The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011(102)

“He didn’t know you then. Now he does.”

That was true. Matt had believed her a thief at first, but now he didn’t.

Hope rose inside her for a moment.

Then died.

“Cesare, it isn’t a matter of knowing me. It’s a matter of Matt knowing himself. He’s a playboy. There’s simply no possibility he would want to make this a permanent arrangement.”

“Lana—”

“Cesare, please don’t look for something on his part that’s not there.”

He drew himself up. “I don’t need to look further than my naso.” He tapped his nose. “But perhaps you do, cara,” he said pointedly, then turned and left the room.

Lana released a slow breath. Cesare was a good man. He loved his wife and family and would always be there for them. Unlike her own father …

And then she realized something.

Matt was like his father.

He was a good man, too.

He wasn’t in the least like her own father. Up until now, deep down she’d been judging Matt by her father’s standards. And that was wrong. Matt was a far, far better man than her father had ever been.

Renewed hope filled Lana.

Hope that she and Matt would never be like her parents.

Hope that she and Matt might actually be able to make a go of their marriage.

And perhaps he might even come to love her one day?

Her heart fluttered and a feeling of warmth stayed with her for the rest of the evening. She couldn’t shake it. She didn’t want to shake it. The look in Cesare’s eyes had given her hope for a future with Matt.

“Megan had a great time, didn’t she?” Matt murmured, coming up behind her as she stood looking over the crib once the party was over.

She nodded. “Everyone did by the looks of them.”

“Did you?”

She smiled softly at him. “Oh yes.”

“But you didn’t expect to, did you, Lana?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Did you have parties as a child?”

She felt herself freeze up. “Sometimes.”

“I suspect they weren’t fun.”

“No.” Maybe one day she’d tell him about them but not yet. She didn’t want him staying with her out of pity.

If he stayed with her at all.

“Then this was an emotional day for you,” he murmured.

“And you,” she said, looking back down at Megan sleeping peacefully in her crib.

“Yes. I never thought I’d love her so much.”

“I feel the same.”

All at once she knew she wanted more children with Matt. Her heart expanded at the thought of carrying another baby of his, this time with him playing a major part. He’d be tender toward her for sure. She could see him in her mind’s eye, running his hands over her expanding waistline, leaning forward to kiss their baby through her protruding stomach.

Buoyed by the warm feelings between them, she decided to test the waters. “I love being a mother. One day I’d love to have more children like Megan.”

There was a moment of silence.

Then, “How many?” he said in a clipped tone that should have forewarned her but didn’t.

“Three or four. I want a big family.” She kept her eyes lowered to Megan. “Would you like to have more children, Matt?”

Another moment crept by.

“Eventually,” he said, a coolness to him now that was hard to miss. It filled her with dismay. This discussion was obviously not to his liking.

He turned away, tension coming off him in waves. “I’ve got some work to do in the study.”

Her heart broke in two as he left. It was clear he had no intention of falling in love with her or extending their marriage, or having more children with her.

With a sense of desolation she showered and went to bed. Matt joined her sometime in the early hours and she fully expected him to turn his back on her and go to sleep, but he pulled her into his arms and made love to her with an edge that stabbed at the pieces of her heart.

He brought her to climax, then reached his own climax, but there was none of the usual feeling of togetherness they shared.

One thing was apparent now.

They might be together in bed.

But they weren’t—and never would be—together in their hearts.





Ten


Matt got through Sunday by keeping to himself, and then Monday at work was slower as he kept trying to keep his mind on the balance sheets, only it wasn’t working.

He would never have believed how much he loved his daughter, and how great it had felt to share her first words with Lana. But did she have to go and spoil it all by saying she wanted more children one day in the future?

God, he hated the thought of another man in his daughter’s life. Bloody hell, but he couldn’t bear to think of Megan having stepsisters and stepbrothers, and calling another man “Da-Da.”