The Billionaire's Bride of Convenience(49)

‘What an unconscionable bastard he is.’





‘Quite. And if you don’t watch yourself, Hugh, you’ll turn out just like him.’





Hugh didn’t think he deserved being tarred with the same brush as his father. ‘I never promise marriage, Mum. Or children. I’m honest with the women I sleep with.’ He’d been extremely honest with Kathryn.





‘That doesn’t stop them getting emotionally involved. I really feel sorry for Krystal. I know you thought she was just another gold-digger. And, of course, ageing billionaires are often pursued for their money, not themselves. But your father is an impressive and very charming man. Plus extraordinarily good in bed, even at his age.’





Hugh stared at his mother. ‘How on earth do you know that? Are you saying that you still sleep with him?’





A faint flush came to her cheeks. ‘Only when he’s between wives.’





‘Good grief.’





‘I’ve never stopped loving your father, Hugh,’ she said without a shred of shame. ‘I don’t think I ever will. But my feelings are not the issue here. I think Krystal loved him too, and wanted to have children with him. She’s only thirty-five, after all. Most women want to have at least one baby, Hugh. Kathryn is how old?’





‘She’ll be thirty next month.’





‘Then her biological clock is ticking. This might sound harsh, Hugh, darling. You’re my son and I love you dearly. But don’t let that girl waste any more of her life on you. You won’t ever give her what she wants.’





Hugh could have told her that he was actually giving Kathryn what she wanted. Lots of loving, plus the house up at Pearl Beach.





But he could appreciate what his mother was saying.





In hindsight, Kathryn had been different with him this morning. The way her eyes had lit up when he’d arrived at the office had delighted him at the time. His mother’s words of warning, however, brought some common sense to the situation. Hadn’t Kathryn herself told him that she always fell in love with a man if she enjoyed sleeping with him?





It was patently obvious that she was enjoying going to bed with him. She’d done exactly as he’d asked last night, met him at the door with nothing on but her high heels, after which they’d spent the next few hours playing erotic games. She’d delighted him with her surprise, and her surrenders. He’d loved teaching her new pleasures and had wallowed in her willingness to give him her whole body to explore and enjoy. By the time he’d taken her home, he was more enamoured with her than ever.





The thought of giving her up in a few weeks did not sit well with him.





Of course, there was another alternative. He could tell Kathryn he’d fallen in love with her and offer her a real marriage. Offer to give her children. That way, she would be his for a lot longer than a few weeks.





Hugh suspected she might not say no.





It would be easy to persuade her.





Easy but not kind.





Because it would be a lie, the same kind of lie James had told Megan. And look where that had led. The reason for his marrying no longer existed and he was devastated. So was poor Megan. When she’d finally woken up yesterday from the sedation the doctor had given her, the grief in her eyes had been terrible to see. She’d banished everyone from her room, even her husband. He could still hear the sound of her heartbroken sobbing. It had been ghastly.





He and Russ had taken James down to the pub for a few drinks and a meal, and whilst they’d tried hard to comfort him, he’d refused to be comforted. In the end, Hugh had left Russ to it and come home to Kathryn, her nakedness soon driving all thought of his friend’s despair from his mind.





But there was no ignoring reality when he was sitting opposite his mother and hearing about his father’s latest failure to make a relationship work. Had Dickie offered Krystal children when he’d proposed? Had he promised to give her everything when all he’d really wanted was sex on tap with a woman young enough to be his daughter?





Probably.





Hugh had always believed he wasn’t like his father.





The truth was he’d been afraid all his life that he was just like his father. That he couldn’t love any woman enough to stay with her. That he couldn’t love a child enough to be a decent father.





He was afraid that he was what he’d once told Kathryn, that he was selfish to the core.





But he wasn’t, he suddenly realised. Not to the core. Because if he was, he’d take what Kathryn had to offer for as long as it pleased him and throw her away, the way his father had thrown his mother away.