Consequences of a Hot Havana Night

She was wearing the same dress she’d worn the other day, and its simplicity combined with her loose hair gave her a breakable quality.

‘How are you feeling?’

She stared up at him. ‘Fine. Just a little tired, really. It’s probably the heat.’

He studied her face. Her cheeks were flushed, just as they had been when she’d kissed him in the club—and, feeling his body respond to the memory of where such a kiss could lead, he gritted his teeth.

Persuading Kitty to move in with him had been a compromise—a first step towards getting her to change her mind about marrying him. Only he was starting to wonder if it had been a good idea after all. Being around her was torment enough, but after the passion they’d shared this awkward formality was like a slap in the face.

Pushing aside his frustration, he glanced up at the sky. ‘It’ll rain soon, and then it’ll be cooler. Or we could take a shower. There’s a waterfall just down here.’

He held back some overhanging branches and Kitty brushed past him. He heard her soft intake of breath and tucked it away, gratified by her reaction but not quite ready to admit how gratified.

He stared at the waterfall, trying to picture it through her eyes, to feel her wonder as she gazed at the low outcrop of rock and the gentle cascade o

f water tumbling into the shimmering sapphire pool.

‘It’s beautiful. So, is this part of your business empire?’ Her eyes were clear and grey, but she looked more nervous than curious.

He shrugged. ‘In a way. Obviously the business needs cane, and I like knowing the provenance of my raw materials, but having all of this lets me play at being a farmer.’ A drop of rain hit the water, then another, and another.

‘Here, take my hand.’ He led her up to where the rocks overhung the clear turquoise water. ‘We can wait here.’ He took a breath. ‘And while we’re waiting we can talk about what happens next.’

Her expression shifted minutely, her mouth stiffening. ‘I thought this was what happened next.’ She spoke carefully, as though she was confirming a booking at a hotel or restaurant.

‘It was, but now that we’ve had the scan I thought we should think about what we want to tell our families.’ He wasn’t going to demand that they marry—not after what had happened last time—but their living together hadn’t answered all the questions raised by the pregnancy.

There was a silence, and then she cleared her throat. ‘The truth, I suppose.’ She bit her lip.

He felt his eyebrows draw together in a frown. He’d assumed that she’d already rung her home, but clearly she hadn’t. That surprised him, and it stung too—more than he cared to admit.

‘Don’t you want to tell your family?’

‘I do...it’s just that I don’t know how to tell them.’ Her voice was taut, stretched tight like the string of a kite.

‘Are you worried they’re going to be upset?’

She looked up at him, her grey eyes wide with confusion. ‘Upset? No, of course not.’ Her voice was shaking. ‘They’ll be delighted...’ She hesitated. ‘They know how much I wanted to get pregnant...how long Jimmy and I tried. All they want is for me to be happy.’

‘So what’s the problem?’ He paused, remembering her shuttered expression when he’d talked to her on the beach. ‘Look, I know how it must have sounded earlier, but I’m not questioning my paternity. That’s not why I arranged the scan. In fact, I didn’t arrange it. The clinic suggested it and I thought it was standard.’

‘I know.’ She lowered her head. ‘It’s not you.’

César took a breath. He was caught between the need to know more and the need to keep his distance, but if he wanted to keep his distance then why was he even here? If he’d meant what he’d said then, whatever this was, he couldn’t leave her to deal with it alone.

His mind inched forward and then stopped, teetering on the edge of a new and previously unconsidered outcome. ‘I thought you said you didn’t have any regrets. Have you changed your mind? About the baby?’

He spoke calmly, but he felt pain saying the words out loud—a pain that was equalled by his relief as she shook her head.

‘No—no!’

She looked up, her eyes wide with shock and denial, and he could hear the strain at the edges of her voice.

‘I want this baby.’

Her shoulders hunched, and he stared down at her, then slowly reached out and took her hand. He wanted to help, or at least to understand.

‘So what’s the problem?’