‘This is going to work,’ he told her firmly, voice low, waving aside a hovering waiter and standing because there was a lot to do.
‘You can’t say that.’
‘Of course I can. I intend to be an excellent father and an excellent husband.’
‘You don’t love me.’
Luca cupped her elbow so that he could usher her into the square, away from the café and towards a corner in which was nestled an array of high-end shops, all peeking out from their grand façades of weathered, ochre-coloured brick.
‘I will, however, respect you as the mother of my child. Likewise, you will find me a faithful husband.’
Looking at him, Cordelia sighed at the confident, cocky smile he shot her. God, he was so different from her yet he got to her in ways no one else could.
‘That’s another sweeping statement,’ she murmured, although she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that some of her darkest doubts were being addressed.
Not love, but fidelity. It was an exchange that would have to do. Many unhappy relationships ended up with far less.
‘I’ve never approved of my father’s search for love,’ Luca confessed as they strolled towards the small but exquisite boutique with which he was vaguely familiar. ‘He loved once and when that was prematurely ripped away from him, he thought that he could replace it. Love was always just round the corner. Marriage always followed and heartbreak was always the eventual outcome. Not to mention vast drops in the family coffers thanks to greedy exes and expensive lawyers. A wise man can avoid all of that nonsense by making sure he doesn’t start picturing a life of happy-ever-afters. So if I’m cynical about the therapeutic powers of love, then I have every reason to be so. That said...’ He paused and looked at her with a frown. He was still dangling the sunglasses but now he stuck them on and she shielded her eyes from the bright glare of the sun.
‘That said...?’ Cordelia prompted.
‘That said,’ he drawled, shaking himself free from whatever weird hold she’d temporarily exercised on him with those gently questioning, impossibly blue eyes, ‘he was always a great believer in the value of monogamy.’
‘That’s important.’ Cordelia fell into step with him as he moved off, heading towards the far corner of the piazza.
Luca laughed under his breath. ‘His values were always in the right place. It was his heart that couldn’t stop hiving off in all sorts of undesirable directions. We’re here. Clothes and whatever else you might see that takes your fancy. You’ll need everything from shoes to bags to jewellery. Then my PA has arranged for you to hit one of the beauty salons around here. I have the address.’
‘It’s a comprehensive overhaul.’ Cordelia valiantly tried to laugh that off rather than see it as some kind of implied insult.
‘You’ll thank me for it in the long run. I have an important charity gala to attend in a couple of weeks and you will be on my arm as my wife-to-be.’
Sudden nerves plucked at Cordelia’s tummy and she spun round to stride in front of him, stopping him from marching onwards by dint of placing her hand on his chest.
‘Why am I only hearing about this now?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘Luca, I have no experience when it comes to...to that kind of thing...’
‘What kind of thing?’
‘I don’t even know what a charity gala entails!’
‘Lots of important people meeting up to have fun while raising money for one or more designated charities. The women will all be dressed to the nines, hence one of the reasons for this shopping trip taking place today.’
‘I’m never going to fit in!’
‘Don’t be negative, Cordelia. You have a fortnight to get used to the idea. These things may be tedious but we’re not talking about water torture.’
‘The closest I’ve come to anything like that in my life before,’ she protested in a high-pitched voice, ‘were the monthly do’s at the village hall! I’m thinking that a charity gala isn’t going to be in the same league.’
‘I would never have taken you for someone so lacking in confidence.’
‘I feel out of my depth.’
Luca paused, hitched his sunglasses to the top of his head and looked at her so seriously and so intently that Cordelia could feel hot colour race into her cheeks.
Now he’s seeing what he’s let himself in for, she thought miserably. I’m just an ordinary girl from a Cornish village and no amount of fancy dress can ever change that. Is this the point when he decides that marriage might not be such a great idea after all?
She was astonished at the gaping hole that opened up inside her at the prospect.
It was one thing for him to hitch his wagon to the mother of his child, but quite another to hitch it to a woman who could never possibly live up to his exalted lifestyle.
She stared down at the wildly unfashionable sandals she had brought over with her and started when she felt the graze of his finger against her burning cheek.
‘Don’t worry,’ Luca murmured. He tilted her chin upwards and their eyes met and held. ‘You can lean on me. I have no intention of letting you flounder.’
Cordelia blinked.
Every straining muscle in her body was propelling her forward, one small step then another.
She was barely aware of herself leaning up or of her mouth parting, inviting more than just a casual touch.
She closed her eyes and sighed with pleasure as Luca’s mouth descended.
What was going on here? Luca despised public displays of affection. Since when did he do stuff like this? But he was in the grip of something far more powerful than common sense and he plundered her mouth with scant regard for who might or might not be watching.
It was the least cool thing he had ever done in his life before.
But the feel of her
