“Three verys. That is a lot.” And he was glad.
“Yes.”
He drew back a little, not pulling from her embrace but far enough that he could tilt her head and let their gazes meet. “But you do not want the father.”
“That is not what I said.” She pouted, just like she did when he told her it was time to go home after a night of lovemaking.
Remembering those occasions now caused an internal wince. “Certain things can be inferred.”
“No, they can’t.”
He leaned back against her worktable, tugging her with him so she ended up plastered against him. “Oh, really?”
She seemed disinclined to move, snuggling against him trustingly. “Yes. I just…”
“What?”
“I told you…I don’t want to tempt fate.” She dipped her head, so he could not see her face.
He could not help himself from cupping her bottom and massaging it. Her curves were so damn enticing to him. “Why not try trusting in Providence instead of worrying about fate?”
“I never thought I could lose my parents.”
“You did.”
“Yes and believe me when I tell you that I was sure Taylish and the baby were my shot at a family. A family I was positive could not be taken from me. I knew he would never leave me.”
“Then he did.”
“It wasn’t his fault, but it wasn’t mine either, and I was alone again.”
“Look at me.”
She tilted her head back, her peacock-blue eyes shiny with emotion.
He felt like he’d been kicked in the gut with that look. “You are not alone now.”
“You don’t think?”
“I know. And so should you. Even without the baby, you had my mother, my son, your friends…me.”
“Did I have you, Tino?”
“More than any other woman since Maura’s death.” That fact was not a comfortable one for him, but it was something Faith deserved to know.
“You aren’t happy about that,” she said perceptively.
“If I could choose any woman on the planet to have awakened such emotions in me, it would have been you.” He could wish he had not slighted his own honor, but never that another woman had been the cause.
He did not believe any other woman could have been.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you will marry me.” He dropped his hand to palm her hard stomach. “I need you to believe in the future, if not for my sake, then for the baby’s.”
“But—”
He lifted his other hand and pressed a finger to her lips. “No buts.”
“I want to believe.”
“Then do.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“I know, but you must try.”
“My first pregnancy was ectopic.” The words were bald and emotionless, but he could feel more remembered pain radiating from her.
For a moment his vocal chords were paralyzed with grief for her. “You lost your first baby?”
“Yes.”
“I had read that a tubal pregnancy could be very dangerous for the mother.”
She nodded, her expression matter-of-fact. “I almost died.”
“And you still risked pregnancy again.” He was not sure that as her husband, he would have had the strength to allow her to do so.
Taylish had either been a saint or an idiot. Tino knew which one he preferred to believe.
“Absolutely.”
He gave a hollow, self-deprecating laugh. “Do you know? I thought you did not want children.”
“I did not think it would ever be an option. I believed I would not be able to get pregnant again. Tay and I had to resort to a fertility specialist before I could get pregnant the second time.”
“So, this baby is a miracle.”
“Yes.”
Joy settled inside him. “Believe in the strength of that miracle, Faith.”
“Meeting you was a miracle, Tino.”
“What?” He could not accept she had said that.
“Wanting you shocked me. I had not expected to ever have another intimate relationship with a man.” She rubbed her cheek against his chest as if she needed the contact.
She had been that in love with Taylish? Certainly, the couple had not had an intensely satisfying sexual relationship. Not like he and Faith did. Her reaction to the pleasure she felt when they first made love indicated she’d never experienced something like it before. “But you desired me.”
“Yes.”
He squeezed her close. “I want you, too, bella mia.”
“I know.” There was a smile in her voice, and she moved a little to let him feel that she could feel the evidence pressing against her belly.
“So marry me.”
She laughed softly as if amused, not frustrated, by his persistence. “It’s not that simple.”
“It can be if you let it.”
“You’re so stubborn, Tino.”
“You love that about me.”
She was silent for a count of five full seconds, then she kissed him through his shirt, right over his heart. “Maybe.”
Faith spent the morning working, feeling inspired and better than she had in weeks. Every brush with her palette knife was perfect, every gentle manipulation of the clay with her fingers resulting in just the effect she was looking for.
A loud beeping from her small alarm told her it was time to start getting ready for lunch with Agata. She was washing the clay from her hands in the kitchen sink when someone knocked.
Thinking Agata had decided to come by and pick her up instead of meeting at the restaurant as planned, Faith dried her hands and swung the door open.
To a frowning Tino. “You did not ask who it was. There is no peephole on your door. How did you know it was me?”
“Sheesh, arrogant much? I didn’t know it was you.”
“I believed we already established that that is a Grisafi family trait.” He bent down and kissed her, his lips lingering just long enough to make it the kiss of a lover and not a typically warm Sicilian greeting. “If you did not know it was me, why did you open the door?”
“I thought it was your mother.”
“I was under the impression your plans were to meet at the restaurant for lunch.”
Faith didn’t remember telling him the details of her lunch appointment, but just like with her first pregnancies, her short-term memory was just a tad compromised. “I thought she might have arrived in town early and decided to pick me up.”
“But you did not know.”
“Clearly not. After all, I was wrong, wasn’t I?”
“And yet you opened the door.”
“Is there a point to this interrogation?”
“A point?” He stepped inside and shut the door. “Yes, there is a point. I could have been anyone.”
“But you weren’t.”
“Nevertheless, such behavior is reckless.”
“Reckless? Opening the door?”
“Opening your door when you do not know who is on the other side puts your safety at needless risk.”
“What are you? The arbiter of in-home security for pregnant women?”
“This has nothing to do with your pregnancy.”
She believed him. “You look so fierce, Tino.”
“Do not make fun of my concern for you, Faith. I should have visited you here long before this. No doubt, you have been behaving in a similar fashion all this time.”
“This is Sicily, Tino, not New York City. I can open the door without worrying the person on the other side is set on robbing me.”
“Or worse? I do not think so. Marsala is not such a small city as all that, and there are plenty of tourists with intentions you cannot begin to be certain of.”
“Overprotective alert, Tino.”
“I think not. Common sense is not overprotective behavior.” But color burnished along his chiseled cheekbones.
“I like this side of yo
u,” she decided.
“Good. I am unlikely to change.”
“That I believe.” She grinned, then frowned. “Um, not that I want to kick you out or anything.” She so didn’t, no matter how little sense that attitude made. “But I’m supposed to meet your mother for lunch in less than an hour and I need to get ready. Was there something in particular you needed?”
“I am horning in on your lunch with my mother.”
“What? Why?”
“You have decided to tell her about the baby, yes?”
“Yes.” And she was more than a little nervous about doing so.
“As much as we both adore my mother, I am certain you could use my moral support.”
“That’s really sweet.” Man, when he decided to take down the barriers, they crumbled with a crash. She was still glowing from the things he’d said when he’d been trying to convince her to marry him. Going back over the conversation had filled her with renewed hope and dead certainty that no matter what he had said before, Tino wanted to be with her.
She already knew she wanted to be with him. But maybe not this afternoon. “Won’t your presence be suspect? Your mom isn’t dumb, she’s bound to guess there’s more between us than a casual acquaintance.”
“I am sure she drew that conclusion when I ran from the house without a word after she told me she thought you were pregnant.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did.”