Marooned with the Millionaire

His voice trailed off as he wondered what exactly he was asking.

Clearly she was wondering the same. ‘Would you want me to stay regardless of whether or not I’m pregnant?’

Yes. The word exploded in his mind and he shook his head. Of course he didn’t want April to stay. Obviously he wouldn’t mind, because it would make no difference to him. Could make no difference to him.

‘That would be up to you,’ he said evenly. ‘But maybe we should wait and see what the test says before we decide anything.’ He rose to his feet. ‘Now, let’s fly that kite.’

As he unpacked the multi-coloured kite he was tantalisingly aware of her proximity: the light scent of orange blossom, the soft silk of her auburn hair so close as they bent over the kite.

‘Would you like to go first?’

‘Absolutely.’

Soon they were racing across the meadow, both of them whooping with joy as after a few false starts the breeze caught the kite and it swooped ever upward. April reeled out the string with an expert flick of her wrist. It bobbed high overhead with a jaunty dance and they came to a halt, breathless with laughter.

‘That’s how life should be,’ he said. ‘Like the flight of a kite, with the freedom to swoop and soar at will.’

‘Only it isn’t at will, is it?’ she returned. ‘It’s at the whim of the wind or the person who pulls the string.’

‘So you think it’s better to be in a cage of your own making?’

‘Yes. At least that way you can minimise the risk of plummeting down to your destruction, or getting tangled in a tree, or quite simply being abandoned by the string-puller.’

‘Or you can learn to ride the wind to the best of your ability and live your life with all the highs and the lows.’

April sighed. ‘OK. We’re not really talking about the kite any more, are we?’

‘No. We’re talking about you. You say you want your life to remain as it is, but that way you shut out the possibility of so much—so many opportunities. The chance to write more serious articles, the chance to change other people’s lives, perhaps the chance to love and have a family.’

‘I told you. I don’t want that. You of all people should understand that. You’ve ruled it out for yourself.’

‘That’s different. You did want it once, or you would never have married Dean in the first place. You did believe in love and happy-ever-after, and I don’t want one man to ruin that dream for you. I don’t want you to be caged in by his actions, to give up on the future you deserve.’

‘I appreciate that. I do. But that happy-ever-after—it’s not for me.’

‘I’m sorry, April. I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want to ruin the day.’ He could see sadness in her green eyes, an ache that made him want to hold her in his arms and somehow make the pain go away.

‘You haven’t ruined it. Not at all.’

Green eyes wide, she edged closer to him, frowned and then swiftly tied the kite string to the branch of a small sapling. Facing him, her head tipped up to meet his gaze full-on, she placed her hands on his shoulders.

‘I promise. It’s been an incredible day, Marcus, and one I will always remember.’

Standing on tiptoe, she kissed his cheek. A tendril of her hair whispered against his cheek, her scent tilted his senses—and he couldn’t help himself. Gently he cupped her jaw and lowered his lips over hers in a kiss so sweetly sensual his head spun in sheer giddiness.

He didn’t know how long they stood there, lips locked in the flower-strewn meadow, surrounded by the gentle balm of the breeze and the gentle call of the birds, the kite still dancing above them in the cerulean sky. But finally she broke away.

‘The perfect end to a perfect day,’ she said, with a smile that caught at his chest.

* * *

April paced the lounge, unable to sleep, unable to do anything. That kiss had been the perfect end to a perfect day. But now the day was over and night had fallen and soon—oh-so-soon—she would know the answer to the question that had pounded her brain for days. The darkness outside, the deep midnight-black sky with its twinkle of stars did nothing to soothe her.

How she wished she could stare at those stars and they could tell her the future.

The click of the door alerted her and she turned to see Marcus silhouetted in the doorway.

‘Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. That’s why I came in here. To pace.’