'I … ' she flailed. 'You see … '
'I don't see, Philly,' he barged in. 'I don't see at all. You had ample opportunity to tell me you were the woman behind that mask, and yet you said nothing. Then, when we were up at the Gold Coast, I tried to kiss you and you acted like I was mauling you-and yet we'd already made love. What was that all about unless you were wanting to keep that first night a secret?'
She gasped, her eyes wide open in protest. 'You didn't want me that night. It was one thing to make love to some fantasy woman at the ball, but you had no intention of making love to me then. You just didn't want anyone else to. You couldn't stand the thought that anyone else might be interested in me.'
No intention of making love with her? She had to be kidding. He'd burned that night, back in his room, pacing away the tension she'd provoked in his loins.
'No,' he said. 'That doesn't make sense. You wanted to keep your identity secret. That's why you pushed me away that night. So there would be no chance I might recognise my elusive boardroom lover.'
She was shaking her head. 'Things were already too complicated. You wouldn't have believed me.'
'And things are less complicated now? How do you work that out?'
He didn't wait for her answer. He took three strides, stopping at the top of the steps leading down to the thirsty lawn below. 'How do you expect me to believe you?'
'Because it's the truth.'
He sighed, long and deep, before he looked over his shoulder to where she was still standing against the railing. 'So then, explain it to me. Why did you keep that mask on? Why did you run away from me that night, unless it was to ensure I'd never find out who you were? Why didn't you tell me it was you?'
She didn't answer and a train rushed along the track, sounding its horn over the crossing. Then gradually the quiet resumed, leaving only the plaintive notes of the windchimes tinkling in the lame summer breeze.
'Have you forgotten what it was like back then? Forgotten how you were?'
She looked over to him and gave a wan smile. 'Remember the first day I came to your office? When Sam had gone home sick? Remember how you were then?'
'What do you mean?'
'I knew what you thought of me. You'd summed me up and written me off with one glance. I was so low on the food chain I didn't even register.'
'It wasn't like that.'
'Of course it was. There was no way you'd look twice at me. And yet, at the ball … '
'You looked so different that night.'
She gave a shrug, a small laugh. 'You never suspected it was me. You never had any plans to make love to plain old Philly Summers. And I didn't want you to find out. Because I knew you wouldn't want to know. It never would have happened if you'd known who I was.'
'That's not true.'
But he knew it was. He hadn't looked twice at her, not the way she was back then. He'd had no idea what was hidden away under that brown suit and those glasses.
'It was such a fantasy, that night,' she continued, her voice low and wistful in remembrance. 'And afterwards, afterwards I got so scared.'
'Scared of what?'
'I couldn't believe what I'd done-what we'd done. I just panicked. I knew you'd resent me for what had happened. I knew you'd be angry. And even if I kept my job, I didn't think I'd ever be able to face you again. I had to get out. So I ran.'
'You thought I'd fire you?'
'I didn't know what you'd do. I had no way of knowing. I just knew you wouldn't be happy to find out that the woman you'd seduced in the boardroom was only me.'
Only me. So she'd hardly been the type of woman that usually attracted him back then. Heck, did she have any idea about how many nights' sleep he'd lost since then thinking about his mystery lover?
And then there'd been the Gold Coast trip. That was when Philly had started to look different. Her clothes, her hair, even getting rid of her glasses. Ever since that trip she'd been a different woman. A sexier woman. And he'd made it plain he thought so in her room that night. And she'd been the one that night to turn him away.
He'd wanted two different women only to find out that they were the same person all along. Surely that counted for something? He wanted to reach out a hand to her then, to soothe her fears and assure her that he did want her, but he wasn't ready to do that. This whole discussion had left more than just a bitter taste in his mouth.
'How long will you wait until you tell your mother about the baby?'
She looked up at him, all hollow eyes and pale skin. 'I thought maybe another month, just to be sure. That should get me over the most critical time.'
'We'll schedule the wedding for a month's time, in that case. We can tell her together then.'
Her head jerked up. 'You still plan on going through with this? You still intend to marry me?'
'You have no choice. Your mother has been told and I certainly don't want to be the one to disappoint her. Do you?'
She dropped her eyes to the decking, her heart hammering in her chest. There was no way in the world she'd do anything to upset her mother-Damien knew that-she'd been effectively locked in this marriage deal from the moment she'd walked through that door.
But if he thought she was trapped, it was nothing to how he was going to feel when he found out the truth.
He was determined to marry her to have control over their child and its upbringing. He had no idea he had control over her heart.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SHE was married. No longer Miss Summers. Now she was Mrs DeLuca, wife to Damien. His ring on her hand, his name in place of hers.
Teringa Park, his country property, had made the perfect setting for their wedding vows. She'd imagined it was just another country home, another executive hobby farm, but she'd been wrong. The lush property dated back to early colonial times, the large home testament to the success and wealth of its first owner.
Just as this wedding was testament to the success and wealth of its current owner.
A large marquee had been set up on the expanse of lawns, which were green and lush in defiance of the dry summer heat. Filmy white fabric had been hung in drifts along the veranda of the old stone homestead and it billowed softly in the gentle breeze, while champagne-coloured helium-filled balloons jostled together in large urns bedecked with ribbons and bows, set about the gardens between bowls of fragrant apricot roses.
The service itself had been brief, though the guest list surprisingly large, considering how few family members there were between them. But obviously Damien wasn't the kind of man who would do anything by halves. The Who's Who of Melbourne society was in attendance along with a contingent of society page reporters, and everyone wanted to meet the woman lucky enough to snare Melbourne's most eligible bachelor.
By the end of the day Philly felt drained, emotionally and physically, the stresses and tension of the day overwhelming her. She turned her head to the man at her side, the man to whom her life was now linked, and the magnitude of what she'd done moved through her like an earthquake-a shudder of realisation, an instant of fear as her world shook under her.
She had the perfect husband-rich, intelligent, drop-dead gorgeous. She was the envy of every woman here, if the looks from the assembled guests were any indication. She had everything, or so they thought.
Strange, how empty you could feel, when you were supposed to have everything. Strange how those things everyone seemed to want did nothing to fill the hole deep inside her, the hole that could never be filled with mere luxury and a marriage built on control.
The one bright light was her mother. She sat on a shady terrace watching the proceedings, unable to erase the smile from her face. She looked serene today, even beautiful, in a silky soft aqua outfit Damien himself had personally selected for her and it complemented her pale skin and softly waved regrowing hair perfectly. Make up enhanced her features, already looking healthier than they had in months.
Damien had been right. While news of the baby was sure to delight her mother, knowing that Philly was married and that her grandchild would therefore be raised within a family unit with both parents, would make it all the more special. Already the bloom on her face made the hastily arranged marriage worthwhile.
But it wasn't just her appearance. It was also the apparent improvement in her health. Even the doctors were amazed by the sudden change in her well-being, the steadying of her condition and the indisputable easing of the pain. Quite simply, her mother seemed a different woman.
Philly hugged the thought to her chest. How much more so would her mother be when she discovered the whole truth? That she would have a grandchild again. And now, with her mother's progress, it seemed more certain every day that she would get to hold that grandchild.