Chapter Fourteen
NEXT EVENING GREER looked concerned. ‘Are you really sure about this? Turning down the invitation to celebrate the deal you just finalised tonight?’
Conall gestured for her to precede him, following her into their hotel suite.
‘Absolutely. Lee’s accepted my invitation to celebrate as our guest tomorrow. His wife and key staff will all attend.’
He didn’t add that he’d told Lee before today’s meetings even began that tonight he had a vital private matter to attend to. One he couldn’t afford to delay.
As he’d been watching Greer chat with one of Lee’s legal team at the time, his new business associate had looked between the pair of them, nodded and murmured something about the importance of putting family first.
Conall had grasped the older man’s hand, thanking him warmly for his understanding.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said now to Greer. ‘The hotel’s restaurant is already booked for the private function and the head chef is preparing a special banquet.’
Greer stopped in the middle of the sitting room and shot him a questioning look.
‘I had a junior staff member organise it. It’s time the Sydney staff took over some of your more routine work. You have more important things to deal with.’
At work Greer was much more than an assistant. With a little more experience she’d be a valuable negotiator for future deals, if she wanted that. Meanwhile, he didn’t want her spending hours double-checking catering preparations. He needed her attention focused elsewhere.
On them.
He’d been on tenterhooks too long. It was time to resolve this. Crossing to the silver ice bucket, he lifted a foil-topped bottle, watching her eyebrows lift as she recognised the renowned vintage.
She moved closer. ‘You were very certain of success.’
About the business, yes. As for the rest… It was a wonder his hand didn’t shake as he stripped the foil from the bottle. He felt enlivened and terrified. ‘We have things to celebrate.’
At least he hoped they would have.
Once the wine was poured into delicate champagne coupes, he led her onto the balcony and the magnificent view over city and sea.
Greer lifted her glass with a smile. ‘To your business success.’
Conall raised his glass, holding her gaze. ‘To us.’
He watched her momentary surprise, yet she didn’t demur, but drank the golden liquid. He sipped the wine, bubbles bursting on the roof of his mouth.
Today had been a commercial triumph, but he found he didn’t care. Only his sense of obligation to those who’d worked so hard for this deal had made him attend today’s meetings. He’d wanted, more than anything, to forget work and concentrate on Greer.
Now, finally, it was their time. He put his glass on a nearby table.
‘Conall?’
‘There’s something I want to share with you but I have one question first.’ Her gaze searched his then she nodded. ‘Why are you ambivalent about our marriage?’
Her eyes widened but not in repudiation of his words. His heart sank as he drew in a sustaining breath. He’d told himself he’d imagined she was dismissive about their relationship. But he’d been right. Adrenaline shot into his blood as dismay gripped him.
Greer put down her glass with a decisive click then rested her elbows on the balustrade, looking out over the city.
She’d taken off her jacket and wore a straight black skirt and a navy camisole top in some silky fabric that caught the light.
Even in office clothes, frowning, no woman he knew could hold a candle to her.
‘We married because I was pregnant. Because you wanted to protect your baby, not because you wanted me.’ Her head whipped around, eyes of deepest blue snaring his. ‘Now there’s no baby, no glue to hold us together. Of course I’m ambivalent about our marriage.’
Not want her? No glue to hold them together! He refused to believe it. He knew she felt something for him. She had to.
Initially, maybe it had been lust… No that wasn’t right, even in the beginning there’d been far more between them than physical attraction. They understood each other. Surely he hadn’t been wrong, believing she cared about him.
‘What if I told you I didn’t propose marriage just because of the baby?’
Her gaze grew wary but she didn’t look away. Her chin lifted. ‘I wouldn’t believe you. I was there, remember?’
Slowly he nodded, thinking over what he’d said and done. How he could have said and done it so much better. How much he’d left out. He swallowed hard. ‘I owe you an apology.’
Her head jerked back as if slapped, her eyes too big for her face. ‘For making the mistake of marrying me?’
‘Never that.’ Her pain made him bleed inside. He moved in, palming her jaw and feeling her tremble. ‘I didn’t tell you the whole truth. I married you because I love you.’
‘Don’t!’ Her voice was a raw whisper as she shook her head.
‘Hear me out, Greer, please.’
‘There’s no need to pretend now, Conall. The baby’s—’
‘This isn’t about the baby.’ He cupped her face in both hands so she had to meet his eyes.
‘I admit that in the beginning, I thought of marriage as the right thing to do for you and our baby. Believe it or not, from the first I wanted to protect you both, even when I wasn’t sure I wanted a child.
But you didn’t instantly accept. In fact, you seemed doubtful. ’
‘People don’t have to marry to look after their child.’
‘No, they don’t. But I wanted to. So then I had to think about why I wanted to when you apparently didn’t. Why I couldn’t rest until you agreed to marry.’
The haunted look in her eyes was like a fist slammed against his heart. Conall dropped his hands and eased them around hers, threading their fingers together.
‘I told you I was raised to be strategic, pragmatic and competitive. My father sees any emotion other than greed unacceptable. I have the vaguest recollection of my mother’s love, a sense of warmth and the world being a safe place.
But there’s been no love in my life since then.
That’s why it took me a long time to realise I love you. ’
He paused, letting the words sink in, waiting and hoping she’d return the pressure of his hands, showing she believed. And that his love mattered to her.
Suddenly Conall was breathless.
But Greer’s only movement was to tilt her head, looking down at their joined hands, her lustrous dark lashes veiling her eyes.
What was she thinking? How did she feel?
He couldn’t bear the silence, waiting for her response.
‘Even then, when I understood my feelings, I was wary of telling you. All those old lessons in hiding emotion came into play.’ Finally he admitted, ‘I was scared to tell you in case you didn’t feel the same way. ’
That made her look at him and for the first time since he’d started talking, a thread of hope wound its way around his heart.
‘I can’t imagine you scared.’
His bark of laughter cut the thick evening air.
‘Scared? I’ve been petrified. The longer I’ve put off telling you how I feel, the harder it’s become.
There never seemed to be a right time. But now I need to know.
’ His hands tightened around hers. ‘Will you let me try again, to be the husband I want to be? The sort of husband you deserve. Even if you don’t love me, I know you care for me, Greer.
We’re good together and if you give me time, I can make you happy. ’
‘I want to, so much,’ she whispered, her throat working convulsively. She looked overwhelmed.
‘I would never hurt you, Greer.’ He waited, frowning. ‘Sweetheart? How do you feel about me?’
Was it possible he wasn’t the only one scared to reveal his feelings? Now, as he stared into her achingly beautiful eyes, he caught a glimpse of something that stole his breath.
‘I love you.’ She enunciated the words clearly, the sound sweeter and more moving than anything he’d ever known. ‘I fell for you the day I walked into your office and by the end of the week I knew it was more than physical. I’ve loved you for ages.’
Joy began to bubble in his veins as shock seared him. ‘You’ve known all this time?’
She nodded. ‘You’re not the only one wary of emotion. I never expected to feel anything like this. And then, knowing you’d married me because I was pregnant…’
‘It was more than that, my darling. It’s been more than that for a very, very long time.’
There it was again, that gleam of hope and shimmering excitement in her gaze. Yet even now she held firm. ‘How can I know that? How can I be sure?’
Conall dropped his hand and reached for his wallet, thumbing it open and extracting a piece of paper.
She took it, eyes round with astonishment. ‘The scan. You have this! I thought I’d lost it.’
She traced the small, grainy shape that had been their baby and his heart nearly broke at her tender expression.
‘I found it on the floor of the penthouse when I got back from the States. It must’ve fallen out of your bag when you left.’
‘You’ve been carrying it all this time?’
He nodded.
‘Surely that just proves it was the baby you cared about.’ Yet her expression had softened and he felt a powerful shift in the energy between them.
‘Of course I cared. But the reason I kept the scan, the reason I felt so strongly, is because it was our baby, your baby. I’m not like my father, who’s frankly a womaniser.
I’m a one-woman man. He values his children only to perpetuate the myth of his own power.
I loved our child because it was ours, yours and mine.
Because I love you. I will always love you.
I never imagined one, single person could make me feel whole the way I do with you. ’
Her wobbly smile was the most wonderful thing he’d ever seen.
The touch of her fingers stroking his cheek almost turned his knees to water. What he felt for her was so powerful. It was everything he needed.
‘If you want proof that I love you, I can’t provide anything concrete.
Just my promise to keep loving you all the days of our lives.
If you’ll take the chance on trusting me, I promise not to let you down.
’ He stopped, needing to drag more oxygen into overworked lungs.
‘I’m asking for a leap of faith, Greer. I’m trusting my heart to you. ’
Warmth enveloped him as she closed the gap between them, pressing near, her soft contours fitting against him so perfectly it defied words.
‘That’s fair. You’ve had my heart for so long.’
‘Greer.’ The word ached with all the love he hadn’t let himself express before, not verbally. Because he’d feared she didn’t feel the same for him, a man who knew so little about softer emotions.
He wrapped his arm around her, his other hand tugging her hair free so it fell around her in a scented curtain. Anchoring her head with his hand he brushed his lips across hers before tenderly, slowly kissing her with all the reverence and love he’d never been able to share.
Her response was everything he could ask for. His wife—his wife!—was his perfect match. She completed him and she kissed like an angel. No, not an angel, a temptress.
Conall pulled back, his eyes on hers. ‘Tomorrow we celebrate the deal with Lee and our teams. But tonight is for us. We’ll celebrate something more important. Our love.’
He’d always thought her eyes were like gemstones but tonight they shone brighter than any precious stone. ‘It does deserve celebration. What did you have in mind?’
Conall didn’t hold back his smile. He’d never known such happiness. ‘Let’s see how the evening unfolds. We can start by taking this champagne somewhere more comfortable.’
Her sideways glance under lowered eyelids was pure invitation. ‘Good idea.’ She picked up the glasses. ‘I’ll carry these while you get the bottle.’ She was already walking across the terrace, the gentle undulation of her hips in that pencil skirt going straight to his libido.
He thought of how incredibly alluring he found her impressive organisational skills and quick mind. She was sexy, competent, and she loved him.
He grinned from ear to ear. What more could a man want? Conall strode after her, swiping up the bottle. ‘Lead on, Mrs Abercrombie.’
She didn’t waste time on words, simply smiled over her shoulder as she stepped into the bedroom.
He’d never moved so fast in his life.