“Which I do.”
She nodded. “So what will they think about you having a baby with Eric’s sister? One of their employees. A woman who, by the way, is considerably older than you.”
“You keep mentioning your age. Does it really bother you that you’re thirty-seven and I’m thirty-two? It’s not that great a difference, you know. And they are, after all, only numbers.”
“I know. But I can’t help but think your family won’t approve.”
“I won’t lie to you, Cecilia, they’re going to think I’ve lost my mind. At first. As I’ve told you, they want me to get married. Start a family in the traditional way. They don’t understand why I won’t let them fix me up with a nice girl with the right connections. They’ll understand my wanting a child—after all, I’ve been raised to appreciate the value of family—but they won’t believe I’m going about it the right way.”
It was what she had expected, of course, but still…
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, then brushed a kiss across her forehead. “They’ll come around. If there’s one thing my grandmother loves, it’s babies. And Dad will be tickled to be a grandfather, even if it isn’t exactly the way he had envisioned. To be honest, he has begun to wonder aloud if he’s ever going to have grandkids.”
“Still—”
“Cecilia. It’s my life. My choice. For once my family will just have to accept that. And they will.”
Once again she thought she heard the faintest trace of rebellion in his voice, as if this was the first time in a very long while that he had risked openly defying his family. As if he rather enjoyed the prospect.
“And if you do find that nice girl with the ‘right’ connections that you want to marry?” she couldn’t help asking, keeping her voice carefully neutral. “What do you expect her to think about you having a child?”
“I have no interest in getting married, can’t think of anyone I would want to marry, but if it should ever happen that I meet someone I feel that way about, she’ll just have to accept the decisions I made before I met her. The same holds true for you, you know. You may well meet someone, yourself….”
She was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. “Not likely. I’m too…well, I won’t say old, but too set in my ways to be interested in marriage now. I like making my own decisions. Handling my own problems. Setting my own priorities.”
“Some of that will change when you have a child.”
“True. But I’ll still be in charge of my own household.”
“Your marriage must have been a very unhappy one.”
She hadn’t realized she had revealed quite so much. “Yes, it was. But I’m not bitter or angry. Just realistic.”
He shifted to lean over her, his expression both grave and tender at the same time. “Any man who would make you unhappy—who was not respectful of your needs and your dreams, who tried to break your valiant and independent spirit, who didn’t value you for the strong, capable woman you are—was not worth the time you wasted with him.”
She grinned and slid her arms around his neck. “You know what? You are absolutely right.”
A gleam of satisfaction and renewed desire warmed his beautiful eyes. “I usually am,” he murmured as he lowered his head to hers.
Cecilia refused to spend the night. It was quite late when Geoff escorted her to his door. “Are you sure you won’t let me follow you home?”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I’ve got the kind of job that often takes me out in the middle of the night, remember?”
“You could call me when you get there—just so I’ll know you’re safe.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t start practicing your fathering skills on me, Geoff. I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.”
He laughed and looped an arm around her shoulders for a quick hug. “I’ve never met anyone quite as stubbornly independent as you—with the possible exception of my sister. So will we see each other tomorrow?”
“I have plans for lunch, but I’m free tomorrow evening. Unless you have other plans?”
He shook his head. “How about taking in a movie? I haven’t seen any of the big summer blockbusters this year. It’s been forever since I’ve been to a theater for some popcorn and a couple of hours of mindless entertainment.”
She chuckled. “Actually, I did sort of want to see that new superhero film. Eric loved it, but his taste in film is sometimes questionable, so it could be awful.”
“Let’s go find out, shall we? I have to admit, I was hoping to see that one, too. Have I mentioned I had a serious comic book addiction as a kid?”
“No, you didn’t.”