The words of their vows rang through his head: ‘With my body I thee worship.’ And without further ado he scooped her up and carried her to the bedroom.
* * *
Holly opened her eyes, turned to look for Stefan and saw the empty bed. Her languorous happiness started to fade and for a moment she clung to it, allowed herself the memory of the previous night. Laughter, joy, passion, gentleness... The swoop and soar of desire and fulfilment.
Her face flushed and she suddenly wondered exactly how to face him. But she had to—she had plans for the day...plans she was determined to see through.
Swinging her legs out of bed, she felt gratitude that he had discreetly exited, saving her an undignified scramble for clothes. Far better to face him clothed. Unless, of course, he had left because he was worried she’d request a replay. What if she hadn’t measured up? Hadn’t been woman enough? No—that was foolish. Last night had been magical—she knew it.
Yet that certainty dipped as she entered the living area. He looked so gorgeous and yet so remote that for a crazy moment she wondered if she’d imagined the previous night.
‘Hey...’
‘Hey.’
Misgivings continued to smite her. There was a grim set to his mouth, and his lips strained up into a smile that did not match the cool glint in his eyes.
‘We need to talk.’
‘Sure.’
His fingers drummed against his thigh and she could sense his frustration.
‘Last night... I’m sorry... It shouldn’t have happened like that.’
The onset of hurt began to pool inside her tummy, and she focused on keeping all emotion from her face and her voice. ‘How should it have happened?’
‘I should have checked that it was really what you wanted.’
‘I think it was pretty clear what I wanted.’
‘I meant in the longer term. We decided that we didn’t want this relationship to become physical. Last night it did—without either of us considering the consequences.’
‘We used protection.’
‘That isn’t what I meant. I meant the consequences to our marriage of convenience, to our deal.’
‘So you regret last night?’ Damn it, she hoped that hadn’t been a tremor in her voice.
‘No, I don’t. But I do regret that we didn’t figure out the rules first. Now we need to decide what happens from here.’
What did she want? Right now her body still strummed in the aftermath of the previous hours, and it was telling her in no uncertain terms that it really didn’t want to give up that sort of pleasure.
‘You said to me that you believe relationships with a time limit work—relationships based around physical fulfilment and a bit of sparkle over the dinner table occasionally. We could do that.’
‘And you said that that sort of relationship wasn’t for you. I think you may have mentioned “clinical sex”.’
‘Yes... Well, it turns out I may have been wrong about that. Turns out clinical sex is right up my street.’
Her words pulled the glimpse of a smile from him before the grimness returned.
‘This isn’t about that, though. The point is this is not the type of relationship you want and I knew that. So last night should not have happened. You are looking for a real husband, a father for your children, and I am not that person.’
‘I know that—and I knew that last night. If I hadn’t wanted to go ahead I would have said so. You are right that I want a real marriage and a family, a man who shares my values and beliefs. You don’t—and I get that. But right now you are in my life and we do have some sort of attraction thing going on.’
She hauled in a breath.
‘So last night happened and I don’t regret it. As you said, the question is where do we go from here?’