come with you.”
“Come with me?” she repeated incredulously.
He moved toward her quick as a flash, scooping Robby from her arms.
“Hey!” she cried.
Gabriel looked down at the baby, who was staring up at him with a transfixed expression. A shadow of a smile passed over Gabriel’s handsome face. Turning, he opened the front closet and pulled out a folded stroller, an expensive brand that she would never have purchased on her own. Still holding the baby with one powerful arm, Gabriel opened the stroller with his other, in one easy gesture.
Her jaw fell. “How did you know how to do that?”
He shrugged.
She tried again. “Have you ever been around a baby before?”
He looked away. “It’s madness outside. You are my guests. I will keep you safe.”
“To protect us from a festival on Ipanema Beach? We’re just going for a walk!”
“Funny. So am I.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
Putting Robby into the stroller, he clicked the baby’s seat belt, then without a word, pressed the elevator button. The doors opened and he pushed the stroller onto it. Looking at her, Gabriel waited.
Exhaling, she followed him onto the elevator. The doors closed, leaving the two of them with only a baby stroller between them.
“Why are you doing this?” she said through her teeth.
“For my own selfish reasons, no doubt,” he said dryly. “That is why I do everything, is it not?”
“Yes, it is.” She bit out the words, then looked at him. “Why? Is there a chance Felipe or Adriana might see us?”
“There is always a chance,” he said. “It’s not impossible.”
The elevator doors opened, and she grabbed the handle of the stroller and pushed it through the lobby. Gabriel held the door open for her and they were out on the street.
Since she’d last been outside, the avenida had become even more crowded, filled with people celebrating Carnaval. Music was blaring, tubas and drums, as people sang and danced in the street with their friends, some of them wearing extremely provocative costumes as they gulped down caipirinhas, the famous Brazilian cocktail of lime and distilled sugarcane.
Laura and Gabriel walked down the beach to a slightly quieter area and found an empty spot past a big yellow umbrella. She saw families splashing in the surf with their children, as nearby, groups of young people drank together beneath the sun as they waited for the nighttime party to really begin, the women wearing tiny thong bikinis, the men in skintight shorts.
Laura took Robby out of the stroller, and when she looked around, Gabriel was gone. She placed her baby in her lap and Robby reached to take a handful of sand in his fist. She saw Gabriel across the beach, talking to a barraqueiro. A moment later, he was walking back across the beach toward her. He held up a plastic shovel and pail.
“I thought Robby would like to play,” he said gruffly.
“Thank you,” she said, shocked at his thoughtfulness.
He smiled, and the warmth of his suddenly boyish face as he held out the pail and shovel to Robby nearly made her gasp. As the baby happily took the shovel, Gabriel stretched out beside them and showed him how to dig in the sand.
Laura stared at him in amazement.
First he’d known how to handle the stroller. Then he’d thought of buying toys for their baby. He claimed he disliked children, so why was he acting like this?
Robby responded to his father’s tutelage by first trying to chew on the shovel, then to eat the sand. Gabriel laughed, and with infinite patience, again showed him how to dig. Soon he had the baby in his lap. Robby was very curious about sand and kept dumping it on them both, then laughing uproariously. Soon deep male laughter joined with the baby squeals, and for Laura it was the sound of joy. She looked at Gabriel’s handsome face, watching him as he smiled down at the child he did not know was his, and her heart filled her throat.
How could he not realize that Robby was his son?
“He likes you,” she whispered. “And you seem to know how to take care of a baby.”
Gabriel’s dark eyes met hers. Then his expression abruptly became cold. He handed Robby back to her, causing the baby to give a little whine of protest. “No, I really don’t.”
All around them, she was dimly aware of the noise of the street party, of half-naked Cariocas tanning themselves beneath the sun, of people laughing and singing and making music all around them.
It wasn’t too late for her to tell Gabriel the truth. She could tell him now. By the way, Gabriel, I never took any other man as my lover. You were so careful to use protection, but guess what? You’re Robby’s father.
How would he take that news?
He wouldn’t be glad. Even in her most fantastic dreams she knew that. He’d told her a million times, in every possible way, that he didn’t want a wife or children. Even today, when he’d asked her to be his mistress for real, he’d said he’d be willing to “overlook” her child. That he’d allow her baby to live in the downstairs apartment so he wouldn’t be forced to endure his presence.
And worse. If there was one thing Gabriel resented almost as much as the thought of having a family, it was someone lying to his face. If he found out that Laura had lied to him for over a year, he would never forgive her. He would take responsibility for the child they’d created—yes—and he’d try to get some kind of custody. But he would not love their son. And he would hate her.
Tomorrow, she repeated to herself desperately. They would go home to their little farmhouse in the great north woods, safe and sound. She’d never have to see Gabriel again.
But that reassurance was wearing thin. Every moment she spent with Gabriel, seeing him with their son, she found herself wishing she could believe the dream. Wishing he could love them.
The truth about Robby hovered on her lips. But the rational part of her brain stayed in control, keeping her from blurting it out. If she told him the truth, only bad things could happen. And she’d no longer be in control of Robby’s future.
Gabriel glanced at his watch. The sun had started to lower in the sky over the green Dois Irmãos mountain rising sharply to the west. “We should go. Your stylist is waiting at the penthouse.”
“Stylist?”
He rose to his feet. “For the gala.”
He held out his hand, and Laura hesitated. A wistful sigh came from her lips. The brief happiness of feeling like a family was over. “All right.”
She allowed him to pull her to her feet. Tucking a yawning, messy, sand-covered Robby back into the stroller, she followed Gabriel across the beach toward home. By now the avenue was so crowded that Gabriel had to physically clear
