he’d asked Gina to marry him he’d gone the distance with a surprise trip to Venice, a hired violinist and a ten-carat diamond that had once belonged to a Vanderbilt. But he’d had considerably longer than ten minutes to plan it and a huge gaping hole in his life that only Gina could fill.
Yet he was about to start a family with Alex instead. Yes, he liked her, but the biggest decision he’d thought he had in relation to her was whether he’d break his promise to himself about not calling her. It was numbing how quickly everything had turned on its head.
This woman was going to be his wife if he had anything to say about it. He needed to start acting like it.
“I’m sorry. Let’s back up.” He took her hand and held it, though why he thought that small bit of contact would help, he couldn’t say. “Alex, we have to get married.”
And that wasn’t much better as proposals went.
Her face went white and she snatched her hand away from his as if he’d scalded her. “Married? Why would we get married? That’s insane. We don’t know each other.”
The note of desperation in her voice didn’t sit well. “We don’t know each other well enough to be parents either, but facts are facts. As the baby’s father, I want to consider what’s best for him or her. Unless the paternity-test results might offer another reason for your denial?”
Something broke open inside him as he thought about Alex with another man. Irrational, to be sure, especially since he was the one who hadn’t called. He didn’t own her.
But he had never stopped thinking about her, or her sweet fire as they’d connected—her skin, her eyes, all of it. He wouldn’t apologize for having a strong attraction to a woman who’d just announced she was carrying his child, nor for the fact that marriage meant he was the only one allowed the privilege of sleeping with her. Fidelity was as much a part of his makeup as statesmanship. There was no denying that she still affected him, and if they were living together, it was a natural conclusion that they’d continue their physical relationship. He certainly wanted to.
“No, of course not,” she said. “This is your baby.”
In DC, the first thing you learned was how to tell if someone was lying. She wasn’t. Regardless, he needed to make sure. The test could be done relatively quickly and would only confirm what he already knew in his gut.
“Here’s what we’re going to do.” The plan rolled through his head. “I’ll clear my schedule for the day and we’ll get the test. Then will you agree to talk about what comes next?”
Hesitating, she blinked and met his gaze, vulnerability and fear in her expression. It prompted him to fix whatever was wrong so she’d smile again. He ached to take her into his arms. For comfort, not to kiss her, though he’d have sworn a minute ago that sparks were the only thing between them.
Even that was too much.
The way Alex affected him clashed with the place inside that belonged to his first wife. That unsettled him nearly as much as the idea of Alex being pregnant. But if he wanted to have a family—and he did—not only would he have to convince Alex marriage was the best option, he would have to convince himself to stay strong against the tide of emotions she elicited.
No second chances in life or love. That meant he would never have feelings for another woman. This compromise might be harder than he’d envisioned.
“Okay,” she said, her voice low. “We can talk. But you’ll have to rethink the idea of marriage. I’m not a member of the cult of love and romance.”
She wasn’t? He stared at her as his argument for marriage shifted gears and fell into place.
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