A Deal Before the Altar

He clenched his hands and drew in a deep breath. Damn Carlo. His rush to marry had forced him to contemplate things he never would have entertained before.

He gestured to a chair on one side of his desk, taking in the graceful way she sat and noting the guarded expression on her face. He had to handle this as he would with any deal—ruthlessly. It was the only way. Otherwise he risked being weakened by her smile or, worse, by the undercurrent of something passionate that always seemed to surround them. How much of that was an act on her part he wasn’t sure, but he had to fight hard against the way his body responded to her.

‘My legal team have drawn up an agreement in Spanish and English. I think it will be beneficial to us both.’ He kept his voice controlled as he took his seat opposite her, then he turned the document round and slid it across the desk towards her.

Their eyes met and a simmer of tension passed between them. She lowered her lashes and with slender fingers drew the document closer to her. He watched as she read the conditions, certain she’d be happy with his generous terms.

‘It looks very comprehensive.’

She glanced up, but he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not to see a teasing smile on her lips.

‘You obviously feel the need to protect yourself from my scheming ways.’

‘It protects us both.’

He tried unsuccessfully to keep the irritation from his voice. Did she have to remind him of her past right at this moment? Was she proud of all the men she’d dated within weeks of her husband passing away? He pushed to the back of his mind all he’d learnt about her after that first visit to his office.

She raised her brows at him suggestively. Damn, was the woman deliberately trying to provoke him?

He stood and walked round the desk and leant down, one hand flat on the hard polished surface, bracing his arm. With pen in hand he pointed at the contract. ‘As my wife you will be entitled to a substantial allowance to do with as you please.’ Her perfume invaded his senses and he realised his mistake in coming close. ‘Any children the marriage produces I will stand by and support, regardless of the outcome of our marriage.’

At least he’d touched on the subject of children. It was hard to believe that he, a man who’d never wanted to be married and certainly hadn’t wanted to father a child, now sought both. Or at least was being forced to.

‘Children?’

There was no doubting the shock in her voice. He looked down into her eyes, bright and wide. ‘Yes. Children.’

He watched her slender throat as she swallowed and guilt sliced at him. He should tell her that a child might well become essential to secure the business, but something kept him silent. He wasn’t sure if it was the fear of spooking her or the still raw anger at his father for creating such a clause. He had mentioned he wanted a real wife—surely that left her in no doubt.

He hoped he’d never have to go that far. It went against everything he believed in. As a mistake himself, he did not want to bring a child into the world unless he could give it love and security. The latter wouldn’t be a problem, but love...?

‘Do you want children?’

Her hesitant question made him clench his jaw and he saw her gaze dart to the movement, then quickly back to his eyes.

* * *

Georgina had asked the question lightly, despite the way her stomach had flipped over and was now churning. Did he really anticipate children? From a short-term marriage contract? She hoped not. Having a child was the one thing she’d never wanted to do. It was simply out of the question.

She looked down at the contract, the words blurring on the page as she fought back memories of her childhood. A childhood that had left her scarred and certain she didn’t ever want to be a mother.

‘As I said, I have covered all eventualities—to protect both of us.’

She swallowed hard and looked again up into his eyes. Their dark magnetic depths almost made her lose her nerve. For one tiny second she imagined a child with eyes the same colour, but quashed the image before it could manifest itself into anything bigger.

She had to have breathing space. His closeness, the fresh scent of his aftershave and the heat of his body so close to hers, was undoing her last remnants of self-control. She needed space and she needed it now.

‘You have covered everything concisely, just as I would have expected from you.’ She picked up the pen and with a flowing movement of her wrist signed the contract. The pen dropped to the desk as she pushed back the chair and moved away from him—away from the power he had over her every time he came close. ‘There. All signed.’

‘You don’t have any questions?’ He looked startled by her bravado and stood straight, towering over her, leaving her no option but to stand and face him.