Page 105 of The Billionaire's Demand

‘Yeah,’ she agreed in a heartbeat. ‘But lots of people wouldn’t have done it. I mean, they punched you—’

‘He caught me off-guard. He was little more than a child.’

‘Still. They stole your boat.’

‘I got it back. No harm done. Besides, a boat is just a boat. It’s a thing, easy to replace.’

She shook her head. ‘Not necessarily, but for you, yes, I can see your point.’

They ate their soup and Libby was surprised to find they slipped easily into small talk. She asked him about the city and he returned those questions, so she found herself sharing stories of her walking adventures, how far she’d gone, how much of the city she’d seen by exploring on foot. He asked about her favourite streets, any cafés she’d found and enjoyed, if there was anything she’d wanted to do but couldn’t, and Libby realised she had been developing a wish-list as she’d walked, of certain sights she’d like to tour, shops she wanted to explore.

‘It’s just all so different to what I’m used to,’ she said. ‘The weather, the streets, the buildings.’ She shook her head. ‘I realise how sheltered I’ve been, in not travelling. You know, I’d only ever flown once before meeting you,’ she confided. ‘To Brisbane, for Mum’s funeral.’

Raul’s expression was unchanged but something shifted in the depth of his gaze.

‘Now I feel as though my eyes have been opened to this whole big wide world and I want to see it, Raul. I want to explore everything.’

‘Where else would you like to go?’ he asked, as the waitress came to clear their plates. Libby didn’t notice.

‘Oh, I don’t mean I want to leave New York,’ she said with a wave of her hand. ‘Only that I want to inhale this city while I’m here. I want to see and understand everything. And yes, then I’d like to see more, cities I’ve read about and seen in movies and never thought I would have within my reach. I want to show them to our child, to explore them together,’ she said, smiling as she patted her stomach.

‘And you will. You know my plane is at your disposal, I presume?’

Libby’s eyes went round in her face. ‘Erm...no, I didn’t, actually, but I...’ Her voice trailed off as she realised how foolish she’d been about to sound. To actually admit that part of what she’d been envisaging was exploring not just with their child but with Raul too.

She coloured to the roots of her hair. ‘Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.’

CHAPTER TEN

HE’D SAID SOMETHING WRONG, though he had no idea what it could possibly have been. He was doing everything he could to make this easier for Libby, to offer her what he thought she wanted.

Here she was, sitting across from him, painting him a picture of a life without wings, a life in which she’d been trapped in a rut of hard work and little pleasure, from what he could tell, aside from her God-given ability to derive happiness from the mundane. So he was offering her the keys to the world and he wanted her to use them. He wanted her to realise that their marriage, while necessary for this baby, was not a prison sentence so much as a chance for freedom for her.

Because it was important to assuage his guilt at having pressured her into this?

He could have supported her financially, he could have made her dreams come true without marrying her, but he’d manipulated her emotions, preying on the similarities in their backgrounds to push her into this.

For the sake of their baby, he reminded himself, shifting a little uneasily in his chair, frustrated that the relaxed atmosphere had evaporated and the air was once more crackling with tension and, damn it, awareness.

He didn’t want to be aware of his wife.

He didn’t want to be aware of the way her silky hair brushed her soft cheeks, of the way her lips parted when she expelled those little sighs, of the way her dress clung to her body like a second skin, of her slender hands as she reached for her champagne flute and took another delicate sip of non-alcoholic wine.

He didn’t want to be aware of her in a way that made it dangerously simple to recall the way she’d felt as he’d sunk into her, making her his in a way that had sung to his soul.

‘You work very long hours,’ she said stiltedly into the silence of the room, and he barely heard her at first because he was absorbed by his own self-critical thoughts.

‘Yes,’ he agreed eventually.

Libby frowned. ‘Is that...have you always?’

‘Yes.’

‘So it’s not just since we...since I got here?’

His brows drew together. ‘Do you mean, am I avoiding you?’

‘It had crossed my mind,’ she said with a lift of one brow.

---