‘When I said “out of the city” you didn’t tell me you meant out of the country!’
Saskia savoured
another delicious mouthful of the sumptuous winterberry soufflé—the final course of her two-Michelin-star meal.
The day had been surprisingly pleasant, given their conversation a few hours earlier in the car. At some point over the English Channel, they had clearly decided that the frosty atmosphere wasn’t going to help the situation, so by the time Malachi had landed the helicopter they’d both been trying hard to lighten the mood.
She had to admit that the incredible venue had significantly helped matters.
‘I’ve dreamed of visiting France, and this restaurant, for years.’
‘I remember,’ he told her, his eyes holding hers without wavering. ‘You saw it in a magazine that weekend we were together, and told me you’d heard of this place when you first moved to the UK. You said that you and Anouk had always talked about visiting it.’
‘You remember that?’ She stared at him.
‘I do.’
She cocked her head to one side. ‘Well, I also remember reading that it’s always booked up months and months in advance.’
‘An opening became available.’
He shrugged it off but she wasn’t fooled.
He’d done all this for her. This definitely wasn’t a way of brushing her or the baby off. Relief, and another emotion, uncoiled within her.
‘I thought it would be nice for us to talk somewhere like this. Besides, you seem to be enjoying the menu.’
Saskia smoothed the frown from her face before it could take hold properly.
‘Is that a backhanded compliment?’ She forced a lightness into her tone, as if the words didn’t really bother her. ‘I suppose I could pretend to be one of those people who push lettuce leaves around their plate and claim not to be hungry, but I’m afraid that has never been me.’
‘I can’t imagine you ever pretending to be anything you aren’t.’
He’d surprised her by saying that. And it sent a warm glow through her even as she schooled herself not to react.
‘But, for the record, it was a straightforward compliment.’
The glow intensified. ‘Good to know...’ She had no idea how she managed to sound nonchalant.
‘Still, I didn’t bring you here to bandy about compliments. I brought you because I want to start over. Talk about our baby.’
‘And you want to be part of our lives?’ she asked carefully, not wanting him to realise she needed more reassurance right now.
‘I believe I said that earlier.’ He frowned. ‘I’m trying to be understanding here. To bend a little. And believe me, zvyozdochka, I am not a man accustomed to having to bend. I suggest you don’t take it as a sign that you can try to exclude me from any decisions pertaining to our baby.’
Relief punched through her. And a little bit of her old fighting spirit.
Andy had crushed it by his betrayal, but it appeared as though her each and every encounter with Malachi went some way to restoring it. As if he was somehow...good for her.
‘I wasn’t going to exclude you from anything,’ she managed haughtily, in an effort not to let him see what she was really feeling. ‘But if you’re no longer insisting on marriage, how exactly do you envisage things between us working out?’
* * *
How indeed? Malachi wondered, and not for the first time.
In truth, he hadn’t got that far in his plan. For a man who usually approached business ventures like a chess game, always making sure he was several moves ahead, he was astonishingly poorly prepared when it came to Saskia and his baby.
It was as though the moment she entered into any thought process he couldn’t even see straight, let alone plan straight.