Page 20 of The Venetian One-Night Baby

But he must not think about her like that. He had to keep his distance otherwise things could get even more complicated than they already were. Relationships got complicated when feelings were involved and he was already fighting more feelings than he wanted to admit. Everything was different about his relationship with Sabrina. Everything. And if that wasn’t enough of a warning for him to back off in the feelings department, he didn’t know what was.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a sleepover with a lover. It hadn’t been in this house as he’d only moved in a few months ago once the renovations had been completed. He hadn’t even shared his previous house with Lydia in spite of her broad hints to move in with him.

Max sat at his desk in his study and sighed. For the next six weeks he would have to make sure he kept his relationship with Sabrina completely platonic. Since when had he found it sexy to make love to a pregnant woman? But now he couldn’t stop thinking about the changes her body was undergoing.

Changes he had caused.

His gaze went to the framed photograph of his family on his desk. It had been taken just days before Daniel had died. His mother and father were sitting either side of him and he was holding his brother across his lap. Everyone was smiling, even Daniel.

Max wondered if he would ever be able to look at that photograph without regret and guilt gnawing at his insides. Regret and guilt and anger at himself for not doing more to help his little brother. It had taken many years for his parents to smile again, especially his mother.

Would the birth of his parents’ first grandchild heal some of the pain of the past?

* * *

When Sabrina woke the next morning, it took her a moment to realise where she was. The room was bathed in golden sunlight, and she stretched like a lazy cat against the marshmallow-soft pillows. It was a Sunday so there was no rush to get out of bed...although staying in bed would be a whole lot more tempting if Max was lying here beside her. She’d heard him come up the stairs to his room on the floor above hers in the early hours of the morning. Didn’t the man need more than three or four hours of sleep?

There was a tap at the door and she sat up in the bed. ‘Come in.’

Max opened the door, deftly balancing a tray on one hand as he came in. ‘Good morning. I thought you might like some tea and toast.’

‘Oh, lovely, I haven’t had breakfast in bed in ages.’

He came over to the bed and placed the tray, which had fold-down legs, across her lap. This close she could smell his freshly shampooed hair and the citrus fragrance of his aftershave. He straightened and gave his version of a smile. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘So far, so good,’ Sabrina said. ‘Sometimes the nausea hits when I first stand up.’

‘Good reason to stay where you are, then.’

She picked up the steaming cup of tea and took a sip. ‘Mmm...perfect. How did you know I take it black?’

His expression was wry. ‘I think it’s safe to say your parents have told me just about everything there is to know about you over the years.’

Not quite everything.

Sabrina had never told her parents about her first sexual experience. The only person she’d told was Holly. It was too embarrassing, too painful to recall the shame she’d felt to hear such horrible rumours spread about her after giving herself to her boyfriend. ‘Seriously, they told you how I take my tea?’

He gave a half smile. ‘Only joking. No, I’ve been observing you myself.’

She put her tea back on the tray and picked up a slice of toast and peeped at him from half-lowered lashes. ‘I’ve noticed.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yep. You got really annoyed when I danced with one of the guys at that party at my parents’ house a few months back.’ She nibbled on the toast and watched his expression go from that mercurial smile to a brooding frown. She pointed the toast at him. ‘There. That’s exactly how you looked that night.’

He rearranged his features back into a smile but it didn’t involve his eyes. ‘You imagined it. I was probably frowning about something else entirely.’

Sabrina examined her slice of toast as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. ‘Thing is... I’ve never been all that comfortable with the dating scene.’

‘But you’re always going on dates.’ Max’s frown was one of confusion. ‘You’ve nearly always got someone with you when you go to family gatherings.’

So, he’d noticed that too, had he? Interesting. Sabrina shrugged. ‘So? I didn’t want everyone to think I was a freak.’ She hadn’t intended to tell him about her past. It hadn’t seemed necessary the night they’d made love. Max’s magical touch had dissolved all of her fears of physical intimacy. Well, most of them. But it wasn’t physical intimacy that was her problem now. Emotional intimacy was the issue. What if she developed feelings for him that weren’t reciprocated? Real feelings. Lasting feelings. Love feelings.

‘When was the last time you had sex with a guy?’ His voice had a raw quality to it.

She looked at the toast in her hand rather than meet his gaze. ‘Other than with you? Ten years.’

‘Ten years?’ The words all but exploded from his mouth.

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