’re not those people any more, so let’s forget them and what happened then. Marry me and we can start again.’
Teddie stared at him in silence. It would be so easy to say yes. So much between them was good, and she knew how happy it would make George, and how miserable he was going to be if they returned home without Aristo. But how much worse would it be if his father was a full-time presence in his life?
She gave a small shake of her head. ‘That’s not going to happen, Aristo.’
Her voice was calm. Everything was so beautiful—the sunlight, the temple, the shimmering blue sea stretching away to the horizon, their new mood of intimacy and of course Aristo himself—and she didn’t want to make it ugly with a stupid, pointless argument.
Nothing moved in his face. He held her gaze. ‘We could make it happen.’
‘But we don’t need to.’ She tried again to lighten the atmosphere between them. ‘You asked me if I’m happy, and I am. We both are. So why add unnecessary complications?’
She could almost see him examining her words, deliberating and weighing up his response. Her heartbeat accelerated. His expression was one she recognised, for she’d seen it often, when he had been on the phone or at his laptop at their home, and it hurt that he was treating his ex-wife and child like some glitch at work.
Aristo frowned. He could sense her retreating from him—could feel their mood of easy intimacy starting to shift into something more strained—and even though he’d been the one to introduce the topic of marriage he felt irrationally angry with her.
‘For someone claiming to want honesty and openness you’re being a little disingenuous. Surely marriage would simplify matters between us. It will certainly simplify matters for George.’
Teddie
