For once he wasn’t going to be selfish and he wasn’t going to remind himself how often he had sworn never to surrender his freedom again. In any case he owed Jemima a debt. In the grip of ignorance and lacerating bitterness at her betrayal of trust he had seduced her and she hadn’t deserved that. Virginity had to matter to a woman who had reached almost twenty-four years of age without experimenting and he had taken it from her. Carelessly, thoughtlessly, cruelly.
‘I took advantage of you last night,’ Luciano breathed in a driven undertone. ‘I was angry. I was drunk.’
Her pale blue eyes widened and she set down her cup with a sharp little snap. ‘No, nobody took advantage of anyone last night. I’m an adult and I made a choice.’
‘You weren’t in any fit state to make a choice.’
Anger flared in her mutinous gaze. ‘I chose you because I’ve never been so attracted to anyone before. I’m not proud that I was that shallow but it was my decision!’
Silence lay thick and heavy between them in the heat and she shifted uneasily in her seat, embarrassed by her own vehemence. Had she really had to admit that she had never wanted any man the way she had wanted him? Didn’t that sound a bit pathetic?
‘The odd thing about decisions is that when you make major ones you’re always convinced that you’ll never change your mind. After my wife died in the crash I decided that I would never marry again,’ Luciano confessed tautly, unsettling her with that admission. ‘I did not want to share my life with another woman but I was grieving for the child I had lost and I did still want to be a parent. That is why I came up with the idea of a surrogacy agreement. I thought it would be a simple business contract and problem free, but I didn’t count on dealing with a woman like your sister.’
Jemima heaved a sigh but said nothing. By running away with Nicky after the birth, Julie had changed everyone’s lives and there was no getting away from that. She was, however, far more interested in wondering why Luciano had decided never to remarry. Had that been a tribute to the wife he loved? Gigi Nocella had been a gorgeous and very famous movie star. What woman could possibly follow in such gilded footsteps?
‘You have had complete responsibility for my son since he was only a few days old,’ Luciano pointed out.
‘Yes.’ Jemima snapped back to the present and shook irritably free of her futile speculation about Luciano’s past. ‘Julie went back to London to work. She told me that she earned good money working in PR and I had no reason to doubt her. I continued my teaching job and placed Nicky in a nursery nearby. Julie didn’t help with the expense and it was a challenge to afford it on my salary and my savings were soon gone. My parents were struggling too, so it made sense for me to give up my apartment and move home again.’
‘You’ve made sacrifices to look after my son,’ Luciano acknowledged grimly. ‘And you have looked after him well. I believe that you love him and that he loves you.’
‘I couldn’t help loving him.’ Jemima sighed.
‘But he’s not your child.’
Jemima grimaced at that unnecessary reminder. ‘That didn’t come into it for me.’
Luciano continued to study her with brooding intensity. ‘My son may not be your child now but he could be...’
Jemima stared back at him in bewilderment. ‘What on earth are you saying?’ she framed uncertainly.
‘I’m asking you to marry me to become my son’s mother and my wife,’ Luciano clarified with silken sibilance, his dark eyes glimmering golden as a lion’s in the sunlight. ‘It makes sense—in this situation it makes the very best sense. Think about it and you’ll see that.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
JEMIMA WAS IN SHOCK.
Luciano Vitale was asking her to marry him. How was that possible? She had joined him at breakfast expecting to be told when she would be flying home and instead he had proposed marriage. Her lashes fluttered down to screen her eyes.
‘Nicky’s mother?’
‘And the mother of any other children that we might have together,’ Luciano slotted in smoothly, catching her startled upward glance and looking steadily back at her. ‘I’m talking about a normal marriage and a family. Be assured of that.’
Jemima felt rather like a mouse cornered by a cat. His brilliant dark eyes sought out hers, level and direct and forceful, as if seeking assurance that she was listening properly. A normal marriage, a family. Shock was piling on shock. Her taut lips parted and she blurted out, ‘But you’re not in love with me!’
Luciano inclined his arrogant head to one side and compressed his sensual mouth. ‘Is that kind of romantic love so necessary to you?’