Page 46 of Bound By Her Baby Revelation (Hot Winter Escapes)

‘We need to discuss the business of where you’ll live,’ Leo murmured, filling the silence.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I live in Manhattan. Yes, I’m willing to commute, especially in the early stages—possibly buy somewhere in Vancouver as a base—but realistically that wouldn’t be a long-term solution.’

‘What are you suggesting?’

‘You know where I’m going with this.’ Leo didn’t bother pulling his punches. ‘This situation is going to require sacrifices and that’s where we’re going to have to meet in the middle.’

‘I’ve never lived anywhere but Canada...and of course Alaska, when I was very young, but that doesn’t count, not really.’

‘Times change. I think twenty miles’ distance from one another should do it, don’t you agree? I have an office in Boston and would consider relocating there. There are many attractive places in and around that part of the world that will allow joint custody to work very well between us.’

‘Joint custody...’

‘Itiswhat you’re after, isn’t it? You don’t want marriage, so that will have to be the next option.’

‘Of course. Yes, that’s exactly what I want.’

‘Splendid. We can informally agree that, until he or she is one, I will take the brunt of the sacrifice on my shoulders and travel as necessary. We can revisit that arrangement at that point. As far as visiting rights are concerned, nothing has to be put on paper at the beginning, as far as I’m concerned, although that will be open to change.’

‘I don’t understand...’

‘If at some point sticking to a regular, agreed schedule becomes difficult, then naturally lawyers will be involved.’

Kaya paled at the vision being painted in front of her although he made sense. Compromises would have to be made; a life of sharing timetables would have to be worked out.

‘In the meantime—’ he waved one hand to smooth over the temporary tension ‘—I will have my PA sort out alternative, suitable accommodation for you wherever you agree to settle. A relocation company would probably work best, and naturally money would be no object. You just need to tell me what sort of place you’re after. You can leave the rest to me. A shortlist will be compiled to save you the trouble of taking too many long-distance trips when you’d be better off...getting your affairs in order and, of course, resting.’

‘This all feels as though it’s moving very fast,’ Kaya said a little unsteadily. ‘I’m not even three months’ pregnant yet!’

Leo looked at her, unsmiling, propping himself up on one hand and removing the sunglasses to stare at her. ‘There’s a lot to sort out,’ he told her, pausing for her to digest that and join the dots to the alternative, which would have been painfully simple in comparison. Joint custody and finding separate properties would not have been a necessary consideration, for starters. ‘I don’t think that sticking our heads in the sand and waiting until the last minute is going to work, do you?’

‘No, but...’

‘We can continue this later,’ Leo drawled, throwing her a lifebelt, leaving her to mull over what he had said. ‘Right now, I’m going to take a dip. Join me?’

‘I... Perhaps in a minute...’

Leo shrugged and stood up, a thing of masculine beauty, every muscle honed to perfection. Kaya followed him with her eyes as he strolled down to the sea, waded in and then took the plunge to slice through the blue, blue water, his movements smooth, fast and confident.

Leo disappearing into the distance felt like a telling pointer to the role he would eventually adopt in her life. Someone moving away from her, vanishing to new horizons with someone else but always, painfully, returning because of the child they shared. Always returning to shore but never to be with her in any significant way.

And thinking about that hurt.

She sneakily stripped down to the one-piece and, after a while, when over-heating seemed to be a threat, she headed out to sea.

She had been brought up in snow and was an excellent skier. She loved that wonderful freedom but the confidence she had hurtling down a snowy slope was lacking when it came to water. She’d learnt to swim as an adult, sporadic lessons here and there, teaching her just enough to be safe.

She tentatively waded out. Leo was a speck in the faraway distance. He was lying on his back staring up at the sky, not a care in the world, from the looks of it. Whereas she...felt as though she had been assailed from every possible angle by a bombardment of realities and truths she hadn’t banked on.

She had naively come out here to do the decent thing and tell him about the pregnancy face-to-face, expecting to be the one to drop the bomb, the one in ultimate control. She’d had the situation clear in her head. Leo didn’t love her and, however decent he was, he had never been interested in a relationship. She’d thought she would be doing them both a favour by giving him options and walking away to let him consider them. So how come she was the one floundering now?

Wrapped up in her thoughts, and becoming increasingly confident in the warm, clear, shallow water, Kaya wasn’t expecting the tiny drop in the ocean floor, a shifting of the sand between her toes, and she gave a panicked yelp as she lost her footing.

Fear of drowning overcame the voice in her head telling her that this was not a dangerous situation. Panic made her splash and flounder, surfacing and gasping.

She was choking and gasping, and barely noticed Leo moving as fast as a shark in her direction until she felt his arms around her. She clung and practically sobbed her relief.

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