Page 19 of The Venetian One-Night Baby

Sabrina tried to smother a yawn. ‘No, I think I’ll go straight to bed. I’m exhausted.’

He carried her small bag and led the way up the stairs, glancing back at her every few steps to make sure she was managing okay. It would have been touching if it hadn’t been for how awkward the situation between them was. She was very much aware of how she had rocked his neat and ordered life with her bombshell news. She was still trying to come to terms with it herself. How was she going to run her business and look after a baby? What was she going to say to her parents and brothers?

Oh, by the way, I got myself knocked up by my mortal enemy Max Firbank.

‘I’ll show you around tomorrow, but the main bathroom is on the ground floor, along with the kitchen and living areas,’ Max said. ‘On this floor there’s my study, second door on the left, and the guest bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. My room is on the third floor. There’s a gym on the top floor.’

Sabrina stopped on the second-floor landing to catch her breath. ‘Who needs a gym with all these stairs?’

He frowned and touched her on the arm. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Max, I’m fine. Please stop fussing.’

He drew in a breath and released it in a whoosh, his hand falling away from her forearm. ‘Tomorrow I’ll have the rest of your things brought over from your flat.’

‘How am I going to explain why I’m not at home if my parents or brothers drop by? Where will I say I’m staying?’

‘Tell them you’re staying with a friend.’

Sabrina arched her eyebrows. ‘Is that what you are now? My...friend?’

He glanced at her mouth before meeting her gaze with his inscrutable one. ‘If we’re going to be bringing up a child together then we’d damn well better not be enemies.’

She had a feeling he was fighting hard not to touch her. One of his hands was clenching and unclenching and his chiselled jaw was set in a taut line. ‘This is your worst nightmare, isn’t it? Having me here, pregnant with a baby you didn’t want.’

‘Let’s not talk any more tonight. We’re both tired and—’

‘I’m not so tired that I can’t see how much you’re hating this. Hating me.’ She banged her fist against her chest for emphasis. ‘I didn’t do it deliberately, you know.’

‘I never said you did.’

Sabrina was struggling to contain her overwrought emotions. Her life was spiralling out of her control and there was nothing she could do about it. She swallowed a sob but another one followed it. She turned away and squeezed her eyes shut to stop the sting of tears.

Max put the bag down and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently turning her to face him, his expression etched with concern. ‘Hey...’ His finger lifted her face so her eyes met his. ‘Listen to me, Sabrina. I do not hate you. Neither do I blame you for what’s happened. I take full responsibility. And because of that, I want to take care of you in whatever way you need.’

But I need you. The words stayed silent on her tongue. She would not beg him to make love to her again. She wanted him to own his desire for her. To own it instead of denying it. She blinked the moisture away from her eyes. ‘I’m worried about how I’ll cope with my work and a baby. What if I lose my business? I’ve worked so hard to get it to this stage.’

His hands tightened on her shoulders. ‘You will not lose your business. You can appoint a manager or outsource some work. The golden rule in running a business is only to do the stuff that only you can do.’

‘I’ve been trying to do that by hiring a part-time assistant but she messed up my booking for Venice,’ Sabrina said.

‘It takes time to build up your confidence in your staff but if you train them to do things the way you want them done, and check in occasionally to see if they’re on track, then things will eventually run the way you want them to.’ He removed his hands from her shoulders and picked up her bag again. ‘Now, young lady, it’s time for you to get some shut-eye.’

He led her to one of the guest bedrooms further down the corridor. It was beautifully decorated in cream and white with touches of gold. The queen-sized bed was made up with snowy white bedlinen, the collection of standard and European pillows looking as soft as clouds. The cream carpet threatened to swallow her feet up to the ankle and she slipped off her shoes and sighed as her toes curled against the exquisite comfort of luxury fibres.

Max put Sabrina’s bag on a knee-high chest near the built-in wardrobes. ‘I’ll leave you to settle in. The bathroom is through there. I’ll see you in the morning.’ His tone was so clipped he could have trimmed a hedge. He walked the door to leave and she wondered if he was thinking about the last time they had been alone together in a room with a bed. Did he regret their lovemaking so much that he couldn’t bear the thought of repeating it? It felt uncomfortably like her boyfriend walking away, rejecting her. Hurting her.

‘Max?’

He turned back to face her. ‘Yes?’

Sabrina had to interlace her fingers in front of her body to keep from reaching out to him. She couldn’t beg him to stay with her. Wouldn’t beg him. The risk of him rejecting her would be too painful. ‘Nothing...’ A weak smile flickered across her lips. ‘Goodnight.’

‘’Night.’ And then he left and closed the door with a firm click.

CHAPTER SEVEN

MAX WENT DOWNSTAIRS before he was tempted to join Sabrina in that damn bed. What was wrong with him? Hadn’t he done enough damage? He wanted slip in between those sheets with her, even if just to hold her against his body. He hadn’t forgotten how it felt to have her satin-soft skin against his. He hadn’t forgotten how it felt to glide his hands over her gorgeous breasts or how it felt to bury himself deep into her velvet warmth.

---