The Virgin's Debt to Pay

‘Would you have got rid of it?’

Nessa’s hands automatically went to her belly and the answer was immediate and instinctive. ‘No.’

Luc seemed to relax slightly. He paced away from the bed for a moment, running his hand through his hair. Nessa’s gaze couldn’t help taking in his unconsciously athletic grace, even now.

He turned to face her again. ‘I won’t pretend I wasn’t shocked by the news, and I can’t blame you for thinking I wouldn’t welcome it. I’ve never made any secret of the fact I don’t want to have a family. I never wanted to be a father because my own was absent, so how would I know what to do?

‘But now,’ he said, ‘things are different.’

Nessa’s mouth was suddenly dry and her heart thumped. ‘What do you mean?’

She had no warning for when Luc said in a very determined tone, ‘I think we should get married.’

CHAPTER TEN

NESSA JUST LOOKED at Luc in shock. Finally she asked, ‘Are you sure you didn’t receive a head injury?’

He shook his head. He stood at the end of the bed, hands on the rail. ‘I’m serious, Nessa. We would be having a very different conversation right now if you hadn’t lost the baby.’

Sharp pain lanced her. ‘Do you think it was my fault? I didn’t know... I felt nauseous all last week but I thought it was just—’ She stopped. She’d thought it was due to emotional turmoil. Not pregnancy.

Luc came and sat down near the bed again. ‘No, Nessa. Of course it wasn’t your fault. The doctor said these things happen. But the fact is that we almost had a baby and if you were pregnant there is no way we wouldn’t be getting married. No child of mine will be born out of wedlock. I was born that way and I won’t inflict the same unsure existence on my child.’

Nessa was desperately trying to read Luc, to absorb what he was saying. ‘But I’m not pregnant, so why on earth would you want to marry me?’

As if he couldn’t be contained, Luc got up and paced again. He stopped. ‘Because this experience has made me face up to the fact that I’m not as averse to the thought of family as I thought I was. Having a child, an heir, it’s something I’d always rejected. But I can see the benefits now.’

Nessa shrank back into the pillows. ‘That all sounds very clinical.’

Luc came to the end of the bed again. ‘I would love it to the best of my ability. I would give it a good life, every opportunity. Brothers, sisters. Like your family.’

It. Something in Nessa shrivelled up.

‘What about me?’ she forced herself to ask. ‘Would you love me to the best of your ability?’

He waved a dismissive hand. ‘This isn’t about love—that’s why it would be a success. We’d be going into this with eyes open and no illusions. I still want you, Nessa. And I can offer you a commitment now.’

He went on. ‘We’re a good team. These last few weeks have been a success for both of us professionally. We can expand on that, create an empire.’

‘Just a few days ago you told me the novelty had worn off.’

‘I didn’t want to hurt you.’

‘Well, you did,’ Nessa said bluntly. She felt sick all over again at this evidence of just how far he was willing to go in a bid to achieve his ultimate ambition.

‘As flattered as I am that you would consider me a good choice to be your wife and mother of your children, I’m afraid I can’t accept.’

Luc’s brows snapped together. ‘Why not?’

‘Because I don’t love you.’ Liar.

He didn’t miss a beat. ‘We don’t need love. We have amazing chemistry.’

‘Which you said would fizzle out,’ Nessa pointed out.

A muscle pulsed in Luc’s jaw. ‘I underestimated our attraction. I don’t see it fizzling out any time soon.’

‘But it will,’ Nessa all but wailed. ‘And then what? You take mistresses while our children see their parents grow more distant?’