Page 40 of 2 Books in One Bundle

But he didn’t want to analyse the weird sense of impending doom that was descending and settling over him like a weighted blanket. Or the disturbing feeling that he was suddenly on shaky ground. That could wait until they got back. This morning, as soon as the sun was up, they were heading out on a husky safari. No petrol fumes, no rumbling engines—just Mia and him and the call of the wild—and he wanted to enjoy it.

So he shoved aside the misgivings that he didn’t understand, gave her a smile designed to disguise and said, ‘Why not?’

It was six in the evening when they landed back in London. Encouraged by the events and conversations of the day, Mia asked Zander if they could take a detour to her flat en route to his apartment.

She could hardly contain her excitement as she riffled through the filing cabinet in the study area of her sitting room while he inspected the books on her shelves. To think that only a few short weeks ago she’d been all alone in this world, plodding along as she had for years, trying to carve out the future she wanted and so very lonely, and now here she was with a child on the way and the most gorgeous man in her life.

The signs that she’d been right about how he felt about her were all there. They were to spend Christmas Day together, the first, she hoped, of many. And the husky safari. What a ride that had been. He’d held her so close, so tightly. As if he never wanted to let her go. He hadn’t missed an opportunity to touch her, to kiss her. And his smiles... Every single one of them spread through her like sunshine, warming the parts of her that had been so cold for so long.

If he’d been a fraction quieter on the flight back, a little withdrawn, a faint furrow between his brows, it had to be because he regretted the end of a wonderful two days. She could have stayed there for ever too.

‘Aha.’

Having found what she wanted, Mia closed the drawer with a flourish, whirled round and held out a white rectangular envelope. ‘Here,’ she said, her heart skipping about all over the place, her breath catching in her throat. ‘For you.’

He took it and frowned. ‘What’s this?’

‘Open it.’

He did. He took out the document and unfolded it. Scanned it. And went very still. ‘It’s your birth certificate.’

‘That’s right,’ she said, the adrenalin fizzing through her so powerful it made her head spin. ‘The paperwork you requested. So we can get married.’

For a moment he didn’t say anything, clearly too overwhelmed to speak, which was understandable because she was on the overwhelmed side too. It was an overwhelming moment.

But then he slowly folded the document back up and returned it to its envelope. He handed it back to her with a cool, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ and the excitement, the adrenalin, every good thing she’d been feeling instantly vaporised.

‘Thanks, but no thanks?’ she echoed, stunned, immobile, her breath catching at the sight of his now unreadable expression and a smile that did not spread warmth.

‘I no longer see the need.’

What? She opened her mouth, found she had no words so closed it, then eventually managed a bewildered, ‘Since when?’

‘Since we started talking.’

‘What about securing your rights?’

‘The law is enough.’

‘But you were so adamant.’

He gave a shrug. ‘That came from a place of insecurity which, thanks to you, I no longer have.’

Mia didn’t know what to say. This was not going the way she’d expected. She’d assumed he’d be delighted and whisk her off to the register office right then and there. It had never occurred to her that he might have changed his mind.

But she was not done. Because she’d been waiting for the right time to tell him how she felt and that time was now. ‘What ifIsee the need?’ she said, her voice tight, her pulse pounding in her ears. ‘What if Iwantto marry you?’

‘Do you?’

‘Yes.’ So much.

‘I won’t withhold access to my family, if that’s what you’re worried about. You’ll have a generous allowance to use as you see fit. I’ll buy you a house with a garden, of any description, wherever you wish. We don’t need to marry to make this work. This isn’t the nineteenth century.’

Those had been her words once, but not any more. What he was offering wasn’t enough. It wasn’t even the point. ‘I don’t want to marry you for the sake of our child,’ she said, needing to clarify her desires and make him see what he clearly didn’t. ‘I want to marry you for no one’s sake butme.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m in love with you,’ she said, unable to contain the feelings whipping about inside her like a Catherine wheel any longer. ‘And you’re in love with me.’

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