Page 53 of Bought For The Marriage Bed

‘You have been doing a lot of apologising just lately.’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘Is there anything else you need to get off your chest while you are at it?’

Nina’s eyes skittered away from his, her cheeks instantly growing warm. ‘No! No, of course not.’

‘Just asking.’ He brushed a strand of hair away from her mouth with a gentle touch which brought her troubled gaze back to his as he’d intended. ‘Sometimes, Nina, I think you are holding something back from me. Something important.’

He watched her throat move up and down in a small swallow, the nervous shadow moving behind her grey eyes another indication of her increasing uneasiness around him.

‘What could I possibly be hiding?’

‘I don’t know.’ He watched the play of emotions flitting across her face. ‘I have been trying to work out who the real Nina is but I keep drawing a blank.’

‘I find it hard to be myself around you,’ she said, absently plucking at the sheet with her fingers.

‘Why?’ he asked. ‘Because of my brother?’

No, because of my sister, she wanted to say, but couldn’t.

‘You’ve been so angry at me all the time,’ she said instead. ‘I’m not used to dealing with such a barrage of negative emotion.’

She heard him release a heavy sigh. ‘You are right. Andre’s death on the top of my mother’s knocked me sideways. I have not been myself for ages; sometimes I wonder if I ever will be again. But I meant what I said about a truce for Georgia’s sake.’

She lifted her eyes to his, her expression soft with empathy. ‘I do understand, you know.’

He gave her a twisted smile. ‘Yes, I suppose you do. You lost him as well and, even though you say you did not love him, when all is said and done he was still the father of Georgia, and that must count for something, surely.’

‘It counts for a lot,’ she said softly.

Marc settled himself back down with another deep sigh.

‘Better get some sleep, Nina,’ he said with his eyes closed.

Nina watched him for a long moment. The normally harsh lines of his face were more relaxed than she had ever seen before. She wanted to reach out with her fingers and trace over his aristocratic eyebrows, feel the ridge of his nose where it looked as if it had been broken some time in the past. She wanted to press her lips to the line of his, feel the way his mouth responded to her, fought with her, mated with her.

‘Marc?’ She whispered his name in the silence.

‘Mmm?’

‘I want you to know that I think you’re a wonderful substitute father for Georgia.’

She felt him reach for her hand, his long fingers squeezing hers momentarily. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘I love her as if she were my own.’

‘So do—’ She stopped, her heart giving a hard ram against her ribcage at the slip of her tongue.

She waited in agonising silence for him to pick her up on it, her stomach rolling in panic, her heart racing until she could feel the blood thrumming in her ears. But his breathing had evened out, his chest rising and falling at neat intervals, indicating he was already asleep.

Nina eased herself back down beside him, her breathing gradually returning to normal as she realised that so far her secret was still safe.

But it had been close.

Far, far too close.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

NINA woke the next morning to find Marc lying propped up on one elbow, silently watching her. She felt warm colour instantly flood her cheeks and wished she had the aplomb of her sister so that she could wake up next to a full-blooded man without blushing to the roots of her hair.

She made a move to leave the bed but his hand came down over hers and stalled her.

‘No, don’t run away. Lucia is caring for Georgia. You are entitled to a morning or two off. How are you feeling?’

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