“I didn’t?” she asked, stunned by the concept that he would have welcomed her presence and that of their daughter at any time.
“No. I realize now that I had made it seem like to you that I saw you as separate from my business life, but I don’t. Everything is for and about you and Helena and our unborn son now.”
“But…”
“If you want the truth, it hurt that you never came to stay, especially those times I had to spend more than a night in the city.” He frowned, swallowed, looked away and then back at her, like he was making himself man up. “I thought it was just too much trouble to you to come.”
“But I didn’t know you wanted me there.”
“When I first bought the villa, I had visions of us sharing our time between there and the apartment.”
“But then I came up pregnant and was way too nauseated to travel into the city.”
“When you started to feel better physically, you never brought the possibility up.”
“Neither did you.”
“You’d stopped being as affectionate. I thought you were going through pregnancy stuff and I didn’t want to push.”
“But after I had the baby?”
“That first year, she was so fragile and tiny.”
“And you didn’t like to think of her in the helicopter.”
“You either.”
“But you used it every day to commute.”
“Fear can be irrational.” He sighed. “When I was with you in the helicopter, I was not afraid for your safety.”
She nodded, fascinated by this insight into how her husband had thought. “Then it became habit, for us not to come to Athens.” And that explained why when she flew into Athens with him, she was always taken back to their villa via car.
“A bad one.”
“Yes, a very bad one.” She had to agree. “Thank you for telling me you wanted us there. It means a lot.”
“I honestly did not know it had to be said.” And he was clearly uncomfortable giving voice to what he might consider needs that showed him up as weak in some way.
She wanted to reward him, so she kissed him and was totally unprepared for the tsunami of passion that would unleash.
Lying naked, sweaty and so satisfied with pleasure her body was still buzzing with it, Polly snuggled into her husband’s side. “That was unexpected.”
He mumbled something.
With great effort, she lifted her head and looked up at him. “What did you
say?”
“You kissed me.” Color burnished his taut cheekbones.
“We kiss all the time.” In bed. And lately, out of it as well.
“I kiss you and you respond.”
But she didn’t kiss him. Emotion swamped over Polly in hot and cold waves and not all of it was good. She’d withheld her naturally affectionate nature because she had no longer been sure of him.
She’d thought he hadn’t even noticed. She’d been wrong.