There were no swings in the spot Jerard had stopped at, so they played another game of Chase instead, Tony finally having to be put in the back of the car for a nap. Vicki sat on the front seat to keep him company, and it was no surprise to Velvet that the little girl fell asleep too. Vicki looked so vulnerable when she was asleep, more like the shadowed little girl she had first been in Florida.
‘She’s getting better,’ Jerard told Velvet when she joined him on the blanket beneath the huge oak tree they had used as shade against the sun while they ate.
‘She is?’ She wouldn’t look at him, her trouser-clad knees drawn up under her chin as she watched a dog from one of the other parties as he chased a football around the trees.
‘No tantrums since we got back from Florida.’
She shrugged, still watching the dog. ‘Maybe she just prefers England. Her grandmother is here, and—’
‘And you and Tony,’ he put in deeply.
‘Not for much longer,’ she reminded him jerkily, tears shimmering in her dark almond-shaped eyes. ‘You said we weren’t to meet again after today.’
‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘I didn’t say that at all. I said we would have to make other arrangements. I think now is the time to do that. Do you have any idea why I called to see your brother yesterday?’
‘None,’ she frowned; the incident still bothered her, especially the part where Tony had called him ‘Daddy’.
Jerard’s gaze was unflinching as she looked at him. ‘I thought that he and your sister-in-law should meet me before I asked you to marry me.’
‘Before you—!’ She swallowed hard, sure she couldn’t have heard him correctly. ‘What did you say?’ she croaked.
He stood up forcefully, his profile turned away from her. ‘Surely you can see it’s the only solution,’ he said tautly.
‘Solution?’ she gasped, all hope leaving her. This wasn’t a marriage proposal made out of love or needing, but one of expediency.
‘Tony needs a father, and Vicki needs a mother,’ Jerard told her abruptly.
‘And you and I?’ she cried. ‘What do we need?’
He drew a ragged breath. ‘We aren’t really the important ones in this. Well?’ he turned to look at her, his gaze piercing. ‘What’s your answer?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
WHAT was her answer? What could her answer be to a marriage proposal put in such coldly blunt terms?
And yet it was a marriage proposal, of sorts. All she had to do was say yes, and she would become Jerard’s wife, something she wanted with all her heart, albeit a marriage of convenience for their children’s sake. Jerard had loved her once, he might do again once she was his wife.
‘If you need time to think about it—’
‘No!’ her denial was sharp.
‘No, you won’t marry me, or no, you don’t need time?’ His voice was harsh.
‘I—I’m not sure.’ If she appeared too eager he would guess that she loved him, would know she would die rather than give him up.
‘What’s it going to take to make you sure?’ he rasped, his expression remote.
Velvet licked her suddenly dry lips. ‘Maybe I do need a little time. After all,’ she added hastily, ‘it’s a big decision to make.’
‘You needn’t think I’ll stop you working,’ he told her in that cold, emotionless voice. ‘You already know my opinion on working mothers. And you won’t have to have Vicki and Tony with you all the time, I’ll get a nanny for them both.’
‘No! I mean—I don’t want Tony to have a nanny, Vicki either for that matter. If it’s all the same to you I think I would rather give up my work as a model and care for them at home. I’ve always wanted to have a try at designing clothes instead of wearing them, and I—I could do that at home.’
Jerard shrugged. ‘It’s up to you. You don’t have to work at all if you would prefer not to, I just wanted to make it plain that I wouldn’t stop you doing anything you want to do.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked down at her hands clenched about her knees, relaxing them as she saw how white her knuckles were. ‘Perhaps I could let you know tomorrow?’
‘Take all the time you want,’ he dismissed. ‘There’s no rush.’
Having made the suggestion he now seemed in no hurry to have an answer. He was maybe even changing his mind! ‘Tomorrow,’ Velvet repeated jerkily. ‘I’ll definitely let you know tomorrow.’
‘That’s fine,’ he shrugged.
‘I’ll call you,’ she added firmly.
‘I’ll be out of town all day. I’ll come round in the evening.’
‘All right,’ she nodded.
They were like two strangers, not a couple contemplating marriage! But it wasn’t really to be a marriage, just a question of living together to give their children two parents.
And it was the ideal solution to the problem, Tony’s growing dependence on Jerard was evidence of that, and Vicki’s affection for her was unquestionable. Then why did she feel so damned miserable!
She had felt miserable about parting from Jerard and perhaps never seeing him again, and now she felt even more miserable that he had asked her to marry him. Maybe that was because he hadn’t asked her to be a wife to him but a mother to his daughter. This marriage was to be a deal—a mother for Vicki, and a father for Tony. And yet she already knew what her answer was going to be, already knew she was going to accept.
Acting normally in front of Vicki and Tony for the rest of the day proved a great strain, but somehow she managed to get through it, although she was glad to get back to her flat that evening and put Tony to bed.
How would a marriage between her and Jerard turn out? How could it turn out, with her wanting him so desperately?
