‘Then I’ll marry you.’
Grace groaned at that knee-jerk reaction. ‘Don’t be silly, Leo. Strangers don’t get married.’
Leo lifted his dark head high and surveyed her with glittering golden eyes that were mesmeric in their intensity. ‘I don’t care how we go about it but while you may not want our child, I do and I am prepared to raise that child, should that become necessary.’
It was Grace’s turn to be thrown off balance and she paled. ‘When it comes to my preferences, it’s not a matter of my wanting or not wanting the baby...it’s much more a matter of what I can offer my child and how best I could meet my child’s needs. And the truth is that as a student with no home of my own or current earning power, I’ve got very little to offer.’
‘While I on the other hand have a great deal to offer and could help you in any way necessary,’ Leo cut in succinctly. ‘And in the short term I think it would be best if you came to live in my London apartment.’
‘Your apartment?’ Grace echoed in disbelief. ‘Why on earth would I move into your apartment?’
‘Because that’s my baby you’re carrying and I intend to be fully involved in giving you whatever support you need until our child is born,’ Leo declared without hesitation.
‘I’m perfectly comfortable here with Matt.’ Grace groaned, her brow tightening with stress because Leo was saying things and offering options she had not anticipated and she had already spent several days anxiously worrying over her alternatives before coming to the conclusion that adoption was the most sensible answer to all her concerns. Now Leo was demanding a share of that responsibility and complicating the situation with his own ideas.
‘Staying here with Matt is unwise,’ Leo murmured drily.
‘In what way? He’s a very good friend.’
‘But that’s not all he wants to be,’ Leo incised. ‘Matt is in love with you.’
Grace was aghast. ‘That’s complete nonsense!’
‘A friend would be relieved when the father of your child arrived to take an interest in your predicament. But a would-be lover feels threatened and annoyed and that’s what he is,’ Leo spelled out impatiently. ‘You’re not stupid, Grace. Your very good friend wants you living here with him because he’s in love with you.’
‘That’s completely untrue.’ Strikingly taken aback by his contention, Grace turned away in an uncoordinated half-circle. She was picturing Matt, his behaviour and his caring ways while wondering if it was possible that she could have been so blind that she had not noticed the depth of his feelings for her. ‘What would you know about it anyway?’
‘I only know what I saw in his face once he realised who I was,’ Leo said grimly. ‘You’re really not doing him any favours staying on here...unless of course you’re planning on returning his feelings?’
‘Er...that would be a no,’ Grace muttered guiltily while recognising the terrible unwelcome truth in Leo’s arguments. If it was true that Matt wanted more than friendship from her, it was equally true that there was no prospect of her offering it. The intensity of her attraction to Leo had concluded for ever any prospect of her trying to make more of her relationship with Matt. From the instant Leo had taught her of her own capacity to feel so much more mentally and physically than she had ever dreamt she could feel, her former conviction that she and Matt would make a great couple had died.
‘Then move into my apartment where you will not be under pressure,’ Leo advised softly.
Grace wanted to slap Leo for cutting through all her possible protests by employing the one credible argument calculated to make her think again. Matt spent a lot of time with her. Matt was always there for her, eternally helping her and discussing her worries, but she was doing Matt a disservice by living with him if he was hoping for more than friendship from her. In that scenario the sooner she got out of Matt’s home and put some distance between them, the better, she reasoned guiltily.
‘When?’
‘I see no point in wasting time. Why not now? You can’t have that much stuff to pack. You’ve only been here a couple of days,’ he pointed out smoothly, reining back any hint of satisfaction in his demeanour.