Page 30 of Bound by Their Christmas Baby

He named an amount that had Abby’s heart sinking. They were beautiful and rare—what had she expected? She thought of her bank balance with a hint of desperation.

‘I’ll take two,’ she said, thinking it was still an extravagance she could ill afford.

‘Two,’ the woman said with a nod, lifting her fingers to her father to translate. ‘Enjoy them.’ She waved her hand in farewell, disappearing back behind the curtain to the business of baking and domestic happiness.

The shopkeeper wrapped the decorations with care and placed them in a bag. When she handed over the money, he gripped her hand and smiled, a smile that was filled with genuine care. ‘They give luck, sì? You have the luck now.’

Abby nodded, though of course she didn’t believe in such superstitions. In any event, she’d need more than luck to make it through her marriage to Gabe Arantini unscathed.

She checked the clock in the town square—she still had fifteen minutes to spare. She pulled her coat tighter around her waist and walked down the street, looking in the shop windows—not risking going into any others! She couldn’t afford to succumb to the charming wares of this part of the world.

She was freezing cold though. She jammed her free hand into her pocket and moved back towards the square. The alps loomed large in the background, so beautiful, like something out of Narnia. There was a heavy sense of magic and spells in the air of Fiamatina; even the people she saw seemed to be otherworldly, somehow.

‘You’re finished?’ Gabe’s voice came from behind her and Abby turned to see that he was carrying several shopping bags and wearing a mask of disapproval. A hangover from their conversation in the car?

‘Yes,’ she said with regret. If she were dressed more appropriately, she would have wanted to stay all day.

He nodded, clicking a button so that the trunk of his car pushed itself open. ‘You’re cold.’

He lifted something out of one of the bags. ‘Here.’

It was a coat, clotted cream in colour. It looked to be made of luxurious wool, and inside it was lined with fleece. ‘Put it on,’ he said with impatience, ‘before you turn into an ice block.’

‘You bought me a coat?’

‘And gloves, a hat and scarves,’ he enumerated impatiently. ‘While it would solve some problems for me, I don’t actually wish you to die of hypothermia.’

She glared at him. He could be such a bastard sometimes! Sometimes? Try all the time. Default setting: rude.

‘Gee, thanks,’ she said, making it obvious she wasn’t at all grateful. Even though the moment she slipped out of her old coat and into the new one, her body temperature raised by several degrees.

She buttoned it up all the way and when she lifted her gaze to his face she saw his attention was fixated on the buttons. Particularly the ones at chest height. He looked at her in a way that made her pulse soar.

‘Gloves,’ he said thickly, turning away and reaching into his car. The moment was over so quickly that she almost wondered if it had happened at all, but the swirling of her blood was all the confirmation she needed.

‘But before you put them on—’ he handed her a small box ‘—start with this.’

It was said so unceremoniously that she had no reason to suspect what she’d see when she lifted the lid, so she did so without care.

But inside was a ring—an engagement ring, apparently. A huge green emerald was at the centre and a circlet of white diamonds surrounded it, then ran down either side and around the diameter. It was beautiful, it was huge, it was expensive.

‘Oh.’ Abby blinked at the ring and then up a

t him. ‘What is it?’ she asked. Stupid question, but she was blindsided.

‘What do you think?’ He lifted it from the box and placed it in her palm. ‘I hear they’re part of the deal.’

‘Deal?’ She arched a brow.

‘The getting married deal.’

Abby nodded, still not putting the ring on. ‘But this is…too much. A simple band would have been fine, right?’

A muscle jerked in his jaw. ‘A simple band is not the kind of ring I would buy for the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. If we want people to believe this is a real marriage, then you’ll have to convince them. Starting with the ring you wear.’

She frowned. ‘Do we care what people think?’

A muscle throbbed in his jaw and his face was loaded with obvious derision. ‘I care for our son’s sake. I will not have him be subjected to gossip and cruelty because his parents cannot act like mature adults.’ When she didn’t react, he sighed heavily. ‘Just put the ring on.’

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