For a second their eyes met: hers confused and wary, his coolly grey and remote, and then she realised that he was simply releasing her seatbelt for her. For a moment as he leaned towards her she had actually thought…
Her cheeks scarlet with mortification, she rolled his handkerchief up into a ball and turned away from him. He had guessed that she thought he was going to kiss her? Why on earth had she thought that? Since he had announced that they were to marry he had made no attempt to touch her in any way at all. She knew how he felt about her and yet here she was quivering with nerves and tension simply because she had quite erroneously thought she glimpsed a hot spark of desire in his eyes.
If he knew, no doubt his contempt would crucify her. By rights she ought to loathe the very thought of him touching her when she knew how little he wanted her, but when were emotions ever governed by logic? Right now there was nothing she wanted more than for him to open his arms to her and to settle her aching head against his shoulder. She ached for the security of his arms round her, protecting her from all her fears and dreads of this new life he was taking her to.
If he really had been taking her home as his new bride she would have been deluging him with questions now, demanding to know as much as he could tell her about the life they would live together. As it was…
‘I realise you haven’t the slightest interest in either me or my family.’ The harshly cynical voice drew her attention, her eyes fastening on his as Saul continued curtly, ‘But I suggest you find a way of manufacturing some before we arrive in Florida, otherwise my mother is going to be extremely suspicious.’
‘You could always tell her the truth.’
She saw him frown. ‘She has enough to worry about with my stepfather’s health, without me giving her more problems. As far as my parents are concerned, Lucy, our marriage is a perfectly normal one, entered into for all the normal reasons, and I intend that they shall go on thinking that.’
Briefly Lucy envied his mother. He must love her an awful lot to want to protect her from the reality of their marriage. If she had a son, would he love her with the same intensity?
‘Surely they’ll be surprised that we… that we got married so quickly and…’
‘Not really; they know… They know you’re carrying my child,’ he told her calmly, and yet as he looked away from her Lucy felt sure that he had been about to say something else. Knowing that there was little point in questioning him about it she said instead, ‘I suppose they were very shocked.’
‘Surprised rather than shocked.’
He gave her a mocking smile as he felt her turn slightly towards him in query.
‘My mother is a woman of the world, Lucy, and I’m not a boy any more. Although she’s hardly likely to say so, I feel sure that she will be rather surprised that I was careless enough to allow such a situation to arise.’
One eyebrow rose as he looked at her, watching the tide of colour burn up under her skin.
‘Never mind,’ he taunted softly. ‘If she sees you blushing like that, no doubt she’ll simply assume I got carried away on a fatal tide of passion.’
Of course Saul must have been involved with other women and of course his mother would know that he did not live like a monk, but would she ever believe that Saul, so controlled, could have behaved in such a reckless way?
All brides must dread meeting an unknown mother-in-law, Lucy reflected, but in her case her anxiety was intensified by the fact that Saul’s mother was also her aunt, and in addition there was a history of family enmity between her father and his sister. In the circumstances she could hardly expect Saul’s mother to welcome her with open arms.
She shivered.
‘Are you feeling all right?’
Saul sounded curt, probably dreading the embarrassment of calling a stewardess over to her, Lucy thought, remembering how angry her father used to get with her when she was a child if she did anything to call attention to herself.
‘I’m fine.’
It was the truth. Physically at least she felt reasonably well. The vitamin supplements she was taking were already helping to alleviate the draining exhaustion of her early pregnancy and every day she regained a little more of her own strength.
The flight was a long one and after lunch Lucy gave in to her desire to sleep, turning her head away from Saul. Which made it all the more embarrassing that she should wake up with her head pillowed against his shoulder, his arm curled around her.
To anyone who didn’t know the real situation they must look like a devoted couple, she thought as she sat up and Saul immediately removed his arm.
‘Sorry about that.’