She stared at him with an intake of breath, and for an instant he thought she would agree. Then she stood up quickly, swaying on her feet. Her cheeks were red, her hands balled into fists.
“I will never accept your devil’s bargain.”
Disappointment filled him, crashing down his hopes. He rose to his feet, looking down at her in the dying firelight. “I’m not going to allow my child to be raised by another man, Carrie. Accept this.”
“But you still don’t know if Henry is even—”
“One of us is going to win this argument.” His dark eyes ripped through hers as he leaned forward. “And one of us,” he whispered, “is going to lose.”
CHAPTER FIVE
CARRIE awoke to the sound of her baby crying. The light of dawn flooded the room as she covered her face with a pillow, yearning for one more moment of sleep.
Then the mattress swayed beneath her. She heard a heavy footstep, and the sobs abruptly stopped with a hiccup.
That alarmed her as nothing else could. She instantly sat up, her pillow dropping softly to her lap.#p#分页标题#e#
Théo, shirtless and wearing only drawstring pajama bottoms slung low on his hips, was cradling their son against his bare, hard-muscled chest, crooning softly to the baby in the warm light of morning.
The baby’s chubby face peered up at him with a frown. Then, as Théo sang, rocking him in his arms, Henry’s face lit up. Théo’s deep masculine laughter provided a low baritone counterpoint to his son’s baby giggles.
For Carrie, the sound was sweet misery.
The past five days had been full of so many small joys. The three of them had enjoyed playing outside, eating a picnic lunch in the garden beside the stone fountain, lying out amid the sunshine and scent of flowers beneath the wide blue sky.
Small joys. And endless pleasures. Always she felt Théo’s dark, smoldering eyes upon her, his hot gaze promising a world of delights the moment their son was asleep in his crib. Every instant they spent together Carrie was so stretched with awareness she could barely take a deep breath. Shivers filled her body every time she felt his eyes upon her, every time his fingers brushed hers as they held their child between them. She’d given up trying to resist his seduction. Every night they spent together in bed was a revelation as he held and stroked every inch of her body, making her feel beautiful and new. Making her feel she might die from wanting him. From loving him.
She’d felt happy.
Too happy.
Thank heaven for his housekeeper, Lilley Smith. The plump, plain young housekeeper, who’d returned three days ago from her vacation, looked nothing like her distant cousin Théo. At twenty-three, she had light brown hair and brown eyes, was motherly and kind, and best of all she adored babies almost as much as they adored her.
If not for Lilley bustling around the castle, tidying the baby’s toys behind them or racing to fold laundry or bring out the picnic basket, who knew what insanity might have occurred.
Actually, Carrie knew exactly what would have happened. Sometime when she and Théo were just sitting outside with the baby, lying on a blanket beneath the warm summer sun and feeling the hot breeze blow through the sunflowers and vineyards, she would have broken the silence in the most disastrous way possible—by blurting out that she’d fallen back in love with him.
There could no longer be any doubt. Even when she’d hated him she’d never stopped loving him completely. Now, passion and longing infused her whole being, practically shining like light out of her fingertips and toes. She loved him.
Carrie’s heart turned over in her chest as she watched Théo, so masculine and powerful, carefully holding the tiny baby in his footsie pajamas. Henry was beaming up at Théo as father and son smiled at each other. And she watched it with a sinking feeling in her chest. She’d been stupid enough to fall in love with Théo. How could she?
If he found out, he would leave her. And worse: he would leave their baby.
Once, that would have been exactly what she wanted. But not anymore. Not now that she saw the father-son bond growing every day. Was it possible she’d been wrong about Théo? Could he truly be a good husband and father, as long as she played by his rules?
The thought was like a razor blade as Théo moved toward her, leaning to kiss the top of her head in the early-morning light. She felt that tender kiss all over her body.
“Bonjour, chérie,” he said softly.
“Good morning,” she whispered miserably.
The baby heard her voice and immediately turned to her with a whimper and whine. Théo grinned. “I think he’s hungry. He’s a growing boy.”