Saskia tried to concentrate on the drive, but all she could think about was the fact that only a few months ago Malachi had given her the most intimate, passionate weekend of her life—which was vaguely sad in itself, given how many years she’d been engaged to Andy—and there hadn’t been one single uncomfortable moment between the two of them. Yet now they were walking on eggshells around each other.
Eventually, she couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘So where are we going, then?’
‘I thought I might take you somewhere civilised.’
‘Civilised?’
She feared she liked the sound of that far more than she should.
‘A restaurant.’
‘Like...a date?’ It was out before she could stop it.
He cast her another impenetrable look. ‘More like somewhere we can talk. Somewhere neutral.’
‘Out of the city?’ she noted.
And not at his apartment.
Who was it he didn’t trust? Her? Or himself? She suspected it was sadly the former.
He didn’t answer immediately. Instead he pulled off the road and onto a small Tarmac clearing.
A helicopter stood a hundred or so metres away.
‘You could say it’s out of the city...’
‘That’s for us?’ Saskia schooled her features, ignoring the goosebumps that travelled up her arms.
‘It is.’
‘And that’s the pilot?’ She glanced at the man sitting in a car on the other side of the Tarmac.
‘No, that’s Bill. He’s just been looking after the heli for me.’
Her stomach flip-flopped in anticipation.
‘Let me guess—you’re the pilot.’
Malachi lifted one easy shoulder, then set about helping her up into the passenger seat.
‘Trust me...’ he murmured.
The startling thing was that she did.
She couldn’t help but thrill at it all, even as she knew she was being ridiculous. And part of her whispered that he seemed to be going to a lot of effort for someone he no longer wanted to marry.
The smarting she’d felt earlier eased a little.
Which only served to panic her all the more.
Frantically, she tried to remind herself that Malachi was all about practicality. She told herself that he’d probably chosen the helicopter so she couldn’t keep wittering in his ear, the way she had in the car. She instructed herself that there was nothing romantic about this moment.
Nothing at all.
It was a shame her body—and her soaring heart—didn’t want to agree. All they wanted to do was revel in the fact that he wasn’t walking away from her and their baby after all.
* * *