One Night with Morelli(86)

                ‘I suppose there are coping techniques. I imagine they learn to balance compassion with objectivity…and I’m assuming that the good days make it all worth it,’ Draco replied.

                This was not a good day. ‘I was going to tell you about our baby,’ she said.

                ‘When?’

                ‘Six weeks ago.’

                ‘That’s very specific.’ His eyes dropped to her belly. It still hadn’t sunk in…a baby. A sense of warm anticipation flowed through him as he pictured her with their baby at her breast.

                ‘I rang your office. After they’d put me on hold for ages and they told me you weren’t available because you were out of the country…’ Her eyes lowered, she recalled the hurt and anger she’d felt, and it was still there in her face when she said with careful neutrality, ‘I got the message.’

                His eyes narrowed. ‘Well, I didn’t.’

                And the culprit would be the temp who had seemed to feel it beneath her to do anything much but file her nails, and offend at least two clients. It did not surprise him to learn that she had picked and chosen the messages she had passed on.

                Did not surprise but did anger him, and he had already made it clear to the agency who’d supplied her that he had been dissatisfied with her work. The person he had spoken to had been very apologetic, explaining that he was in a difficult position because the temp in question was his wife’s sister.

                Draco had made the man’s position easier by dispensing with the services of his firm.

                ‘When did all this happen?’ Draco asked.

                ‘It was Tuesday the sixth.’

                ‘I was in the country that day. That’s the anniversary of my father’s death, and it has become a tradition for us all to go to his favourite spot. We take a picnic, remember him and raise a toast.’

                ‘Oh.’

                ‘So when are you due?’

                ‘Christmas.’ She placed a self-conscious hand on her stomach and said defensively, ‘I know I’m enormous.’

                ‘You’re beautiful, and you’ll be a perfect mother.’ He had never in his head associated a pregnant woman with sexiness, but looking at Eve and knowing that his child, their child, was growing inside her did not diminish his desire in the slightest; it simply added a new dimension to it.

                ‘Are you all right?’ she asked. He was obviously not if he thought she looked beautiful. ‘Do you want to sit down?’ Looking concerned, she nodded towards the bench that was set against the wall.

                He laughed and sat down, pulling her down beside him. ‘I would much prefer to lie down.’

                The warmth of his hungry, all-encompassing gaze made her shiver. She started in surprise when his hand went to her stomach, curving over the gentle mound.

                ‘And I am the one who should be asking you that question. Are you all right?’

                None of this was going according to her script. ‘I think you might be in shock, Draco.’

                ‘No, I’m in love.’ And there was no might about it. ‘I thought I had lost you,’ he said, his voice thick and unfamiliar with emotion. ‘I just lost it when I saw you with Mark. I wanted to kill him! What the hell are we doing living separate lives pretending we can function apart? I can’t, I know I can’t. I need you, Eve, to be a whole person and not some cardboard cut-out. I need you.’