This could work. He would make it work. Tomorrow, when they were back home, he would tell her he wanted her to stay with him. And she would.
She had to.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
PAIGE was overjoyed to be reunited with Ana, who had grown spoiled overnight in the company of the people who now considered themselves her grandparents. Her heart ached at the thought of what their deception was doing. Over the people it could hurt.
She hadn’t counted on this. On how far it would spread. No, she hadn’t thought at all. And now it had all become one big emotional tangle. Don and Mary Colson loved Ana, and she loved them. Ana loved Dante. Paige loved Dante and she had been foolish enough to tell him so.
And he hadn’t said a thing back. Hadn’t said a thing about it since, not even in denial of it, or rejection of it.
With his parents around, she hadn’t really thought he would. But once they were gone and a very cranky Ana who was coming off being treated like her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess had been put down for her nap, she’d expected something.
Instead, Dante had retreated to the office. Really, it was Tuesday and they both could have gone in, but she’d felt sulky over his behavior, and reluctant to leave Ana, and he hadn’t pressed.
Paige put the finishing touches on her sketch and looked out at the ocean. She had another window designed for Christmas, and with only one more main display to concern herself with, she was running well ahead of deadline.
Dante’s seaside house was certainly good for inspiration. Even if the man himself was turning her into a quivering ball of nerves.
She set her sketchbook down on the table and stood, stretching her arms up over her head, then shaking her hands out, trying to get rid of some of the adrenaline that was running through her.
Thinking about Dante had that effect on her. Remembering being in bed with him did that to her. Most especially, remembering that she’d told him she loved him had that effect on her.
She took a deep breath of the ocean air and put her hand on her stomach. Dante’s parents, their feelings, were just a part of the unintended side effects of this whole thing. It was still possible that she was pregnant.
The idea had panicked her at first. The thought of caring for two babies. Of what it might do to the adoption. Now…now she felt like she could do it. Like no matter what happened, it was within her power to handle it.
Because she wasn’t the same person she had been. Or rather, she didn’t see herself the way her family, or the people back in her hometown had anymore. She wasn’t deficient. She had everything in her that she needed to succeed. Most importantly, she knew just how much power love had. How it had changed her. With Ana, and now with Dante.
Another baby would mean more love. And no matter how difficult it might be to manage everything, she couldn’t regret that.
She turned and walked back into the house, and nearly ran into Dante, who was walking through the living room with long, purposeful strides.
“You’re back.”
“Yes,” he said. “I am.”
“It’s before five, so it surprised me.”
“There was pressing business for me to take care of here.”
“What…what’s that?” she asked, sure she didn’t want to know. Because she was sure she already knew. It had something to do with the I Love You incident and while she had wanted to talk to him about it, she found that, as she was faced with it, she was changing her mind.
“I’ve been thinking. The coverage of the wedding in the media has been very positive.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, I hadn’t really looked at it.” Frankly, she hadn’t wanted to see pictures of the moment she’d realized she was in love with the world’s most impossible man.
“I had Trevor send me the highlights. But, as I thought, the wedding, the relationship in general, has had a very positive effect on my image.”
“Well, that’s nice.” This was about as far from feelings as it got, and she found she was more annoyed than relieved.
“There is the possibility you’re pregnant.”
“I’ll know soon-ish,” she said.
“Also,” he said, pressing on as if she hadn’t spoken, “it didn’t escape my notice how quickly Don and Mary took to Ana. And how quickly she took to them.”