‘You should,’ Raul murmured. ‘For additional protection.’
‘From you?’ she asked, genuinely surprised.
He nodded. ‘It’s always a good idea to get outside advice.’
‘It seems pretty simple to me, but okay. I’ll email it tonight.’
His eyes met hers, holding, appraising. ‘We should discuss dates.’
Libby’s first thought was a misunderstanding. She thought for a moment he was implying they should go on a date, in a romantic sense, and everything got wonky and strange, before sanity reasserted itself and she realised he meant the dates on a calendar. ‘For what?’
‘The wedding,’ he said. ‘I thought, given the practical nature of our marriage, we could go to a registry office for the wedding itself. But you may have other ideas.’
‘I—’ Libby stared at him, the wedding something she’d given startlingly little thought to. ‘No, a registry office is fine by me too. Why dress up what we’re doing?’ she added. ‘It’s little more than a contractual agreement, right?’
‘Yes,’ he responded, scanning her face. ‘That bothers you?’
Libby’s eyes widened. She didn’t bother to deny it, but nor did she want to admit how much the nature of this marriage bothered her. What she’d wanted for herself no longer mattered; she was going to become a mother. This baby would always come first for Libby. ‘It’s just... I know so little about you,’ she said after a beat. ‘To be getting married to a virtual stranger, having a baby with him...it’s a lot.’
He appeared to relax back in his chair. ‘What would you like to know?’
She laughed at the unexpectedness of that, and his grin pulled at her belly. She looked away, sipping her tea. ‘Where are you from?’
‘Spain.’
‘More specifically?’
‘Madrid.’
‘When did you leave?’
‘When I was twenty-one.’
‘Do you ever go back?’
‘Yes.’
‘Often?’
‘As required.’
She rolled her eyes. He was answering her questions but it felt a little like pulling teeth. She persisted.
‘Do you ever want to live there again?’
His shrug was indolent. ‘Who knows?’
She laughed despite herself.
‘That’s funny?’
‘You don’t strike me as a free spirit.’
He grinned. ‘I go where I need to.’
‘What constitutes need?’
‘Work,’ he said immediately, sipping his coffee.