The Secret Baby Scandal(24)

And she wanted him. Wanted this. Forever.

The dream she ached for with every cell in her body and every longing of her heart felt more true than reality. She wanted the three of them to be a family.

But Théo didn’t love them. Correction: he didn’t love her. Carrie looked down at her breakfast tray. She couldn’t accept a life permanently without love, a marriage that was more like a business than a romantic blending of hearts and souls. She couldn’t! Especially when she knew he would soon tire of being a husband and father.

But would he? She’d thought he’d be fed up with them days ago. Instead, his attention to her and affection for Henry had only seemed to grow.

“We’ll leave you to have your breakfast, ma belle.”

She looked up to discover Théo had risen to his feet, cradling their baby against his tanned, muscular chest.

“What? Why?” she blurted out. “You don’t have to leave!”

“Enjoy some peace and quiet,” he said, smiling down at her. “Have a peaceful breakfast. Take a long shower. Have some time to yourself—as much as you need. Come downstairs when you’re ready to start the day. We have a busy day planned.” He grinned down at the baby. “Now, let’s go downstairs so you can say good morning to Lilley, shall we, mon petit?”

“A busy day today?” she called after him. “What do you mean?”

But he didn’t stop to answer. She took another bite of almond croissant and looked around her bedroom. It was beautiful, with clean lines and a lovely view from the window. A gauzy canopy hung from the wrought-iron bed frame. But, best of all, when she grabbed the pillow beside hers she could still smell the musky, clean scent of him…

Exhaling, she turned from the pillow. She took a last bite of croissant, then stopped chewing as she stared out blankly toward the windows showing wide fields of sunflowers.

If Théo could truly be a good father, if he wouldn’t ultimately tire of having a family and a home and toss them aside to become a globetrotting workaholic again, she had no choice but to marry him. Any decent mother would sacrifice her own life in an instant for a stable home for her child. She had to put her heart on ice. For Henry’s sake.

For Henry’s sake. Carrie scoffed a laugh at her own soul’s sly treachery. It wasn’t just for her baby’s sake, but her own. She was finding it almost impossible to imagine living without Théo now. She wanted to be his wife, to sleep in his bed every night. She wanted it more than anything.

But how could she accept Théo’s terms and be in a loveless marriage for life? How could she bury her love for Théo deep inside her soul, so deep that he would never suspect?

It wasn’t in Carrie’s nature to keep a secret. She had no talent for lying. Especially since every moment her love for him tortured her, begging for release.#p#分页标题#e#

If she married Théo and he discovered she’d once again broken his only rule, he would despise her. It could only end in despair. Even if Théo remained in their marriage, his manner toward her would always be distant, or worse—full of pity.

Was that the home she wanted for Henry? Caught between a cold, rejecting father and a weeping, broken-hearted mother?

No matter how much she yearned to be Théo’s wife, she could not surrender to her desire. Or to his constant, unrelenting pursuit.

Pushing her breakfast tray aside, she rose from the bed and crossed the cool tile floor to the en suite bathroom. She took a long, hot shower and closed her eyes, lost in thought and grief. Coming out of the steamy shower, her skin all flushed and pink, she hesitated over the clothes in her closet, then selected a simple sundress.

She brushed her hair, allowing the dark waves to tumble over her shoulders to dry in the warm air. She took her time—a novelty she hadn’t enjoyed since her baby was born. She took a whole hour to herself, procrastinating as long as possible before she finally left her bedroom, squaring her shoulders and repeating to herself, I do not love him. I do not love him.

Coming down the sweeping stairs, she saw Lilley disappearing into the main hallway of the château, singing a children’s song in her sweet, slightly off-tune voice to the baby cuddled in one arm, while carrying folded towels in the other. Carrie smiled and opened her mouth to call out.

Then she saw Théo at the bottom of the stairs.

He was pacing, talking on the phone in rapid French. He’d showered and was now dressed in a dark silk button-down shirt and black trousers. He looked sophisticated, sexy. He looked…completely out of her league.