‘Not as such.’ She shrugged.
‘There you go. Point proven.’
‘Because he felt badly about complaining down the end of a telephone doesn’t mean that he actually wants to be over here. He’s going to be gutted when I tell him...what I have to tell him.’
‘We could break the news together,’ Luca suggested and she laughed shortly.
‘You mean like the happily loved-up couple we’re not?’ She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She’d made it sound as though this were a black-and-white situation. Her voice had been tart and sarcastic and bitter.
‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered indistinctly, and Luca looked at her with suddenly cool eyes.
‘I don’t know what’s going on with you, Cordelia, but, whatever it is, you need to put it on hold, at least for the duration of this gala. Do you think you could do that?’
Cordelia wanted the ground to open up and swallow her because what had he done but try and deal with what had landed on his lap in the most gentlemanly way possible? He was right when he said that that had been an unnecessary outburst. More to the point, it wasn’t true. He might not be in love with her, but what they had was certainly not the cold, emotionless relationship of two people forced into an arrangement against their will.
They talked, they laughed, they made love and there was sufficient affection there for her to really believe that he would do his utmost to be a good father and a good husband.
‘I’m just nervous.’ She lowered her eyes, hating the drop in temperature between them. She needed his support and driving a wedge between them just at this moment seemed an incredibly stupid thing to have done.
She took a couple of faltering steps towards him and looked at him hesitantly.
She felt rather than saw some of the icy tension ease out of him and it flashed through her mind that if he could touch her and banish all thoughts from her head, then she could do the same for him.
It was the power of sex and, while it certainly wasn’t love, there was something vital and fierce about it and she should be very happy that it was still there, like an electric charge always running between them.
‘We’ll be late.’ Luca raked his fingers through his hair and fidgeted on his feet, suddenly restless.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Cordelia murmured and he looked at her with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
‘I’ll bet.’ He pulled her towards him. His breathing had thickened and he was already smoothing his hands over her waist, hitching up the shirt and then tugging down the zip of her trousers. ‘It’s a low trick to use sex to change my mood,’ he growled, with rampant amusement in his voice. ‘I like it.’
Their lovemaking was fast and hard and mind-blowingly passionate.
By the time they hit the bed, clothes had been scattered on the ground. There was none of the usual foreplay. He kissed her urgently, hungrily, and she was wet and hot when he slid one expert finger into her, stoking her moisture and sending her pulses shooting off in all different directions.
She curled her fingers into his hair and arched back as he drove into her and all it took was one thrust for her to feel the exquisite rising pleasure of a soaring orgasm.
Her groan was long and guttural as her whole body stiffened against his rigid shaft. He came as fast as she did, rearing up and thrusting deeper into her.
‘Jesus, woman,’ he said in a shaky voice, when they were both back on planet Earth, ‘what was that all about?’
‘Don’t you know?’ she breathed.
His head was buried against the nape of her neck and he was limp against her. She stroked his shoulders and was overwhelmed with a feeling of complete tenderness. There were times when he seemed so vulnerable. Times like right now.
‘We need to get ready.’ His voice was muffled and he tilted his head to one side and their eyes met, a long, steady gaze that made her hold her breath because it felt loaded.
He levered himself up and stood, staring down at her. ‘Your dad is going to be here in a couple of hours. I don’t think he’ll be too impressed if he finds us in bed, do you? Although he would have a pretty vivid picture of how we ended up where we have, with a baby on the way.’
With which, he vanished into the bathroom to emerge less than twenty minutes later, giving her plenty of time to get into her finery.
Clothed, Luca was impressive. Naked, he was mind-blowing, but now was certainly not the time to hang around appreciating his masculine athleticism and perfectly toned body.
Sylviana, the young girl who had made her appearance on day one, was going to be helping her get ready and Cordelia didn’t wait to watch Luca change.
There was nothing for her to do because an army of hired help had been brought in to prepare the house and grounds for the event. Nothing would be left to chance. From the food to the decorations—everything would be the epitome of perfection.
‘It’s a well-run machine,’ Luca had informed her a couple of days previously. ‘Same faces with the only changes being some VIPs I’m hoping to do business with from the Far East and their various assorted family members and professional colleagues.’
The only snag was the fact that his father would not be able to make it because, with first-class ticket in hand and ready to depart from the small Caribbean island where he
