He was smiling. ‘You don’t?’
‘That’s not what I mean. I don’t want you to think that I—’
‘Shh.’ He pulled her into his arms and he could feel the pounding of her heart against the race of his own as he buried his lips in her hair. ‘Contraception hasn’t been my number one focus lately. It just seemed less important. I’ve probably been careless.’ He smiled against her thick black curls. ‘Or just too damned relaxed.’
She drew back and searched his face, dazzled by the blaze of his blue, blue eyes. ‘You’re saying...?’
‘I’m saying that it feels right,’ he said huskily. ‘Just like you feel right. You always did.’
‘And you think... You think we’ll be okay parents? You’re not scared?’
‘Of course I’m scared,’ he admitted slowly, in a way he would never have done to anyone else. But Lina had made him realise that it was okay to express your doubts and fears, and that being strong didn’t mean you couldn’t also be vulnerable. He cleared his throat. ‘But we know what we do want for our baby,’ he husked. ‘And, more importantly, what we don’t want. And we’ve got each other, Lina. We can help each other along the way.’
‘I love you, Salvatore di Luca. Do you know that? I love you so very much.’
Her face was wet as they kissed and when he drew back and wiped her tears away, he shot a calculating glance at his watch. ‘I think we could allow the car to wait a little longer.’ His hands on her shoulders, he looked deep into her eyes. ‘Don’t you?’
‘That depends,’ she said, a little breathlessly. ‘On what you had in mind.’
‘You know exactly what I have in mind. I want you. And I want you right now.’ The words came out ragged. Emotional and deliberate. It was a statement he’d made many times before but with Lina it meant something different. It meant way more than sex.
It was all about love.
* * *