Skye’s mother had dated a millionaire for a while. Skye mostly remembered him for the yacht he’d had moored in Cannes. And for how much fun she’d had exploring the town with the kids she’d met from the surrounding streets and the children of the marina workers.
Skye remembered that he had been a nice man, if not very interested in her. The relationship hadn’t lasted long, though. He’d wanted her mother to commit, and as soon as she’d started to feel stifled and controlled they’d left.
Skye had learnt from an early age not to get attached to anyone. The first few times when she and her mother had lived somewhere and then left suddenly it had devastated her to leave her friends behind, or adults she’d become close to. The secret was never to allow anyone to get too close.
The fact that Lazaro had managed to sneak under her guard to such an extent that she’d let him be the first man to make love to her was not something she wanted to investigate. She told herself that it had been purely physical...that her virginity had been weighing on her. It had been something she’d wanted to get rid of and he’d happened to come along when she was ready. That was all.
Liar, whispered a voice.
She ignored it.
But she’d never been in this kind of situation before—where, no matter what happened between them, Lazaro would be in her life for ever, thanks to this baby growing in her belly.
She told herself she wasn’t afraid of getting emotionally attached to Lazaro. Their one night of crazy passion had clearly been an aberration, and the man had told her he didn’t believe in love. She was too smart to risk losing her own heart. That had been packed up tight a long time ago.
All that was important now was the baby. And she had to admit that he did have a case. She didn’t have ties to Dublin. No more than to anywhere else. She didn’t have extended family. And her job was a decent one, in a good restaurant, but it was hardly putting her on the ladder to get anywhere.
In truth, she’d really just needed to get some space away from Lazaro. Put her thoughts together. Make him see that she wouldn’t just follow his orders like some kind of robot.
Her skin prickled and her pulse-rate quickened even before she saw him. Damn, said a little voice in her head. She looked up and there he was. Standing in the doorway, uncaring that he was blocking it. Scanning the room from behind dark shades.
His head stopped moving when he spotted h
er. He took the shades off and Skye could have sworn she heard every woman and most men in the place sigh audibly as he cut a swathe through the line of people waiting for their coffee.
He sat down opposite her, long legs stretched out, trapping her. ‘Had enough time to think? You’ve been here for an hour.’
Skye scowled at him. And then she admitted defeat. ‘I have thought things through, yes. And I’ll go along with your suggestion. For now. Because I think it’s best for the baby. After all, we need to get to know one another.’
A wary look came into his eyes at that. Intriguing, thought Skye.
He leant forward. ‘I’ll have an assistant go to Dublin to sort out your apartment and pack things up. We can put your furniture et cetera into storage and ship everything else.’
She flushed. After a lifetime of travelling light, all her worldly possessions could fit inside two large suitcases. ‘I really don’t have that much, and the furniture belongs to the landlord.’
‘Fine. I’ll have one of my PAs come round this afternoon to go through with you what needs to be done.’ He stood up. ‘Ready?’
Skye felt seriously disorientated for a second. She hadn’t imagined things would move in this direction or so swiftly. She’d thought she’d be back in Dublin by now, dealing with the huge life-change coming down the tracks towards her.
And then Lazaro held out a hand, and Skye’s chest tightened with a surge of emotion she couldn’t control. For a second she had the sensation that she wasn’t alone. For the first time in a long time. It was seriously disconcerting. And seductive.
Very quickly, though, she told herself that it didn’t mean anything. A lot had happened and she was feeling vulnerable.
Skye ignored Lazaro’s outstretched hand for fear that touching him would expose her in some way and stood up, saying, ‘I’m fine, thanks.’
She preceded him out of the coffee shop and back into the sunshine.
He stopped at the entrance to the hotel and said, ‘I have to go to my office for a couple of hours. I’ll send one of my PAs over. We leave for Andalucía tomorrow morning.’
‘Okay.’
Without looking at him, Skye went inside and back up to the apartment. Once Lazaro’s PA arrived, and she gave him instructions on how to pack up her Dublin life, she knew she was officially handing herself over to someone else.
After living at the mercy of her mother’s whims for so long, Skye’s independence was very important to her. But now—She put a hand on her belly. Lazaro was right. She didn’t have just herself to think of any more. There was a baby on the way. And that baby had to come first. In this, at least, Skye would be different from her mother, who had only ever thought of herself.
At that moment Skye heard a ringing sound, and plucked her mobile phone out of her bag. She saw the name on the screen and smiled ruefully, before answering. ‘Hi, Mum...’
CHAPTER FOUR