Page 47 of Defying Her Arrogant Boss

‘It shouldn’t take too much to organise. Less than a couple of weeks, I think. We’ll go as fast as we can.’ He still stared out the window.

‘What?’ Her breathing came short and shallow and dizziness threatened to overcome her. She couldn’t be hearing this right.

‘I’m sorry it’s going to be such a rush. We can always have the big party later, but we need to get legal as soon as possible.’

‘Rory, I’m not going to marry you. We can’t get married!’ This wasn’t happening. Her brain wouldn’t compute. She had never expected this. Never expected him to suddenly take control of her life.

‘Well, what did you think would happen? We need to get onto it; we haven’t got much time.’

‘Rory, we don’t have to get married. I would never stop you from seeing your child.’ The last thing she wanted was a marriage forced upon him. It could only lead to unhappiness for everybody.

He whirled to face her, his face taut. ‘Your visa is close to expiring. We need to make sure you can stay in the country. I want this baby born in the UK.’

Oh, God.

Of course he would. Why hadn’t she thought about this? Of course he would never react as she imagined Grant would have. Rory was a different breed entirely. But that didn’t make things right. He hadn’t asked how it had happened. Hadn’t challenged her on whether she really was on the pill. Had he guessed her feelings for him? Did he think she’d set out to trap him?

‘No.’ She shook her head and backed away. She hadn’t done that. She would never be so manipulative. Never use an innocent child like that. She wouldn’t use him like that. ‘No.’

‘Look, Lissa. I’ll admit this is a hell of a shock, but the hows and whys don’t matter now. What matters is how we deal with it and this is the only way. No child of mine is growing up away from me.’

She felt faint. She wished she knew what he was thinking. Wished he would blow up and reveal himself rather than treating her as if she’d become his latest project to manage.

He stared at her grimly.

She needed space, time to think. For the first time, she truly wanted him gone. She couldn’t cope with his presence. ‘Tell me where the obstetrician is and I’ll meet you there.’

‘No, I’m staying here tonight.’

She didn’t want him to.

And then he did reveal his thoughts. ‘The fact is, I’m not sure I can trust you, Lissa. If I hadn’t forced you to admit it, I’m not sure I would ever have known about our baby. That’s not a nice feeling.’

Sadness pulled at her. She could understand his view. He didn’t trust her and she hadn’t felt able to trust him. Their blazing affair was just that, an affair, and she didn’t think there was enough depth for them to be able to handle the consequences.

* * *

Rory paced across Tower Bridge on the pretext of getting a curry for dinner. He’d left Lissa, knowing she wasn’t up to food. To be honest he didn’t fancy it himself, but he’d needed to escape for a little bit. Part of him wanted to escape a lot, for good.

He’d just asked a woman to marry him. Hell, he hadn’t exactly asked, he’d just told her it was happening. Marriage. Kids.

It had just come out of his mouth with his brain disengaged. It was what he was meant to do, the honourable thing. The only thing a decent bloke could do. Get a girl pregnant, you had to deal with it responsibly. But did he want to? Could he really live with this?

It was supposed to have been an affair. A mind-blowing affair, but an affair nonetheless. He’d always known she wasn’t going to be around for long, and when she’d told him six weeks that had seemed just fine. Long enough for it to burn out. So blazing it had to be just lust.

Now the whole thing had been turned upside down completely.

It wasn’t the child’s fault. But he knew how damn hard work they could be. The nights of sleeplessness, the crying, the nappies. He’d seen the strain his sister had been under. Witnessed the occasional tenseness between her and her husband as they’d negotiated their way through this new development in their relationship. And they were happily married, had been university sweethearts. A love match. This was a lust match.

He walked back across the bridge again. The Tower of London was lit up and mocking him. The former prison now a tourist haven. His own heavenly tourist, Lissa, had just imprisoned him. His well-considered life plan had been beheaded. He hadn’t planned for the whole serious settle-down thing to happen for a few years yet.

How the hell was it going to work? Could it work? He clenched his teeth. He’d never failed at anything he’d set his mind to. But setting his mind to this? He wasn’t sure he was able to.

* * *

Lissa felt the evening pass slow and awkward. He’d come back—after an hour or so in which time she’d agonised over whether indeed he would actually return. Then she’d felt guilty all over again for doubting him when he’d walked back through the door. He’d flicked on her little telly and stared at the screen, apparently uncaring of whatever was showing and effectively ending all conversation. She crept into the bathroom to change into her pyjamas—the only time she’d worn anything in bed with Rory. After a time he switched the television off and slipped out of his clothes, silently sliding into bed but turning away from her.

For the first time they shared a bed but not each other and Lissa had never felt so alone.

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