Page 100 of The Scandal You Started
“Companionship,” he said, the word falling heavy and troubled from his lips. “Someone to call your own.Love, Rayna. What about those things?”
“I don’t believe in love.”
His jaw came apart with a baffled scoff. Then his hands went to his hips as he stared like she’d lost her mind. “What on Neves do you mean you don’t believe in love?”
“I mean, I don’t believe in it. It doesn’t exist in anything other than books and movies.”
“Do you not love Victor?”
“No, that’s different. He’s family—”
“Your husband would be your family—”
“Myhusbandwould be required to be attracted to me. So no, it’s not the same. Love between family isn’t perfect, but it’s built on something that isn’t meant to fade. But attraction fades, so…” She shrugged.
He edged closer. “What about Mr and Mrs Griffin? And River and Kelly? Does it appear that their love has faded?”
A thwarted flush stung Rayna’s cheeks as she gritted her teeth. But it wasn’t the first time someone had thrown the love of her uncle and aunty and her friends in her face to prove there was a flaw in her argument.
She lifted her chin stubbornly. “Some people are lucky enough to find love that’s real and true. But it’s rare. And I’m not particularly interested in wasting my time finding it or going out of my way to search for it.”
His expression softened, and he shook his head. “Love is not searched for, darling. It is stumbled upon.”
Someone fucking save me.
Dominic was the male version of Erin. A giant, hopeless sop. A fucking romantic.
The poetic wistfulness of his answer pissed Rayna off, because she couldn’t argue logically against it. Hopeless romantics didn’t understand logic or reason.
So she childishly snapped, “Well, I don’t want to stumble. So there. Now what?”
A stupidly sexy curl touched his mouth. “You will not know that until it happens.”
“If it happens, it happens. But otherwise, I don’t care.”
Dominic searched her face, but she remained unmoving and obstinate. Her opinion of love and marriage wouldn’t change, no matter what he said.
His smile slipped away as he swallowed. “What about children?”
“What about them?”
“How will you bear children if you refuse to marry?”
She couldn’t say she was surprised by his question. He was just a man after all, and she was a woman refusing to marry. Of course he’d bring up children, like that was theonlything women possibly had to live for, rather than being one of many things they could choose to do.
“Firstly, marriage isn’t required to have children,” she reminded him. “I could have them on my own if I wanted to. But I don’t.”
Why did he suddenly look pale and worried?
“Do you not like children?”
“No, I like them.” She shrugged. “Just not enough to have them outside of a serious, committed relationship like marriage, because they’re hard work. But I don’t want a serious, committed relationship, so I’ve ruled out having children too.”
Rayna had never been able to imagine herself raising a child on her own, especially with how demanding her career was. In a relationship, it made more sense to her. But then she’d never been able to imagine herself in a relationship either.
Well…that wasn’t exactly true. As a young girl, she had, but…
What was the guarantee that it would last forever?
